Proof of God isn’t hiding in some distant galaxy waiting to be discovered by the next space telescope. It’s woven into the fabric of our daily existence — in the precise timing of events that seem too perfect to be coincidence, in the way generosity multiplies back to the giver, in the mysterious orchestration of moments that restore our faith in something greater. The person possessed of true wisdom doesn’t need to split atoms to witness the Divine hand at work. They see it in the stranger who appears exactly when needed, in the unexpected gift that arrives at the perfect moment. Sometimes the most profound evidence of God’s existence comes wrapped in something as simple as a white handkerchief, given freely, and returned twelvefold.
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Hassan Wahab, Ghana
Sometimes, the simplest lessons in life are the ones that last a lifetime. I can recall one such lesson that I learned around the time I was a high school student in Ghana.
There is a gentleman called Wahab Asiamah who was like an uncle to my siblings and me. He was a plumber by profession and had served as Chief Plumber when the national headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Ghana was being constructed, along with various other projects of the Community.
My father, the late Ameer Wahab Adam, served as a missionary and was the National President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Ghana. Whenever there was an issue with the plumbing at the Community’s headquarters, Mr Wahab Asiamah was the one he called to take a look. On one such occasion, Mr Wahab Asiamah came to the mission house, and during the course of his work, it came time for the early evening prayer.
Mr Wahab Asiamah made his way to the mosque and since he was the first person there, he made the call for prayer. As my father made his way to the front of the congregation to lead the prayer, he noticed that Mr Wahab did not have a prayer cap to cover his head. My father always kept a handkerchief with him; in fact more often than not he would have more than one. I also recall that the handkerchiefs he had were always white. So as my father walked up, he pulled out a clean white handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to Mr Wahab Asiamah to use to cover his head.
As we left the mosque after the prayer, Mr Wahab Asiamah neatly folded the white handkerchief and tried to return it to my father, but Ameer Wahab said, ‘No, it’s yours — I want you to keep it.’
A youngster at the time, I curiously asked my father, ‘How will you have any white handkerchiefs left if you keep giving them away?’ My father chuckled upon hearing my question, but did not say anything, and we made our way home.
Once we got home, we were getting ready to eat dinner when, suddenly, someone stopped by to see us. It was our family friend, Charles Opoku. He said that he had just arrived back to Ghana after a trip abroad and was on his way home, but wanted to stop by first to see us. Charles had with him a parcel with a gift for my father. So, Ameer Wahab opened it, and…it was a set of 12 handkerchiefs, and all 12 of the handkerchiefs were white. Upon opening it, my father turned to me and said, ‘Nobody becomes poor by being generous!’
This incident left a huge impression on me. Whereas I had naively thought that my father’s generosity would end up running him out of white handkerchiefs, God Almighty sent a gift of 12 white handkerchiefs to him on that very same day — multiplying his generosity manifold, almost immediately!
That day, I saw for myself the reality of God’s statement: ‘Who is he that will lend to Allah a goodly loan? So He will increase it manifold for him, and he will have a generous reward.’ (57:12)
A selfless act, done for the sake of God, certainly does not deplete one of their wealth or belongings. In a world where people are worried for their future and strive to save as much as they can, there’s a principle taught by the Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (sa) that can serve as the secret to success both in this life and the next: ‘Charity does not decrease wealth’. (Sahih Muslim 2588)
On that day, I learned that giving freely and generously for the sake of God can never lead to poverty.
About the Author: Hassan Wahab, PhD is a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana at Legon, head of the Race and Equality section at the Review of Religions magazine (London), and eldest son of the late Maulvi Dr. A. Wahab Adam (former national president and missionary-in-charge of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission Ghana).
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