It is the season of giving. Being a do-gooder, lending a hand and making a difference. Charity liberates the soul of the giver and benefits him more than the receiver. Giving alms is the integral part of all religions as every charitable act is considered a stepping stone towards heaven.
Come Ramzan, the third pillar of Islam, zakat, comes into play. Though this obligatory charity has nothing to do with the fasting month, many Muslims prefer to do it now to gather more virtues. When you have wealth in excess of your needs, build a bigger table, not a higher fence. Charity is not about pity but about love and compassion. So the way one makes a donation matters a lot.
Ramzan is the time when many people make a public display of their charity which is totally against the spirit of Islam. Acts of charity are expected to be hush-hush affairs. So concealed should the donation be that what one gives with one hand should not be known to the other. But many wealthy persons make the poor queue up before their houses to receive the dole. The other day I saw a picture in a newspaper which showed a group of persons placing their hands on a bag of wheat flour while the recipient, an old woman, is trying to cover up her face. When this picture went viral on social media many reacted angrily at the humiliation meted out to the poor woman. The very purpose of charity is defeated when the receiver feels insulted and degraded.
Religiously motivated charity brings in professional alms seekers. They know how to extract money by narrating heart-rending stories of penury. No wonder many persons fall hook, line and sinker and end up opening their purse strings. Places of worship are thronged by such fake fakirs. Recently a couple collected money after putting out a touching story. But some youngsters got suspicious and followed them to see what they do. They were shocked to see the couple land in a cheap liquor joint.
Some argue charity perpetuates the cycle of dependency. Not necessarily. The idea is to lend a hand-up, not a handout. Unlike the professionals, the deserving do not seek alms openly. It is actually the duty of the wealthy to search them out and support. The recent trend of leveraging zakat for supporting secular education is a good sign. Well-known Hyderabad builder, Ghiasuddin Babukhan, who pioneered the idea, has transformed the lives of many households. Those educated with zakat funds are now in a position to offer zakat themselves. Why not be someone’s sunshine when their skies are grey?
J S Ifthekhar
Email: jsifthekhar@gmail.com