Profit Thirds: for Allah, the Office, and the Organizers
We divide the profit of every event into three thirds, following the man of the garden whom Allah blessed with a cloud to water it
The pillar
بَينا رَجُلٌ بفَلاةٍ مِنَ الأرضِ، فسَمِعَ صَوتًا في سَحابةٍ: اسقِ حَديقةَ فُلانٍ، فتَنَحَّى ذلك السَّحابُ، فأفرَغَ ماءَه في حَرَّةٍ، فإذا شَرجةٌ مِن تلك الشِّراجِ قدِ استَوعَبَت ذلك الماءَ كُلَّه، فتَتَبَّعَ الماءَ، فإذا رَجُلٌ قائِمٌ في حَديقَتِه يُحَوِّلُ الماءَ بمِسحاتِه، فقال له: يا عَبدَ اللهِ، ما اسمُك؟ قال: فُلانٌ، للاسمِ الذي سَمِعَ في السَّحابةِ، فقال له: يا عَبدَ اللهِ، لمَ تَسألُني عَنِ اسمي؟ فقال: إنِّي سَمِعتُ صَوتًا في السَّحابِ -الذي هذا ماؤُه- يقولُ: اسقِ حَديقةَ فُلانٍ، لاسمِك، فما تَصنَعُ فيها؟ قال: أمَّا إذ قُلتَ هذا فإنِّي أنظُرُ إلى ما يَخرُجُ مِنها، فأتَصَدَّقُ بثُلُثِه، وآكُلُ أنا وعيالي ثُلُثًا، وأرُدُّ فيها ثُلُثَه. [وفي روايةٍ]: وأجعَلُ ثُلُثَه في المَساكينِ والسَّائِلينَ وابنِ السَّبيلِ
Meaning: While a man was in a desert land, he heard a voice in a cloud: “Water the garden of so-and-so.” The cloud moved aside and poured its water onto a stony tract, where one of the channels took up all of that water. He followed the water and found a man standing in his garden, turning the water with his spade. He asked him: “O servant of Allah, what is your name?” He said: “So-and-so,” the very name he had heard in the cloud. The man said: “O servant of Allah, why do you ask me my name?” He said: “I heard a voice in the cloud whose water this is, saying: ‘Water the garden of so-and-so,’ with your name. What do you do with it?” He said: “Since you say this, I look at what it yields, give a third of it in charity, eat a third with my family, and return a third into it.” In another narration: “and I give a third of it to the poor, those who ask, and the wayfarer.”
How we derive it
The man of the garden divided its yield into three thirds: a third he gave in charity, a third he ate with his family, and a third he returned into the garden. Allah blessed him and sent a cloud to water his garden by name. We follow the same division in every event we organize, hoping for the same blessing.
What it means for our events
The profits of all events are divided into three thirds: a third for Allah, a third for the office, and a third for the event's organizers.
- A third for Allah: charity for the poor, those who ask, and the wayfarer, as the man of the garden gave a third in charity
- A third for the office: returned into the office to organize better events, as he returned a third into the garden
- A third for the organizers: a share for those who worked to run the event, as he and his family ate a third