Five Benefits of Volunteering to Gain Spiritual Rewards

By Tasnim Nazeer

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

Selfless giving, helping those in need, and doing things for someone other than ourselves are all ways to get closer to Allah. We can gain unprecedented rewards by investing our time in projects or work that can assist others and have a positive impact on the community.

The Prophet (sa) said: “Help the weak or do good for a person who cannot work for himself.” (Bukhari)

Following are some benefits of volunteering:

Reward from Allah

One of the greatest benefits of volunteering is the reward from Allah. Abu Hurairah (ra) said: “Help the worker in his work. The one who works for Allah will not be disappointed.” (Al-Adab Al-Mufrad; sound) This goes to show that helping others will be rewarded not only in this life but also in the permanent life in the hereafter where all our deeds will be accounted.

Feel-good factor

Volunteering by helping orphans, raising money for charity, or assisting your brothers and sisters in times of need can really give you the feel-good factor. Many of us gain immense happiness by making others happy. Once you start volunteering your skills or time in some form, you will start feeling that giving is better than receiving.

Provides productive ways to utilize time

Volunteering enables us to use our time productively whilst helping others: working to raise money through a charity event, doing a sponsored run, or cooking for the homeless. All these acts of selfless giving will benefit us and equate to more good deeds. We can all do work that we can be paid for; however, volunteering is truly special because we are giving up your precious time not for money but to really make a difference and contribute towards the hereafter.

Humbles our hearts

Once we start volunteering, some of us feel more grateful to Allah (swt) for our blessings. Many people volunteer to work with people who are less fortunate than themselves and get to see firsthand what other people’s lives are like. Volunteering can arouse feelings of compassion towards our brothers and sisters, which in turn humbles our hearts.

Unity

Many people who use their free time to volunteer promote a sense of unity especially when helping those who really need it. If we get together and start volunteering our time to good causes, it will definitely build a sense of community and enable us to appreciate the many blessings of life.

Top Tips for Volunteering

If you are interested in volunteering, there are a number of things you could do:

Help out at your local mosque;
Organize a fundraiser for welfare organizations;
If you are a stay-at-home mother, you can have bake sales or garage sales and send the proceeds to a charity organization.
Cook food for the homeless or to contribute to a food bank.
Many Islamic organizations routinely look for writers, graphic designers, and social media managers to work as volunteers. If you spend a lot of time online and have the right skills, you can offer to work for them.
Volunteer at Islamic events: many conferences and seminars need volunteers at registration desks, as ushers, and so on.

Cautions

Keep your intention pure: to gain rewards from Allah (swt) and to genuinely help out.
If you take up a volunteering job or project, dedicate your time to it and do it with excellence. Put your best efforts into the task assigned to you.
Honour your commitments, especially any deadlines you may have to meet.

Take time out today to think about how you can volunteer, and you will notice immense happiness and rewards enter your life, Insha’Allah (Allah willing).

Tasnim Nazeer is an award winning Freelance Journalist/Writer and Author who has written for a variety of print and online publications including CNN International, The Muslim News, Your Middle East, Islam Channel and many more. She was awarded The Muslim News Award for Excellence in Media 2013 and is an UN Universal Peace Federation Ambassador for Peace. For more information visit her website at www.tasnimnazeer.com or follow her on Twitter: @tasnimnazeer1

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