People feel indebted towards favors. They have a natural tendency towards property, possessions, and material wealth, and they would like to satisfy this need and desire in various ways. Thus they feel affection towards those who help them to solve their problems and to fulfill their needs. In this way mutual love, friendship, fondness, alliance, and coalescence come alive amongst people. Allah the Almighty states in a verse regarding the characteristics and methods of a preacher:
وَلاَ تَسْتَوِى الْحَسَنَةُ وَلاَ السَّيِّئَةُ اِدْفَعْ بِالَّتِى هِيَ اَحْسَنُ فَاِذَا الَّذِى بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَاَنَّهُ وَلِيٌّ حَمِيمٌ
“Nor can Goodness and Evil be equal. Repel (Evil) with what is better: then will he between whom and thee was hatred become as it were thy friend and intimate!” (Fussilat 41; 34)
Therefore, a Muslim preacher should use benefaction as one of the effective means of conveying the message of Islam and give gifts in accordance with the state of his addressees. This way he can turn enmities into friendships and coldness into warm relationships. Indeed, Allah’s Messenger said:
“Exchange gifts to remove enmity and grudge amongst you. And love each other.” (Tirmidhi, Wala, 6)
Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) accepted the gifts given to him within the limits of these principles. Whenever he had the chance, he was also attentive in giving gifts to his friends and enemies alike. Even during his final illness he ordered his Companions to give gifts to the guest delegations. (Bukhari, Jizya, 6)
Especially during the first years of his prophethood Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) used to organize feasts for his close relatives. After the meal, he used to talk to them about Islam and invite them to embrace it. Ali (r.a.) narrates an incident in this respect as follows:
“When Allah the Almighty’s order to warn close relatives about the torment of the Hereafter was revealed (al-Shuara 29; 214), Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) called me and told me to send an invitation to the Abdulmuttalib clan. Then he told me to prepare a meal for them. I fulfilled his order. The Abdulmuttalib clan gathered together, there were about forty men. When they came, the Prophet (pbuh) asked me to bring the dish. I brought it and placed it before the Prophet (pbuh). After he split the meat into pieces and put a piece on the plate, he said:
“Here please eat! In the name of Allah.”
They ate until they were full. I swear by Allah that even a single person could not finish the meal that I prepared for them.
Then the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked me:
“O Ali! Offer them some milk, too.”
I brought them the milk bottle and all of them drank from it. I swear by Allah that not even one of them could finish the milk in the bottle. When they got up from the table, it was like nobody had touched the meal and the milk. No sooner had the Prophet wanted to begin to talk, Abu Lahab prevented him and the tribe left. Allah’s Messenger organized another meeting. He again offered them a feast, after which, he explained Allah’s commands to them. (Ibn Hanbal, I, 111, 159; Ibn Sa’d, I, 187; Haythami, VIII, 302-303)
In this context Allah the Almighty states the manners of entering the Prophet’s house:
“O you who believe! Enter not the dwellings of the Prophet for a meal without waiting for the proper time, unless permission be granted to you. But if you are invited, enter, and, when your meal has ended, then disperse. Linger not for conversation…” (al-Ahzab 33; 53)
Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) gave gifts abundantly, especially to muallafa al-qulub or to those whose hearts were to be reconciled to Islam, from his share of the war booty. By giving those people gifts from charity and almsgiving he averted the possible dangers which some of them might cause; thus he relieved the believers’ hearts. Giving them gifts also aimed to strengthen the faith of new converts.
Anas b. Malik (r.a.) reported that a person requested Allah’s Apostle (pbuh) to give him a very large flock and he did so. The man went to his tribe and said:
“O people! Embrace Islam. By Allah, Muhammad donates so much as if he did not fear want.”
Anas (r.a.) said that some people embraced Islam for the sake of the world but later Islam became dearer to them than the world and what it contains.” (Muslim, Fadail, 57-58)
Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) never forgot to give gifts to the guest delegations. Once a twenty-people delegation from Bahrain wrote him a letter to visit Medina, twelve of them from the tribe of Abd al-Qais. After they had visited the Prophet (pbuh), they embraced Islam. They asked questions about Islam and learned their new religion.
When they were going back to their country, the Prophet (pbuh) ordered that each one of the delegates from Abd al-Qais be given presents. He gave the representative of the delegation Abdullah b. Awf twelve and a half uqiyya silver as a gift. (Ibn Sa’d, I, 315)
In another instance, a thirteen-people delegation from Bani Murra under the leadership of Harith b. Awf came to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). The Prophet (pbuh) asked them:
“How is your land?” They replied:
“We suffer from drought and famine. Our animals have a very hard time. Pray to Allah for us.” Upon this Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) prayed for them saying:
“O Allah! Water them with Your rains.”
A few days later delegates of Bani Murra wanted to go back to their land. They came to say goodbye to the Prophet (pbuh). He appointed Harith b. Awf as their leader and ordered Bilal al-Habashi (r.a.) to give them some gifts. Bilal gave each delegate ten uqiyya silver except Harith b. Awf, to whom he gave twelve uqiyya silver. (Ibn Sa’d, I, 298; Ibn Athir, Usd al-Ghabah, I, 410)
There were also instances that the Messenger of Allah granted some lands and springs to the delegates visiting him. Once a delegation from Bani Uqail came to the Prophet (pbuh), embraced Islam, and then pledged allegiance to the Prophet on behalf of their people. Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) allotted them a place called Aqiq and an inscription written by the order of the Prophet on red leather which read as follows:
“In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful,
This is a writing of Muhammad the Messenger of Allah given to Rabi’, Mutarrif, and Anas:
As long as they perform their prayers, pay their alms, and obey, the land of Aqiq is granted to them. By this assignment, they are not given another Muslim’s right.” (Ibn Sa’d, I, 301-302)
The Prophet’s gifts, donations, and feasts are too many to count. He even asked his followers in his will:
“…show hospitality to the (foreign) delegations as I used to show them hospitality…” (Muslim, Wasiyya, 20)
However, the People’s tendency and desire for worldly possessions at the time of the Prophet was the same as it is in the contemporary age. It may even be worse. This is why we have to employ this instrument in delivering the message of Islam to humanity.
Today, Christian missionaries attach the utmost significance to and invest immense amounts in this matter. It is their realization of people’s tendency towards this world and its effects upon the human soul what directs them to employ this method. Therefore, those who preach Islam in the contemporary age should pay attention to their audiences’ financial problems and try to solve them. This is the most influential method because “the first Islamic message which needs to be given to a hungry person should be to feed him.”