CHAPTER 3: THE DESTITUTE : PART 4
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, testified to their virtues and great stature, so that they are not belittled by the people due to their poverty:
Sahl ibn Sa`d As-Saa`idi (a Companion) said:
“A man passed by the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘What do you say about this man?’ They said: ‘He is one of the nobles of the people; if he were to propose (for marriage), he would be accepted; if he were to intercede, he would be allowed to successfully intercede; if he were to speak, he would be listened to.’”
Then the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, remained silent, and a poor Muslim man walked by, and he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘What do you say about this man?’ They said: ‘This is one of the poor Muslims; if he were to propose, he would not be accepted; if he were to intercede, he would not be able to do so successfully; if he were to speak, he would most likely not be listened to.’ So the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘This [poor] man is better than the earth’s fill of that other man.’”
Ibn Hajar (a scholar) said: “This narration shows that being well off in the worldly life has no bearing on how noble a person is, rather, what is considered is the Hereafter, and that whoever loses out on a large share of wealth in the worldly life will be compensated in the Hereafter with a good deed.” (Fat-h Al-Baari (11/278), and this is a summary of what he said.)
Abu Tharr (a Companion) said:
“The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘O Abu Tharr, do you view that having abundant money is what makes a person rich?’ I said: ‘Yes, O Messenger of Allah.’ He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘So you view that having little money makes a person poor?’ I said: ‘Yes, O Messenger of Allah.’ He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Being wealthy is to have a rich [content] heart, and being destitute means to have a poor heart.’ Then he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, asked me about a man from Quraysh, and said: ‘Do you know so-and-so?’ I said: ‘Yes, O Messenger of Allah.’ He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘How do you view him?’ I said: ‘If he asks, he is given, and if he appears, he is allowed to enter.’ Then he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, asked me about a man from Ahl As-Suffah, and said: ‘Do you know so-and-so?’ I said: ‘No, O Messenger of Allah, by Allah, I do not know him.’
So he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, continued to describe him until I knew whom he was speaking about, and I said: ‘I know who he is now.’ So the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘How do you view him?’ I said: ‘He is a poor man from As-Suffah.’ He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘He is better than the earth’s fill of the other man.’ I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, should he have not been given some of what that other man was given?’ He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘If he is given, he is deserving of that, and if not, then he is given a good deed instead.’” (Reported by Ibn Hibban (685).)
Anas ibn Maalik said: “The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘There are many untidy and dusty people whose clothes are worn out, they are not paid attention to, but if they were to swear by Allah that something will happen, Allah would fulfil that for them. One of such people is Al-Baraa’ ibn Maalik.’” (Reported by At-Tirmidhi (3854).)
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, asked for their participation and presence, in order to incur victory and sustenance because of their supplications:
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, used to seek out the poor and wish that they were close to him and with him.
Abu Ad-Dardaa’ (a Companion) reported that the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu
‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Seek out the weak and poor among you for me, because you will be granted sustenance and victory through the weak among you [by virtue of their supplication and sincerity].”(Reported by Abu Dawood (2594) and At-Tirmidhi (1702).)
Sa`d (a Companion) felt that he had a virtue over others who were below him, so the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said to him: “Will you be given victory and sustenance except through the weak among you?” (Reported by Al-Bukhari (2896).)
In another narration the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Allah will give victory to this nation through the weak among them; He will give victory through their supplications, prayers, and sincerity.” (Reported by An-Nasa’i (3178).)
It means that the worship of the weak and destitute and their supplication has more sincerity, since their hearts are free from being attached to the adornments of worldly life. They made their goals and desires one thing only, so their supplications are answered, and their actions are purified. (Fat-h Al-Baari (6/89), The explanation of Ibn Battaal on the book of Al-Bukhari (5/90) and `Awn Al-Ma`bood (7/256).)
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, ordered that they be respected and appreciated:
An example of that is when he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, prohibited feeding them food that others would not like to eat.
`Aa’ishah reported that the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was given a Dhabb (a large type of lizard) as a gift, but he did not eat it, so `Aa’ishah said: “O Messenger of Allah, should I not feed it to the poor?” The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, responded: “Do not feed them what you yourself do not eat.” (Reported by Ahmad (24215).)
That is a direct application of the saying of Allah (which means): «O you who believed, spend from the good things which you have earned and from that which We have produced for you from the earth. And do not aim toward the defective there from, spending [from that] while you would not take it [yourself] except with closed eyes. And know that Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.» [Quran: 2:267]
Al-Baraa’ ibn `Aazib (a Companion) said about Allah’s Statement (which means): «And do not aim toward the defective there from, spending [from that].»
“It was sent about us, the Ansaar. We were people that had date-palm trees, so an individual would bring dates from their trees according to the amount of what they were able. A man would bring a bunch or two of dates, and would hang it in the mosque.
The people of As-Suffah had no food, so if one of them became hungry, he would eat from the bunch. He would go to the bunch and hit it with his stick, some unripe and ripe dates would fall, and he would eat.
Some people that did not want good would bring the worst types of dates or dates that were dried out, and with a broken bunch, and would hang it, so Allah revealed His Saying (which means): «O you who believed, spend from the good things which you have earned and from that which We have produced for you from the earth. And do not aim toward the defective there from, spending [from that] while you would not take it [yourself] except with closed eyes. And know that Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.» [Quran: 2:267] If one of them were to be gifted something like they were giving away, they would only take it with their eyes closed, or with shyness. So after that, we would only take the good things that we had as charity.” (Reported by At-Tirmidhi (2987) and Ibn Maajah (1822).)
An example of that is when the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, prohibited that they be excluded and not invited to banquets.
Abu Hurayrah said: “The worst food is that of a wedding banquet, when the rich are invited to it, and the poor are not. Whoever does not accept (to a wedding banquet) the invitation has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari (5177) and Muslim (1432), and it has the ruling of a narration attributed to the Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and Muslim, in one of the narrations he had, has explicitly mentioned that the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said it.)
An-Nawawi said: “The meaning of this narration is to inform what the people will do after the time of the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, which is, to cater to the rich during wedding banquets, specifically invite them, preferring them with good foods, lifting their seating arrangements, putting them forward, and other things that are prevalent during banquets.” (The explanation of An-Nawawi on the book of Muslim (9/237).)
Thus, if you are invited to a wedding banquet, then no doubt you should honour that invite, as long as there are no religiously prohibited actions occurring during that banquet. However, and to our great regret, we find that only the rich are invited to banquets, only those who are not in need of food. In contrast, the poor, who are in dire need of a good meal to do away with their fatigue, are ignored.
So the one who is arranging the banquet should not forget the poor; the poor should have a share of your banquet.
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, trained his Companions to be modest:
Hakim ibn Hizaam (a Companion) said: “I asked the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and he gave me, then I asked him another two times, and each time, he gave me. Then he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, told me: ‘O Hakeem, this life is green and beautiful, so whoever takes it without greed or persisting on asking for it will have blessings in it. And whoever takes it while making it close to their heart will not have blessings in it; they will be like the one who eats without becoming full. The hand that is higher [giving the poor] is better than the one that is lower [receiving from others].’
So I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, by Him Who has sent you with the truth, I will never ask anyone for money until I die.”
Afterwards, Abu Bakr called Hakim in order to give him, but he refused to take, and the same with `Umar, so `Umar said: “O Muslims, you are my witness that I have offered some of this booty to Hakeem, but he refused to take it.”
Hakeem did not take money from anyone after the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, until he died. (Reported by Al-Bukhari (1472) and Muslim (1035).)
Ibn Hajar said: “Hakim refused to take, even though it was his right, because he feared that he would accept something from someone, become accustomed to taking from others, and his soul would go overboard, so he weaned it away from that, and he left that which is doubtful in preference of that which is not doubtful. `Umar mentioned it because he did not want anyone unaware of the real story to accuse `Umar of withholding Hakeem’s share from him.” (Fat-h Al-Baari (3/336).)
By Muhammad Saalih Al-Munajjid
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