12/03/2026
I remember the way we used to give sadaqah in my village masjid. I grew up believing that the money we should give in the masjid as fī sabīlillāh was the dirty, worn-out money — the lowest denomination we had.
That was the mentality I grew up with, and I carried it with me into young adulthood.
Later, I joined the Muslim Students Society (MSSN) in my village.Alhamdulillah, the leading executives played a huge role in shaping our understanding of Islam. With the help of Allah, they planted the seeds of īmān in us at a time when many of our peers were experimenting with all sorts of harmful things in life.May Allah bless them abundantly.
However, that sadaqah mentality we grew up with remained with many of us.
Our monthly dues then were just ₦20, yet many brothers and sisters would not pay that small amount for years. Interestingly, whenever we attended meetings, we would easily spend more than ₦200 buying corn and groundnuts. We bought new hijabs and other things without hesitation, but the monthly dues felt unimportant. After all, whenever we wanted to organise an open-air da’wah, we would simply write letters to patrons to support us — money that we could actually have raised ourselves.
Later, when I gained admission to a university outside my state, something shocked me.
I saw people dropping new mint notes ,even the highest denominations , into the fī sabīlillāh box, while I was still searching for the dirtiest note to drop.
I saw colleagues in school paying ₦500 monthly MSS dues, and they paid it willingly and happily.
That was when something shifted inside me.
I realised it was never about lacking ₦20. It was simply the mentality we grew up with.
And sadly, many of us still carry that mentality today.
That is why you see masjids remaining uncompleted for 20 years, even though the same people praying there are able to build their own houses.
So give to Allah the way you would want Allah to give to you.
Drop good money for Allah’s sake — ₦5,000, ₦10,000, ₦100,000, even ₦1,000,000 if Allah has blessed you with it.
Do not let Shayṭān deceive you into thinking that giving will make you poor. That is not true.
Allah says in the Qur’an:
“Who is it that will lend Allah a goodly loan so He may multiply it for him many times over?”
(Surah Al-Baqarah 2:245)
And Allah also says:
“
Think about the example of Abu Bakr (RA). He once gave all his wealth for the sake of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. When he was asked what he left behind for his family, he said: “I left for them Allah and His Messenger.”
Did you ever hear that he became a pauper because of that? Never.
So ask yourself:
Would you rather receive multiples of ₦100,000, or multiples of ₦20?
The generous never become poor. That is part of the Sunnah of Allah.
Alhamdulillah that you are at least dropping the ₦20 , some people still drop nothing at all.
But this Ramadan, let there be a change of heart.
Give to Allah a goodly loan in return for Jannatul Firdaus, in return for barakah, in return for increase. Because whatever you give for the sake of Allah is never lost.
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