Al-Baqarah 215: They ask you what they should spend (on the path of Allah). Say, what you spend from your possessions is for the parents, relatives, orphans, the poor and the wayfarer. Verily, Allah knows all the good deeds you are committing.

Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 215. They ask you what they should spend in the way of Allah. Say: whatever you spend of wealth is for parents, relatives, orphans, the poor and the traveller. Surely Allah knows every good you do. So to whom are we to give charity? They ask the Prophet (peace be upon him), and Allah Almighty makes known His legal ruling. What does He say? Whatever you spend of wealth. Be it money, be it goods, be it provisions and supplies, it is for parents, relatives, orphans, the poor and the traveller. Surely Allah knows every good you do. Because, as a result of the covenant we gave, what we will do until the Day of Judgement our Lord knows.

They ask the Prophet (peace be upon him) to whom and what they should give for the sake of Allah. In this verse Allah Almighty makes known to whom what is to be given, in the legal ruling. Sir, from our wealth to whom do we (?)? To the poor, the needy, the orphan, and even to the stranded traveller. Even if he is worth trillions. Look, worth trillions. His wealth and property at that moment (?). He is in distress, stranded on the road. In this situation, even if that man... if the world's property were his, at that moment he is simply in need. Is he your brother? He is my brother. You will give him charity.

They ask the Prophet (peace be upon him) to whom and what they should give for the sake of Allah. In this verse Allah Almighty makes known to whom what is to be given. In the wealth a person works for and earns, some people also have rights. The person cannot know this. In the wealth he earns there are also the rights of people. Allah, who has one person's provision given by another's hand, has divided the provisions, and the help people will give through good deeds (?) according to their own nature He has also written within the destinies He gave to people (?) (?). The good deed he will do, through which he will raise his rank in proportion to his faith, the good deed that person will do, within his own destiny, that is, within that person's destiny, He has also given that one's provision to the person who will do that good deed.

By doing that good deed this person strengthens his own faith. If he does not give, if he is stingy, then people have been miserly; and because the love of wealth has surpassed the love of Allah, their faith has weakened, it is weak. For this reason these people cannot give charity for the sake of Allah, and their state within the actual deeds they have done, under the burden of that wealth, one day they will be called to account by our Lord and give account for it.

So so that people, in proportion to the covenant they gave, can reach their own ranks or increase their kufr, wealth and property were created as a means for people. This wealth and property. Since people's bodies are also sustained by eating and drinking, people, in their trade and their dealings, with their egoism towards the world, their miserliness or their generosity, they themselves, that is, people, are in this world in a test.

And by creating this wealth and property for people in this way, Allah Almighty lets people, in taking this wealth and spending it or not spending it, prove what kind of person they are. These worlds were created for people both to feed the bodies given in trust and to let them attain their own ranks. If these people give this wealth of theirs, beyond their need, for the sake of Allah, they attain reward in the sight of Allah. If he is miserly with wealth, that is, stingy, scolds those in need, loves his wealth and property more than those in need, and does not give them charity from his wealth, they will have ranks in the sight of Allah according to their intention.

Their judgement belongs to Allah. Yes. Look, such people swim in plenty. They swim in plenty. He fears poverty, and you cannot do good deeds. What does Allah Almighty say in the verse?

Satan frightens you with poverty, He says. Yes. So the meaning of 'frightens you with poverty' is: never be stingy. From your wealth, to those I listed above, the orphan, the needy, the poor, the stranded, your mother, your father, do help. Help. Yes. Yes. So those who will do good deeds say: to whom should we give from our wealth so that we attain more reward? And Allah Almighty lists those to whom He will give more reward in His sight. For this reason people must give first to their mother and father. What does He say? In Surah Luqman Allah Almighty says, even if they grow old in your presence, do not even say 'uff' to them.

Because that mother carried you in hardship upon hardship, nine months in her womb she carried you. Then what does He say about weaning? Two years. So that makes a full thirty months, thirty-two months. Apart from this, the father spent his life earning a living. He said: he spent his life, he fed you. He raised you. When you were in need, he brought you to the point of standing on your own feet. So a child cannot repay the due of his mother and father. For this reason too Allah Almighty says: first help your mother and father. Your mother and father, yes, there are such mothers and fathers who cannot say to their child, I need this, yes, they cannot say it; there are such mothers and fathers.

The help to be given is first given to mother and father. Even if they live with you, you must not leave them without pocket money. So that the thing they cannot say even to their child, that they are shy about, with this pocket money they can take care of. Like this, say they need to buy underwear. He cannot tell his son, I'm going to buy such-and-such. What will you do? You will ask your mother and father: do you have pocket money, do you have money in your pocket? You will not leave them without pocket money and without money, according to your means. Then to relatives, in order of closeness; to relatives, the help given by closeness goes from the closest to the farthest. For example, after mother and father come your siblings.

Then your paternal uncles, your maternal uncles, your maternal aunts, your paternal aunts. Yes. Then their grandchildren; if there are none, it is given starting from the nearest poor person in the neighbourhood and going outwards.

After mother and father, help belongs to relatives. People such as siblings, aunts and uncles. Then the orphan; orphans have wounded hearts, they feel alone and unprotected. The orphan. (?). He looks for a place to take refuge. His heart is drawn to a person who will stroke his head. He loves a person who will pat his back. He looks for a branch to hold on to. So by helping him, by winning the heart of that orphan, you will have won Allah's mercy. A friendly hand reaching out to them and a kind word is engraved on the orphan's heart. And making a person happy is among the very great rewards in the sight of Allah.

For this reason, watching over and protecting orphans is, for every person, first of all a human duty by virtue of being human, and also, for the sake of Allah, an act of worship. Yes.

Then the poor. They too are people in need. One must not forget that wealth and property belong to Allah. Could this wealth and property given to us not have been given to that poor person? It could have. It could very easily have been given. So they will be tested within their destiny. And we will be tested with these possessions within our destiny. And to one another,

with the actual deeds we will do in this world, we will prove ourselves to one another. What a beautiful order our Lord has set up. Yes.

Of course Allah, the owner of the universe, could give the wealth and property to them instead of us. We could have been in the situation of those poor people. If, putting ourselves in that poor person's situation, we could feel what these people feel, who have no wealth or property and not even food from evening to morning, we would race one another to be a cure for the troubles of these poor people. If only we could grasp the situation of those people. And why would we race? To help those poor people, why would we race?

Whoever gets a servant of Mine through his affair in this world, I will get him through his affair in the hereafter, He says. Who would not want to help such people? If faith has reached perfection and I have thought of the hereafter, the hereafter, All of us, as Muslims, are people who have believed in our Lord, but we believe in the world of the hereafter by degrees. We are full of doubts. Will we really be resurrected after death? We are full of such doubts. For this reason, we are still Muslims, we have believed in Allah and His Messenger. But unaware of Islam, today, in a way that would outdo non-Muslims, they go about stark naked, and without remembering Allah and His Messenger they spend their days.

Even though the call to prayer right by their ears is loud enough to burst their ears, their ears are so blocked that they do not hear the call to prayer either.

Our people are covered by a pride, an arrogance, a (?), as if they had created the worlds. May Allah protect us.

People who are in need, so that a kind word is said to them, strip stark naked and, by displaying their bodies, try to see themselves in a high position. They try to join the class of the rich, as if the rich were like that; yes, they too will dress that way and become rich. In that rich state they will call him rich. Or they will pay him compliments. Yet they do not know that they will use them and push them aside like a rag. So our people, in this age, have changed a great deal. People who cannot live the religion of Islam live in constant hurry and distress, just like non-Muslims. Look, today the Muslim has no peace either.

Our people do not put their trust in Allah either.

To earn money they do not consider what is halal and what is haram either.

Without even considering whether the goods they sell are of use to people, they try to cheat, thinking as long as we get the money. And they do cheat. Today's trade is more or less being built on fraud. It is heading that way. And we see many people like this.

We do our shopping. We say: send us this item A, this item B. Instead of items A and B, items C and D arrive. Come on, blessed one. I paid you for items A and B. So why are you sending me these? This is the situation today. This happens to me. And we cannot come across an honest man.

There is none, so to speak. Believe this. Yes, their every thing is tied to material things, tied to money; as long as he can cheat you and (?) the money, he does not think about the rest, the man, I mean. Trusting in Allah: my Lord gives my provision, let me be honest, let me earn from what is halal; whatever I did to this man, let me win his consent, let him forgive me his due, let us settle this; nobody thinks like that, that era is over. It's over.

Except for a rare few among them.

In a verse Allah Almighty says: do you not see, in the mornings, with empty crops, the birds flying out to the wilds; and return to their nests in the evenings with full crops?

O man! If you reflect a little, this verse is very meaningful.

Do not think that you do every task yourself. Get to know a little the One who gives you provision. He will not leave you hungry. He will give your provision until you die. Look at the birds, they fly out to the wilds. What will it find in the wilds, in the sand desert? Our Lord has created its provision there. It will take its provision from there. It does not think about tomorrow either. Let it think that it will again get its provision. But you, as if you will never die, loading up the world, without saying halal or haram, cheating people, without recognising their rights and dues, if you load the world on your back as if you would swallow it, tomorrow on the Day of Judgement, in the presence of our Lord, what will you do?

Do you ever think about this? Yes. Look, from those birds that fly out to the wilds with empty crops, will we never understand any examples? Will we never reflect on their state and put our trust in our Lord?

Yes.

Allah, who divides everyone's provision, all the beings He created, the provisions for their whole lives, He provides for them throughout their lives. The duty that falls to us is to be able to give for the sake of Allah these provisions Allah has bestowed on the well-off, and with the blessings in our homes to be able to win Allah's good pleasure. What you earn has been made the return of your two hands. Yes.

To be able to give for the sake of Allah and, with the blessings in our homes, to be able to win Allah's good pleasure. Again, in a verse Allah Almighty declares: whoever buys Paradise with his wealth and his life.

With his wealth and his life.

Now, Allah who created wealth, Allah who created Paradise, Allah who also created us, what does He say? Look, if you give Me what I created, I will again give you the Paradise I created. Man cannot give to Allah what Allah created, and what Allah created he keeps for his own line, out of stinginess, greedy for it.

How beautiful the verse is.

Whoever buys Paradise with his wealth and his life? Why, Allah created the wealth, Allah also created the life, Allah also created Paradise. Why, give Me what I created, as something you can give Me, let Me see, let Me test you, He says. Give. If you are stingy with it, then you will have (?) yourself. I had said that, when the time comes, the verses I gave as examples will be explained to you. I have covered it here. So if wealth and property were created for matters of reward and sin, it must be used well and, on condition of giving what is needed where it is needed, one must win Allah's mercy.

Then the traveller: if you are going to help, it is for the traveller; travellers too must be helped. He has lost his money, he has no means left to go home, he has fallen into distress. This person is in a foreign land and in that land he has no door to go to. The traveller too; when travellers, for many reasons, come into need, one must rush to help them and take them by the hand.

Some come to us and say: I have fallen into distress, I have no money. I cannot get home either.

Swindlers excepted, of course. Where is your home? Such-and-such place. Let us buy your ticket. No, give me the money. Then he shows (?) that he is a swindler. The other says, fine. Let us also give you pocket money up to where you are going. He says fine to that too. We put him in a vehicle and send him off. How nice. Up to where he is going we hand him pocket money, his food and drink. Done. And he goes home safe and sound without suffering any (?). Now can you imagine the reward you have earned in this case? Yes.

These too are just like the orphans I described above. Why? Because he is in a foreign country. He is in distress. He knows no one. He looks for a door to take refuge in, a friendly hand reaching out.

Help given to them too wins their hearts, and just as people never forget this help as long as they live, the bonds of love and loyalty among Muslims are strengthened and they preserve their unity and togetherness. This happened to me too. I told you about it.

I went on Hajj.

On the way back, after a traffic accident, I spent three months in prison there. Actually I was not at fault. I just wanted to help. It was pinned on me. Finally, on the way back from there, our family sent us some money; when the money went on visas, on visas, of course we could not foresee that so much money would go on visas, I got as far as Adana with my car's fuel. To Adana. After Adana I had neither money for fuel to go on nor money for bread to eat.

I said: whichever shop the car stops in front of, I will tell them my situation there.

I had bought velvet fabric there for the children.

I said, let me give that much fabric there, to a shop, to places that sell velvet like this; surely, I said, they will give me (?) the fuel money as far as Ankara, after that Allah is Generous, there are acquaintances in Ankara, we'll (?) from there, I said.

By our Lord's divine decree, the car came up in front of a shop; I saw it was a good spot, convenient, and it stopped there. I went in: Assalamu alaikum, wa alaikum assalam.

A young man, and probably his father.

They are standing in the shop. We said: we are coming back from Hajj.

My fuel has run out. My money has run out too, I said. I am going to Istanbul.

In my car, I said, there is velvet. Let me give you the velvet, I said, and you give me the money for that velvet, I said. How much did you pay for the velvet, he said? I bought it at 33 riyals a metre, I said. 'We,' he said; sorry, I bought it at 28 riyals, I said. We, he said, bought it at 33 riyals, he said. You are telling the truth, I said. Why, he said, did you buy it so cheap? After the Hajj, I said, it is cheap; at Hajj time it is expensive. How much fuel, he said, will you burn as far as Ankara? I will burn 125 liras' worth of fuel, I said. If you burn 125 liras up to there, he said, 250 liras; take these 250 liras, he said, you'll send me the money, he said.

I said to him, let me give you the velvet; no, I don't want it, he said. You go on your way, you'll send my money, he said. Let me give you a bank number, deposit it to this bank number, he said. May Allah be pleased with him. We came to Ankara. You get to Ankara in 5 or 6 hours anyway. From there, with the same money, I went on to Istanbul. I arrived. I arrived home. Right away, together with a thank-you letter (?), I deposited his money in the bank. Now, can you (?) in which year this was? In '68. Do you know how many years have passed? Forty-two years; six-eight, forty makes... One hundred eight, two thousand ten, forty-two years.

Look, I still haven't forgotten. See, a helping hand to a person. Yes, the traveller. This is the traveller. Not out of poverty. A traveller.

That is why the help you give a traveller, a friendly hand, if you only knew the reward it gives that person in the sight of Allah. Yes. Surely Allah knows every good you do.

Certainly the help given is not lost in the sight of Allah. And whatever good anyone does for the sake of Allah, Allah accepts that good and gives him ranks and rewards many times over. Because Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. So the help people give one another binds them to one another and strengthens the bonds of brotherhood.