Charity

Now we know that Muhammad told the muslims around him

that they should give charity from what they had

to those with less than themselves,

just as muslims try to do today.

And he made it clear that this Sadaqah was an extremely important part of the muslim way of life.

He said that no day should go by without our giving in charity,

and that although charity is something we give,

we receive rewards from it

like a seed that grows into a plant that has many seeds,

each one of which grows into more plants containing many more seeds.

And so charity grows within a community, to the benefit of everybody.

But of course, Sadaqah is not just the giving of money,

but can also be helping someone,

or doing good deeds,

or even a smile,

and it's impossible to work out what a good deed is worth

in terms of money.

And what would be the cost of a smile?

For things like smiles are important,

but the cash value of this kind of sadaqah is very vague.

And some people will always be more generous than others,

and some will be more afraid of giving what they have away.

So how are they to know when they have given enough?

Now you can give away smiles all day

and you clearly don't lose anything from your bank account,

but the money that people have is a different matter.

People need to know how much is enough.

So in the Qur'an, God gives mankind guidance

that each year they should pay a certain amount of their riches

as a tax to be given to the poor.

And the Messenger explained to his community

how to calculate the amount that should be paid

on different kinds of material wealth,

not just money

but also such things as items of jewellery

and other goods.

So every year, muslims count up the riches that they have,

and see how much they have had all year

that they haven't needed for themselves,

or used for the benefit of others.

And because this wealth has not been used for the good of the community in any way,

to remind those who have it

that when God gives us riches we need to use them to do good,

each year muslims give a part of the wealth they have not used

to be shared amongst the poor as charity.

This is known as Zakat,

the purifying of excess riches

by sharing some of them

with the poor who have none.

In the Qur'an

God frequently sets the paying of Zakat on our wealth

alongside the making of our daily prayers.

and it is one of the most important things muslims need to do.

We need our prayers to remind us of

our relationship with God,

and we need to pay Zakat to remind us of

our relationship with those in the community less fortunate than ourselves.