 Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem. I'm so happy to be with my wonderful group in California I love coming to visit your school and your mosque and meeting your families a few years back And we hope we can do it again and I'm so honored to be getting together with you to talk about Zakat and This is the book of Zakat of Ghazali is rather big and so there's a lot to cover But the book of fasting which we'll do next week is very short So we're going to get into a lot of personal talk and experiences. This is a very important subject And you all are going to be learning everything Imam al-Ghazali has to say about it even though it was written for adults It's so much easier to understand it in children's language And it's really important for parents and children now remember in all the different great Religious traditions of the world people are asked to give charity and to be generous and In Islam, of course, we speak of charity not just giving money, but even if you smile at somebody Somebody who said that's a form of charity, too But Zakat is something it's a amount of of money or goods Maybe you're a farmer and you have grain that's given every year to those people who are in need but it's a very deep subject and talking about being generous And what all that means and charity Actually is something all these ideas. We're going to talk about today are really useful in your daily life and not just useful They're really important. All right in book one you all learned. All right There are three basic needs people have what is the first the thing you need more than anything to be alive Can anyone say? Water water and food. That's the first thing and next you need clothing Right on your body and lastly, we need shelters to keep us safe from the rain and the snow in the sun It protects us now people now Have gotten so involved in what they eat They cook all kinds of complicated things that takes hours and then clothing We all have lots of clothes clothes. We don't wear and then houses Oh, we've done so much more for houses than we even needed. We're like redecorating them And Emma Moghazali says you have to watch You have to watch out because you shouldn't spend all your time just taking care of your body, you know, oh You you have to really take care of your golden heart and you all have been studying the golden heart from the very beginning so But before we get into how exactly, you know, you give and what Incredible things are you have to think about every day around your friends and family Is first before we get into the actual charity of Zakat, I'm going to tell you something really a story Remember remember in the books we have Hajj Abdullah Remember the children go to Hajj Abdullah and he talks to them and he answers their questions from the Mamal Ghazali All right, so he tells a story and it was a Ghazali story All right, he tells a story which is really important for you because it will make you understand What it is to be giving. All right Once upon a time, they're these children and they're going on the merry-go-round. Do you see the children on the merry-go-round? Ah, and do you notice that there's some children on the other side of the fence and they're looking They wish they had the fen the five sets to go in the merry-go-round, but they don't have enough money to So the children are very sad when they see this and they run to Hajj Abdullah and they want to ask him Why are some people rich and some people poor? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Yeah, you see some people have money and some people don't you sometimes seen beggars in the street people who have Cardboard signs up asking for money for food, but on their way to see Hajj Abdullah They pass a beggar and he's saying Leela Leela Leela, he needed help and they rush into Hajj Abdullah and they say oh Hajj Abdullah Why are some people rich and some people poor and there's this man saying Leela well Hajj Abdullah says To start with you know a law made everything in opposites day and night Good and bad rich and poor if a law wanted to make everyone rich He could have made everyone rich, but there's a reason for rich and poor All right, and he said now that man when he sang Leela Lea means two things it means for the sake of God and it also means it Belongs to God already. You know kids when somebody dies people say inna li lahee We're inna elehi Rajahun Surely we belong to God inna inna li lahee so he says Children take this money and give it to the beggar and then come back because if somebody every Children if someone reaches out to you, do you ignore them or do you help them? Maybe they don't put their hands out. Maybe they just look lonely in that way They're reaching out. Do you ignore them or do you go and help them? So anyway, of course that you do and so then they come back in and Hajj Abdullah said all right He said all right isa inna in Naya and Zahra and Isla and Jibril and all you children and your mothers and fathers did any of you now I'm asking you this Hajj Abdullah is asking you this did you give yourself? Your strengths your good qualities your parents Your place where you live the people you know did any of you give yourself all of these things? no Guess what everything you are your qualities and who all that you are and all that you have all The things you have in your life and your blessings they are on loan from Allah They are they're on loan and they are trust they're given as a trust to you You don't own them. He's given them for you to use and give back in a good way So if you do something good, can you take credit for it or or is it that Allah? Gave you the good ideas and the strength and the wherewithal to help so we can't take credit for what we do You know and this is very important to remember that what we have is only on loan and a little boy said to me He said auntie. He said if I borrow a book or if I borrow somebody's Legos It's easy to return it because I just borrowed it right But guess what then you go to give something you didn't borrow and you have a hard time you feel I don't want to give it. It's mine. I don't want to give my good truck. It's mine This is a problem. So then Hajj Abdullah says I'll tell you two stories Imam al-Ghazali tells in Order for you to understand how to give when you all give and how not to give What's really bad way? All right, so okay one day. There's a king And this king is really a law right al-Malik and this king goes to a rich man who has fields and plants and animals and he said oh Abdullah had There's a poor family in town and they need food Would you take them food and he says no, no, no. Well, look, these are my lands. I tilled them I take care of them. They're mine. Why should I give to those poor people? They should work But he's wrong, of course So he goes into town and he takes a plate of food and instead and he holds it up high Look at how he's holding it way up high and the poor people are reaching up They're needing to they feel poor they feel Low because they have to reach up they have to beg him and they're also worried what if next time he comes to town Maybe we'll have to take care of his horse. Now. Maybe we are beholden to him You see so then is that the right way to give or the wrong way to give everybody? Wrong exactly. And so then one then another time, right? Wrong and then the king the king says all right The king says he goes to a man called Abdelhaq and Abdelhaq was an orphan and these nice people They raised him and they taught him about money and banking and all this and some and the king goes to Abdelhaq and says Yeah, Abdelhaq There's a poor widow. She has nothing she has no money. She needs money to send her little children to school Okay, now you're gonna find out the correct way to give. All right, so He goes to the lady there. She is you see and he puts the plate of gold load. You see he holds it low and He says to her oh Blessed lady, I beg you to receive The money I bring on behalf of the king not my money I bring on on his behalf in order that I might give back some of what is being loaned to me in other words When we're giving maybe She can send her children to school But the real thing is happening is you the greater thing is you are obeying what Allah has asked And you are returning something of the loan. He's given to you now next time you give I want you to think about that. All right so now In that story you're getting some important principles Do you think we can be proud and stuck up and say I did this I have this we can't We have to be humble because Allah gave it to us to use on his account We weren't given things just to I mean, of course, we're having some fun in our life But also the thing is I'm gonna put my glasses on So God has given wealth to some people and made other people poor for a reason now hmm, did you know that Zakat, you know how important it is to pray everyone Zakat is the highest duty after prayer and In fact prayer and Zakat are mentioned together in 82 verses of the Quran, right? Establish prayer and give Zakat. That's it's so important and you know why it is Because giving Zakat Purifies your heart. Do you remember children the book of knowledge where we start out? You've all got two hearts, right? the physical and the spiritual your golden heart and Your golden heart gets dust on it But you have to polish it off because how can you go to Jannah? How can you finally be happy and content if your heart has dust on it? So one of the best ways to keep your heart clean is charity is giving and did you know if you do naughty things or bad things? Maybe your mother calls you to help and you pretend you didn't hear Maybe you kept the biggest toy for yourself. Guess what? Do you know how you can purify that dust off of your heart? You've given charity. All right, so it's to purify your heart and just always remember It's everything we have is a loss. It's not ours, right? So why should it be so hard for you to give it? Why should we be greedy and hanging on and hoarding what he's given to us particularly if there's somebody who has need? By the way, you know what a hadith is that's something the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him said Here's a very interesting hadith. All right One of the Prophet's companions Abu Dhar said I came upon the messenger of God Sitting in the shade of the Kaaba and when he saw me he said by the Lord of the Kaaba. They are the losers Mmm, and I asked who are they a Law, I mean messenger of a law the losers and the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him said everyone who has plenty of wealth, right and And and does not do this Here here here constantly giving to those in front to those at the side and those behind Here here here if you have plenty and you're not constantly saying here have some here join this If you don't do that you are a loser. Do you want to be a loser? No, that would be a terrible thing and remember in the book of knowledge We're told the things you absolutely can't do that gets the most dust on your heart being greedy being angry being Envious, you know all those all of those things you don't want any of those things Because what you are doing if you're greedy and you're full of pride and you're angry and you argue, you know what you're doing You're actually saying you're putting yourself first Do you think in the Prophet Sunnah that we're trying to copy? Do you think he ever kept the best for himself? Do you think he was angry all the time and greedy and do you think that he wasn't generous? No, so aren't we trying to be like him? Isn't that the whole point? What Imam al-Ghazali is teaching us in these wonderful books? He's given you is ways to not only copy the Prophet and outward things But in us in our same kind of golden heart, wouldn't you like to have your heart like the Prophet? Or would you like to have your heart covered with all kinds of smudges of of greed and envy? so now um Now there are you know with Imam al-Ghazali. He says everything we do There's an outward way of doing it and an inward Remember with wudu you can just wash your hands and rinse your mouth or you can be saying Ya Allah Help me to do the right thing. Ya Allah forgive me for what I said There's an inward thing you can pray just running through your prayers You've memorized them or you can be present in your prayers So he is going to tell you some of the inner meanings of zakat Now even if your parents are paying money and you are not aren't there many ways you can also be generous and giving to So you you need to be giving all the time and you're going to understand why and and so All these things that you're learning about zakat you can apply in your daily life from right now All right. All right, so then There are different kinds of zakat that have to be paid right and they're also good manners when they're giving it And also they're different types of people that should be receiving it Now to give it to give zakat. Okay and picture this in your own life giving something You first have to have a good intention Like you're playing paying zakat. You would say I intend To give zakat tomorrow when you pray. Don't you say no way to a solo? I intend to pray the aster prayer. Don't you say that? Isn't intention near very very important and secondly with zakat You don't wait a long time to pay for it You rush to do it because you don't want people who are hoping to get food for the eat Who are in need you don't want them to feel sad and anxious and also you have to remember The reason you're doing it is not just to send some food to people or give people who are poor extra money who need it You remember this is a part of worship that Allah has said is this as important as prayer So now do you see why important it is how important it is? so of course We know that the prophet obeyed Allah And that he did the zakat and so we have to obey what the prophet said and how he said it should be done All right, so then So even remember even know You are helping people by giving charity or sharing your toys or helping your mother right The real the real reason you're doing it is it's like the widow right who received the money You by doing it you are actually returning something of the blessings Allah has given Back to him right don't you want to do that? Do you want to just hang on to all your blessings or do you want to have them flowing back? Because they were given to you just on loan. All right so and then also One of the other things in giving zakat Usually it's a good idea to give to the people in your own town Imagine in your own town that there's some people who don't have enough and they see you sending money to another country Not that we don't have charity all over the world But particularly at the time of Ramadan And the groups of people the kinds of people your parents will be giving to are the poor People who are needy People who help distribute zakat Uh prisoners who are deserving People who are in debt they borrowed money and they can't pay it back Then there's those people who are struggling To tell about Allah's way to other people and then there's the traveler These are some of the categories that your parents will be giving to and people you can help too And remember this is a duty imposed By god and god Is wise and you're going to see why this is so important right? So normally let's say you're going to be giving yours a cat You're your mother or father and they find three or four groups that they know of so they take each group And they divide it. Let's say they have people who are simply Have debt and they owe money They they divide those group into three groups and they divide their money into three different sections So it's spread members the cat is not in Islam just paid by people A big company's let's say Amazon or mobile oil if you want to if you all have a charity and you want donations You can go to amazon if there's an amazon in a muslim country and say When you go to give your zakat this big company consider our charities So the wonderful thing with zakat is with everybody giving every one of you I mean women sometimes think I have a lot of jewelry which I don't use and it's worth this much So every year they would pay two and a half percent on that jewelry which is not moving So everyone and the companies so it gets all this money going back into the world and getting things moving and helping people now Now Now we're going to get into a really deep thing. Let's just talk about you all giving Maybe you want to give oh, we have a lot of afghan refugee families in our town Do you have any afghan families that have come now to where you are? Because they're coming from that terrible war torn place No, you don't well, we have some families here and they need everything. They need a clothes washer They need toys. They know because they need food, right now. Um We do we do I bet you do now one of the important ways to give Right Is we do it? Humbly we don't go and feel really proud There's a family here. There's a father a wife a little baby and they have three children I don't even speak their language Do you think I should go in and take some clothes for them and feel proud that I'm giving to them? Make them feel that they have nothing in their poor. No, you wouldn't do that So the state of our heart remember children. We're working on our golden hearts Isn't that the most important thing we're all doing every day all day long with everything? So the way you give Let's say Even the way say your mother needs help in the kitchen and you go to give her help, right? Do you think you come in and you're like, oh, I'm helping my mother or do you come humbly? Because really you can't you can't give her enough help You know, we don't help our parents as much as we should think of all that they're giving us so of course Golden heart is what has to be thought of right and remember. All right, this is important You know how we talked about how we get the dust on our heart One of the tests you know, did you ever take exams or tests at school? You get a test One of the tests of how good your heart is Is just see if you're greedy or if you're really generous just watch your hearts everybody, you know Because we we we and know let's say you do something really horrible Guess what? There's a hadith that says if you did something not very nice Immediately be charitable give something and that will wash it away. Isn't that wonderful and also, I mean we have So many bless blessings. Have you ever thought that your eyelashes are a blessing? What would happen if you didn't have eyelashes? Well, things would get in your eye. It'd be terrible Do we it's we should say alhamdulillah. We have eyelashes So we should also be thanking Allah for all of our blessings Not just that we have food and clothes and wonderful parents and we're being educated But we have eyelashes. We have fingers. I mean think of all the blessings we have. All right So now There are different There are three different types of people see which kind of person you are These are three different types of people who give all right Right the highest type When we go back to the time of the prophet peace and blessings be upon him Did you know that his companion abu bakr? He gave everything he kept nothing back for his family right And and the and the prophet said what did you leave for your family? he said god and his messenger and Said no Omar another one of the companions. He gave half of what he had Now that's a very high group Then there's another group These are people who have just enough money to live and they keep just what they need and a little extra in case they should be A big problem. Someone needs an operation The car is broken and they kept and they keep a little more for charity and then they gave the rest away right Right and they keep some for their relatives, but you see Very few people are even of that category, right? and um, so in a way Being generous really is testing our generosity Just watch yourself and see how much how much you don't share or you don't give or you don't help And then the imam imam all gazali said and then there's the third group They pay only what is exactly asked for the cat and he said Sadly most people are in this category. They're stingy and not generous, right? but you know, um You want to purify your soul your nafs your golden heart you don't you don't want that greed because you know what? There's a problem sometimes you have a greedy thought let's say I've got a box of candy. I'm just going to hide it in my room. I'm not going to share it with the family You have a greedy thought Isn't that sad to even have that thought what could you do to fix that thought just overcome yourself? Yes, and go and do it anyway And then sometimes you have desires of stuff, you know that you want to go after and sometimes you're proud You know, my goodness. My father has a big car. We live in a big house You know, those people are poor you don't want any of those feelings of being proud And and and having bad desires and being greedy you have to polish it off And one of the ways you can do it guess what you can do everybody Get in the habit of forcing yourself every day to give something away Just go into your toys and you've got lots and don't pick your worst toy Pick something you love and give it and all of a sudden if it becomes a habit every day It'll make it easier for you to be generous, right? And it will help to polish your heart and it will give you also not will it just polish your heart? Guess what everyone you'll feel of a special joy a special joy Because you're giving and look how generous a law is to you And i'm speaking to parents here and to myself. This isn't a children's program. We're doing today And another thing another reason we give saka Is to show our gratitude for all the blessings that we have right now Let's talk about our physical bodies, right? When we worship we pray we use our bodies to pray right when we fast We use our bodies. We're not having water and food So these are ways that our body can show thanks for all of its blessings But then we have also to show thanks for all of the blessings we have like let's say, all right, you have eyelid. Look at that You didn't have an eyelid. What would happen to your eye? We get full of dust. This is like the windshield wipers on your car Imagine if you couldn't blink so we have so many blessings we have to thank a law for And then you know what if you get used to giving all the time And be grateful my dears that we don't have to beg have you seen people ever who were begging who were in need? Maybe you haven't but they're out there lots of all those homeless people We have to be so grateful. We didn't end up being born one of those people right and so If you get your greed used to being washed away You'll find yourself filled with joy and light. So you're also going to feel a lot of joy, right now There's some other inner dimensions, right all right, so The reason you want to hurry to pay your zakat Or hurry to help your mother or father or your grandmother is also You you should take joy in obeying a law if a law says it's wonderful to be charitable to people Don't just do it. Oh, I've got to do it. I want my heart to be clean I'll just have to do it You should be joyful being able to do it. You should be you should rush to do it not delay So also be joyful in your charity, right? And it's you know, it's a good idea also to do anything You know remember we studied in the book of knowledge how when you have a good thought It's the angels inside of you and your heart telling you what to do and you don't want to ignore the angels and also you know Remember that we want to be examples for other children and other parents and if we do things joyously You see they will copy us and maybe that little boy thing. Oh, she gives joyously. She runs to help her mother with joy She's not just dragging herself in to help or he So then you remember that 40th chapter in the book of knowledge Allah Imam al-Ghazali reminds us we're all teachers and remember about teachers teachers Did you know that the ants And these fish in the sea all pray for the good teachers and the angels take their wings And like stroke the good teachers. So everything you do every day. Remember, you're a teacher Do you want to be copied? We copy our teachers. So be good teachers, right? Okay, here's the next very important thing everyone We don't want to Give things so that we're impressing people. We're showing off Imagine you go and tell oh, I just gave I just gave 10 dollars to that charity Oh, so in other words, you're showing off and you're bragging that you gave that money It's it there's the prophet said peace and bliss blessings be upon him God does not accept the good deeds from somebody who reminds others of the favors he has done for them, right? Hey, I just gave my doll to that poor little girl. Oh, I just shared with my brother No, no, we're supposed to we're supposed to keep these things to ourself, right? The prophet said peace and blessings be upon him when a servant does some good deed in secret God records it as a as a good done in secret, but then if he shows it It's moved from what is secret to what is public and if he talks about it It's moved from what is secret and what is public to what is done out of a desire to be seen So are you doing these good things to please a law? Or to impress people and you want to be Seen and praised so anyway, we want to be careful the way we give the manners in which we give, right? Okay, then another important thing is um Now sometimes we we we give money in public Let's say sometimes. I'm sure you've been to an auction At a mosque and they're raising money. Let's say to build to build a new mosque All right, so I'm going to find a picture here And uh to build a new mosque and so a man raises his hand and says I will give a thousand dollars Okay, he's doing that in public But what is he really doing? He's also Giving other people a good a good example, you know a good example. I'm trying to find a pic this picture to show you all Anyway, ah here here's a picture Here's a mosque that's being built and here's a man writing a check And at the dinner party where they're raising the funds He gives a good amount. He's encouraging other people to do the same But we want his intention to be helping not to show off, right? Isn't that important what his intention is? right all right then next thing um so um Because you remember remember the story of the king and the poor widow right now remember when Abdel hawk gave the money to the widow and he held the gold low and he looked up in her face and said Oh black blessed lady. I beg you to receive this. You know what what's really interesting Is she said it must be very hard to be rich now? This is very interesting because sometimes being poor Is superior to being rich because when you're rich there are many dangers Remember we talked about even people some people only give the exact set cap amount and don't give any more They're not they're really still being greedy where their hearts are not open So the difficulties of rich people are more difficult than for the poor because rich people Have so much wealth when you have so many toys or you have so many blessings and you're holding all back You are actually in trouble. That's amazing dust on your golden hearts, but then Person that has nothing if you give to them they feel grateful to Allah, you know, so in many ways, right? Um The people who are also poor are giving us an opportunity to purify what we've been given So that's um, that's quite something all right Yes, gazale says Don't forget that the poor person all of you listen to this Is actually doing us a favor by accepting our charity and purifying ourselves agreed, right? So even if there's something you can do in the house, maybe your grandmother needs help Maybe your father needs help. Maybe there's picking up some something in the yard Maybe Helping clean out the basement whatever it is. All of this is something you all can be doing, right? And it's very very important very important and you should do it joyously and is giving back some of the blessings you've got All right, so then um another duty Don't remind people that you've given them some given them something you could go back and say Oh mother, wasn't it great that I helped you the giver shouldn't ruin the charity by reminding everybody of the generosity Now these are some sometimes you all may feel pride, right? Very proud, right? And so here are some ways you can keep from being proud, all right This is let's pretend you all are going to be giving some charity or your parents is going to be giving Giving some zakat, right? How can we keep from being proud of what we're doing and feeling satisfied? I gave the money I helped Do you have your hand up? In Naya, is your hand up? Would you like to say something if you were okay? So if you had like a lot of siblings, okay, parents were mentioning all what they did Like like if they were like writing down a contract of what they did Yeah Homework or something. Yeah, and then you said what about me? I did this also Would that be considered like Bad, no, I think not. I think in that case you would want to be recognized for keeping your contract with your homework. Yes I think it's more bragging about what you've done, you know Because I think in that case you should be recognized for doing the correct thing, you know, but um um Sometimes this is very interesting Let's say let's say, um Oh, all right, here's a good example You have a neighbor who's not well And so your mother cooks a big meal and takes it to the neighbor. All right now She could say look what I cooked for you. It took me all day, right? Or she could say Here's a little something, you know, she could make small of it. It's a little something I'm bringing See that is the better manners than Getting all this extra, you know bragging about it, you know, and also This gizali says there's two things here when you give charity you should not only Realize it's small what you're doing. It's very small what you're giving But also we should feel shame that we don't give more You know, think of all the toys. Let's say you might have And you take one to the afghan family you should feel one That i'm giving very little of what I have and two you should feel a little bit of i'm shamed I didn't give more these are ways that we've been given to really look at ourselves We think we're doing so well and we're so good and then we notice how ungenerous we are So imam al gizali is just showing us a really, um inaya these Really subtle little things that we do. Yes, Sahra So, um, I'm visiting Pakistan because some of my family lives there. So I'm in Pakistan right now. Okay. So I was saying, um Sometimes some people come and ring the bell Ring the bell of our of my grandparents house To ask for money. Yeah Uh, according. Yeah, go ahead keep going. Yes, uh-huh Yeah, and then, um One person rings the bell because they can't work here They're too old and the other person like has like three kids and like doesn't her flower needs flower Yes Well, according to what we're studying If someone reaches out to you you don't turn them away The way I look at it in my life, there's people in need everywhere But the things they talk to my door to my hand who reaches out to me who calls me up That's what I'm being given to address You know, not that we don't send funds for people in other countries that are in trouble that um Imam al gizali does point out that when people reach out for you, you don't you don't disappoint them You know, it's very embarrassing and also if uh, if people There's a picture of that too Here's this man He needed something and she very humbly she gives it to him. He reached out and she gave it to him So and of course, there may be instances where you can't give but we're just talking about the general principles of being generous I love these examples. So you're in pakistan right now right this minute I love your country I've been there many times. I've been to lohor. I've been to kweta. I've been on a camel There's a desert you have called the trollistan desert down near Are you? I've been to carachi. Oh, I've not been to carachi, but I have so many friends there. Is that where you where you are right now Yeah, yeah, that's where most of my family lives One of the things I love most about pakistan are those big trucks that are all painted And they have the jangles on them. I like them so much. I took hundreds of pictures of them I just love it. Okay, so we've got this principle down kids and parents and mothers and dads me all of us Whenever we give notice that we are not really giving enough And that really we should feel shame and these are things that imam all gazali recommends Is ways of helping to cure us because you know from being so proud We should feel shame So um and he says and how can we feel proud of giving what doesn't even belong to us but belongs to a law Remember all of this is a loss So why do we feel proud of giving stuff that's just on loan to us? That's just an imam a trust, right? And then he says and we're getting to an end here But i'm you we're learning lots of things here all of what we're saying today You can use every day in your life, right? so You know you you you want your heart to feel humble and feel shame, you know Imagine if someone left something oh and also remember this is something Imagine if somebody lent something for you all for safekeeping Somebody has loaned you something to keep carefully, right and when they asked for it back You held it back. You didn't give them all of it. Can you imagine? Well, that's what's happening a law gave us everything and when he sends a beggar to your door or someone in need Or an old person who's sick who needs help if he sends us those things And we hold back and we don't give what's not even ours that's on loan to us That's kind of shocking isn't it and it's a whole other way of thinking about it Imagine a law gives me everything and then it's time for me to return some of it and I don't You know, even there's a beautiful hadith I heard years ago Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says When I was sick Why didn't you visit me When I reached out to you from the street for a handout Why didn't you give to me what it's being said here is the sick person and the beggar are they are A law is in there throughout everything and when you don't give to that beggar and don't visit the sick you are not Addressing a law's presence in them. That's kind of a hard thing to say. Yeah We hold back for ourselves. Now. This is something kids Maybe not in pakistan, but the culture is in the west People are judged in these countries by how much you have not what you're like He has a big house. He has big cars. He goes on the big boats. Oh, wow, he's important, right? But the real thing that should impress is the state of being he has a good heart He never misses his prayers. That's far more interesting far more important And the problem is you grow up in a society where everybody is Judging you by how much you have rather than how much you are, but don't be tricked by that, right, right? Uh, you know Then another thing too, um Ah This is kind of tough Let me do it. Um, there are people raising their hands. Oh, I where where are they? I can't see them because it hasn't popped up on my screen Do you have a question go ahead and ask it I actually have a comment A comment. I would love to hear your comment. What is it? Um, I actually went to this Um donating place and I donated stuff to the homeless Oh, that is wonderful. Did it feel good to do that? Hmm That's wonderful. That is so wonderful You see you're just returning that loan all these blessings that have been given to you by a law That's so beautiful to hear that that Yes Your Omar Yes, salamu alaikum. Omar. Tell me about you Um, what if we have a lot of toys and we don't donate it? So and we don't donate some of our toys Well, that's what we're talking about today The reason we're all gathered is to learn how important it is To share some of all the major blessings we've been given So maybe you can look at some of your toys and decide who needs them who would be maybe during Ramadan There's some families that could use some extra toys Yes, Inaya Um, if you have an intention to Doos if you have like an intention to give charity charity How does that still count? Yes, but then you have to go through and do it as well have the intention and then give it because What what if you what if you don't have anything to give? Okay count Yes, it's good to have those intentions. Let's say you were really poor and had absolutely nothing right But you intended you wished you could but remember charity can also be a smile If somebody's sad and everyone can smile, right? Everyone could be kind. It's not just giving stuff It's even Listening to someone who needs to be listened to with being present for the other person Wouldn't you say there are many ways what other ways young people can you be giving without giving actual stuff? What are some other ways you can give? we could We could take a walk and Look around to see if there's any poor people and we could we take some like money and give it to them Very nice. Wonderful idea. Yes good in Naya, yes um, what if like um What if you get make do offer people? That's wonderful That's giving isn't it. That's very thoughtful I love that. That's a wonderful thing and sarah. Do you have your hand ups sarah thuli man? Or or not Other ideas, okay, let's just say you're in your room And you you've got the door shut, but maybe there's some ways you could help out in the house with your family What are some ideas zahra? Well, I actually have a question. Okay, go ahead So what happens if like you're giving money to a poor person and like they uh They throw the money at you and they're like, I don't need this go away. I don't want you in front of me You know what it doesn't matter What matters as you've learned is that you gave right? It's the giving you it's all it's not even them receiving it. It's that they have given you the opportunity to give right? But also another thing is sometimes I don't know if this is an india or pakistan, but some in some place like in the subcontinent They're like these people who like take kids and pretend that they're like Orphans and then they put them on the street and then they say like No, we want money and then My mom told me that sometimes but not all the time You know what that can happen, but you've learned from the story What matters is that you are giving with a good intention. What they do with it afterward is not your problem Whether that widow used the money to educate her children isn't the issue The issue is that she offered an opportunity for you to be generous None of us want to get Get involved in some scam. Did we no we didn't but you know, be we use our good intelligence Safra, what are you saying your hand is still up All right, I'm going to tell you a few more ideas and we'll have some more questions and answers And I'm going to show you some more pictures. All right. Um Okay at the end of our lives when we die, okay, let's pretend we're all old and we're about to die, right? Um And what we wore the clothes we wore and what we ate that's all gone. Isn't it? That's gone But what we gave away Will last forever the very act of giving of transmitting what a law gave to us that lasts forever And the Quran says oh you who believe right? Given charity from the pure and wholesome things you have earned And from that which we have brought forth for you out of the earth and do not go after what is bad, right? To give it in charity When you yourselves would not take it except with eyes closed what he's saying you there is Don't give away your worst say you have some vegetables and there's sort of rotting ones and you give those away You wouldn't give away your worst It's very important to give the best and that's extremely hard to do, you know, there's a story I'll show you the story here is that Um Yeah, but The children remember the children in the story their grandfather was a beekeeper you see that And when it was time to give us a cat He had some very special honey Do you know we were beekeepers and there's a kind of honey you get which is orange blossom They take the beehives and they stick the beehives in the Orange grove and then they take the orange honey out and it's so delicious That you never see it for sale in school Because beekeepers keep keep it for themselves. Well in this story the grandfather said Oh, I give my best And it feels good to give your best because what's the point of giving stuff that you didn't like very much And it wasn't that great anyway, you know and another thing We told you how important it is to give with joy and respect and kindness and here's another thing You got to keep this in mind too. You have to be aware when you're giving to people, right? In the cat You give to different types. You give to pious people who are really humble and really pray really good There's a story of that gazale tells of a time Time when aljanade lived nearly 200 years before in Baghdad And someone was giving money to this grocery store and he gave to the poor And then one day The grocery store didn't have any money left. So this man gave to the grocer so he could keep giving Another type of person that your parents will give to let's say imam al gazale He was spending all of his time writing wonderful books for you He would be a good type to give your money to there are other ways to give money Because you want him to keep writing. You don't want him to just have a kind of job. You want him to be able to do that and then It's also you want people when you're giving money to them to understand that this is not from you But they know it's coming from a law, you know, and that's important too Sometimes they're people who have lost all of their wealth and they don't grumble or complain about it They have a dignity and that's a good type to give to And then they're people, you know, there are people out there your family must know I'll talk to you in just a moment Hassan people who are ill, right? And then there are people who are taking care of them That's a category of person that would be good to help, right? You know, the people who are ill and who are supporting them and then, you know, relatives, you may have relatives They're all kinds of categories of people that you need to give to right And you know, um, of course as you do it It's purifying your greed from your heart, but also the people you help They may say oh Omar. Oh inna yeah Oh jabriel these children who gave me so much help Ya Allah bless them. So you also get blessings, which are wonderful. All right, uh Zahra you want to say something and then Omar Zahra Yes, you want to speak your yes. Yes, Zahra Um, it was sorry my sorry actually i'll re-enate myself Okay, we'll let we'll let Omar speak Omar. What did you want to say? No, I was I also um used my brother used to want to say something too. Okay, use it Um, so what happens if you don't really like Life the money you have and then you get minutes really good What do you think? What is your what do you think? I think I would give I think that's wonderful Okay, I have two pages left. Let's finish it and then we'll go back to questions now also Another another kind of person you would help are people who are in debt. Do you know what it means to be in debt? You owe money You maybe don't have any money and you promise to pay the grocery store later and later and you get more and more debt Yes, yes, Omar. Yes. That's the type you would would give to um One oh once my teacher she told me I think it was one of my friends or my teacher She's that um Uh her mom Uh Is she uh her mom used to say that um to give it your your favorite blanket Donate your favorite blanket Because because you'll get a more uh a reward from Allah And we've just talked about that good for you bringing that up. It's hard to give it But if you just gave it you just did it you'd feel so great afterward and of course maybe the person that You know would ask a lot to bless you for that, but you would also have the joy of Of being your highest self you being you the golden heart would give its best, right? right, and so also, um we Ghazali says we all have many cares. We all have all these things we're worrying about We're worrying about this and did we get the neighbors and did we do the food and did we invite the people and did we We all have so many cares and and imam al ghazali said you should bring all the cares into one big care That you want what you do To be a way of worshiping Allah, which is really beautiful and then another thing is that let's say Somebody gives you a gift, right? Now, of course, you know, that's coming from Allah, right? If they give you something But you always thank the person who is the go but who is the go between between Allah and you Um, and the prophet said peace and blessings be upon him He who does not thank people does not thank Allah So that person who is you don't knowing it's all coming from Allah That's fine, but you want to thank the go between the person who does it So the donor someone who does a gift or pays the cat, right? That person is thanked, right? And then lastly Also, there is um Different levels of charity, you know, there is the voluntary charity that you all can do anytime, you know Satan isa jesus peace and blessings be upon him Upon whom be peace said if someone turns a beggar away from his house with nothing The angels will not enter that house for seven days That's why when Zahra was talking about these beggars who come to the door It must not be easy. I mean we have a house in Cairo and it's the same thing But now we're understanding that that that it's very important not to turn a beggar away And then oh, this is a beautiful hadith for all of you listen to this The prayer brings prayer brings you halfway down the path Fasting brings you to the door of the king and charity puts you in the presence of Allah Now that's really quite something right that Prayer prayer is very important and fasting is very important But to be able to really give and that's coming straight from your golden heart that puts you in the presence of god, right? There's a story once upon a time There was a man who worshiped god for 70 years And then he did a horrible sin And he lost all those years of goodness And then he came upon a poor man and he gave him a loaf of bread and for that God forgave him and gave back his 70 years of good deeds. So you see it's very important now also This is very important everybody These are treasures in heaven right Giving there's another way you can be very You can give charity and spot being silent. Okay If I have am ill and I talk about it all the time. Oh, I'm so sick. I have a headache I'm the do you think that's very charitable to people or do you think it's too much for them to listen to all the time So if you're silent about your illness, then there's the hardship Oh, we fall on our times. My son broke his bicycle. My daughter broke her arm Just complaining complaining complaining If you are silent about those hardships children, right and don't complain about them That is also a form of charity and lastly silent about all the good you do, you know Oh mummy, I I did so many good things. I helped my brother today Of course, you'd love for her to appreciate that But you can also realize that you were doing that in order to return Your loan and your blessings to Allah and there's a hadith which says If Allah had willed he could have made everybody wealthy and not a single poor person No one coming to zahra's door and karachi But he tests some of you by ways of others So we're all getting tested The poor person maybe he gets turned away His patience is tested and then when we don't give to someone who's in trouble or needs our help or attention or love Or needs a kind word or needs let's say kids. It's your school There's some children who are left out and nobody everybody's mean to them Ah, wouldn't that be giving to go and include them and make them feel good? We'd want to do that, right? So what is being said here is Allah made some people rich and some people poor And they're really deep reasons that are beyond what the human beings can understand Both are blessed And both situations by being both poor and rich Are real ways to polish the heart, right? And Of course giving in secret now this one thing that might happen you all okay. I'm going to show you a picture What if all right Here's a little girl and she's giving her sweater to a little girl who's poor In front of everybody, okay So she's showing off. Hey, I'm giving my sweater So what's happened to the little girl who's receiving it? She's feeling embarrassed and humiliated and then the other kids may be feeling envious I wish we were getting the sweater so by doing it in public Showing her generosity she could have met with the girl in private Or just put it in a bag with the person's name on it and put it for her to find But the problem is if you take credit for it and also you might embarrass the person receiving it Have you all ever been in a situation like this where somebody got something and you envied and you wished you'd gotten it too Have any of you experienced that? You have yeah, basit says he's experienced that, you know Yeah, you want to protect people's dignity. You don't want on look You don't want the onlookers to be envious or Backbite at all this because oh, wait. Do you hear this children? This is an amazing story The imam al ghazali mentioned that there was a man in his town. Now listen carefully to this Who didn't wear his best clothes when he went out because he didn't want Other people to envy and to think how we all put on our, you know The great shoes that everybody wishes they have and the Nike gosh knows what and the t-shirts that have this logo and we go out But there might be people who see that and they feel oh, I wish I had that too So that's something imam al ghazali talks about that's very important Um And he says Really we have to ask ourselves. How can any of us all of you here? How can we write continue with looking down on children? Or other people who were created poor by Allah himself for Allah's reasons How dare we look down and think oh, they're no good. They're poor. They're a beggar You know, we all have golden hearts And we have to guard our the honor and dignity of ourselves and others In in private and in public So anyway I'm going to show you some pictures And that's the end of today's lesson. It was very long, but you see how important it was Very important. Okay. Let me show you some other pictures Okay, here is a picture of A family that are poor getting cicat. These are the people Your parents will rush to give quickly because they shouldn't be made to wait. They're in need They need the food and they need the dignity Now look at this little boy. He's sitting at home And he's taking some of his toys and there's a donor box at school And he's thinking what can I share and give this could be you And it'll be very hard for you to give something that you really love But if you did it, you will feel amazing because it'll be your golden heart doing that. All right I have a question. Yes Mm-hmm What happens if the thing that you love so much is like something that you got from somebody Who is not here with us on earth anymore? Isn't that really hard to give it's a good question many times I keep those things that came from family and mean something I have a ring on that my great grandmother gave And I keep it But honestly the truth is probably that dear person who gave you that Would feel doubly blessed that you gave that thing you love the most away and I'm not saying you should do it But I'm just saying the amount of blessings in there is that's an amazing question. You've asked anisa That's right. Here is a little girl who is showing off that she's giving doesn't look very nice, does it? And if we see people showing off and we think it's awful, we shouldn't show off ourselves, should we? Because then we're just we're no better than we're no better than what we were talking about And here's the little boy He's returning the Legos But he kept some behind him the little boy said can I have my Legos back and he didn't give all back And that's like what's happening a law has given us all this And then we hang on to it And this is one of the types of people that your parents would like to give to A person who is pious and remembers the law and she's starving and has not much You want those people to be able to continue in their worship in their lives? These are some of the types you give to as you can see it's account has many dimensions, you know many dimensions Now I want you all to respond to this Say you saw saw somebody like this at your school I want each one of you to tell me what would you do and why would that be charity? All right? What would you do? Okay Everybody's gonna respond to that Yeah, yeah, Naya go ahead um, so I would help her I like Like making like helping her Like doing stuff to make her happy. That's wonderful. Yeah, obviously she said something's happy. Okay, and uh, uh, zahra, what would you do? And then Make friends with her Very good, and anisa she needs friends anisa go. What would you do? First I would ask her what why was she upset? And then I would try to help her in whatever way I could of course you would and omar. What about you? I would ask her what happened and then I could uh play with her You see there you are right away and when you do that. Are you acting from your golden heart omar? Wouldn't it feel good doing that? Yeah It wouldn't be you wouldn't be bragging to people you did that would you your heart would be doing it You have opportunities like that little girl all the time even in your own home It might be a little brother who's sad, you know And in Naya, what would you say? That's my brother. Oh your brother. Yes. What is your name brother? Issa issa. All right issa. What would you do if you saw a person like that? What would you do? Yeah You'd help her up good. Can I talk? Yes. Yes, please go ahead and talk. Yes. Go ahead I would invite her to play with me and Ask her what's wrong and Help her That's so lovely. That's so lovely. Thank you so much. That's so beautiful So guess what everybody we went way over the time Next time we will make shorter, but guess what next time when we do the fasting That's short and we'll have it'll be fun But there's something I want you all to do between now and a week from today One of you okay to write three ways In which you were especially generous and you did it in the right way And I want all of you To talk to your mother and father and ask them about their sakat and see if they're doing it in the right way And ask them did they consider the categories and all the rest? So you have you have to have one question You're going to talk next week. You're going to talk about your family giving sakat Some of the ideas that you've heard and then you're going to talk about three things Where you actually acted from your golden heart and you overcame your greed. Yes, Anissa But wouldn't that also be like bragging if we said that? No Not in this case. We are a class and we are encouraging each other. This is in case of We are all being honest. We're on a journey together We are beautiful little golden hearts traveling hand in hand and we are helping each other by incurring each other I I overcame this greed and I did this anyway, you know And then others will feel wow if anissa did that I can do that too. You see All right, so i'm gonna say salamu alaikum to you all and I can't wait to see you next saturday And we won't go over but I want you all to think about all the things you've learned today And our dear brother munir is going to make a copy of this recording and maybe put the pictures in it Rather than stuck up with me holding them up and um, I just really loved meeting all of you and bless you all And there's adam and ibrahim. Did you all speak adam and ibrahim? Did you you didn't speak? No, okay All right, so i'm giving you my my salams and my love to all of you Salamu alaikum everyone Don't forget Loved all loved all