Explanation of Dimensions of Benevolent Donation from Religious Viewpoint and Its Existing Condition

Assisting the deprived people is an answer to man’s inner need; although the inner need to do good does not equally exist in all human beings. Besides, helping the needy as a religious duty and commandment has been emphasized on in the religious traditions. What should be promoted in the Islamic society is voluntary donation and charity based on religious and Quranic characteristics. If the behavior of voluntary donation is not in congruence with religious framework, not only it will not have spiritual rewards, but also will be accompanied with other harms. In the light of the necessity of compatibility of voluntary donation with religious features and the necessity of offering a reformed plan in this regard, after studying the verses of the Quran about charity and donation, the most important characteristics and necessities of voluntary donation have been extracted and classified. In order to assess the existing condition, 474 people were selected as sample from five different regions of Tehran. The findings of the study indicate that in some features the existing behavior is to a large extent compatible with the desired behavior while in some features we need to improve or reform them through cultural activities.