Beyond the obligation of Zakat, we find in Islamic teachings, a large number of recommendations about the moral significance of personal expenditure. The management of one’s possessions can never be thought of as outside the meaning of being a Muslim. We may distinguish in the Quran at least four aspects of the moral meaning of expenditure:

1. To please God and make gifts along the way He sets us. Faith is that intimate conviction that God sees what we do and knows the intention behind the way we dispose off our possessions. Maintaining this link with the Creator means directing all our financial activity toward goodness, transparency, and justice. It is to give and give again from our plenty, over and above Zakat, in order to live with our rights in harmony with those of others.

2. Giving fair measure. It is not necessary to live like a hermit and to give everything without any sort of account. It cannot be right that we should make ourselves poor in order to achieve justice. A true gift is one that is motivated by moderation and awareness of limitations, as well as by responsibility. Our spirit, our body, those close to us – all have rightful claims upon us to which we must respond, and out of this response is born the true gift of oneself to the other and to society as a whole: fair measure makes it possible to maintain what we need to sustain our own centre in order to be in solidarity with other people.

3. The struggle against egoism and acquisitiveness. To neglect giving and to protect one’s possessions to the point of burying them is to forget God and to treat one’s possessions like an idol. It means that one is preoccupied with counting, when what is needed is prayer and purifying oneself from this natural tendency of egoism. The revelation has some harsh words for acquisitive people. The image of a hereafter of suffering is meant to awaken the conscience to the seriousness of an attitude that borders on idolatry and whose consequences we see every day.

4. Learning discretion. Mankind is asked to find the measure in which it will give and to remain discreet and respectful of others. Indeed, one’s way of giving is in itself a testimony of faith: if you have no need to be seen by others, it is a sign that you know God is always with you. Discretion also safeguards the dignity of those you help. The aim is to prevent evil, to give before the poor need to beg, and to try to avoid being seen by anyone so that no one has to be embarrassed or look the other way for no reason.

(Compiled from: “Western Muslims And The Future Of Islam” - Tariq Ramadan.)

Reflections