Philanthropy in Islam

The foundation of human society rests upon mutual love, sacrifice and welfare, and Islam exhorts its followers to be generous and the ones who spend in the way of Allah Almighty. The equality of people, justice and peace are the major guiding principles of human actions and relationships in Islam. In Islam, serving humanity is not only regarded as a moral virtue but has also been elevated to the status of worship. Like other world religions, Islam is opposed to great inequalities in the distribution of material resources. Some of its key teachings relate to reducing, though not necessarily eliminating, social and economic inequalities. Islam enjoins its followers to 'give' for individual and collective wellbeing. This is what we call philanthropy.

It is widely known that every religion has philanthropic components to it, and Islam is no exception. Islamic injunctions make the act of charity obligatory for its believers. That is why philanthropy is deeply rooted in the Islamic faith. There are a number of terms found in the Quran that are often understood to be examples of a more expansive notion of philanthropy. These include zakat, sadaqa, amal al-salihat (good deeds), khayr (goodness) and ihsan (virtue).

Islam, having tawhid or the 'Oneness of Allah' as its fundamental principle, literally means peace; also, submission. Thus, it implies inner peace through submission to the Will of Allah Almighty (peace of mind) and physical peace through good deeds to each other (peace of body). The latter part is known, in modern-day parlance, as philanthropy.