Ramadan and the health benefits of charity
There is a rich businessman in Kano known simply as ‘Mai damask.’ Every Ramadan he fills trailer loads of 50kg bags of rice, running into hundreds of thousands for charity. Each night, from 11pm, the man, accompanied by security men and drivers of the trailers, canvass the streets of town, knocking on their doors. The […]
ramadan
There is a rich businessman in Kano known simply as ‘Mai damask.’ Every Ramadan he fills trailer loads of 50kg bags of rice, running into hundreds of thousands for charity. Each night, from 11pm, the man, accompanied by security men and drivers of the trailers, canvass the streets of town, knocking on their doors.
The first time I heard of him was five years ago. I was awoken from my sleep by loud sirens and fierce banging on doors and gates. It was around 1am. I peeped from my window in fright, only to meet commotion and a barrage of cars in the street. Some men would knock on your door loudly until you opened. A bag of rice would then be tossed into your house by his workers.
Good evening, sir. Sorry for the disturbance. We would like to dash you this bag of rice. Happy Ramadan. Good night, sir.
And then off to the next house. Wash, rinse, repeat.
From my window, I watched as they moved from one house to another, distributing bags of rice to the entire street. From there, they moved to the next street and so on till fajr (dawn). In the morning, my neighbours confirmed that the man did this every night for the entire month of Ramadan.
Mehn! See Goals! I want to be like him when I grow up.
Certainly, this man knows something we don’t.
It is that time of the year again – season of forgiveness, dua, charity. The time of the year when we tighten our belts as we strive to find a slot in Jannah. We deny ourselves food and drink, we stand in prayer till our knees and our legs hurt; and we give and give until our pockets run dry.
This is the spirit of Ramadan; the season of charity.
For those that have travelled to Saudi during Ramadan, the level of charity practised there is unmatched! 100! Food is distributed at every nook and cranny: dates, laban, rice and chicken, sweets, croissants, biscuits, chocolates, drinks, tea. One time, I even saw someone sharing 100 riyals to people seated outside the mosque. Nobody needs to buy food during Iftar, the mosque takes responsibility of feeding the guests of Allah; rows and rows of beautifully lined plates of food arranged beautifully on white sheets. Such a beauty to behold.
I love witnessing acts of charity. Many years ago, during a trying period in my life, I participated in a medical outreach in a rural community. The feeling of warmth and happiness that enveloped me stayed with me for days, dispelling the feeling of gloom and depression that had previously engulfed my soul. Following that episode, I went back to my books to find out: What are the benefits of charity, apart from the spiritual aspect?
Well firstly, charity improves self-esteem and self-worth. One of the major positive effects of donating money to charity is simply feeling good about giving. Being able to give back to those in need helps you to achieve a greater sense of personal satisfaction and growth. It feels good to help others. This leads to a feeling of self-worth, knowing that you are offering the much-needed resources to a great cause for those in need. As an added benefit, you and your loved one will both feel good about giving back to others.
With positive self-esteem and self-worth comes a genuinely more optimistic mood and outlook on life as even more health benefits of giving. Studies show that one of the benefits of giving back is its positive impact on the brain. These effects are similar to activities people usually associate with joy and happiness, such as eating, exercising or affectionate gestures like giving someone a hug. Different chemical reactions can lead to an ongoing pattern of improved mental health and wellbeing. Generally, the positive moods and low depression rates are due to the psychology of generosity.
Secondly and very importantly, charity and giving back improves physical health. Depression and lack of self-esteem have both been linked with heart disease and other health conditions. This link may partially explain why volunteering can lead to both better mental health and better physical health.
One 2013 study, for example, randomly divided 100 high school students into a group of volunteers and a group of no volunteers. At the beginning of the study, the volunteers and non-volunteers had equal body mass index (BMI) and cholesterol levels. Afterward, those who had been assigned to volunteer once a week for two months (helping out with after-school programmes for younger children) ended up with lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and a lower average BMI.
The researchers suggested that the volunteers’ improvements in mood and self-esteem after might help explain their improved physical health since these psychological and physical factors have been linked in other studies. Also, research on middle-aged and older adults, for example, has had similar findings. Middle-aged volunteers appear to have less belly fat, better cholesterol levels and lower blood sugar, compared with non-volunteers. And older adults who volunteer are less likely to have high blood pressure. This means, in turn, that they have lower risk for heart disease and stroke.
Another benefit is longer life. Many studies have shown that longer life expectancy is a result of the psychology of giving. The gift of giving and unselfishness is an altruistic personality trait that is closely aligned with people who live longer. A good example is Aminu ‘Dogo’ Dantata. I am sure that man is almost 100 years old.
Let us imbibe the spirit of charity, both during and after Ramadan. It will help benefit us all in the long run.
Ramadan Kareem.