The 'unrewarded' 'good deeds' (Part 11)

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In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, theMerciful; blessings and peace be upon Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.

Reflection
Surah 114
An-Nas, the second of the two cries for refuge andprotection, takes its name from a recurring word which marks the rhythm in theArabic. In this case protection is sought especially from the evil in a man'sown heart in the hearts of other men.
An early Meccan revelation

MANKIND
Revealed at Mecca

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, theMerciful.
1. Say; I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind,
2. The King of mankind,
3. The God of mankind,
4. From the evil of the sneaking whisperer,
5. Who whispereth in the hearts of mankind,
6. Of the jinn of mankind. (The Meaning of theGLORIOUS QUR'AN, The Final Revelation, An Explanaory Translation by MuhammadMarmaduke Pickthall)
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IF Ramadan is the holiest month of the year, Fridayis the best day of the week to get closer to Allah SWT, the Almighty.
Friday is the most excellent and distinguished day;it is the 'penghulu' (chief) day of the week. Abu Hurayrah r.a. said thatthe Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him, s.a.w.) said: "The dailyprayers, from Friday to Friday,are an expiation for the sins committed in thetime between prayers, so long as no major sins (kabaair) are committed."(Muslim)
If I were working I normally performed Friday at amasjid near my office in KL; if it was my off day, I performed it at a masjidnear my house in Melaka.
In the latter masjid, just before the 'khatib'(person who reads the sermon) read 'the khutbah', the 'bilal' (muezzin) wouldstand in front of the 'khatib', reading this hadith: "From Abu Hurairah,Rasulullah shallallahu 'alaihi wasallam said: "If you say to your friendduring Friday prayer " quiet!", while the imam holds the sermon, it meansthat you fail to perform your Jumaah." (Muttafaq 'Alaih, lnarrated by al Bukhari)
In both masjids (in KL and Melaka) when the 'imam'(persons who leads the solat) reads the sermon, the 'makmum' (congregators)push and pass the donation box from a person to another.
The majority of the'makmum' insert their money into the box; some of them do various acts such aspulling out their wallet from their trousers and folding their notes so they couldbe easily inserted into the box.
While in KL, sometimes I would go other masjids; inone masjid I had witnessed several times while the 'khatib' was reading thesermon, a 'pak haji' (an old man with a skull cap) would walk in front ofthe 'saf' (row of congregators) with a donation pouch; he would do thecollection from every 'saf' of the masjid.
All would agree that donating money for good causeis a good deed and would be rewarded handsomely by Allah SWT the Almighty; butwhen an 'ustaz' who teaches every Saturday night at a masjid near my house begins his lesson on "mendahulukan yang utama daripada yang kurang utama"(giving priority to the more important things for the less important ones), I am in doubt whether we are doing the right thing in making donations when the'khatib' is delivering his sermon.
I questioned the 'ustaz' on that matter; and hisanwer was: "Listening attentively to the sermon is 'wajib' (obligatory)while giving donation is 'sunat' (optional); of course a 'wajib' deed is abovethe 'sunat' one. Doing a 'sunat' deed when one should focus on the 'wajib'obligation is not appropriate. So it is not proper to pass around the donationbox while the 'khatib' is reading the sermon. I recommended congregators todonate their money before the 'azan' (the call of prayers) or after Fridayprayers."
Regarding this matter, I came across a veryrelevant article in a website, Voa-Islam.com owned jointly by my Indonesianfriend, Desvanto Rosatyawan S. In an article 'Prohibition of circulating thecharity box during sermon' written by Ustaz Badrul Tamam; he noted thatcongregators have to listen to the sermon attentively, avoiding every frivolousact and utterance.
We may not do anything that can avert ourconcentration to the sermon, he said.
From Abu Hurairah, Rasulullah shallallahu 'alaihiwasallam says: "Whoever has an ablution, and complete it, then do theFriday prayer and continue to concern listening sermon, he will getforgiveness. It includes his all sins from the present day up to the next Friday,plus three days after. Whoever romps gravel, has lost his own Fridayprayer." (Muslim)
Imam an Nawawi rahimahullah explains in SyarhShahih Moslem, "In the hadith mentioned above, there is a prohibitionorder no to indulge irrelevant talk and act during the sermon; we shouldconfront our heart, mind and body to pay attention to it. "
From Ibnu 'Abbas radliyallah 'anhu states,Rasulullah shallallahu 'alaihi wasallam utter, "The person who talks whenthe sermon is in progress, is like a donkey loaded with books, and the one whotells another one to be quiet, during the sermon, has lost his own FridayPrayer." (Ahmad).
The intention of placing one who convenes duringthe Friday prayer with a donkey loaded by thick books is because he gets no bigbenefit, though he already comes and weary to come to the masjid.
Whereas the meaning of "he has lost his ownFriday prayer" means he does not get any reward for his pray perfectly.(Fathul Baari: II/184 and Subulus Salam: III/172)
When the imam is delivering the sermon, no oneshould offer an individual prayer, nor should one engage in conversation. It isforbidden to talk, offer prayer, eat, drink, greet or respond to greeting, ordoing anything which may distract one from the sermon; even giving of religiousinstruction or exhorting others to do good is forbidden. Unfortunately, thedifferent reality often found in most masjids, charitable box is circulatedwhile imam delivers the sermon.
Many officers of the masjid usually circulate thecharity box. They stand up in the second sermon to bring the charitable box tothe people. Actually, they had conducted big mistake, but feel had didkindliness.
Dealing to this condition, the error is not onlydone by the officer, but also its people. It is obligatory to listen to thesermon peacefully and with full attention.
Imam Muslim narrates from Abu Hurairah, thatRasulullah shallallahu 'alaihi wasallam utter: "Whoever wipes the gravel,then what he has conducted is useless."
A simply wipe to the gravel means useless, imaginehow the one who is stand busy during the sermon? What about people who arepulling their money from his pocket, and put it to the charitable box? Ofcourse it becomes more assumed as useless. (Syaikh Wahid Abdul Salam Bali in AlKalimaat al Naafi'ah fi Akhtha' al Sya-i'ah)
Thus, circulating the charitable box during Fridayprayer 'khutbah' is forbidden. It will bother others who are concerned aboutsermon. As a consequence, one who conducts this mistake will lose theexcellence of Friday prayer.
So, it is desirable if the charitable box should beput down beside the door of masjid; don't offer you money and push the trolleydonation box when the imam is reading the sermon for this is another'unrewarded' 'good deed'!