Jesus said the bad were judged as those who did not see Jesus in the less fortunate, " whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me" (Matthew 25:45).
The Qur"an, the reference for the Muslim faith, teaches that all human beings are special creations of Allah and that wealth is not the property of the individual, but Allah's. Therefore, wealth should be used for the collective good. Muslims must share their wealth in accordance with the pillar of Zakah. Muslims pay Zakah on an annually on a basis of two and a half percent of all their savings above the level needed to keep their family. Muslims also pay a special Zakah to the poor on their major festival of Id ul"fit"r. The giver also benefits from zakah. In Arabic "zakah" means "growth" or "purification" and many Muslims believe that by giving Zakah that they purify wealth, therefore nothing bad will happen to them because of money. One aim of zakah is to transfer money from rich to poor, reducing inequality. It encourages the faithful to use their money to help others rather than to accumulate wealth.
Muslims are commanded to give generously. There are two other Islamic forms of "giving", Sadaqah and Zakat-ul-Fitr. Sadaqah is any good deed not done for selfish reasons. It can be done at any time and can include giving of time, talents, money or prayer. "The deeds most loved by Allah are those that are done regularly even though they may be small" (Bukhari Hadith 76.472). The duty of Muslims is to care for the poor and those in need through these deeds.
The need for world development has been present and identified since the 1950's and is growing still. Although there are some third world countries that are now quite rich, there are still smaller countries that have been struck by war and natural disasters and that have fallen into debt. These less developed countries provide us with land for habitation, or fair trade products.
