Invitation

“Here you are — those invited to spend in the cause of Allah — but among you are those who withhold [out of greed]. And whoever withholds only withholds [benefit] from himself; and Allah is the Free of need, while you are the needy. And if you turn away, He will replace you with another people; then they will not be the likes of you.” (Muhammad 47:38)

We have been invited by the Owner of the Universe, the Lord of the Worlds, the King of this Dominion, to go and spend for His sake. What an honor this is! He has blessed us with our Rizq, we have been specially chosen amongst the trillions of lives ever on Earth to be given that particular Rizq and moreover that invitation to spend in a noble cause.

When we spend from our wealth, we never become poorer. We become richer in our deeds, in our happiness, in our generosity and even in our wealth.

When we spend from our time, we don’t waste a single second. Each second is filled with goodness, with satisfaction, with volunteerism and even with more seconds.

When we spend from our strength, we don’t turn weak. We turn healthier, livelier, braver and even stronger.

When we spend from our character, we don’t rot away our personality. We grow kinder, more understanding, more thoughtful and even more genuine.

When we spend from our knowledge, we don’t fall into stupidity. We rise to a higher level of intellect, of responsibility, of leadership, and even of knowledge.

And even if we can’t spend from any of these things, we can share a smile, because that, too, is charity.

When our Lord has bestowed upon us everything we need, how do we have the courage to hoard it to ourselves? We have been given such a magnificent Rizq and we won’t share even a fraction of it with others Fee Sabeelillah*? Then the benefits won’t be shared with us. The day we go below the ground, we’ll be all alone. Our wealth, our time, our strength, our character, our knowledge and our smile are staying above. So what good was it to collect all of this if it hardly increased our Hasanaat*?

Allah doesn’t need whatever He allotted towards us in this world — He has never needed anything. But we need to give in this world to help get us a bit of the next.

If we cannot commit to the opportunity Allah has given us, then we can easily be replaced. Our provisions would go to new owners, new appointees by Allah for each of those assets.

Brothers and sisters, I ask you to join me in accepting Allah’s invitation. It may seem hard for us as college students, but by doing so, those strides will be evident in our academic performance and in our reward in the Hereafter. Together, let us turn away from greed and spend in His Way by helping the world around us. Let’s be just a little more generous and a little more kind. When we do it together, we’ll go a long way, Bi Idhnillah*.

Besides, when we go towards Allah, what’ve we got to lose?

Rizq: “wealth”/provision

Fee Sabeelillah: for the sake of Allah

Hasanaat: good deeds

Bi Idhnillah: by the permission of Allah

By Anonymous