Tambi Dude asks:
During Ramadaan muslims are encouraged to feed the poor.
Is that limited to only poor muslims or are non-muslims also included
in this noble cause?
In Islamic nations, this question rarely arises since the overwhelming majority of people in such countries are Muslim. Still, "Is charity limited to non-Muslims?" Here is the simple answer from FatwaIslam:
Charity to a non-Muslim in need is allowed, and the giver of this charity is rewarded. However, a Muslim cannot give his Zakat to a non-Muslim unless it is hoped that by receiving help, the non-Muslim might decide to accept Islaam or at least to refrain from harming Muslims (when he has a reputation for harming Muslims).
Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam. (Belief in Allah and Muhammed, saying prayers, fasting during Ramadan, and offering Haj are the other four.) Zakat usually amounts to 2.5% of one's wealth. This charity as you can see should not be given to non-Muslims unless the bribe the money might convince them to embrace Islam.
More illuminating commentary on this subject at Dhimmi Watch, Faith Freedom International, and The View From The Nest.
The issue is more than just charity--it comes down to compassion and kindness. I provide two examples on this matter.
Case 1: This incident occurred a few years ago when I traveled from Saudi Arabia to Canada. I had a stop in Germany where I waited for almost 12 hours. It was the start of the academic year and I was to have a room in a dormitory. I came to my university after almost 32 hours of total travel time.
I wasn't assigned a room. It was around 2:30 a.m. I had no choice but to take a cab to the nearest motel. There, I signed in with a Pakistani guy. I asked him about the check-out time.
"Noon," was his reply. I asked him if I could stay for a few more hours. He then told me that 2 p.m. would be alright.
I woke up at 10:30 a.m. I couldn't go back to sleep--it was like 6:30 p.m. for me. I was physically tired but my mind was sharp. I took a shower and decided to rest. Around noon, I got a knock on the door.
"You have to leave by 12! Come to the front desk."
What the?
I packed my stuff and went to see the guy. He was a different fellow from the night before. I told him that when I signed in, I was allowed a small extension. He looked at me for a second.
"Oh, you're a Pakistani! Okay, no problem, you can stay."
I said, "No thanks."
I signed out, took a cab back and fortunately got a room in a dorm.
The kindness of that hotel manager was limited to Pakistanis or, more generally, Muslims. A white infidel in my place wouldn't have received the same brownie points.
Some might look at this situation and not find anything wrong. I see a problem: To these Muslims, courtesy is only to be offered to the Ummah.
I do not consider that to be genuine compassion.
Case 2: I knew one Muslim in my dormitory some years ago who stood out because he rarely mingled with anyone. He was an international student in his first year. Come to think of it, I don't even know his country of origin.
Anyway, he once, surprisingly, started a chat with a bunch of South Asians. He likely didn't realize that not all of them were Muslims.
"I don't like to talk with non-Muslims," he uttered. How sweet.
(One of the guys in the group was an Indian infidel. He relayed the information to me later.)
The precious Muslim wasn't finished. He talked about how an earlier incident in Canada had baffled him.
You see, he was going to the cafeteria to get some food and upon arriving at the entrance he saw a most unusual scene. A white girl was holding the door open for him.
He just couldn't comprehend, "Why!?"
This tiny bit said a lot about that Muslim. He would never even think of being nice to a kafir, yet there was an infidel girl, who likely had zero interest in him, keeping the door open for him.
It is shocking and confusing to see infidels being nice when one has been taught that they all want to oppress and harm the Muslims.
Most Muslims don't follow the Golden Rule. They won't offer their charity money to non-Muslims but they'll gladly gobble up infidel money. Just look at the Muslims in the West who accept welfare--money that comes from taxing a lot of haraam products / activities. Such Muslims have no scruples about taking all of that cash. However, when it comes time to give something back to an infidel: "No! Islam says it's not allowed."
Even worse, simple courtesy and respect is bounded by race and/or religion.
It's surreal to see Muslims in the West who childishly whine about "Islamophobia" and "racism" since their own rules and guidelines unambiguously hand out second-class treatments to the "other".
