Islam Great (Islam Online)

Zakat (Alms giving) is a part of devotion enjoined upon Muslims by the Holy Quran. It is a means where the well-off pay a set amount of their wealth. Zakat means to purify oneself. It is obligatory on Muslims to pay a little percentage of their accumulated wealth towards Zakat, which is used for the benefit of the needy and the poor.

Zakat is not levied on one’s property that is in personal use, rather on the assets which have a means of increasing and which are surplus to one’s needs. It is a means of social justice and order. It teaches sympathy of the highest order.

Hajj is the fifth Pillar of Islam and another form of worship. It is an annual pilgrimage to the holy sites in Mecca which each adult Muslim, who can afford it, has to perform once in life time. Apart from the financial aspect, the ability to afford the pilgrimage also means that one is able to travel and perform the Hajj in peace.

During Hajj each place brings to mind some event of the blessed life of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings on him). It refreshes the memory of the supreme sacrifices made by the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings on him) for the sake of Islam.

One of the most important factors that people use to inactivate their conscience is their seeing themselves self-sufficient in everything. For instance, when asked about their observance of Islam, most people would say that it is enough not to harm anyone and to try to be a good person. However, this is pure self-deception. What is important is to be a slave to God and to live as He wishes. Unless man does this, everything else he does is meaningless and harmful. God says in the Qur’an:

And what of him the evil of whose actions appears fine to him so that he sees them as good? God misguides whoever He wills and guides whoever He wills. (Surah Fatir:

What makes someone see his actions as good and attractive is the belief that his own judgement is flawless. Those who consider themselves to be kind-hearted and generous in the sight of God are such people. The truth is in fact quite different from what they assume. In a verse it is stated that one’s seeing himself self-sufficient is the greatest reason for his deviation from the truth:

No indeed! Truly man is unbridled seeing himself as self-sufficient. (Surat al-’Alaq: 6-7)

The linguistic meaning of the word ‘mustaghni’ (self-sufficient) is ‘without need, satisfied’. Its meaning as referred to in the Qur’an is someone’s seeing his nearness to God, his fear of God and the hereafter, his good actions and his piety as sufficient and therefore not striving for the better. Most people deviate from God’s way for this reason.

Although people see themselves as self-sufficient, they actually know in their conscience how incomplete they are, and what they fail to do to please God. This is why they avoid talking about subjects such as death, doomsday and the hereafter. When one raises the subject, they try to close it because it is ‘depressing’. The reason they become depressed is because they are resisting their conscience, and dwelling on the subject causes them to feel restless inside.

It is not possible for someone who listens to his conscience to feel self-sufficient. On the contrary, he looks for the better and tries to do the better in everything. For man’s conscience always reminds him of the Day of Account. Someone who knows that he will give account to God about the life of this world will never see his deeds sufficient. He practises what he is commanded by his Creator with great attention. In the Qur’an, those who seriously strive for the good pleasure of God and the hereafter are referred to as follows:

As for anyone who desires this fleeting existence, We hasten in it whatever We will to whoever We want. Then We will consign him to Hell where he will roast, reviled and driven out. But as for one who desires the hereafter, and strives for it with the striving it deserves, being a believer, the striving of such people will be gratefully acknowledged. (Surat al-Isra’: 18-19)

In the world in which we live, Allah bestows many favours on man. All the needs of each living being are benevolently met; no detail is forgotten.

Let’s think about ourselves as examples. From the moment we wake in the morning, we need many things and encounter many situations. In brief, we survive due to the many favours bestowed upon us.

We can breathe as soon as we wake up. We never experience difficulty in doing this, thanks to our respiratory systems functioning perfectly.

We can see as soon as we open our eyes. The sharp and distant images, all three-dimensional and fully coloured, are perceived by our eyes, and indeed owe their existence to the unique design of eyes.

We taste delicious flavours. The relative proportions of the vitamin, mineral, carbohydrate or protein content of the food we eat, or how the excess of these nutrients are stored or utilised in the body never concern us. Moreover, we are mostly never aware that such complicated operations take place in our body.

When we hold some material in our hands, we immediately know if it is soft or hard. What is more, we need no mental effort to do this. Numerous similar minute operations take place in our body. The organs, responsible for these operations, have complicated mechanisms. The human body functions almost like a factory of enormous complexity and ingenuity. This body is one of the major favours given to man since man leads his existence on earth with it.

At this point, a question remains to be answered: how are the raw materials necessary to operate this factory supplied? To put it another way, how do water, air, and all the other nutrients essential for life come into existence?

Let’s think about fruits and vegetables. Melons, watermelons, cherries, oranges, tomatoes, peppers, pineapples, mulberries, grapes, eggplants… all grow in soil from seeds, and the seed has a structure sometimes as hard as wood. However, while considering these, we should avoid habitual ways of thinking and employ different methods. Visualise the delicious tastes and odours of strawberries or the ever-changing odour of melon. Think about the time and energy spent in laboratories to produce similar odours and about the repeated trials that resulted in failure. Indeed, results obtained by scientists in laboratories prove to be no better than the unsuccessful imitations of their natural counterparts. The varieties of taste, odour and colour in nature bear indeed matchless attributes.

That all vegetables and fruits have distinct tastes and odours and carry individual colours is the result of the design particular to them. They are all favours Allah bestows upon man.

Similarly, animals, too, are created specially for human beings. Apart from serving as food, man finds their physical appearances appealing. Fish, corals, star-fishes decorating the depths of oceans with all their beautiful colours, all kinds of birds adding charm to their habitat or cats, dogs, dolphins and penguins… they are all favours from Allah. Allah stresses this fact in many verses:

And He has made everything in the heavens and everything on the earth subservient to you. It is all from Him. There are certainly signs in that for people who reflect. (Surat al-Jathiyah: 13)

If you tried to number Allah’s blessings, you could never count them. Allah is Ever -Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat an-Nahl: 18)

He has given you everything you have asked Him for. If you tried to number Allah’s blessings, you could never count them. Man is indeed wrongdoing, ungrateful. (Surah Ibrahim: 34)

The living beings mentioned above are only a tiny part of the favours and beauties Allah bestows. Wherever we turn, we come across creations reflecting the attributes of Allah. Allah is ar-Razzaq (the Ceaseless Provider), al-Latif (the Subtle One, He who creates things most subtly), al-Karim (the Generous One), al-Barr (the source of all goodness).

Now, take a look around you and think. And never plead ignorance of the fact that everything you possess is a favour to you from your Creator:

Any blessing you have is from Allah. Then when harm touches you, it is to Him you cry for help. (Surat an-Nahl: 53)

Nothing on earth is created in vain, but rather with wisdom. Understanding this fact depends on the wisdom of people themselves. One whose faith and consequently whose wisdom and prudence increase, will happen to grasp this reasoning much better in time.

One of the most important precepts is that we are being tested throughout our whole lives. Allah tests our sincerity and our faith on different occasions. He may give favours to test whether we are grateful to Him or not. He may create difficulties, for us, to reveal whether we behave with patience or not:

“Every soul shall have a taste of death: and We test you by evil and by good by way of trial. To Us you will be returned.” (Surat al-Anbiya, 21:35)

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