(1) Charity
Charity is emphasized in every religion of the world. Somebody said, “Every charitable act is a stepping stone towards heaven.” This may be true for a religious person, but what about those people who do not believe in Heaven or Hell and not even believe in existence of God. It makes no difference to God if anybody created by Him believes Him or not. He is always kind and merciful for all His creations, either the Believers or Non-believers. The slogan of those Non-believers is “God is nowhere.” But, ask them to talk to a victim of any disaster who might have got help through charity by any individual or organization at the right moment. That fellow will invert their slogan in this way, “God is now here.” But, here our topic is about charity and we leave them here to experience the critical situation in their lives and; perhaps a day may come, when they may be compelled to change their attitude of a Non-believer.
I shall quote one of my favorite personalities – Sir Winston Churchill in this regard. He said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Further, he said: “Even the poor should give something to charity.” Mother Terasa also said, “It’s not how much we give, but how much love we can put into giving.” Giving something is better than nothing while doing charity. Frank Tyger quotes, “If you cannot lift the load off another’s back, do not walk away; but try to lighten it.”
In my opinion and also in yours, when we give something for charity to any needy person; it is not any obligation or favor to him, but is merely the payment of royalty on behalf of God for what we use as the raw material of what we produce and earn if we are a manufacturer. If we are a businessman or professional, we pay the levy of our intellectual property borrowed from Him. If we are a farmer, we use land, water, seeds etc. provided by Him. If we are a laborer, we pay Him for the physical strength He favored us. Nothing is ours, everything is His. Even we-ourselves are in existence at His will and our every breathe is dependent of Him. Hajarat Imam Ali, in a sermon, said, “When a man dies, his relatives ask how much wealth he has left. While the angels look to see how much he had given in charity, in the path of the God.”
Summing up, the God loves those who love Him, but loves those more who love their fellow-men.
-Valibhai Musa
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(2) The Demise of a Gentleman
I am going to talk about a Genius personality who is no more to day on earth. In brief, I can say that he was a Local Hero of his time. My relation with him was undefined, but I'll name it as Friendship. He was Mr. Ahmadbhai Palasara of Kanodar who died at 44.
I had written a letter of Condolence to the Late's united family then. The entire letter with prior permission of his family members is represented here which itself is self explanatory to know the Late better.
“Dear family members of the Late Janab Ahmadbhai,
We are very sorry for the passing away of Ahmadbhai, untimely and all of a sudden amongst us. We hope you may find some comfort in our message of condolence.
In these moments of great sadness, we pray to the Almighty God with the medium of the Infallibles to rest the departed soul amongst His chosen ones, in the proximity of the Infallibles and amongst the souls of those people who enjoy the mercy and pleasure of Him. Surely, from God we come and to Him shall we return.
The Late is now in need of the prayers and charity behind him for heavenly comfort and peace. We do hope that you may find understanding by our Faith and as time goes by that you all the family members are not to forget the loss, but to ease the pain.
Our family as well as business relationships had caused to sit together for hours with him frequently and we had the discussions about various topics from personal ones to all aspects of human life. He was a friend, philosopher and guide for anybody who might approach him for any problem which confused him. He was a genius fellow with God-gifted personality and intelligence. He had the solutions of any problem at his tongue-tip. I have come across so many personalities, but never witnessed such a fine, emotional, far-seeing and plain hearted fellow like Ahmadbhai. While many people live on the wings of fancy, he was a result-oriented man, a man of firm decision and a man putting the thoughts into action. His passing away causing us to weep behind is felt like sliding of earth from-under our feet, but our religious and particularly our community school of thought teaches us to surrender ourselves to the will of the God.
Summing up, please don't hesitate for any kind of services from our end, as and when needed, as it becomes your right and our duty owing to multiple interwoven relations between our two families.
With Deepest Sympathy,
For, MUSA FAMILY & UNICORN GROUP OF BUSINESS
(VALIBHAI MUSA)
Dated: 29th July, 1997”
Lastly, a message to Readers as follows:
“A short but quality living is greater than the quantity living measured in years.”
-Valibhai Musa
