Adhering to Allah’s commandments!

I tuned in to the Egyptian TV station via satellite, and fortunate me, there was a great program called Religion & Life "deen wa dunia" hosted by Dr. Abdullah Shahatah, professor of Islamic Shariah in the University of Cairo. The show lasted one hour; great hour of useful and valuable questions asked by various concerned Muslims worldwide.

Dr. Shahatah seemed to possess such extensive knowledge of the Quran and Sunnah that enabled him not for one second to hesitate in giving answers. May Allah (swt) be pleased with Dr. Shahatah for this noble effort helping concerned Muslims with important answers to their queries.

One Muslim sister asked Dr. Shahatah a question concerning giving alms "zakat". As the Muslim sister was relaying the question, I was almost in tears – joyful tears – knowing that many Muslims are doing the impossible to comply with Allah’s commands and His Almighty’s orders. That truly shook the inner core of my body and I said to myself, "al-hamdullilah, Muhammed’s followers are still out there."

The Muslim sister asked Dr. Shahatah that she and her husband are regular "zakat" payers. This year, her husband was forced to retire from his job and basically, the whole family – including two kids attending the university – rely on her modest salary. She asked if she could get a reprieve from paying "zakat" until the family gets their order together and then continue to pay the "zakat". The lady was very sincere and in no way running away from Allah’s right. Also, the Muslim sister was assuring herself that she will ask her kids to pay "zakat" on her behalf in the event she dies before paying the unpaid share of "zakat".

Moderate, humble and low-income Muslims are struggling daily finding food on the table, and yet fully complying with Allah’s rights and adhering to His Almighty’s commandments. I wish for those who claim of being Muslims and in reality their only association to Islam is the word "Islam" jotted down on their Birth Certificate! I wish they would learn from this noble sister and try to imitate her gracious deed. The pile of money stacked in the banks is not traveling along to the grave, and rest assure we’ll all be asked for every single penny ( riyal, lira, dirham, dinar, fils ) on Judment day "yawm al-qiama" when we stand before Allah, the Almighty (swt). This is nothing but a simple reminder for all Muslims.

Arabic Paper