Christians caring for the poor started in the Old Testament. The Jewish ignored their belief that all men and women are equal in the sight of God.
“..they are given power over the rest of the earth, but not over one another (Genesis 1:27-31.)
Due to God’s law being ignored the Old Testament prophets’ spoke up for the poor and oppressed. They claimed care for the poor.
God says,
‘Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear and refuse to help your own relatives…Then my favour shall shine upon you…I will always be with you to save you…. the darkness around you shall turn to the brightness of the noon.’ Isaiah 58:6-10
This is from the Old Testament, it is from when the Christian church began so Christians believe that it is a part of the way God speaks them so they respect and act upon each word in the best of their manner. This is one of the reasons why Christians care for the poor.
God implies that if people refuse to serve the poor then they will be punished. Jesus’ unity with the poor, his identification with them was so complete, that when people serve the poor they are actually serving Jesus himself even if they don’t have the intention of serving Jesus’ wishes.
The Old Testament consists of mainly the actions of Jesus with the poor. How he was born poor, he was born without a home, a manger used to feed animals was used as a cradle for him, how his birth was acknowledged to the shepherds and not to the rich important people.
Christians care for the poor because they find it as their duty to do so because Jesus teaches them about it in the Gospel. Jesus says that if you wish to receive eternal life then you should give your money to the poor. Christians follow and cling onto every word of Jesus for he is the most important figure in their lives. Whatever they do they do it in the obedience of Christ because they believe that Jesus knows the difference between right and wrong.
Caring for the poor is a very important issue in the Islamic society. There are laws to make sure that Muslims share their wealth with the less fortunate ones. This law is called Zakaat. Zakaat is a monetary devotion. It is a pillar of Islam. Zakaat literally means to increase. Technically it means to purify one’s position of wealth by distributing a prescribed amount which has o be given to the poor. It is not a governmental tax but its main purpose is to keep those who are wealthy clean monetarily from sins.
Allah says in the Qur’aan:
‘Allah will destroy wealth obtained from interest and will give increase for deeds of charity’ Surah Baqarah: 276
Allah states here that the people who give Zakaat their wealth will be increased. This is a reason why Muslims care about the poor. Not will the money they donate help the poor and their act be obedient to the law but it will also benefit themselves.
It is stated in the hadith that by giving Zakaat the following benefits are derived:
- Gaining the pleasure of Allah
- Increase in wealth
- Protection from losses
- A cause established for Allah’s forgiveness and blessings are obtained
- Safety from calamities
- Protection from the wrath of Allah and from a bad death
- The Zakaat will provide shelter on the day of judgment
- Security from seventy misfortunes
- It will serve a shield from the fires of Jahannam (hell)
- It saves from fear and grief
There are two major benefits of giving Zakaat,
- It keeps one away from sins a saves the giver from moral ill rising from the love and greed for wealth.
- Through Zakaat the poor class (those who are not capable of providing for themselves) are being cared for, such as, widows, orphans, the disabled, the poor and the destitute.
Zakaat is a way of helping the poor for the Muslims that they have to complete, but there are other ways in which they can help the poor. One way is by giving Sadaqah. This is a charity that is a matter of personal choice and is not a duty set upon the Muslim as something that has to be done. An act of Sadaqah can be as small as giving a few pennies to the poor to as big as donating most of what you own. Some people do it to please Allah and others do it out of compassion of seeing other people suffering. -
If one Muslim does not help a person that they see is in agony and does nothing about then he has lost faith in his beliefs so therefore he has departed from the spirit of Islam.
The Prophet says, ‘An ignorant person who is generous is nearer to Allah then a person full of prayer
who is a misery.’
In Islam prayer is said to be the one of the most important things. But if an ignorant generous man can be closer to Allah then a man who is full of prayer then we realize the importance of being generous. Everybody wants to be close to Allah so they do things that will bring them closer to him so Muslims give donations to charity.
It is important to keep in mind the correct intention in nearly everything.
‘O believers! Do not cancel out your generosity by reminders of your charity or by
injury – like those who spend their substance in order to be seen by others….’
A person might give billions of money away and gets rid of world poverty all together but does not do it with the correct intention of wanting to help but to be loved and respected by the world then he shall not go anywhere near Allah. This is a man who has lost his faith for Allah knows everything including his incentive.
Muslims believe that no human beings should go in need while others able to waste what they have. The keyword in the last sentence was ‘able’. It means that you are able to live without something yet you still have it. This is greed. You want something and you buy it for absolutely no reason at all when you could’ve used your good money elsewhere. The suffering people must be attended to, the naked should be clothed, the hungry should be fed, the homeless should be homed, the wounded and diseased should be treated, whether they are Muslim or not, and whether they are our friends of our foe.
I have investigated the way in which Muslim people counter poverty. Apart from Zakaat, many organizations have been set up. The one that I have examined is Islamic Relief.
Islamic Relief, ‘Is a charity which is dedicated to alleviating the poverty and suffering of the worlds poorest people.’ (Islamic Relief, Reacting to Poverty booklet). This is a charity, which is assisting people all over the world that are in need. They provide for the Muslims and the Non-Muslims. They do not just take money and give to people who are in need of it. They will make sure that your wishes are taken into account and made sure that it goes to fulfill the purpose that you donated the money for.
They do not only provide people with food, but they also do special projects like battle against malaria, school for the death, youth centers, shelter projects, clinics, medical aid and mother and child health care. Money is not always used to help people, they give training to people to learn how to survive on their own, how to solve out family problems and sometimes money is not the thing that they ask for. Some times less expensive things are asked for, like your old clothes.
I think that both Muslim and Christian attitudes towards poverty is very good and helpful to all those people in the world of poverty. Both of them help the poor no matter what their religion or background is. I think that the Islamic Relief aid is very successful, after all considering its background; being launched in 1984 by two students named Hany El Bana and Ishan Shahib. The first donation was just 20p from a young child. In the short space of 16 years, the aid has expanded globally and has become a million-dollar business.
The Islamic Relief Aid Booklet is very useful, it informs you of all the things that it does and that how everything is done under the shade of Islam. The things that they mention are related to a hadith or quote from the Quran. They consider what you want to be done with the money, They tell you what will be done with your money, and they also show how donations like yours have helped people around the world. They give real life examples which gives us hope that we can help fight of poverty.
The booklet also teaches you about the way Islam handles poverty. You can learn a lot from this booklet. It teaches that the Prophet said that every day, you must perform a charity. ‘To act justly between two people is a charity….a good word is a charity, removing a harmful thing from the road is a charity.’ The prophet says here that you must perform a charity every day, no matter how small it is.
Not only does it use quotes, but it uses its own understanding to teach people about how important it is to help people in poverty. In the booklet it mentions that humans were made for only on reason and that is to serve Allah. It is a duty of a Muslim to seek his pleasure and to establish good on this Earth. Allah has placed us on Earth as its guardians so that we do our best to keep it healthy so it should be our mission to respect it and work towards a better future for it. Resources must not be wasted. The booklet opens up our eyes to what is happening in the world and that it desperately needs our help. ‘Isn’t it ironic that in richer countries food is being wasted, while in poorer countries, people are suffering from starvation. Where have humans gone wrong? Islamic relief, at least, aims to set out and try to redress this unjust balance.
I believe that this is a very successful charity, which is reacting to especially considering that it started just 15 years by two students who had their first donation from a young child. Amazingly the organization has turned into a million-dollar business in such a short space of time. The booklet that they provide is very helpful and informative. It tells you about how the organization works and it also teaches you stuff along the way as well.
They let you chose where and on what to spend your money. They give you real life cases of really sad tearful stories and then they lighten up your hearts and fill you with delight with handing you the knowledge that they have helped made the situation. It isn’t like some other company seeking aid. T o be honest I don’t read many things about giving money to charity, but this booklet is different. It makes me want to read. This I think is a very special unique effect that the booklet has on be. Muslim aid I believe is a very good, just aid.
