TODAY'S HADITH
"Allah will give shade, to seven, on the Day when there will be no shade but His. (These seven persons are) ... a man who gives charitable gifts so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given ..."
TODAY'S REFLECTION
How long can we keep a good deed to ourselves?
Our own record isn't great. We pay for someone's groceries, and by dinner it has become a story, told very modestly, with our eyes on the plate.
Wanting to be thought well of is very human, and we can laugh about it.
Now turn it around. Somewhere today, someone opens a bill they've been dreading and finds it paid. They look at it for a long time. Then they look up and say alhamdulillah, because there's no one else to thank.
That's what a gift with no name on it can do. It sends a person's whole gratitude straight to Allah, and all we had to do was stay out of the way.
It can be a few coins in the box at the masjid or an anonymous line on a fundraiser, from whatever is ours to give. The harder part comes afterwards, when we keep quiet.
What happens next is worth watching. With no audience, we're left alone with Allah and with our own reaction. Some of us feel light. Some of us feel a small, ridiculous disappointment, and it shows how much we've been leaning on other people's good opinion.
Open giving has its place too. Today's is the quiet kind.
How long before the urge to mention it shows up? An hour? Dinner? We'd love to say we've made it to the weekend.
If it slips out, we can smile at ourselves and try again with another coin.
FIRST RIPPLE
Today, before this phone goes back in a pocket, give any amount where no one can trace it to us, then tell no one and notice when the urge to mention it shows up.
REFLECT ON THIS
Whose approval was I hoping for the last time I gave something?
QUICK QUESTION
How do you like the new look?
A DU'A FOR YOU
O Allah, grant Sister Ameena safety and success in her upcoming surgery. Guide the surgeons' hands, protect her heart and vital organs from any harm, and make the removal of the shrapnel easy and successful. Grant her complete healing, ease her pain, and bless her with a speedy recovery.
Ameen Ya Rabb al-Alameen.