Q: My family has recently started giving food parcels to the less fortunate. It has gradually grown by numbers and is now once a week that a little over 100 food takeaway containers are given at 1 venue (more kids) and on another day, at a different venue, around 400 food packets are distributed. Majority of the people are non-Muslim and it was our intention to distribute to this particular group in the hope that this act alone would encourage or display the deen to these people and any others who might see. We are not well known in the area so hopefully by us doing it in a visible spot, not in everyone’s eye, but still visible to passer by’s.
Our intention is that this act should be sincerely for the pleasure of Allah and seeking nothing more than the reward and hopefully, Insha Allah, the correct message will be portrayed in hope of it being a means of Allah giving any of them hidayat. Our fear is that we do not want to lose the reward because of it becoming known by people we know, or even our weak hearts looking for anything more then the pleasure of our Creator. We try our utmost to never speak about it so as not to transgress, what the right hand does, the left hand should not know!
We need help and advice and we don’t know who to ask but at the risk of it becoming a thing of show or more importantly at the risk of losing the reward, hopefully we can be assisted here. We sincerely believe that there is a grand opportunity for us to pass the message of Deen on to these people and make it more of an Islamic drive so that we can maximize the opportunity and spread the word of Islam through this opportunity. How do we do it without involving the local ulama?
What else can we do to use this opportunity for dawah? We considered including literature in the parcels but fear that if Allahs name is mentioned in the literature and they just discard it, then that would also be sinful.
A: I suggest that you continue in the way you are doing it. These acts of feeding are very meritorious and rewarding.
It may be an idea that amongst the recipients those who are showing an interest then get to talk to them in some way or the other, or give them your particulars or someone else's particulars who can guide them to deen. These particulars can be inserted into the hamper.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
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