"The third duty is secrecy, for this is farthest removed from hypocritical display and reputation-seeking. Said the Prophet, on him be peace: 'The most meritorious form of Almsgiving is the effort to help a poor man, made in secret, by one who is himself of little means.' According to one of the scholars: 'Three things are accounted among the treasures of righteousness, one of them being to give Alms in secret.'"
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship
al-Ghazali is continuing his discussion of giving aid, and here he stresses the importance of giving in secret. Certainly Islam is not alone in this, and you could easily pull out similar dictates from Judaism or Christianity or other religions. The point here, obviously, relates to sincerity. If you're doing these good deeds solely to be seen doing good deeds then you're doing it for yourself and not for God or the community. It's said than done because all of us want to be well thought of and even if your motives are really pure it's easy to imagine yourself being recognized for your kindness and generosity, even if it's only thinking of yourself as the guy who routinely carried out acts of kindness and generosity. You'll often see videos on Facebook of someone filming themselves helping someone out, and, on the one hand they did help someone out, but on the other hand they also filmed themselves doing so and then shared it. I do work in support of TechDren which I share on Facebook and Twitter and through general emails and while the goal is important I have to be constantly mindful of the role that personal vanity is playing in my decision to do so. The other night I went to our monthly potluck at the masjid, which was a time of celebration because we've raised enough funds to buy the old Mormon church and turn it into our new home. While I gave money there were brothers, of far less means, who gave a ton more money than I did, which doesn't speak well of me. What struck me the other night was that no one there made any effort to discuss how much they had given. No one. It was very humbling, and also spoke to their faith and their adherence to the concept of keeping your charity in secret.
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship
al-Ghazali is continuing his discussion of giving aid, and here he stresses the importance of giving in secret. Certainly Islam is not alone in this, and you could easily pull out similar dictates from Judaism or Christianity or other religions. The point here, obviously, relates to sincerity. If you're doing these good deeds solely to be seen doing good deeds then you're doing it for yourself and not for God or the community. It's said than done because all of us want to be well thought of and even if your motives are really pure it's easy to imagine yourself being recognized for your kindness and generosity, even if it's only thinking of yourself as the guy who routinely carried out acts of kindness and generosity. You'll often see videos on Facebook of someone filming themselves helping someone out, and, on the one hand they did help someone out, but on the other hand they also filmed themselves doing so and then shared it. I do work in support of TechDren which I share on Facebook and Twitter and through general emails and while the goal is important I have to be constantly mindful of the role that personal vanity is playing in my decision to do so. The other night I went to our monthly potluck at the masjid, which was a time of celebration because we've raised enough funds to buy the old Mormon church and turn it into our new home. While I gave money there were brothers, of far less means, who gave a ton more money than I did, which doesn't speak well of me. What struck me the other night was that no one there made any effort to discuss how much they had given. No one. It was very humbling, and also spoke to their faith and their adherence to the concept of keeping your charity in secret.
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