Why Muslims Should Volunteer?
The Prophet (peace be upon him) was reported to have said, (narrated Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari): said, ‘On every Muslim there is enjoined (a compulsory) sadaqa (alms).’ They (the people) said, ‘If one has nothing?’ He said, ‘He should work with his hands so that he may benefit himself and give in charity.’ They said, ‘If he cannot work or does not work?’ He said, ‘Then he should help the oppressed unhappy person (by word or action or both).’ They said, ‘If he does not do it?’ He said, ‘Then he should enjoin what is good (or said what is reasonable).’ They said, ‘If he does not do that?’ He said, ‘Then he should refrain from doing evil, for that will be considered for Him as a Sadaqa (charity)’ (Sahih al Bukhari, Vol. 8, Book 73, Hadith 51).
It is clear from this hadith that volunteering can form a large part of our charity. So, instead of throwing money at causes, why not physically get involved and lend a helping hand?!
1.Make your days productive
There are so many distractions in our lives nowadays – TV, social media, unproductive conversations and outings – which, I’m sure when we look back in life inshaAllah, we’ll feel that the blessings of our time wasn’t spent productively.
Now, we all have our duties and responsibilities, whether this is our studies at College and University, or our 9-5 job. Alhamdulillah, we are blessed enough to be in a position where we do have some downtime. And, it’s that downtime we are talking about. Is it spent simply “chilling out” which won’t really bring us benefit or are making a contribution to those around us, and thereby our own scale of good deeds? So a major reason, for volunteering, can be having something to show at the end of the day, month and even year, that something was sacrificed for Almighty Allah – even if it was just some of your leisure time. InshaAllah, if your time is spent helping a local cause (which doesn’t have to be the Myriad Foundation) then your well on your own way to making your days much more productive and filled with good deeds.
It was narrated from Ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The son of Adam will not be dismissed from before his Lord on the Day of Resurrection until he has been questioned about five things: his life and how he spent it, his youth and how he used it, his wealth and how he earned it and how he disposed of it, and how he acted upon what he acquired of knowledge.”(Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2422; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi, 1969)
2. Be the change you want to see in the world
Also, being a volunteer and contributing to society and local causes means you become the change you want to see – “be the change you want to see in the world”. By actively getting involved, you can play a major part in making a change, at least in your local area, if not the world. From our interaction with the public from our various projects such as ‘SoupNSmiles’, ‘Awareness Project’ and ‘Feed-a-Friend’, there has been plenty of notice raised of the little impact of Muslims within local areas, the lack of understanding of Islam and Islamic Values. This makes it even more important for Muslims to play a part in supporting local projects. A reason often overlooked why Muslims should engage in volunteering is this offers a chance to excel in good deeds. Alhamdulillah, Almighty Allah has opened many doors to obtain good deeds in the worship and this is increased greatly through the blessed month of Ramadhan and at other periods, however, being in the service of others can allow you to very quickly rack up your stock of good deeds.
3.Competition in good deeds
Competing in good deeds is a concept firmly established within Islam. The Noble Qur’an mentions, “So race (to all that is) good” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:148).
We understand the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) also competed with each other in good deeds.Once the poor companions came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, “O Prophet of Allah, the wealthy among us have gone with the highest degrees and the highest levels of Jannah.
Because they pray like we pray, and they fast like we fast, but they have access to wealth with which they can offer Hajj with, they can offer Umrah with, they can offer Jihaad with and they can give it in charity more than what we can give.” So the Prophet (peace be upon him) instructed them to say after every Fard prayer the supplication: Subhanallah, 33 times; Alhamdulillah, 33 times; Allah hu Akbar, 33 times and Laa ‘ilaaha ‘illallaahu wahdahu laa shareeka lahu, lahul-mulku wa lahul-hamdu wa Huwa ‘alaa kulli shay’in Qadeer, to complete the 100. So, even the poor were competing with the rich.
The companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) Abu Bakr and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, used to compete with each other. Umar once said to himself that today he would beat Abu Bakr in giving charity.
Every time Abu Bakr would beat him, but today he would beat Abu Bakr. So he went to the Prophet (peace be upon him) with a large sum of money and said that this is for Allah and His Prophet (peace be upon him). The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Bless you! What did you leave for your family?” He replied, “Half of it.” That is, he took 50% of what he owned and gave it to Allah and the Prophet (peace be upon him). So the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “May Allah bless you.”
A while later, Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, came with a larger amount and he put it in front of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and said, “This is for Allah and the Prophet (Peace be upon him).” So the Prophet (Peace be upon him) asked him the same as he had asked Umar, may Allah be pleased with him. Abu Bakr {may Allah be pleased with him} replied, “I left Allah and His Prophet (peace be upon him).” That is, he gave away a 100% of what he owned.
Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said on that incident, “Wallahi, by Allah, I will never compete with you, Abu Bakr, because whoever competes with you will always lose. This shows us that they used to compete with one another for Almighty Allah’s pleasure.
Alhamdulillah, being a volunteer at any organisation certainly offers many, many benefits – and the true extent of the blessings of the work we put in, inshaAllah we will discover in the next life.
So if you’re not volunteering at the moment, take action today and get involved!
The Myriad Foundation are connected with a range of charitable organisations, local and national, therefore get in touch with us and start increasing your scale of good deeds with the grace of Allah.
