Volume 2, Book 24, Number 492:
Narrated Haritha bin Wahab :
I heard the Prophet saying, "O people! Give in charity as a time will come upon you when a person will wander about with his object of charity and will not find anybody to accept it, and one (who will be requested to take it) will say, "If you had brought it yesterday, would have taken it, but today I am not in need of it."
Volume 2, Book 24, Number 493:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "The Hour (Day of Judgment) will not be established till your wealth increases so much so that one will be worried, for no one will accept his Zakat and the person to whom he will give it will reply, 'I am not in need of it.' "
Prophet (SAW) warned of a time that'll come which will be a time of abundance in wealth [and that did happen in `Umar (RA)'s caliphate]. He (SAW) insisted that we give sadaqah from our wealth, be it little, before we don't find anyone in need of it.
You might think that's not the case today. Plenty of poor people we find around us whom we can help out by charity. But really, these Ahadith insist on not ignoring the opportunity when it comes knocking. One day it's there, and the next day it isn't. The opportunity that Allah provided you with to earn reward by doing little won't stay long. And it might happen that the opportunity stays, but you're no longer there. Get it?
Be smart. Do Sadaqah. NOW!
Volume 2, Book 24, Number 494:
Narrated 'Adi bin Hatim:
While I was sitting with Allah's Apostle (p.b.u.h) two person came to him; one of them complained about his poverty and the other complained about the prevalence of robberies. Allah's Apostle said, "As regards stealing and robberies, there will shortly come a time when a caravan will go to Mecca (from Medina) without any guard. And regarding poverty, The Hour (Day of Judgment) will not be established till one of you wanders about with his object of charity and will not find anybody to accept it And (no doubt) each one of you will stand in front of Allah and there will be neither a curtain nor an interpreter between him and Allah, and Allah will ask him, 'Did not I give you wealth?' He will reply in the affirmative. Allah will further ask, 'Didn't I send a messenger to you?' And again that person will reply in the affirmative Then he will look to his right and he will see nothing but Hell-fire, and then he will look to his left and will see nothing but Hell-fire. And so, any (each one) of you should save himself from the fire even by giving half of a date-fruit (in charity). And if you do not find a half date-fruit, then (you can do it through saying) a good pleasant word (to your brethren). (See Hadith No. 793 Vol. 4).
Bottom line: sadaqah saves from the Fire. So save yourselves. Do Sadaqah. NOW!
Volume 2, Book 24, Number 495:
Narrated Abu Musa:
Thy Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "A time will come upon the people when a person will wander about with gold as Zakat and will not find anybody to accept it, and one man will be seen followed by forty women to be their guardian because of scarcity of men and great number of women. "
Note that you're not required to spend great amounts of money as sadaqah. Be it as little as half a date or as much as gold worth Mount Uhad, 'giving' counts. Sincerity of intentions counts.
So won't you do something about it? Won't you get up right now and do sadaqah? At least make the intention of doing it later! Because I can't stress more on the point that you need to do sadaqah. NOW!
- Ah, here's a nice idea. Make a Sadaqah Jar!
Keep collecting money in it and spend when opportunity knocks. Involve family members in this little activity so you can get the reward for their sadaqah as well. ;)
