2 Hadith Proofs Why a Muslim Can Donate to a Church
C.J Ahmed-02.04.2023
Making donations to paces of worship of non-Muslims such as Christian churches is not haram in Islam because there is evidence to prove that giving money is not haram in such cases.
Hadith Proof-1
Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said,
“A man intended to give charity, so he went out with his charity and placed it in the hands of a thief. In the morning, people were saying: Charity was given to a thief! The man said: O Allah, praise be to you! The man again intended to give charity, so he went out with his charity and placed it in the hands of an adulteress. In the morning, people were saying: Charity was given to an adulteress in the night! The man said: O Allah, praise be to you for the adulteress! The man again intended to give charity, so he went out with his charity and placed it in the hands of a wealthy person. In the morning, people were saying: Charity was given to a wealthy person! The man said: O Allah, praise be to you for the thief, the adulteress, and the wealthy person! Then, it came to him in a dream and it was said: As for your charity to the thief, perhaps it will cause him to give up stealing. As for the adulteress, perhaps it will cause her to give up adultery. As for the wealthy person, perhaps he will learn a lesson and spend in charity from what Allah has given him.”(Bukhari and Muslim)
In this beautiful hadith a man gave charity to a thief and prostitute and in a dream it was told to him that the charity he gave to the thief would help the thief give up stealing and the prostitute give up adultery. Nowadays people are discouraged in society to give charity to such people but Islam encourages to do so because it will help that person in a positive manner. The same can be said on giving charity to a church because the money given as charity can be used as an opportunity to do dawah to Christians and bring them to the right path.
Hadith Proof-2
We should understand that actions are judged according to your intentions and with good intentions you can definitely reap the rewards from Allah (swt). Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (rali) narrated that he heard the prophet (sal) say,
"Verily actions are by intentions, and for every person is what he intended” (Bukhari and Muslim)
There is nothing haram in giving donations to churches with a good intention. Some might try to quote the verse in the Quran to forbid giving donations to churches. The verse is as follows,
“Help you one another in AlBirr and AtTaqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression”(Al-Quran- 5:2)
The above verse has nothing to do wih giving charity or donations because by giving charity to a church you are not helping in sin but mking a means where it would help the Christians to come to the right path. Ibn Katheer said with regards to the explanation of the above verse in his tafsir as follows,
“Allaah commands His believing servants to help one another perform righteous good deeds, which is the meaning of Al-Birr, and to avoid sins, which is the meaning of At-Taqwa. Allaah forbids His servants from helping one another in sin, Ithm and committing the prohibitions. Ibn Jarir said that Ithm means abandoning what Allaah has ordained, while transgression means overstepping the limits that Allaah set in our religion, along with overstepping what Allaah has ordered concerning ourselves and others.”
There is nothing wrong in giving donations to Christian churches with good intentions.
Making donations to paces of worship of non-Muslims such as Christian churches is not haram in Islam because there is evidence to prove that giving money is not haram in such cases.
Hadith Proof-1
Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said,
“A man intended to give charity, so he went out with his charity and placed it in the hands of a thief. In the morning, people were saying: Charity was given to a thief! The man said: O Allah, praise be to you! The man again intended to give charity, so he went out with his charity and placed it in the hands of an adulteress. In the morning, people were saying: Charity was given to an adulteress in the night! The man said: O Allah, praise be to you for the adulteress! The man again intended to give charity, so he went out with his charity and placed it in the hands of a wealthy person. In the morning, people were saying: Charity was given to a wealthy person! The man said: O Allah, praise be to you for the thief, the adulteress, and the wealthy person! Then, it came to him in a dream and it was said: As for your charity to the thief, perhaps it will cause him to give up stealing. As for the adulteress, perhaps it will cause her to give up adultery. As for the wealthy person, perhaps he will learn a lesson and spend in charity from what Allah has given him.”(Bukhari and Muslim)
In this beautiful hadith a man gave charity to a thief and prostitute and in a dream it was told to him that the charity he gave to the thief would help the thief give up stealing and the prostitute give up adultery. Nowadays people are discouraged in society to give charity to such people but Islam encourages to do so because it will help that person in a positive manner. The same can be said on giving charity to a church because the money given as charity can be used as an opportunity to do dawah to Christians and bring them to the right path.
Hadith Proof-2
We should understand that actions are judged according to your intentions and with good intentions you can definitely reap the rewards from Allah (swt). Umar Ibn Al-Khattab (rali) narrated that he heard the prophet (sal) say,
"Verily actions are by intentions, and for every person is what he intended” (Bukhari and Muslim)
There is nothing haram in giving donations to churches with a good intention. Some might try to quote the verse in the Quran to forbid giving donations to churches. The verse is as follows,
“Help you one another in AlBirr and AtTaqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression”(Al-Quran- 5:2)
The above verse has nothing to do wih giving charity or donations because by giving charity to a church you are not helping in sin but mking a means where it would help the Christians to come to the right path. Ibn Katheer said with regards to the explanation of the above verse in his tafsir as follows,
“Allaah commands His believing servants to help one another perform righteous good deeds, which is the meaning of Al-Birr, and to avoid sins, which is the meaning of At-Taqwa. Allaah forbids His servants from helping one another in sin, Ithm and committing the prohibitions. Ibn Jarir said that Ithm means abandoning what Allaah has ordained, while transgression means overstepping the limits that Allaah set in our religion, along with overstepping what Allaah has ordered concerning ourselves and others.”
There is nothing wrong in giving donations to Christian churches with good intentions.