Inter-faith issues
What has faith got to do with money?

A person's faith impacts on their lifestyle. Most faiths provide guidelines and rules by which followers of that faith model their behaviour and actions.

On this part of the website we are aiming to provide information about the main world religions and their teachings on money issues. We are not able to cover any one area in detail so have provided links to other websites where this is appropriate.

At this moment in time we are not aiming to provide a forum for discussing these issues, as there are other websites which provide this service: notably www.beliefnet.com. Our aim is purely to inform in order to begin to support visitors to the site who are looking for this information.

Although you are welcome to ask questions on our site, we are not able to answer specific questions about faith and money. For these answers follow the website links in the rest of this site.

PLEASE NOTE: Parents, Pennies and Pounds is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Giving or tithing:

Terminology:
Most religions encourage giving in some form or other. While some stipulate amounts, others teach on charity without looking at a specific figure. A variety of different terms are used.

Alms
The word alms originated in the Greek word Eleemosune (link to word below) which was taken from the vulgar Latin form: alimosina. It is from this form that many countries adopted the term which was shortened to alms in English by 1800. It now means charitable gifts.

Charity
The word charity means an non-profit organisation caring for those in need as well as the donation or goods and money.

Daan
The Hindu word for 'alms' or giving to the poor and holy men.

Dana
This is the Buddhist word for giving. It is important to give to Buddhist monks, nuns and other teachers of the dharma (truth/teaching). People will put food into bowls carried by monks, nuns and other teachers as they pass.

Eleemosune and eleemosynary
Eleemosune is the Greek word for pity and alms. This was the word from which the Latin word 'eleemosynary' is derived. In Latin this means compassion and mercy. From here we get the words alimosina which is the root word of alms.

Sasaqah
The Muslim term for voluntary giving.

Stewardship
Generally refers to how someone looks after the concerns of a family, institution, helping with a variety of arrangements. In the religious context it refers to how someone looks after their money in terms of sharing time and goods with others.

Tithe or thythe
This is an Anglo-Saxon word. Originally it referred to a tenth of land and produce which was taken by the church in taxes. To tithe of your income means giving a certain amount (usually thought of as a tenth) to the church.

Tsedhaqah
Tsedhaqah or Tzedakah is the Hebrew word for giving. It can mean giving money or help to the poor or to other causes. For Jews Tsedhaqah is an obligation and is considered a sign of righteousness.

Zakat
This is one of the five pillars of Islam. It means both 'purification' and 'growth'. Zakat normally amounts to 2.5% of their capital. Zakat is based on the principle that all things belong to God and are only held in trust by people.