A lesson in meaning, value of true giving

A video about a handshake has gone viral in India. Why should we care about it in the United States? It teaches us the etiquette of giving.

Sonu Nigam, a popular Bollywood singer, did a social experiment. Disguised as a common street performer, he sat at a busy intersection in Mumbai and sang for over for three hours. Some gathered around him to listen and many walked by ignoring him. A young man, Sharbaaz Ali, sat next to him, praised his singing and asked permission to record him on his smartphone. With the pretext of shaking his hand he gave the street singer money surreptitiously. Onlookers saw it only as a handshake.

Nigam was moved by this act. He was able to track down Ali to show him that he has framed the twelve rupees he received from Ali. He appreciated that Ali gave the money covertly so that Nigam's street singer persona would keep his dignity intact.

The same desire for anonymous giving is behind the gold coins that appear in the Salvation Army kettles during the holiday season and the folks who donate to victims of a disaster they may never meet.

It does not have to be money. The time and effort volunteers give to a cause and the good Samaritan who may risk his life to help a stranger and disappear are other examples.

With the arrival of Ramadan this week, this protocol of giving is an important lesson for Muslims to keep in mind. Ramadan is known for fasting, abstinence, self-discipline and recharging the soul. Not as well known is that Zakat, charity that is obligatory for Muslims, is given mostly during this month.

The way charity is given often sets up a differential between the donor, generous and noble, and the recipient, humble and grateful. There could be nothing worse. The fact that Zakat is obligatory tends to takes away this differential. The Quran makes it explicit that the act of giving is as beneficial for the donor as the recipient.

The literal meaning of the word Zakat is to purify. When the Quran asks Muslims to give, it says, "Give from what We have provided you" rather than saying give of your wealth. The phrase "from what We have provided for you" appears repeatedly in the Quran as a reminder that wealth we accumulate is at least partly due to circumstances, like the destiny of birth and opportunity.

The hardest thing for us to do is to part with our money. The Pharaohs' treasures remained in their tombs. The Quran hopes that if the concept that we are holding wealth partly as a trust for society sinks in, we might be less clingy to money.

A PEW survey published at the beginning of Ramadan 2013, sampled 38,000 Muslims in 39 countries, found that 93 percent fasted during the month of Ramadan and 77 percent gave Zakat; that is a disconnect. Those who feel motivated enough to take on the rigors of fasting should also be giving Zakat.

A different survey conducted by the online group JUSTGIVING, shows the U.K.'s estimated 280,000 Muslims report giving more money annually to charity than Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews. This survey showed that Muslims donate about $567 per person per year, Jews $412, Christians just over $300, and atheists $177 per person. My guess of why Muslims appear to be on the top of the list is the Zakat effect. I am not sure why atheists are at the bottom of the list.

The Zakat concept could be an important tool in fighting economic inequities in the society. The fact that economic inequity is an increasingly serious problem is well established. In the United States in the late 1970s, the top 1 percent took in 8 to 9 percent of the total income but in 2007, they raked in 23.5 percent of the total and now it is up to 43 percent.

"Islam with Zakat as a core pillar of its economic (model)," writes Michael Bonner, "created a kind of economy for elimination of poverty."

Zakat is part of an economic concept where the poor farmer has a share of the crop. Imagine if everyone in the United States gave 2.5 percent of his or her wealth to the poor each year. The vertical recirculation that giving to the poor via the Zakat model generates is different from the mostly horizontal circulation of wealth only among the rich. When we have surplus wealth, we buy luxury goods. Those who clean and service our luxury homes benefit but marginally from our wealth.

Regardless of how much we give and to whom, we have Sharbaaz Ali to thank to remind us to give without compromising the dignity of the recipient and without the expectation of gratitude; that is true altruism.

Javeed Akhter is a physician and freelance writer from Oak Brook.