The Teachings of Islam
Giving as God Wills
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GIVING AS GOD WILLS
Man’s life and property are gifts of God. He owes
everything he possesses to God alone. The only way
to give thanks for these innumerable gifts is to
dispose of them as God wishes. Such expenditure of
one’s wealth is symbolic of one’s complete trust in
God.
Man owes whatever he earns in this world to the
fact that God has given him hands and feet to use
for this purpose. He has endowed man with eyes
and a tongue with which to see and speak. He has
blessed him with an intellect which enables him to
think and plan. At the same time God has made the
world subordinate to man. If the world and that
which it contains had not been placed at man’s
disposal, his physical and mental capabilities alone
would never have enabled him to derive any benefit
from the world around him. If the wheat grain had
not grown in the form of a crop but had stayed
lying on the ground like a pebble, it would have
become impossible for man to harvest grain from
the land. If the powers of nature had not performed
their specific functions, electricity could not have
