Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

if we give sadaka. Does it remove our hardness and difficulties persuing us.....  Is that true ?

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Answer:

Does giving sadaqa charity remove difficulties

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Allah says in the Holy Quran in Chapter 67 Surah Al Mulk verse 2:

He (Allah) created death and life that He may test you, to see which of you is the best in deeds.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 21 Surah Anbiyaa verse 35:

35 Every soul shall have a taste of death: and We test you by evil and by good (only) by way of trial: to Us must ye return.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verses 155-157:

155 Be sure We shall test you with something of fear, and hunger, some loss in goods, or lives, or the fruits (of your toil); but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere.

156 Who say when afflicted with calamity: "To Allah we belong and to Him is our return."

157 They are those on whom (descend) blessings from Allah and Mercy; and they are the ones that receive guidance.

Dear and beloved brother in Islam, rest absolutely assured that fever, illness, sickness, diseases, or any calamity or hardship that befalls a believer is but a trial and a Mercy from their Lord, for through these afflictions Allah Subhanah expiates some of the sins of that person.

Abu Hurairah reports that Allah's Messenger (saws) said: "For every misfortune, illness, anxiety, grief, or hurt that afflicts a Muslim -even the hurt caused by the pricking of a thorn - Allah removes some of his sins."

Ibn Mas'ud said: "I visited the Messenger of Allah (saws) while he (saws) had a fever. I exclaimed: 'O Messenger of Allah (saws) ! You have a high fever!' He (saws) said: 'My fever is as much as two among you [might have].' I asked: 'Is it because you have a double reward?' He (saws) replied: 'Yes, that is right. No Muslim is afflicted with any hurt, even if it is no more than the pricking of a thorn, but Allah wipes off his sins because of it and his sins fall away from him as leaves fall from a tree'."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.545 Narrated by Abu Said Al Khudri and Abu Huraira

The Prophet (saws) said, "No fatigue, no disease, no sorrow, no sadness, no hurt, no distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that."

Sahih Muslim Hadith 6244 Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah

Allah's Messenger (saws) visited Umm Sa'ib or Umm Musayyib and said: ‘Umm Musayyib, why is it that you are shivering?’ She said: ‘It is fever and may it not be blessed by Allah’, whereupon he (the Prophet (saws)) said: ‘Don't curse fever for it expiates the sin of the posterity of Adam just as furnace removes the alloy of iron.’

Fiqh-us-Sunnah Fiqh 4.1

Abu Hurairah narrates that the Prophet (saws) said: "When Allah wants to be good to someone, He tries him with some hardship."

Respected brother in Islam, the good and/or evil every human being experiences in the life of this short and transitory world are but a test and a trial from their Lord. Both the good and the evil descend only with the Precise Will and Permission of the Lord Most Majestic so that it may be made evident who is patient when evil befalls him as a trial from their Lord and who is grateful when the Lord bestows them with some favors.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 17:

17 If Allah touch thee with affliction none can remove it but He; if He touch thee with happiness He hath power over all things.

Allah Says in His Holy Quran Chapter 35 Surah Fatir verse 2:

2 What Allah out of His Mercy doth bestow on mankind there is none can withhold: what He doth withhold there is none can grant apart from Him: and He is the Exalted in Power Full of Wisdom.

As great and meritorious the act of giving ‘sadaqa’ or charity might be in the Sight of the Lord, the act of giving ‘sadaqa’ by itself does not remove the afflictions which the Lord Most Wise has Decreed for the off-spring of Adam; for it Allah Alone Who sends the affliction, and it is Allah Subhanah Alone Who, when the Decreed period of trial is over, removes the afflictions of mankind.

When one is faced with some affliction, one should recognize that it is no more than a trial from their Lord; and thus remain patient, grateful, and hopeful of the Infinite Mercies of their Lord, turn to Him and Him Alone and supplicate Him and Him Alone to make their trial easy for them.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan