Generosity

What is generosity?

Generosity is giving something one has to the penurious (who are deprived of that thing). ꜱᴇʟꜰʟᴇꜱꜱɴᴇꜱꜱ,ꜱᴇʟꜰ_ꜱᴀᴄʀɪꜰɪᴄᴇ ᴏʀ ɪꜱᴀʀ is the apex of generosity. The preeminent definition of “ɪꜱᴀʀ” can be taken from the following verse of the beloved holy Quran:

“They give food, despite their love for it, to the poor, captives, and orphans.” We feed you only out of desire for Allah’s sake. We do not want any repayment from you or any thanks. Truly, we fear from our Lord a gloomy, calamitous day. “So Allah has safeguarded them from the evil of that day and has made them meet with radiance and pure joy” (Al-Dahr, 76:8–11).

The word “generosity” is not restricted to giving material things like clothes or money to the destitute. Sometimes, generosity can be as simple as giving a smile or spending a few extra minutes to talk to someone ,who is in need of it.

Here, let’s take the example of a person who’s struggling. Take a few minutes out of your day. If you already took some time to listen to the person, congratulations! You’re already practising generosity.

Even the actions that seem monotonous can be generous.

” ᴛʀᴜᴇ ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴏꜱɪᴛy ɪꜱ ᴀɴ ᴏꜰꜰᴇʀɪɴɢ;ɢɪᴠᴇɴ ꜰʀᴇᴇʟy ᴀɴᴅ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴩᴜʀᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇ.ɴᴏ ꜱᴛʀɪɴɢꜱ ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄʜᴇᴅ.ɴᴏ ᴇxᴩᴇᴄᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ .”~ꜱᴜᴢᴇ ᴏʀᴍᴀɴ

A believer should be a blessing in disguise for those who are already in disguise. A moonlight  on a dark night, tender hearted ,benevolent, empath and humane .

As Allah says there in the holy verse of holy Quran ,that:

“You who have faith!” Giveaway  some of what ,we have  provided for you before a day arrives on which there is no trading, no close friendship, and no intercession or intervention.

“It is those who deny the bounty that has been given them,who are the oppressors” (Al-Baqarah, 2:254).

Hazrat Ali (R.A.) says:

“People are asleep, and when they die, they wake up.” “If we don’t want to wake up empty-handed in the eternal realm and we don’t want to be in a state of distress, then we must prepare ourselves for our hereafter by adopting the character of generosity and selflessness in this world.”

Let’s take one more example of generosity here. On October 8, 2005, Pakistan’s Muzzafar Abad was hit by an earthquake, in which more than 70,000 people lost their lives. Hunger and poverty were at their peak. On November 24, a young Turkish child wrote them a letter. In this letter, he vowed to give half of his wealth to the Muslim brothers. thus showing the peak of selflessness.

“I am the son of a poor household. My father abandoned me, and my mother is ill. We have two lira to buy bread, but I am sending  you one of these liras,because  today I found another loaf of bread in the trash. We are going to break our fast with that. Please buy bread for the children that suffered in the earthquake with this one lira. This money is lawful and pure. I couldn’t send all of the money because I needed the rest to buy a stamp. “I am sorry.”

Ah! What an amazing  level of generosity this is!

Lastly, let me mention here a saying of Khalil Gibran:

“Those who give you a serpent when you ask for a fish may have nothing but serpents to give.” “It is then generosity on their part.”

So, whatever the Lord has bestowed upon us, we should take it as our responsibility to share it with those in need. We should try to be generous to everyone.