Helping the needy

Assalaamu alaikum [peace be to you],


Serving and treating fellow human beings with courtesy and kindness is an essential part of a good moral conduct. All world religions share and support this concept.
The Final revelation of the God Almighty, the Qur’an, emphasizes two essential principles to live by after charting the course of life according to fundamental Islamic beliefs:
- First is to have strong relationship with Allah -Glory be to him-, and fulfilling those rights which He has upon us. We are required to have firm belief in the monotheistic doctrine and submitting and worshipping the God alone with no partners.
- The second principle is to be good, kind, and helpful to fellow human beings. This entails fulfilling obligations and duties we owe to our parents, relatives, neighbors, orphans, widows, poor, sick and the needy.


The Mission of Islam:
The mission of Islamic life is to be of service and a source of comfort, and not a cause of hardship or discomfort to others. All human beings are not alike; some are well to do while others are under-privileged. Islam demands from the former to serve the latter and provide them what they need for survival. This is part of the divine test in this earthly life. The God tests the wealthy and healthy ones with what he gave them, and he tests the needy ones with what he deprived them. The blessings we enjoy day and night are given by Allah, and we did not really earn, nor did any thing special to deserve them. It is God’s love and mercy for which we should be thankful and the best way to thank Him is to let the “have-nots” share those blessings with those of us who have. No one can claim that he deserves what the God has given him, unless he is an arrogant ungrateful rebel and mentally blind. The man should first look at himself and the miraculous and amazing body which he has been given. Each part performs its functions precisely and tirelessly - the eyes, ears, heart, brain, hands and legs to mention a few. Imagine life without them. Then he should look beyond to the world around him. And if he does not feel the need to serve and lack the will to help others, he then is a thankless person who does not recognize his Creator. The Qur’an warns on such insensitivity, and exhorts Muslims to serve mankind.

The God said in his final testament:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
أَلَمْ نَجْعَل لَّهُ عَيْنَيْنِ
Have We not made for him (man) two eyes?
وَلِسَانًا وَشَفَتَيْنِ
And a tongue and two lips?
وَهَدَيْنَاهُ النَّجْدَيْنِ
And have shown him the two ways?
فَلَا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ
But he has made no haste on the path that is steep.
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْعَقَبَةُ
And what will explain to you the path that is steep?-
فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ
It is the freeing of a slave
أَوْ إِطْعَامٌ فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ
Or feeding on a day of severe hunger
يَتِيمًا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ
An orphan of near relationship
أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ
Or a needy person in misery
ثُمَّ كَانَ مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْمَرْحَمَةِ
Then will he be of those who believe, and enjoin patience, and enjoin deeds of kindness and compassion.
أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْمَيْمَنَةِ
Such are the Companions of the Right Hand.
وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِنَا هُمْ أَصْحَابُ الْمَشْأَمَةِ
But those who reject Our Signs, they are the (unhappy) Companions of the Left Hand.
عَلَيْهِمْ نَارٌ مُّؤْصَدَةٌ
Over them will be fire closed in.
^{translation of 90:8-20}
Serving and helping others is serving Allah in the sight of Islam. If some one stretches his hand out to you to seek help, and if it returns empty, you than have refused to help The God*. To please Allah is through pleasing His bondsmen. The One in heaven becomes kind to you if you are kind to those who inhabit the earth.

the prophet Mohammed -peace be upon hm- once said:
“Verily, Allah the Exalted and Glorious will say on the Day of Resurrection: ‘O son of Adam, I was indisposed but you did not visit Me.’ He would say: ‘O my Lord, how could I visit You as You are the Lord of the world?’ Thereupon Allah would say: ‘Did you not know that such and such slave of Mine was ill but you did not visit him? Did you not realize that if you had visited him, you would have found [its reward] with Me? O son of Adam, I asked food from you but you did not feed Me.’ He would submit: ‘My Lord, how could I feed You as You are the Lord of the worlds?’ Allah would say: ‘Did you not know that such and such a slave of Mine asked you for food but you did not feed him? Did you not realize that if you had fed him, you would have found [its reward] with Me? O son of Adam, I asked for water from you but you did not give it to Me.’ He would say: ‘My Lord, how could I give you (water) as You are the Lord of worlds.’ There upon Allah (SWT) would say: ‘Such and such a slave of Mine asked you for water to drink but you did not give it to him. Did you not realize that if you had given him the drink you would have found (its reward) with Me.”


... to be continued, in sha'Allah [God willing]


I hope this was beneficial.


^{*know that the God does not need our help. he is self-sufficient and our help gives him neither good or bad. whatever good we do is for our own good. therefore, the expression 'help the God' should be understood as 'doing God's will on earth'}


if I am right, it is from Allah. if I am wrong, it is from myself.