Person A has 10 billion US dollars and gives half of it away with a HUGE public relations campaign.
Person B has 10 thousand US dollars and gives half of it to charity and in secret so nobody knows.
Who is the superior person? Who is the inferior person?
Joseph Tham
Sirji,
Assalamualikum and good morning from Bangladesh ! Ramjanul Mubarak !! In fact for me the answer is difficult . Because person A is superior as s/he gives away huge money for the public relation campaign, by which others may be inspire and may do the same. In case of person B, the amount is lesser , society will benefited definitely but more people's inspiration may not come. Still its a work for the humanitarian ground , is saluted by me from the core of my heart.
Thanks
Md Zafar Alam Bhuiyan Could not think of a simple question so I asked a difficult one instead!!!! Would not want to insult the intelligence of the people on RG by asking simple questions.
In Islam, is it preferable to give to charity in secret? Is it halal to make a "hanggama" huge PR event about it?
Joseph Tham
Thats awesome to get works the brain. Yes, in Islam secretly charity is preferable people who want to take a benefits (such as earning good name, election campaign , social values , etc.). If anyone wants to inspire others for the same, charity can be made open, no problem.
Thanks
Definitely true. If you donate half of your wealth to those who are badly in need for help, this is too generous of you. You will get respect and admiration by all.
Hazim Al Dilaimy I am guessing that most likely the person will go to Paradise. There is no guarantee of course, but the chances are excellent. However, the question is about superiority of Person A and Person B. See below.
Person A has 10 billion US dollars and gives half of it away with a HUGE public relations campaign.
Person B has 10 thousand US dollars and gives half of it to charity and in secret, so nobody knows.
Who is the superior person? Who is the inferior person?
If we made a list of the top ten billionaires in the world who have agreed to give away their wealth, how many of them would be non-Western? The problem in this research is that all the people from the non-Western countries could be giving away their wealth in secret, and nobody knows. How to find out?
From a christian tradition: Lk 21,1-4. I guess, you are familiar with that, Joseph Tham .
Best,
Thomas
the questions are all rather hypothetical; if you give me 10 mill I promise to give secretly away all of it. Won't make any big fuss about it. Except people who wish to stand in the limelight (millionaires and bigger, not all however) such PR students are part of their lives. However I am more connected to people who might approach me for reasons of our daily lives (students who still require a few hundred FJD to get their tuition fees together), or relatives who want to build a house and require a 'loan'. In such circumstances the question of moral superiority does not play any role also not the question whether this takes us to heaven.
" Ruler of Sharjah’s generosity enables Armenian monastery to reopen
Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed visited the Haghartsin Monastery in 2005. His donation helped fund the completion of refurbishment work."
“I cannot recall anything similar to this happening in our history that an Arab Sheikh, a Muslim, helped to restore and rescue an Armenian Christian church,” the priest, Aristakes Aivazyan, said. Without doubt it was God who brought the Sheikh to Haghartsin"( https://www.thenational.ae/uae/ruler-of-sharjah-s-generosity-enables-armenian-monastery-to-reopen-1.594656 ).
"Dubai sheikh helps a Cornish community buy its Methodist chapel
Local residents approached the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates to help raise funds
BY KATIE FROST
JUN 29, 2017
A Cornish village raising funds to develop a Methodist chapel into a community centre has received help from an unexpected supporter - the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates.
Residents in Godolphin Cross, near Helston, approached His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum last November in an appeal to raise funds to buy the chapel, which is being sold by the Methodist church, Cornwall Live reports. The Godolphin Cross Community Association said the sheikh's support to transform the chapel, which is the only community space in the village, was like a "fairytale"(https://www.countryliving.com/uk/wildlife/countryside/news/a2019/dubai-sheikh-buys-methodist-chapel-cornwall/ )
Both are doing well.
The billionaire should give away 80-90 percent, not only half of all...
Md Adnan Rahman
May I humbly request you to write some comments in sentences. Single word responses are not helpful or useful. You are most kind. Shukran. Terima Kasi
Here are 8 further candidates for giving away 80-90 % of their wealth, the 8 richest men of the Globe - they have together AS much AS the poorer half of the World population... See
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327780131_Einkommensverteilung_weltweit_Oxfam?_sg=k3qnm5BwuuRL51vLEt0S31t2nWxOigH_gDrdF25TrgZnu6X8Ze4DKjVumvKqu-66_i_j4rrTaLD1zbWvxh8amdBKIPyoaDdHcuDlYZv1.r1KsHrpM-1qB9LX7sswTJeU6SobVOoULqRUL6lzyvzyUaXL3XhdXfEdsCYcYHSklpw-HoLMH-Ilkj850zWH87w
In my opinion, the second person is superior, and the reason is that he did not look for anything propaganda through his work, while the first person may be looking for glory and the reputation of the media to be said to have donated the amount, and perhaps looking for benefits and returns beyond the eloquence that he gave
Of course we are assuming that both gave their wealth to the same charity with the same end in mind. Otherwise there would be no way to assess this question.
And the presumption seems to be that the gift giver who made a show of his generosity might be in it for the social credit.
We can't decipher motive for either giver but...
I would say that if we supported the charity that the wealth was being given to, the person who gave to it with the huge public relations campaign would have done the most good as it would likely result in the most emulation.
That person would have brought the most attention to the cause - and as we often follow those we admire, many might follow a rich person who does this seemingly admirable thing.
If another gives but wants it concealed we'd have to wonder why?
If it is so wonderful to do good things but take no credit for them, why are we preoccupied with the good-works of Jesus or Saint Francis, Florence Nightingale or Joan of Arc? Would the world be a better place if these people did exactly what they did ... but left no trace and no one was ever told about them?
We glorify the heroic not merely to reward the current hero, but to produce more heroes in the future.
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