Kind Words or Donating Thousands?”

 

"Kind words and forgiveness are better than charity followed by injury. And Allah is Self-Sufficient, Most Forbearing."Al-Baqara 2:263

"Your kind words to someone who is hurting, someone who is alone, someone who is looking for hope can be worth more than donating thousands of dollars followed by harm. Why? Because kind words are a form of 'jabr al khawatir' - an expression in Arabic that loosely translates to mending one’s hurt/feelings.

Words have power. Words have an impact. They can raise a spirit or demoralize it. They can mend a heart or hurt it. They can spark hope or dim it.

The Prophet peace be upon him reminds us about the importance of speaking kindly and ties it to the magnitude of believing in the last day in the following hadith: “Let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day speak good, or keep silent; and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his neighbor; and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his guest.” [Al-Bukhari] [Muslim]

This same verse also reminds us about the importance of forgiveness - with Islam being a holistic system. One of the things that we can benefit from this point is that we remember to forgive when we’re not spoken to kindly or hurt.

May we be of those who help to mend hearts, raise spirits, spark hope for others, and forgive. Ameen."

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