{"id":27336,"date":"2020-05-05T04:08:57","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T04:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/new-wp\/?p=27336"},"modified":"2020-05-05T04:08:57","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T04:08:57","slug":"ramadan-charity-sadaqah-amidst-mco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/ramadan-charity-sadaqah-amidst-mco\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramadan Charity (Sadaqah) Amidst MCO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This year, unlike\nprevious years, Muslims around the world welcomed the arrival of the holy\nfasting month of Ramadan in a gloomy state. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic which\ncommunities around the world are facing has made Muslims to embrace new normal\nin their way of doing things and routines. As for this year, there is no iftar<\/em>\n(breaking fast), group tadarus<\/em> (reciting Quran) and tarawih prayers held\ncongregationally in mosques. Due to the Movement Control Order (MCO), Muslims\nwill perform them in their respective houses with close relatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes to Ramadan\nbazaar, Ramadan buffets at hotel and Ramadan shopping. Malaysians of all races\nand religion can forget about the bazaars. Politicians and corporations can\nforgo their plan to treat under privilege kids and orphans to berbuka puasa<\/em>\nprogrammes and parents can nicely tell their children that this year there\nmight be no visit to shopping malls for baju raya (of course they still can do\nonline shopping). This year all those activities are not going to happen like\nthey used to.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from the above,\nanother common thing that Muslims do in the month of Ramadan is giving charity (sadaqah)\n<\/em>to the deserving and needy. According to the Prophetic tradition, charity\nis best performed during Ramadan. However, this by no means implies that\nMuslims should refrain themselves from giving donations outside the month of\nRamadan. As a commendable act, sadaqah<\/em> by default \u2013 as promised by Allah\n\u2013 will generate massive rewards (thawab)<\/em> for those who give with sincere\nintention for the sake of Allah. This is evident through verse 261 of surah\nal-Baqarah as Allah says to the effect: \u201cThe example of those who spend\ntheir wealth in the way of Allah is like a seed [of grain] which grows seven\nspikes; in each spike is a hundred grains. And Allah multiplies [His reward]\nfor whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, when it is\nperformed during Ramadan, Allah will multiply the rewards of sadaqah<\/em>\nmanifold. This is a sort of encouragement to Muslims to grab the opportunities\navailable in Ramadan to increase their devotion and good deeds in an effort to\nimprove their taqwa<\/em> (Allah\u2019s consciousness). This is also what the\nProphet Muhammad has exemplified to us in his life. In a hadith narrated by Ibn\nAbbas: “The Prophet was the most generous of all people, and he used to\nbe more generous in Ramadan when Gabriel met him. Gabriel used to meet him\nevery night during Ramadan to revise the Qur’an with Allah’s Apostle then used\nto be more generous than the fast wind (in readiness and haste to do charitable\ndeeds).\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However due to the MCO being\nimposed, Muslims may not be able to donate or give charity as is usually the\ncase. Despite many members of the public are losing their income and some to\nthe extent that their savings have dried up and have nothing to put on the\ntable for their families, the restriction has made it hard for donors to meet\nface to face with the affected groups to hand over support either financially\nor materially. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, owing to technological\nadvances in the financial sector, there is an alternative and easier way to do\ncharity. The solution lies in fintech (financial technology). Propelled by\ninternet and the widespread use of smartphones and tablets, fintech has given a\nnew approach for Muslims and non-Muslims alike to help others either\nfinancially or materially transcending geographical boundaries and time\nbarriers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broadly speaking, fintech\nmeans technology can be applied anywere to deliver financial services and\nproducts to consumers. Today it is not just the financial sector that benefits\nfrom the existence of this fintech. In fact, fintech also helps non-financial\ninstitutions such as charitable organisations to facilitate their financial\naffairs. It becomes an enabler that plays a role in connecting donors with\nrecipients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Malaysia, besides\nfinancial sectors, the technology has also been embraced by zakat collections\ncentres, the not-for-profit and charitable organisations. The technology empowers\nthese institutions with efficiency and effectiveness in fund management and\ndatabase upkeep which indirectly improves collection and distribution channels\nof the respective bodies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without any doubt, the\nMCO has disrupted the routines and schedules we have lived by. It has also made\nmany Malaysians \u2013 mainly self-employed \u2013 affected. This is supported by a\nsurvey by the Department of Statistics which reveals that almost 50% of\nself-employed are out of work after the government imposed the MCO due to Covid-19\noutbreak. 95% of them who were still working experienced a drop income with\n35.5% had their incomes contracted by more than 90%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stories shared by the\nmass and social media about the sufferings they endured are enough for us to\nfeel what they have to go through and be grateful for what Allah has given us.\nOne of the ways to show our gratitude to Allah is through sadaqah.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Islam, it does not\nrequire a man to be rich to give sadaqah <\/em>for it is encouraged upon every\nMuslim whether they are rich or poor. In a hadith, the Prophet was reported to\nhave said \u201cShield yourselves from Hellfire even by giving half a date in\ncharity.” <\/em>Based on this hadith, it is not the quantity that matters in\nsadaqah <\/em>but quality i.e. sincerity of intention (ikhlas) <\/em>in giving\nsadaqah for the sake of Allah. Besides in Islam sadaqah<\/em> (or any other\ngood deeds) should be performed consistently. \nIn a hadith, the Prophet was reported to have said: \u201cThe most beloved\ndeeds to Allah, The Exalted, are the most consistent, even if they are small.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, MCO should not\nbecome a reason for Muslims not to continue the practice of sadaqah<\/em>\nduring Ramadan or any other month. With fintech – from faster streamlined\ntransactions to increased transaction security \u2013 it is now easier than ever\nbefore for Muslims to do charitable deeds. Thus,\ntaking the merit of the ongoing month of Ramadan which thawab<\/em> is\nmultiplied manifold, Muslims should take this opportunity to increase their righteous\ndeeds (\u2018amal salih) and this includes the act of giving charity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year, unlike previous years, Muslims around the world welcomed the arrival of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in a gloomy state. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic which communities around the world are facing has made Muslims to embrace new normal in their way of doing things and routines. As for this year, there is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-straits-times","category-139","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}