NOTE: #
I’m NOT a religious scholar nor do I hold a degree in theology/islamic studies or of any sort. I’m just a muslim trying to apply, reflect, and share the word of God. Feel free to correct me by contacting me.
Allah throughout in the Quran gives profound and wise principles as to what should be one’s attitude when intending to help others/give charity, etc. The number one and the most profound one is given in Chapter 76, verses 8-9:
they give food to the poor, the orphan, and the captive, though they love it themselves, saying, ‘We feed you for the sake of God alone: We seek neither recompense nor thanks from you.
Food is one heavy amalgamation of entertainment, fulfillment, and sometimes addiction. The folly of worldly wants diminish the moment you take that favorite cheesy slice of pizza - oozing with molten mozzarella, followed by that icy and crispy fizzy sip of your go-to soda travelling down your throat.
Principle #1: Giving What You Love #
The “they” described in the verse are the righteous people as Allah begins describing them in verse 5. Allah describes that they, despite the love for that pizza and soda, give food to the poor. There’s a significant difference between giving the left-over vs. buying a separate meal to give away. An even bigger difference when you decide to give away that scrumptious pizza and soda before you even consume it. That is what Allah is talking about, to my understanding. As Mufti Muhammad Shafi says in his work, Maariful Quran:
This would mean that they give food to the needy while they themselves love it and desire it, not that they eat to their fill and give the left-over food to the needy and poor.
Principle #2: Purifying the Intention #
We often do good acts because of mainly two reasons; self-satisfaction and reaction of others. The “I” gets an egoistic boost whenever we do good acts. You may not say this out loud but the inner self constantly whispers “I did this for you”, “I helped you out on that rough day”, “I was there when no one didn’t come”. Allah throughout in the Quran tells us to do things for His sake alone. Why? To counter the two reasons aforementioned that the “I” is inclined towards. Hence Allah mentions that by saying “We feed you for the sake of God alone”, the righteous people remind not only themselves whom they’re doing the act for but set the stage for my favorite third principle (below).
Principle #3: Liberating the Receiver #
A very thoughtful video I recently watched of Brother Zeeshan’s (YouTube: Smile 2 Jannah) was where he was talking about how people will come and go, let you down, etc. but the One who created you stays. No matter how much you may do for someone, one day they might snap back at you. As aforementioned, the reaction of others plays a big role in us doing acts, even good deeds. When helping someone out, the receiver might feel obliged to show gratitude to you, or may feel like they owe you a debt of gratitude. On top of that, we get an instant dopamine hit after the receiver smiles back at us, gives us all sorts of blessings, and what not. This motivates us to help people more, the next time.
Allah completely shatters this concept. The righteous people say inwardly/outwardly “We seek neither recompense nor thanks from you”. In short; Allah is teaching us that you giving charity should not depend upon the reaction of others. They expect a reward only from the One who truly recognizes and sees.