Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him narrated that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said:  ‘Sadaqa does not reduce (one’s) wealth; and Allah increases the honour of his who pardons (others); and no one will humble himself for Allah’s sake without Allah raising him up.’ [Imam Muslim] The concise speech of Prophet (peace be upon him) Though this is a very short hadith – just two lines in Arabic, but as usual the wording of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is very comprehensive. This is what we call in Arabic ‘jawamiulkalam’, comprehensive words and this is one of the gifts Allah gave the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Prophet (peace be upon him) was given five things no previous prophets were given, and one of these was ‘comprehensive speech.[1]’ In these two lines, the Prophet (peace be upon him) is addressing some social issues connected to our actions. Our actions can be divided into passive and active actions. Passive actions are where the impact of your actions is limited to you and active actions are where your actions impact other people. When an adverse action is limited to you then the damage is contained. Sometimes if the damage is being caused to others, the Shariah gives it greater attention because it affects more people. Can Sadaqah also mean Zakah? In this hadith, you can see the Prophet (peace be upon him) is addressing three things:  sadaqa, forgiveness, and humility. Commonly we use the word sadaqa to describe voluntary charity but Allah Himself referred to zakah as sadaqa as well. Therefore, linguistically and from a Shariah point of view Sadaqa includes zakah as well as general charity. As we see from the very famous ayah in Surah Tawbah: اِنَّمَا الصَّدَقٰتُ لِلۡفُقَرَآءِ وَالۡمَسٰکِیۡنِ وَالۡعٰمِلِیۡنَ عَلَیۡہَا وَالۡمُؤَلَّفَۃِ قُلُوۡبُہُمۡ وَفِی … Continue reading New formulae that challenge the mind – charity, forgiveness and humility