Believers have a special responsibility in society when it comes to the needy and vulnerable. They, many times, offer help in different circumstances, like assisting patients in hospitals, feeding hungry people, or sponsoring children in need of education. But it is important to know why they do this and what the Bible says about helping the less fortunate. Should helping the needy be considered an important part of a believer’s life? Among the many religions that greatly value helping the needy is Islam. Muslims believe they must be compassionate because everyone is a special creation of Allah. Giving to charity and helping others are considered good deeds and there should be no expectation of anything in return. Charity is not just giving money but involves the giving of time to help others. It is said that of the most rewarding actions in Islam are; aiding those in need, feeding the hungry, and helping the afflicted. Aly Hirwa, a Muslim living in Gisozi, attributes the actions of helping the needy to the scriptural teachings. He is of the view that Allah cares deeply about the poor and expects His people to do the same. “Scriptures order us never to glean their vineyard, nor gather any grape; but leave them for the poor,” he says. “That also, anyone who oppresses the poor reproaches the maker, but he who honours Him has mercy on the needy,” he says, quoting the scriptures. Aly explains that helping the needy is one trait religions have to embrace, because it is among the qualities that identify a good religion. “Pure and undefiled religion before God is the one that visits orphans and widows in trouble.” Using examples from Jesus Christ, Eric Sibomana, the head of the Protestant’s community in Rwanda’s Institute of Conservation of Agriculture, says that Jesus asked those who wanted to be saved to give their possessions to the poor. Quoting Matthew 19, he retells, “Remember the words Jesus told the ‘rich young ruler’ who wanted to know what he needed to do in order to be saved, and Jesus asked him to go and sell their possessions and give to the poor to get the treasure in heaven; and hereby follow Jesus?” In line with this, Sibomana says helping the needy will be one of the considerations for believers to get to heaven. “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me,” he quotes Matthew 29. And the righteous will respond, asking when they did this, but Jesus will say “To the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me.” Cato Institute Senior Fellow, Doug Bandow, author of the 1988 book Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics, commented on the significance of social life of Christians in the modern world. In his book, he asks the question of why God destroyed Sodom and finds out that, according to the Biblical book of Ezekiel, one of the reasons that led to the city’s downfall was that they did not help the poor and needy. “God brought judgment on his people in Sodom, for callousness towards the poor, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, which is attributed to selfishness caused deafness to the poor,” he comments. “And when a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.”
