CHAPTER 3: THE DESTITUTE : PART 3
The guidance of the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, when dealing with them was to sit with them, be close to them, and not being arrogant towards them:
`Uthmaan ibn Al-Yamaan (one of the righteous successors of the generation that lived after the death of the Prophet) said: “When the number of immigrants to Madinah increased, and they had nowhere to stay, and had nowhere to reside, the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, allowed them to reside in the mosque, and called them, ‘The People of As-Suffah.’ He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, used to sit with them and be friendly with them.”(Reported by Al-Bayhaqi (4135).)
Sitting with them in this manner is a form of amusement for them as well as a form of being sociable with them. It is also in accordance with the order of Allah, when He said (what means): «And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his
desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect.» [Quran: 18:28]
The reason that these verses were revealed was that some noblemen among the Arabs haughtily rejected the call to Islam, because Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, brought the poor and weak close to him. Among them were men such as Suhayb, Bilaal, `Ammaar, Khabbaab, Salmaan, ibn Mas’ood, and others like them who wore torn clothes that smelt of sweat, due to their intense poverty. Apparently, their social status
did not qualify them for sitting with the noblemen of Quraysh!
These noblemen asked the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, to send them away, and he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, rejected that notion, as Allah informed us in the verse (which means): «And I am not one to drive away those who have believed. Indeed, they will meet their Lord, but I see that you are a people behaving ignorantly.» [Quran: 11:29]
They suggested that he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, make a specific lesson for the poor, and another for the noblemen, wherein there would be no poor and weak people, so that the noblemen keep their distinction, special status, and veneration in pre-Islamic society.
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, out of desire that they become Muslim, was on the verge of accepting their offer, but Allah’s Order came (which means): «And do not send away those who call upon their Lord morning and afternoon, seeking His countenance. Not upon you is anything of their account and not upon them is anything of your account [i.e. no one is held accountable for the deeds of another]. So were you to send them away, you would [then] be of the wrongdoers.» [Quran:6:52]
Ibn Mas’ood said: “The noblemen of Quraysh passed by Allah’s Messenger, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and with him were Suhayb, Bilaal, `Ammaar, Khabbaab, and other weak Muslims. They said to him, ‘O Muhammad, are you pleased with these people as being your people? Are those the ones that, out of all of us, Allah has blessed? Are we going to follow those people? Send them away from you, perhaps if you do so, we will follow you.’ So Allah sent this verse (which means), «And do not send away those who call upon their Lord morning and afternoon, seeking His countenance.» [Quran: 6:52] (Tafseer At-Tabari (11/374).)
Sa`d ibn Abu Waqqaas (a Companion) said: “We were six people with the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and the polytheists said to the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, ‘Send those people away from you, so that they do not dare against us.’
It was I, Ibn Mas’ood, a man from Hudhayl, Bilaal, and two men whose names I do not know. At that moment, whatever Allah willed fell in the thought process of the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and he thought to himself about it, but Allah sent down the verse (which means): «And do not send away those who call upon their Lord morning and afternoon, seeking His countenance. » [Quran: 6:52]” (Reported by Muslim (2413).)
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, supplicated Allah to love the poor and destitute:
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, used to say in his prayer: “O Allah, I ask You for the ability to do good actions, abandon evil actions, to love the poor, and that if You were to test Your slaves, then cause me to pass away without being afflicted by that test.”(Reported by At-Tirmidhi (3233) on the authority of Ibn `Abbas.)
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, enquired after them when they were not present, and used to ask about their condition:
Abu Umaamah ibn Sahm ibn Hunayf (a Companion) reported that a poor woman became sick, so the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was told about her sickness, and he used to visit the poor when they were sick, and would ask about them.
The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “If she dies, tell me.”
However, her funeral was prayed at night, and they disliked that they should wake the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and so when he awoke and was told about her affair, he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Did I not tell you to tell me if she passes away?” They said: “O Messenger of Allah, we disliked that we should cause you to leave your home or wake you by night.”
So the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, went out and stood with the people in front of the grave, and offered the funeral prayer. (Reported by Malik in his book Al-Muwatta’ (531) and An-Nasa’i (1907). Al-Bukhari (458) and Muslim (956) also reported similar narrations on the authority of Abu Hurayrah.)
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, cared for the destitute among them, such as Thu Al-Bijaadain (he of two cloaks):
`Abdullaah ibn Mas’ood (a Companion) said:
“I stood in the middle of the night to pray alone, when I was with the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, during the Battle of Tabook, and I saw a light produced from a fire and it was coming from the direction of the army. I followed the light to see what it was, and found that it was the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, Abu Bakr, and `Umar.
I found that `Abdullaah Thu Al-Bijaadain Al-Muzani had died, and they had dug a hole for his grave, and the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was in the grave, while Abu Bakr and `Umar were passing his body to the grave, and the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was saying: ‘Bring your brother closer to me.’ So they brought him closer to the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.
When he was put on his side, the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘O Allah, I went to bed happy with him and pleased with him, so be pleased with him.’
So I said: ‘I wished that I was the one in the grave.’”(As-Seerah An-Nabawiyyah (2/527) by Ibn Hisham.)
Ibn Hishaam (a scholar) said: “He was called the man of two cloaks because he was trying to come to Islam but his people prevented him and were making things hard for him, and left him with only a coarse cloak, and nothing else. So he ran from them to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and when he came close, he took the cloak and ripped it in two, wearing one half as a bottom garment, and the other as a wrap around his upper body, then he went to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and because of that, he was called the man of two cloaks.”(Ibid.)
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, fulfilled the need of the needy among them:
Asmaa’ bint Abu Bakr (a woman Companion) said: “Az-Zubayr married me, and he had no money or owned slave; he had nothing besides a camel for watering and a horse. I used to feed his horse and get water, and nothing was more strenuous on me than the horse that I would care for, feed, and tend to.”
Then the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, got some captives, and gave her a slave girl. She said: “It rid me of the responsibility of caring for the horse, and she took care of it for me.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari (4823) and Muslim (2182).)
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, asked them about their needs, so that he could fulfil them:
One of the servants of the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, either a man or woman, said: “Among the things that the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, used to say to his servants was: ‘Do you have any needs?’ One day, I said: ‘I have a need.’ The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said back: ‘And what is your need?’ I said: ‘My need is that I need you to intercede on my behalf on the Day of Resurrection.’ The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Who pointed you to this?’ I said: ‘My Lord.’ So he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘So help me achieve that by praying often.’” (Reported by Ahmad (15646).)
In another narration from Ar-Rabee`ah (a Companion) he said:
“I used to serve the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and take care of his needs throughout the day, until he would pray the night prayer. After he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would pray, and enter his house, I would stay by his door, thinking that perhaps a need would arise for the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. I would continuously hear him repeat: ‘Subhaan Allah, Subhaan Allah, Subhaan Allah wa bi-Hamdihi [Glorified is Allah; Glorified is Allah; Glorified is Allah, and He is praised],’ until I got tired and went back, or I would become overcome with tiredness and sleep.
One day, when he saw how dedicated I was to serving him, he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Ask me, O Rabee`ah.’ I said: ‘Allow me to think about it, O Messenger of Allah, then I will let you know.’
I thought about it to myself, and realised that this worldly life will be cut off and will perish, and that I have enough sustenance to suffice me, so I said to myself that I will ask the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, for my Hereafter, because he has a very high status with Allah.’
So I went to him, and he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said to me: ‘What have you concluded, O Rabee`ah?’ I said: ‘Yes, O Messenger of Allah, I ask you to intercede on my behalf before your Lord, so that He saves me from entering Hellfire.’
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Who ordered you to say that?’
I said: “No, by Allah Who has sent you with the truth, no one ordered me to say that. However, when you said: ‘Ask me for anything, and I will give it to you,’ and since you have a special place with Allah, I looked at my affairs, and realised that this worldly life is going to be cut off and will perish, and that I have enough sustenance reaching me in this worldly life, so I thought that I should ask the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, for something for my Hereafter.’
At that, the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, remained silent for a long period, then said: ‘I will grant you your wish, however, help me achieve that for you praying and prostrating often.’”(Reported by Muslim (489).)
By Muhammad Saalih Al-Munajjid
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