It was a hot day in June. I along with my sister planned to go for dinner to alleviate the intensity of fatigue caused by the daily routine and the hot weather. So, we went to a fast-food restaurant.

A service Tip at a restaurant could be called Sadka or a Sadka can be given to a waiter without informing him?

My sister ordered pizza and hot wings. We were having a good time when I suddenly remembered that I had to give sadaqah to someone. My sister was telling me a story about her school teacher when I interrupted her in between her talk.

She gave me a disgusting look that I completely ignored asking her if I could give the sadaqah to the waiter as a tip. Instead of taking it seriously, she started asking me to pay bills if I had money.

When I gave her a death stare, she swilled down her bite with a sudden gulp and focused her attention towards me. she was looking right into my eyes when she asked, “Do you know what service tip means?”

I replied, “Yeah! It is a sum of money that a customer usually gives directly to the server, server as in a waiter, to thank him for his hospitality in addition to the basic amount of payable bill”

She nodded her head in a facile manner as if she was agreeing with my point. Then she told me that there are several needy people around, but not all of them come and ask for help. They prefer prioritizing their self-respect over their hunger.

So, while giving sadaqah to anyone the first thing a person should consider is their self-respect. The topic excited me, I sat straight on the chair and asked her, “So in that case how about not telling that person and giving him the money as a gift or reward???”

“What!!! Well, no it’s not good to give someone sadaqah keeping them unaware of the fact.” She was telling me when the waiter arrived just to ask if we needed something else or not.

That day I first time noticed a waiter. He looked tired not physically but mentally but still was wearing a professional smile on his lips. My sister asked him for the bill as we had almost finished our meal.

When the waiter arrived with the bill, we paid the bill and gave him a bounty tip that was not a sadaqah though.

While driving back home I had a tight grip on the steering but I was looking at somewhere on the horizon and my thoughts were far away from the road when I heard my sister’s voice she was asking me if I concentrate on driving and drive her home safe and sound. I tried to give her a death stare but I knew she was right so we both cracked and laughed out loud.

The next day at the university I was sitting in the library when I decided to search on sadaqah.

So, I opened an encyclopedia and started reading about sadaqah. It is defined as an act of “giving something without seeking a substitute in return and with the intention of pleasing Allah.”

The term sadaqah stems from the Arabic root word sidq (s-d-q, ص د ق), which means “sincerity”; sadaqah is considered a sign of sincere faith. The three-letter root of this word, s-d-q, also means, “to speak the truth,” “to be sincere,” and “to fulfill one’s promise.” Moreover, in the Quran, the word sadaqah means a voluntary offering, whose amount is at the will of the benefactor.

Giving a sum of money is just a type of Sadaqah that is termed Zakah. Other than zakah Sadaqah also includes,

  1. to administer justice between two people
  2. to remove harm from a road/removing thorns, bones, and stones from paths
  3. to speak a good word
  4. to take a step towards prayer
  5. to guide the blind
  6. to support the weak with the strength of your arms
  7. to smile at others

this concept is explained by this hadith: “A kind word and smile” can be considered as sadaqah and the best form of it is “passing on knowledge.”

I was reading this when my friends told me that my sister was there to pick me up. I gathered my belongings and rushed towards the door, she hates to wait rah!

After sitting in the car I gave her a victorious smile as if I won the marathon, she looked at me with a deep warm glance as if she were asking me “What’s up buddy?”

So I told her there was no justification for not giving sadaqah without telling. She took a long sigh and started telling me, “ listen up there are some etiquettes of doing any deed and yes there is this Ayat of Quran: الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُم بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ سِرًّا وَعَلاَنِيَةً فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلاَ َوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

Translation: It is better to offer sadaqah in secret.

But this does not mean you are allowed to keep that person unaware of the fact there are probabilities that the respective person does not like to accept sadaqah” “then what does this secrecy mean in this ayat?” “so yeah! this basically is to forbid people from doing Rayah” “what is Rayah,” I asked curiously.

“Rayah is actually a sin in which a person shows off his good deeds. Let’s suppose you give sadaqah to a poor man and while giving sadaqah you make a video clip and then put it on WhatsApp status or some Instagram story just to tell everyone how generous and kind you are.” The irony can be easily felt from her tone,” then your deed is actually not for Allah it’s just for the popularity. People do such things without knowing that a good deed always comes up on the front screen even without telling. let’s suppose Eidhi, the whole world knows who is Eidhi even though he never tried to show off.”

“Woah!” it’s scary like a good deed can turn into a sin,” I said in a surprised manner. After reaching home I took a bath and then was having my lunch when that waiter’s face waved in front of my eyes.

“Hey listen!” I called my sister. She smiled at me saying, “You got some questions about service tips now?” she knew me like the back of her hand. I quickly nodded my head yes.

“Go on,” she said. “So, Does providing money to a working-class actually help if you give him a tip or service?” “ Look inflation is haunting everyone around in this era, so your tip even if it’s in the hundreds won’t change a person’s lifestyle. But, yes it can bring a smile to someone’s face, and it can fulfill a little cute desires for instance a father can buy a doll for her little one or maybe ice cream or some school stationery. So yes, giving service tips is helpful. And if you know you know ‘drop by drop rivers are formed’.” She replied.

“But what if a person buys drugs finding some extra money or anything like that???” A question popped up in my brain.

“Yeah! it’s not good to provide someone money for this purpose, but how come you decide who’s going to use it for a bad purpose or good purpose?” “Well, I don’t know actually…. I mean the druggies usually look weird and can be recognized??” I was actually confused at that point.

“Nuh uh, maybe someone is going through a real tough time and his eyes are red and his face lost his shine and seems dull due to anxiety and insomnia, what would you do??? Would you label him as a druggie?? She asked me as if she was challenging my judging abilities.

“What should we do then??” I asked in a surrendered manner.

“Leave that to Allah. Our every deed should only be for pleasing Allah. There is this proverb ‘Do a good turn and throw it in the river’.” she replied politely. Sometimes I think what if Allah hasn’t sent her in my life? I shrugged thinking about it. “well according to the point of view of Islam, I saw this video of Aleem al-Hakim ages ago where he discussed a hadith. In this hadith, it is narrated that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) dispatched representatives to collect zakat (charitable donations). One of these representatives returned and divided the collected zakat into two portions, saying, “This is your (for the needy),” while pointing to one portion, and “This is given to us,” while indicating the other portion. Upon hearing this, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) became displeased and asked, “Who are you to claim that this portion is given to you? Shouldn’t you have remained in your own homes and observed whether people willingly donated or not? Those who gave you this portion did so not because of your personal attributes, such as the color of your eyes or your intelligence, but because of the authority of your position as administrators.” In essence, the Prophet was emphasizing that if someone gives a service tip or donation with the expectation of receiving special favors or benefits in return, it is not a virtuous deed; rather, it resembles a bribe.

However, if one gives such donations solely to please Allah, without expecting anything in return, it becomes a sincere and selfless act of charity.

I was listening to her so intently that when she stopped, I realized how long I had been holding my breath.

“Well enough of it now go have some rest you need to prepare for your test get up!!!!!” she said to me and we both went to our rooms. After a week I visited a hotel with my friends there I asked a waiter what if I gave him sadaqah as a tip.

And his reply surprised me big time. He said he is not a Muslim. So, I may not find it suitable to give sadaqah to a non-Muslim. I was confused because my heart was not ready to accept that Islam could be so narrow.

So I started to do research on it. So, yeah there is no doubt that zakat is only limited to the Muslims but Sadaqah, on the other hand, is a broader form of charity and can be given to anyone, regardless of their religious affiliation.

And to satisfy myself I started searching for some Islamic references and I found this Hadith: Narrated by Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him), the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “Those who show mercy will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth, and the One in the heavens will have mercy upon you.” (Tirmidhi).

After satisfying myself I went to that waiter and handed him sadaqah with generosity. While doing so I told him that our Islam is based on Reham(kindness) compassion and sincerity. Therefore, it is widely accepted within Islamic jurisprudence that sadaqah can be given to both Muslims and non-Muslims in need.

One could easily feel the peace on his face after being treated that way, and to be very honest it gave me an unexplainable comfort and peace. That’s when a friend of mine said a weird thing to me “A service tip actually makes people look forward to it so stop being so sweet.” She said to me And if you look at it, she wasn’t wrong in her place, but by grabbing onto negativity, a person distances themselves from happiness and gets trapped in the cage of self-centeredness and insensitivity. So, I prefer spreading love and generosity regardless of the path one chooses.

I woke up early in the morning, feeling a rush of excitement as I prepared for my journey to Murree. we had been planning this trip for months and finally, the day had arrived. After checking all the items on our packing list, me and my sister loaded our backpacks into our car and set off on the road toward Murree.

As my sister drove along the GT road, we enjoyed the picturesque landscapes and the scenic beauty of his surroundings. After a few hours of drive, we felt hungry so we decided to have some food.

She stopped the car by a local truck hotel on the GT road. We ordered some desi food. I was eating karahi with fresh naan when I heard my sister asking me, “What will you do now?” I raised my eyebrows in a questioning manner. I had no idea what she was talking about.

Then she asked, “Would you give any service tip or sadaqah to these little kids who work as waiters here as we consider it a matter of pride to tip at expensive hotels, do people care about tipping at local hotels?”

I had no confusion about that because yes I would eagerly give tips to those cute little waiters. Their smiles are precious and, when a person spreads a smile, he is the one who earns peace. But again I want people to know that do not do it for Rayah because Rayah is a termite that eats up happiness and peace not only theirs (needy) but yours too.

“See me now” I replied my sister with bright shining eyes. “Choto! Come here—” I called one little boy who served us the food.

“Do you like chocolates?” I asked the boy. “Yes! I do.” His voice lacked enthusiasm, and this fact was tormenting to my soul. I wanted him to say it with the same excitement as little kids say, ‘I like it,’ but I was forgetting that he was no ordinary child. Circumstances had made him much older than her age. Well, I gave him all the chocolates I had in my travel bag. They were almost 30 in number.

He took only one and said, “Shukriya baji. I will give this to my sister she will pray for you a lot”

I insisted he take all, but he denied it for some time and then he took them from me. I was already quite amazed by that child; little did I know that she still had the power to astonish me further.

He was walking around the entire hotel giving chocolates to his little mates. After that he went to his master, yes a child was giving a portion of his tip to his employer. “Master Ji, this one is for you.”

My sister and I had forgotten about food; we were enjoying the best and most unique moment of our lives. A 6-year-old child was spreading happiness.

And today, I understood the meaning of the hadith that likened a smile to a form of sadaqah. That kid was doing sadaqah.

Conclusion: in conclusion, I would say that both sadaqah and service are acts of kindness and ways to help those who are in need. Sadaqah is an Islamic way of helping others irrespective of their religion race or breed It embodies the spirit of compassion and selflessness. While service tip is a way of appreciating and acknowledging their efforts and services towards us. But there is a very minute difference between a bribe and a tip. If you are giving something without expecting any substitute it is a tip otherwise if you are doing it for better services or special treatment it is a bribe.

But one should not confuse service tip with sadaqah because few people do not take sadaqah but they happily accept gifts(tips) and keeping them unaware of the fact is against the etiquette.

These practices serve an important key role in interconnectedness of the communities and societies and leave a positive impact on the world. By embracing principles of Islam and society we can contribute to a more compassionate and empathetic world where the well-being of others is a shared responsibility.