Caring, sharing and giving

In this auspicious month of Ramadhan al-Mubarak, my organisation organises a weekly tazkirah for our staff every Thursday. For this week, we invited Ustaz Mohd Ali Sarbini who is the Imam of Masjid Negara. [Info on Masjid Negara can be read here].

Ustaz Ali had earlier in the day attended a function at Hospital Kuala Lumpur to give away hampers and duit raya to the patients at Wards 23 and 24 of the hospital. Most of them at the wards are elderly people. [Info on Hospital Kuala Lumpur can be read here].

He related to me that this experience was indeed rewarding for a number of reasons. The first is that one would be thankful for being fortunate and healthy. The second is the satisfaction of helping others in need. And the third is that one could see the happiness in the eyes of those in need of help when they receive the aid - no matter how small the aid may be.

Doctors may be able to prescribe physical medication. But in order for the sick to get well, spiritual and emotional medications must also be prescribed. This is where people like religious scholars, volunteers, philanthropists and more importantly family members come in. Unfortunately, most of us are quite oblivious to these people in need, unless and until one of our family members or even our own selves, are in that very position of needing help.

I believe that Ramadhan not only trains us to be patient and strong in the face of hardship, but we are also trained to be caring, sharing and giving. These traits should be made a habit even after this auspicious month has ended.

That is the challenge for us all - to inculcate these traits in ourselves and made them a habit.