In Shariah there are three conditions for spending in the way of Allah being accepted and its thawab (reward) being multiplied.
1. The first condition is that what is spent in the way of Allah must be pure and Halal (obtained through permissible sources) because in a Hadith the Holy Prophet ﷺ has said that Allah Ta'alah accepts nothing except what is clean, pure and Halal. In this there is a warning those people who do not care whether their income is coming through Halal or Hara'am (impermissible) sources, they just give some of it away as Sadaqah (charity) and Khayrat and believe that this has cleansed the rest of their income as well. What needs to be understood that if a Sadaqah is not acceptable to Allah Ta'alah in itself, how can it cleanse the rest of someone's income and render it pure?
2. The second condition is that the person should spend with the right intention, that the intention should be to help a needy person and to earn the pleasure of Allah Ta'alah. The intention should not be to please people so that they would praise me, I will become very famous, or achieving some other untoward purpose.
3. The third condition is that one should make an effort to get the Sadaqah to the deserving. It should not be wasted by spending it on people who do not deserve or need it. This last condition is so important in Shariah that, for example, the obligation of Zakat is not considered fulfilled until one has made sure that it has reached those who meet the criteria for it. The mere act of taking the money out and giving it to any random person does not fulfil the obligation of Zakat. Similarly, in Sadaqah the highest reward is earned when one makes an effort to find needy people and fulfil their needs. Great rewards have been promised specially for fulfilling needs of those who are needy but do not ask anyone for money.
Adapted from Ma'ariful Quran, by Mufti Muhammad Shafi Rehmatullah Elaih
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