To Help, or Not? Making the Right Decisions For Charity
Since Everything
Belongs To God, ‘Our’ Material Wealth Is Actually God’s.
Main
Points:
1. While we must give in charity, we need to do
so responsibly, in line with the will of God, the real Owner of that wealth.
2. In order that the wealth we may give in
charity is used only for causes that God approves of, we should turn to God to
seek His guidance in the matter.
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By
Mesha Oh, New Age Islam
4 June 2021
Courtesy: wardtrademarks.com/intellectual-property-issues-facing-charities
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Various
religious traditions stress the need to share our wealth in charity. Such
sharing can help not just the recipients of charity but also those who give it.
In the case of the latter, such giving can help them loosen their attachment to
worldly wealth and enable them to grow in the expression of Divine virtues like
compassion and kindness and thereby evolve spiritually. Charity, if done with
the right intention and if given to the right causes, can help givers of
charity grow as persons.
While the
need to share of our material wealth with those in need is clear, whom we
should help and how we should go about doing isn’t always very obvious.
Sometimes, we might make major mistakes in our giving, leading to a waste of
God-given resources.
Let me cite
just two cases from my own experience of what might have been misplaced
charitableness. Several years ago, my mother was taken ill and was admitted to
hospital. I was so distraught and I so wanted my mother to get alright that I
donated a big sum (I won’t mention how much—you might think I am a real fool!)
to a home-help who worked in my mother’s house. I can’t remember what exactly
my motive was in doing so, but I might have thought that if I gave the money to
this person, God would be pleased and He would make my mother recover very
soon.
When I
think of it now, I wonder if I really did the right thing actually. If my
intention in giving the money in charity had been that in return for it, God
would make my mother well soon, I don’t know if God really wants us to engage
in a ‘bargain’ like this.
Then, the
question arises, even if giving away that big amount in charity on this
occasion was indeed a wise thing to do, had I really selected the right person?
There may well have been people and causes that were much more deserving than
the person I gave the sum to.
And then,
did I have any idea how the big sum of money that I had given would be used by
the person I gave it to? Was I sure if he would use it for a good purpose? What
if he spent at least some of it on things like a motorbike or jewellery for his
sister or for a marriage in the family, things that I definitely wouldn’t have
wanted the money to be wasted on?
Here’s
another example of well-meaning charity that might not have been wise. The
other day, a person who works as a guard in an NGO contacted me. His daughter
had recently got married and he owed a large sum of money to the girl’s
in-laws—perhaps for expenses incurred during and immediately after the
marriage. He wanted assistance. Now, I know this man is very sincere and kind
and I also know that he earns a modest salary, which may make it quite a
challenge for him to eke out a living for his family and himself, but I
vacillated a bit. Finally, though, I sent him a fairly sizeable sum. I made it
clear that I did not want the money back.
Now, did I
do the right thing? Was my charity a wise act? Perhaps when I sent the money I
thought that what I did was right. But now I wonder if it was indeed so. What
if the money was used to cover wasteful wedding-related expenses, like a
sumptuous feast or a fancy bridal dress or video recording of the marriage or
whatever—things that I would never approve of?
These are
just two of several cases of what might be misplaced charity that I’ve
experienced over the years that
illustrate that while helping people who are materially less well-off than us
can be a very good thing, whom we should help and how we should do so isn’t
always easy to decide. Giving in charity is good, but emotionally-driven,
unthinking charitableness may not be.
In making
decisions about giving in charity it is good to bear in mind that the material
wealth that we have is a blessing from God. Since everything belongs to God,
‘our’ material wealth is actually God’s, not ours. This being the case, while
we must, as God wants us to, give in charity some portion of the wealth what
God has blessed us with, we need to do so responsibly, in line with the will of
God, the real Owner of that wealth. Knowing that the wealth is actually God’s
and that we are simply trustees of it, we need to engage in charity in a manner
that is pleasing to God. Our charity should go only to causes that God wants us
to serve. We might think that some cause is worth supporting but God may think
otherwise.
In order
that the wealth we may give away in charity is used only for causes that God
approves of and that we do not squander it, it is good to turn to God to seek
His guidance in the matter. If suppose someone asks us for money for a certain
cause, we should present the matter before God and request Him to guide us what
to do. Then, we should follow the guidance that we may receive within. That
way, our charity may go to the right causes and not go waste.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/charity-god-material/d/124931
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