By Nour Habib

Difficult as it is to believe, we actually give advice like this to our 5- and 6- year-old children as we send them off to school. It obviously speaks to the concern parents harbor that their children get the best out of life and don’t get taken advantage of.

But something rings wrong in this advice in a very shrill way.

If you look over the previous words of wisdom once more, you’ll realize that not a single syllable even acknowledges the ethic of sharing.

It is a scenario played out over and over in households across the Middle East, at odds as it is with their historic and religious emphasis on hospitality. Unfortunately, today’s societies have brainwashed individuals into looking out only for themselves and their families.

Now, if we follow these children to school, and enter any given classroom, we will see a continuation of the non-sharing principle. Teachers do not encourage students to share crayons with their neighbors. Nor do they chastise the kids for keeping others away from the building blocks. The classroom seems to be governed by an unspoken first-come, first-serve concept.

One child psychologist on an Egyptian show discussing social problems highlighted selfishness as a main cause of the problems that society now faces. There is no community effort to make life better. No one sacrifices for the other. No one cares about the comfort of a neighbor.

But the very idea of sharing underpins all human society, the psychologist noted. We cannot live without the people around us. We cannot live in the world alone. Interdependency is a defining human characteristic. When we think harder about the needs of the people around us, ultimately, we are making life easier for ourselves.

Selflessness is no foreign concept to Muslims. Everywhere we look in our religion, we see examples of people caring for others, sharing their wealth, and having the interest of their fellow Muslims at heart.

The Prophet (PBUH), famously said: "None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself" (Muslim).

Allah states in SurahAl-Imran:

"You shall never attain to (the highest) virtue (of faith) until you spend (in charity) from that which you love" (3:92).

These texts are proof that selfishness has no place in Islam. Not only do they exhort Muslims to share what they have, they call upon them to give from the very best of what they love. Allah does not simply command His servants to be charitable with what is extra in their lives. By His wisdom and mercy, He orders His servants to impart what is most dear to them. Numerous reports from the life of the Prophet (PBUH), exemplify how seriously he and his Companions took Allah’s exhortation. They were completely selfless.

One striking example took place after the hijrah, when the Prophet (PBUH), asked each of the Ansar (the Muslims from Madinah) to take one of the Muhajireen (the Muslim emigrating to Madinah from Makkah) as a brother. So many beautiful stories unfolded in this instance. Among them is the Ansari who divided all his possessions, offering half of them to his brother from the Muhajireen.

There is also the story of the Companion who invited another to his house. Upon returning home, he asked his wife if they had enough food, for they were poor. She said they did not, and what they did have would only be enough for one. He told her that was fine and asked her to prepare the food for the night, after putting the children to bed. Thus when the guest came over, he would not see that his host was not eating with him.

Allah revealed an ayah about this incident in Surah Al-Hashr:

"As for those who were (already) settled in the abode (of Madinah), and who were firm in faith before (the Emigration), they love those who emigrated to them and find no (covetous) want in their breast for what (the Emigres) have been given. Rather, they give them preference over their own selves—even when they themselves are in pressing need. And whoever is safeguarded from the avarice of his own soul-then it is these who are the (truly) successful" (59:9).

This Companion whose action this verse immortalizes had almost nothing to give. But what he had, he gave it all, leaving nothing for himself, his wife, or children. Even the poorest of the poor are able to share.

These stories are amazing. Every time I hear them, my love for the Companions grows even more. Their actions go straight to the heart. Some people might say these are Companions, much better than the average person. They may reason that we cannot rival them, no matter what we do.

There is no doubt that they were remarkable. But, Alhamdulillah, there are still good people nowadays. Just a couple of months ago, the Egyptian Satellite Channel aired a segment collecting money for a man with brain disease. He needed about $230,000 for his surgery. Some donated nearly $100,000, others $50.

One man, Mohammad Sherif, called in. He apologized for the small amount he was donating. It was 15 Egyptian pounds (about $3). Out of embarrassment, he explained his family only had 30 pounds at home, and that was why he couldn’t give more. The host thanked Sherif, and he hung up.

The next caller donated 500 pounds to the sick man, and another 100 pounds to Sherif. The next did the same (with different amounts).

Fast forward a few episodes. Sherif, himself, was now the show’s featured guest. He told his story. He was from a poor family, his mother ill with a weak heart. His uncle had recently died, and his 15-year-old cousin had been killed in a motorcycle accident just weeks before.

Sherif and his father were watching when the program began taking donations for the man’s surgery. Sherif’s sick mother was asleep in the next room. He went to wake her up and asked her, "How much money do we have?"

"We’ve got 28 pounds," she told him. "But we haven’t paid the electric bill, yet," she said. She informed him, thinking he wanted the money for some other reason.

He told her about the sick man who needed surgery, and asked if they could donate half of what they had.

"Go ahead," she said, "Only the sick feel the sick’s pain.

And that is how the story began. While Sherif was on the show, the host asked him if he had a job. Sherif said he used to have one as an assistant director, but that at the moment he was unemployed.

The host then informed him that the program had decided to hire him as their assistant director.

Sherif was speechless. He thanked the host profusely, and said it was more than he deserved.

"A million others would have done what I did," he said.

That right there is an example of selflessness. It is not a story of a Companion. It is a real live 2008 story.

The man shared what little he had, and Allah gave him back 10 times more than what he gave. He gave him money, and He gave him a job.

Assisting others, and caring about them, is what will, inshaAllah, help this Ummah return to the state it was meant to be in.

Courtesy: Al Jumuah Magazine

Jazak’Allah Kh’air to Sr. Fatimah Khan.