:!: The Small Deeds :!:
Comprehensive Nature of Salah and Sadaqah
taken from the Friday Nasiha mailing list
 

Charitable deeds done for the welfare of the community are the best forms of 'Ibadah (worship) and are considered branches of Iman (faith), as long as those who do them do not seek praise and cheap popularity but only the pleasure of God.

The Prophet Muhammad (sall Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said:

"Sadaqah (charity) is due on each joint of a person, every day the sun rises. The administration of justice between two people is a sadaqah; assisting a man to mount his ride, or helping his luggage onto it is a sadaqah; and a good word is a sadaqah; and every step towards Salah (prayer) is sadaqah; and even removing a harmful thing from a path is a sadaqah."
[Agreed Upon]

On another occasion, he added: "Salah (prayer) is due on each joint of a person every day." A person in the audience said: "That is the most difficult thing you have required us." The Prophet then said:

"Your commanding the common good and forbidding the evil and undesirable is a salah; your help for the weak is a salah; your removing of dirt from a pathway is a salah; and every step you take towards the Salah is a salah!"
[Ibn Khuzaymah]

There are many sayings of the Messenger that rank cheerfulness towards other Muslims, helping the blind, the deaf and the weak, advising those who are lost and confused, relieving the distress of the needy, etc as forms of 'Ibadah and Sadaqah. In this way, a Muslim lives his or her life as a vital source of virtuous deeds.