Words on Generosity
Generosity is not confined to just spending money. It has more comprehensive and wider notion and forms. Following are some of the various forms of generosity...
- Categories: Islamic Morals -
All the praises and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of the ‘Alamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists), and peace and blessings of Allah be upon His honest Messenger.
Generosity is not confined to just spending money. It has more comprehensive and wider notion and forms. Following are some of the various forms of generosity:
1 – That a man is the creditor of someone in debt; and he relieves him from it while he is able to collect it without pains or hardship.
2 – That a man deserves a wage for a business, so he leaves such wage willingly.
3 – That a man seeks to fulfill people's needs and to relief their anguishes.
4 – Generosity with power that can be exerted in good acts and causes such as enforcing the right, supporting the wronged, aiding the weak, helping a man for his need with people of power, and so on.
5 – Generosity with influence; that a person uses his/her influences to humiliate his/her it and to have the altruism to fulfill the needs of the needy.
6 – A man's generosity with his/her rest and recreation, so he/she exerts hard efforts for the interest of others.
7 – A man's generosity with his/her time to benefit people, whatever such benefit might be (permissible).
8 – Generosity with advice and guiding.
9 – Generosity with knowledge, which is better than generosity with money; as knowledge is nobler than money
10 – Generosity with honor that a person becomes generous with his honor for this who has defamed him/her by forgiveness and pardon. Such generosity has a lot of integrity of chest, peace of heart, and getting rid of antagonizing people.
11 – Generosity with patience, tolerance and disregarding; which is a noble rank that can be achieved only by those of high souls.
12 – Generosity with good manners, cheerfulness, smile, gaiety, simplification, and meeting people with a happy mien. These exceed generosity with patience, tolerance and forgiveness. This who does that achieves the degree of a person who is always fasting and praying at night. These are the heaviest things put in the balance (on the Day of Judgment). They contain a lot of benefits, happiness and interests.
13 – Inciting people to do good, and urging them for generosity and spending are amongst generosity.
14 – Guiding people for charitable causes and reminding them about their methods. This who guides to good is alike this who does it.
15 – Praising and praying for the generous and encouraging them to be more giving.
16 – Generosity of the soul by alleviating it from envy and by the love of achieving the praiseworthy manners. This is a hidden beautiful form of generosity. It is that a person loves for his brothers the same as he loves for himself. He opens different fields for them and gives them the opportunities to innovate, talk, participate and so on.
This includes: to be happy for their success and sad for their failure. This is a hidden form of generosity that there are only a few people who realize it or abide by it.
17 – A person's generosity from what people possess. He/She does not look up and does not expose to it at all, even if by his/her tongue
18 – A person's generosity with his soul, which is the most marvelous form of generosity, the most of which is that for the sake of Allah Glorified and Exalted.
Some of the virtues of generosity include:
1 – Satisfaction of the Lord, the entry of the heavens, and escape from Hellfire.
2 – Generosity has an impact for the sovereignty of the nation, maintenance of the religion and development of sciences.
3 – Generosity has an impact for maintaining the honors and the brightness of the minds.
4 – Generosity has an impact for bringing hearts together and confirming the association of brotherhood.
5 – Generosity has an impact on eradicating a lot of low ethics such as envy of the poor to the rich and the arrogance of the rich towards the poor.
Differentiating of people in generosity
People differentiate in generosity according to their intentions and noble souls. Following are some samples:
1 – They differentiate in spending. This who spends secretly is more perfect than this who spends only in public.
2 – They differentiate in deeming what they spend as small and as great. This who spends in good deeds and then he/she forgets or pretends to forget what he/she has spent is more generous than this who is still remembering what he/she has spent, especially as a grace.
3 – They differentiate in the speed of spending. This who spends money for the needy once he/she feels their need is better than this who only spends to those who ask him/her.
4 – This who intends to spend to the needy – whether knowing them or not – is more generous than this who intends to give to only those whom he/she knows and those who know him/her.
5 – This who gives with satisfaction and pleasure is more generous than this who gives with heart restriction.
6 – Not having a broad barrier with the mendicants is a sign of being firm in generosity.
7 – A sign of being firm in generosity is to meet the mendicants in good manners and to receive them with open arms, pleasure and welcome in order to keep their pride.
8 – The greatest sign of one's distinction and generosity is to have a soft sympathy that to give to the needy, even if they are among one's enemies. This is considered as a loftiness of the soul and a kind of honor and the disdaining of enmity.
9 – A sign of being firm in generosity is to feel pain and sorrow to be asked while one does not have a thing to give.
10 – Some of the generous are so sublime that they see the favor and gratitude is due to this who asks, as he/she has a good opinion about them and thus has done them a favor. This is an amazing kind of generosity.
11 – The loftiest degree of generosity is that to be in dire need for what you have, but still you ignore your need and spend what you have in good causes. This is called altruism.
Peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his family and companions.
Ibn Khuzaymah house