Such a person will suffer from a wrong sense of pride and...

Such a person will suffer from a wrong sense of pride and will lose the most important means of spiritual development known as self-criticism. One should be aware that every country or group of people goes through financial ups and downs. If, today, you are financially on a good footing and give khums, while others are on the receiving end -- this does not mean that those who receive khums have been the same during all times in their history!

The best case in our time is India: After the British colonization of that country, in particular after its independence, the Muslims of India have gone through a very difficult financial crisis. The Shi`ahs have suffered even more. Their present plight should not be taken as a sign that they have always been at the receiving end of charity.

There was a time not long ago when the Shi`ahs of India (especially during the Shi`ite Oudh sultanate in North India) were the main financial supporters of the centers of learning in Iraq.[^1] The Shi`ahs in the Oudh and even in the southern sultanates of pre-British India had contributed greatly to the growth of their faith and community in that part of the Muslim world. Train yourself to give khums, zakat and charity without injuring the feelings of the recipients.

Allah says, "O you who believe! Do not nullify your charity by reproach and injury (to the recipient), like the person who spends his wealth to show it to the people..." (2:264) C. Khums Dependency Syndrome I would also like to express my thought about the attitude which some of our religious organizations in Europe and North America have adopted to the issue of khums. The Shi`ahs in India, Pakistan and East Africa have built many religious centers in their countries.

After migrating to the West, it is pleasing to note that they carried on the tradition and have built religious centers in their adopted homelands. However, there is one important difference between the immigrant Muslim communities in the West and their ancestors in Asia and Africa. The latter built the centers mainly by the contributions made from their own money. Whereas the former have to large extent built their centers with the khums fund.

I do not want to imply or suggest that the use of khums for such purposes is not right; but I am worried about the habitual dependency on khums by our organizations. I have named this mentality as "the khums dependency syndrome".