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| Just look at the difference! - God forbid what if it would've been the opposite? May Allah (s.w.t) forgive us all. |
One of the great reforms that the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) brought was the rights and treatment of the poor. Prior to the advent
of Islam, the pagan Arabs used to disregard the poor, they would look down on
them, and could care less about them; the poor people were basically an
insignificant portion of society that did not matter. However so,
with the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) that all changed,
the Muslims were now obliged to look after the poor, and were required to spend
of their wealth to help the poor out. For instance the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) taught the following:
[Sahih Al-Bukhari]
Volume 7, Book 64, Number 264
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "Allah said, 'O son of Adam! Spend, and I shall spend on you."
Volume 7, Book 64, Number 264
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "Allah said, 'O son of Adam! Spend, and I shall spend on you."
Clarification:
The basic meaning of this hadith was that Muslims should spend from
their wealth in giving charity to the poor. This teaching of the Prophet, to
spend and to give in charity, was a very common message that he would often
give as we read in another hadith:
[Sahih Al-Bukhari]
Volume 2, Book 24, Number 492
Narrated Haritha bin Wahab:
Volume 2, Book 24, Number 492
Narrated Haritha bin Wahab:
I heard the Prophet saying, "O people! Give in charity as a time will come
upon you when a person will wander about with his object of charity and will
not find anybody to accept it, and one (who will be requested to take it) will
say, "If you had brought it yesterday, would have taken it, but to-day I
am not in need of it."
Clarification:
As I wrote earlier, the poor people of the time were completely
disregarded, especially by the elite of society, those at the top of society,
the very wealthy, did not care at all for the poor people, and they would look
down on them. So what did the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & blessings be upon
him) say in this regard? The Prophet Muhammad (Peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) specifically commanded the wealthy people to give in charity and gave a
very dire warning to them if they didn’t do so:
[Sahih Al-Bukhari]
Volume 2, Book 24, Number 486
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever is made wealthy by Allah and does not pay the Zakat of his wealth, then on the Day of Resurrection his wealth will be made like a bald-headed poisonous male snake with two black spots over the eyes. The snake will encircle his neck and bite his cheeks and say, 'I am your wealth, I am your treasure.' " Then the Prophet recited the holy verses:-- 'Let not those who withhold . . .' (to the end of the verse). (3.180).
Volume 2, Book 24, Number 486
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever is made wealthy by Allah and does not pay the Zakat of his wealth, then on the Day of Resurrection his wealth will be made like a bald-headed poisonous male snake with two black spots over the eyes. The snake will encircle his neck and bite his cheeks and say, 'I am your wealth, I am your treasure.' " Then the Prophet recited the holy verses:-- 'Let not those who withhold . . .' (to the end of the verse). (3.180).
Clarification:
So the above hadith was a warning to the wealthy people of
the consequences of not looking after the poor and giving in charity. The
Prophet Muhammad (Peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) also taught the following
about wealthy people giving in charity:
[Sahih Al-Bukhari]
Volume 2, Book 24, Number 507
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "The best charity is that which is practiced by a wealthy person. And start giving first to your dependents."
Volume 2, Book 24, Number 507
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "The best charity is that which is practiced by a wealthy person. And start giving first to your dependents."
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| 'Help the one's who are poor be merciful towards one another' |
In a longer version of this hadith we read:
[Sahih Al-Bukhari]
Volume 2, Book 24, Number 508:
Narrated Hakim bin Hizam:
The Prophet said, "The upper hand is better than the lower hand (i.e. he who gives in charity is better than him who takes it). One should start giving first to his dependents. And the best object of charity is that which is given by a wealthy person (from the money which is left after his expenses). And whoever abstains from asking others for some financial help, Allah will give him and save him from asking others, Allah will make him self-sufficient."
Volume 2, Book 24, Number 508:
Narrated Hakim bin Hizam:
The Prophet said, "The upper hand is better than the lower hand (i.e. he who gives in charity is better than him who takes it). One should start giving first to his dependents. And the best object of charity is that which is given by a wealthy person (from the money which is left after his expenses). And whoever abstains from asking others for some financial help, Allah will give him and save him from asking others, Allah will make him self-sufficient."
Clarification:
So the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & blessings of Allah be upon him)
taught the best of charity is the one given by those who are rich, the wealthy
people. The reason for this was because the prophet wanted to give a very
strong incentive for the rich to start giving in charity, something they didn’t
really care about before. As well as this it was also to show the great reform
of society, that now, the rich of society are giving for the poor, unlike
before, when they could care less about the poor precisely because they were
rich.
We also read in another hadith, what the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) would do when he encountered poor people:
[Sahih Al-Bukhari]
Volume 2, Book 24, Number 512:
Narrated Abu Burda bin Abu Musa:
That his father said, "Whenever a beggar came to Allah's Apostle or he was asked for something, he used to say (to his companions), "Help and recommend him and you will receive the reward for it; and Allah will bring about what He will through His Prophet's tongue."
Volume 2, Book 24, Number 512:
Narrated Abu Burda bin Abu Musa:
That his father said, "Whenever a beggar came to Allah's Apostle or he was asked for something, he used to say (to his companions), "Help and recommend him and you will receive the reward for it; and Allah will bring about what He will through His Prophet's tongue."
Clarification:
So whenever the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) would encounter with a poor person, he would tell his companions to
help and give for that person, and they would be rewarded for it. The prophet
would not simply ignore them and let them be, as would have been the custom of
the time, rather he gave advise and teaching to his companions to help these
people.
And in another hadith we also read the following;
[Sahih Al-Bukhari]
Volume 7, Book 64, Number 265
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "The one who looks after a widow or a poor person is like a Mujahid (warrior) who fights for Allah's Cause, or like him who performs prayers all the night and fasts all the day."
Volume 7, Book 64, Number 265
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "The one who looks after a widow or a poor person is like a Mujahid (warrior) who fights for Allah's Cause, or like him who performs prayers all the night and fasts all the day."
Clarification:
So the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & blessings of Allah be upon him)
compared the one who looks after a poor person, with the one who fights in the
cause of Allah (s.w.t) As everyone knows, the one who fights in the cause of Allah has a
very high place and status in Islam, it is one of the highest honors one can
have, yet the Prophet Muhammad (Peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) explicitly
states that a person who looks after a poor person is like the one who fights
in the cause of Allah (s.w.t) Thus one can see the very high value and importance Islam
attaches to helping and looking after the poor. This teaching is a major
incentive and motivation for the people to take care, and to look after the
poor.
