Shariq Siddiqui: Start the new year with intention, a smile, sadaqah

Many social changemakers are calling for the need to think from a place of abundance rather than scarcity.

I hear this a lot—from philanthropists, from people awash with abundance and from nonprofits steeped in scarcity. But far too often, these calls for abundance don’t provide the needed mechanism to make conditions favorable to abundant thinking. Arguably, faith (or more specifically, religion) can provide us the best inspirations for abundant thinking.

I think of Jesus or Muhammad’s ability to feed many what little they had at hand. Their faith in and partnership with God allowed them to think in abundance rather than be worried that they wouldn’t have enough. A call for abundance without a framework to support is empty words.

During the past six weeks, I have been on a seven-country research trip across three continents. As I conducted focus groups in Spain, I was reminded again of the power of abundant thinking when connected with Islamic philanthropy by a few remarkable young Spanish Muslim women volunteers in Barcelona and Madrid as they described what “sadaqah” meant to them.

Sadaqah is a form of non-obligatory Islamic charity. As I write in my recent co-authored book “Understanding Muslim Philanthropy,” it goes beyond money and time. It can be intention, inaction, smiling and simply attempting to do good.

These young women argued that we need to move away from impact and focus on sadaqah. They suggested that when we look at someone in need and focus on what we can do to uplift them from their current situation, it can be paralyzing. Planning paralysis can often set in and deter the most well-meaning philanthropist.

However, if we focus on sadaqah and do something—a smile, a euro, a hand up, a nice word, or anything—we have made the situation marginally (and perhaps, momentarily) better. But these amazing young women reminded me, God needs less than a moment to make things better.

Sadaqah is not just trying to do good, it is doing good in partnership with God. These young women reminded me that we shouldn’t forget God on our journey because sadaqah is incomplete without God.

As we begin this new year full of hope for a better tomorrow, let’s not forget that we must start with the intent to do good, follow it up with the power of prayer and partnership with God, and ultimately build a community around these ideas.

Far too often, philanthropists and foundations discount the power of faith when they embark on social good. However, the belief in God and trust in a community of faith can amplify social good. Many social scientists point to the power of social capital. We don’t take into consideration the power faith and religion provide in powering that social capital to many times its original size.

My children often joke that, regardless of how bad my health is, when asked how I am doing, I always answer, “Alhamdulillah,” which means, “Praise be to God.” I could be on a hospital bed, in the ER or having fallen to the ground due to another spell—the answer never changes. The power to see the light in horrible moments is something that comes from faith—it is abundant thinking.

As we start this new year, I will start with good intention, a smile and sadaqah. I have faith that God has plans to partner with us to make the world a better place. Alhamdulillah.•

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Siddiqui is assistant professor and director of the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.

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