Fath al-Rabbani

Benefits: … Now the situation of society is such that people do not spend according to their financial capacity; every person has considered five, ten, hundred, or fifty as sufficient. In fact, to add to this, it has become almost impossible for the needy to reach the wealthy capitalists. It is an observed fact that when an announcement is made in a mosque or gathering regarding a needy person, those who give charity are people of average income. This is the reason that the charity collected in such cases consists of notes of ten, twenty, or twenty denominations, while the wealthy capitalists are seen leaving as if giving charity to this needy person is beneath their dignity—except for those upon whom my Lord has mercy. If such a need had arisen in the era of Prophethood, the ones giving charity would have been great personalities like Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and Sayyiduna Umar (radi Allahu anhuma), or wealthy individuals like Sayyiduna Abu Talhah radi Allahu anhu. Now, such things are no longer heard, such as so-and-so built a house for a poor person, so-and-so provided someone with a business, so-and-so took responsibility for the education expenses of a poor person’s children, or so-and-so gave someone two or four acres of land, even though there are millionaires and billionaires present who are capable of doing even greater acts of goodness. Or, to put it another way, now many individuals in society possess much more wealth than the noble Companions (radi Allahu anhum), but in the matter of virtue, we have not even reached a thousandth part of the Companions. This is a matter of quantity; in terms of quality, we cannot even compare ourselves to the people of the best generations.