Answer
Wa `alaykum as-salamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
Islam encourages giving charity to all human beings regardless of differences in religion, race, color, or language.
In his response to your question, Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada states,
Among the considerable signs of showing gratitude to Allah is payment of zakah and charity. When a Muslim pays his zakah or spends something in charity, his soul is purified from miserliness and he rises to the peak of magnanimity and honor.
The very act of spending money in charity and zakah is itself a great sign of showing gratitude to Almighty Allah.
Islam encourages giving charity to all human beings regardless of differences in religion, race, color, or language.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to the aid of the non-Muslim pagans who had fought against him.
Their disbelief did not prevent him from assisting them in their dire need. Allah describes the quality of faith of the true believers, {They give food to the poor, the orphan, the captive, though they love it themselves, saying, ‘We fed for the sake of God alone: We seek neither recompense nor thanks from you’} (Al-Insan 76: 8-9).
The prisoners mentioned here were none other than the disbelieving pagans taken as prisoners by Muslims.
So, Muslims are obligated to come to the aid of their non-Muslim neighbors and fellow citizens. Let us come together to fight poverty and help those in need regardless of differences in religion, race or ethnicity, color or language.
May Allah include us among those whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) described when he said, “The best of mankind are those who are most helpful to the servants of Allah!” (At-Tabarani)
Allah Almighty knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.