“I advise you to hold firm to the majority as the stray...
“I advise you to hold firm to the majority as the stray sheep is (food) for the wolf.” According to the wordings of these two statements, whatever goodness exists does so within the community and at the congregational level! Therefore, in various areas of life, the individual must be ready to sacrifice himself for the good of the society.
The acts of worship are also societal - for example, the official prayers in Islam are the Salatul Jama’at or the congregational prayers; the ‘Umrah is an individual act, however the hajj is an act of worship performed in groups and within an assembly of people. Thus, Islam is in favour of the society and therefore, one of the things which Islam gives extra importance to is the help and assistance extended to other people.
For this reason, it has been mentioned in the traditions that: أَلنَّاسُ كُلُّهُمْ عَيَالُ اللٌّهِ. “All of humanity are the dependents of Allah.” Spending in the way of Allah (SwT) is the same as spending on the servants of Allah (SwT) and in this regards we are told: لَنْ تَـنَالُوا الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنْفِقُوا مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ “You shall never attain righteous until you spend of that which you love.” Thus, if we wish to become righteous people, we must spend our wealth in the way of Allah (SwT).
As for the rewards given in Islam for various acts, we are told that there is no reward comparable to giving charity in the way of Allah (SwT). In some of the traditions, the reward for doing good deeds is ten-fold while in others, a seventy-fold reward is given to the person.
However in relation to spending in the way of Allah (SwT), the minimum reward which is given back is seven-hundred: مَثَلُ الَّــذِينَ يُنْفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللٌّهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنْـبَـتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِي كُلِّ سُنْـبُلَةٍ مِئَةَ حَبَّةٍ وَاللٌّهُ يُضَاعِفُ لِمَنْ يَّشَآءُ… “The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is as the parable of a seed (of corn) which grows seven ears; within each ear is one hundred grains and Allah increases (the reward) for those whom He pleases…” It should be noted that the word ' يضاعف' mentioned in this verse cannot be translated as 'double the reward' - rather, it means a many-fold or multiple return![^2] It is also important to note that the people whom we must help are not only the Muslims - rather, we have been told that: لِكُلِّ كَبَدٍ حَرَّاءٌ.