SPIRIT OF ISLAM APRIL 2O18

6 Spirit of Islam Issue 64 April 2018 FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Dr. Farida Khanam has been a professor at the Department of Islamic Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. A Study of World's Major Religions, A Simple Guide to Sufism are two of the books amongst many others, of which she is the author. She has also translated many books on Islam authored by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Currently, the chairperson of Centre for Peace and Spirituality (CPS International), an organization founded by her father Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, she is a regular contributor of articles to journals, newspapers and magazines. Dr. Khanam has edited Maulana’s English translation of the Quran and has also translated his Urdu commentary of the Quran into English. Under Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Peace Foundation, along with the CPS team, she is designing a series of courses on peace- building, countering extremism and conflict resolution. THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL WELFARE IN ISLAM A LL human beings, according to Islam have been created by one and the same God, and for this reason they belong to one great brotherhood. All being descendants of the same progenitors, they should willingly come to one another’s assistance, like members of the same large family. Charity has been preached by every religion of the world. Islam has made charity obligatory, laying the greatest emphasis on the support of the needy and destitute members of the society. It is thus a sacred duty of the affluent towards destitute members of society. It is incumbent upon the affluent to give part of their wealth to fulfil the needs of the deprived members of the community. A society can flourish only when its members do not spend all their wealth on the satisfaction of their own desires, but reserve a portion of it for relatives, neighbours, the poor and the needy. A true believer is thus always prepared, after meeting the needs of the family, to assist other people in need of help. Charity in its broadest sense has been called sadaqah in Islam. Such great importance is attached to charity that the month of Ramazan has been fixed for individuals to be trained in the practice of charity. It has therefore been made into an institution in order to give it permanence and regularity. The law of zakat takes from the wealthy and gives to the poor, rotates wealth in such a way as to balance social inequality.