Lessons in generosity

The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, was the best of mankind and the most obedient to his Lord, and it is from his tradition that he used to increase his acts of worship during the blessed month of Ramadan. Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyim said: “The Prophet was the most generous of all people, but the time he spent the most was during the month of Ramadan, and he used to increase his recitation of the Qur’an, prayers, mentioning Allah and I’tikaaf (i.e. residing in the mosque with the intention of worship)”.Likewise, the Companions and the early generations of Muslims were especially generous during the month of Ramadan. Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyim said: “There is a difference between being generous in charity and being wasteful: a generous person spends his charity in proper channels, whilst the wasteful person might spend extravagantly in places where it is not needed, and in places where spending is direly needed.” Anas said: “The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, was the bravest person and the most generous.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]Ibn ‘Abbaas stated: “The Prophet was the most generous of all the people, and he used to reach the peak in generosity in the month of Ramadan when Jibreel met him. Jibreel used to meet him every night of Ramadan to teach him the Qur’an, and when he met him, he would be more generous than the strong uncontrollable wind (i.e. in readiness and haste to do charitable deeds).” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] Ibn Hajar said commenting on this narration: “This added generosity resulted from the virtue of the month, the one with whom he reviewed the Qur’an and the thing being reviewed (i.e. the Words of Allah).” ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar for example, would prefer to eat his Iftar meal with the poor. Whenever he broke his fast at home, he never ate his fill, so that if a needy person visited, ‘Abdullaah could give him his Iftar meal. Thus, he would end up remaining hungry at night too. He used to give away sweets in charity saying, ‘I am aware of the saying of Allah The Almighty (which means): {“You shall not attain piety until you spend out of that which is beloved to you”} [Qur’an, 3: 92] and Allah knows that I love sweets.’Once when Imaam Ahmad had prepared some bread for Iftar, a needy person called on him. Without hesitation he gave away all his bread, and went hungry. Ibn al-Mubaarak used to prepare sweets for his brothers, despite the fact that he was fasting.Al-Imaam Ash-Shaafi’i once said: “It is beloved to me to see one increasing his acts of generosity during the month of Ramadan, following the example of Allah’s Messenger, and for one’s own good. There are many who become over-occupied with fasting and prayers, forgetting the other benefits of the month of Ramadan [i.e., forgetting about the benefits and rewards for being generous towards others].” Besides voluntary acts of charity, Allah The Almighty has prescribed Zakaah (obligatory charity) on those whose wealth reaches a certain amount and made paying Zakaah one of the pillars of Islam. When a full lunar year elapses while one possesses such wealth, then he is obliged to pay Zakaah. In case of agriculture, it is due at the harvest. It is not permissible to pay it in instalments, nor is one allowed to delay Zakaah until the month of Ramadan unless there is a dire need. Ibn Qudaamah and Ash-Shaafi’ee are of the opinion that, “Zakaah must be paid immediately when it becomes due and one is not permitted to delay it whilst able to unless he fears a certain harm to afflict him due to paying it.”When asked about delaying the payment of Zakaah until the month of Ramadan, Shaykh al-‘Uthaymeen  said: “Zakaah, like any other good deed, is preferred in virtuous times unless it becomes due, then a person must pay it immediately. If ones full lunar year elapses on the month of Rajab, for example, then he should not delay it until Ramadan and must pay it in Rajab.”Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/