As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
My brothers and sisters, in Ramadan,
many people give out their charities.
The reason why they do it is because
coinciding it with Ramadan where the
reward of good deeds is multiplied
would actually mean that they're getting a
greater reward for the charity in Ramadan.
So alhamdulillah, it's a good thing.
Now,
the zakat that is calculated,
many people have a cut-off date
and then they calculate what they have and
two and a half percent of it and mashallah,
it's a beautiful way of calculating.
Should you give the cash or should you give
it in hampers or should you give it in kind?
What should you do?
The reality is whatever is known as anfa' lil fuqara,
whatever is more beneficial for the poor
person is what you should try to give out.
There is permissibility to give it out in cash.
There is permissibility to give it out in kind.
But if you want to know which is better,
you need to look at what's better for the poor person.
So if it is better for example to give them the cash then so be it.
But if it's better to give them the hampers
or the food that they want and so on,
then you'd rather do that.
When it comes to sadaqatul fitr,
it is best to give the food item itself.
That is the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
There are some scholars who say that you may give the money as well.
However,
some people say it's prohibited to give money,
you must give it in kind.
And some say it's prohibited to give the,
you know,
in kind,
you must give the cash.
Both of those are actually not accurate.
The reason is you've got to do whatever
is beneficial for the poor person.
Imagine 10 people giving someone zakat.
They give them 10 big bags of rice.
What will this poor person do with 10 big bags of rice?
He's going to sell them.
Perhaps he has other needs.
He might need clothing,
he might need medication,
he might need something you don't know about,
he might have to pay a bill,
he might have something outstanding.
So that's the reason why we say you've got to look
into whatever is beneficial for the poor person.
Thereafter you need to know that sometimes
if there is a need outside of Ramadan,
you can give.
You can give in advance and you can then
deduct it from what you have given in Ramadan.
Or your zakat amount,
you are allowed to give in advance and then you say,
look,
this is part of my zakat.
Because there is a need,
there is an urgent desperate need right now.
And that is why at times people say,
look,
I know there is a need but I'm waiting for
Ramadan because I want a greater reward.
When there is a desperate need,
Allah will reward you even greater than you can imagine.
Because to assist someone in desperate need
is so rewarding beyond your imagination.
Allah will assist you at the time of your
need in this world and in the hereafter.
So I thought I'd mention one or two of these
points in order to encourage the giving.
Also remember when the zakat is given,
it's a small percentage that is Allah's.
It is the ownership of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But over and above that you must always give that which is voluntary.
Over and above zakat,
you give money from your own,
people call it Lillah,
you know,
for the sake of Allah.
I'm giving.
You may give anyone and everyone because zakat,
you're only allowed to give certain categories.
But when it comes to the charities that are voluntary,
you can give anyone,
anyone who benefits from your wealth or
the goodness that Allah has given you.
That is something amazing.
Imagine Allah has kept a pillar of Islam
reaching out to those who are in need.
Imagine the benefit there must be in this.
There is actually,
but I mean for those who want to look at it that way.
If there was no benefit in it,
there would never have been a pillar of Islam giving,
giving those who don't have.
So imagine if you were voluntarily helping those who don't have,
whatever it is they don't have,
think of how good your connection with Allah will become.
He wants you to care for people.
So he's made a pillar of Islam caring for others.
May Allah Almighty grant us goodness and open our doors,
and may Allah Almighty grant us the best of this world and the next.
أقول قولي هذا وصلى الله وسلم على نبينا محمد.