Love for the Poor

موضوع: Love for the Poor السبت أبريل 09, 2011 2:48 pm

The Prophet (pbuh) enjoined upon Muslims to treat
the poor kindly and to help them with alms, zakat, and in other ways. He
said:

"He is not a perfect muslim who eats his fill and lets his neighbor go hungry."

He asked,

"Do you love your Creator? Then love your fellow beings first."

Monopoly is unlawful in Islam and he preached that

"It is diffucult for a man laden with riches to climb the steep path that leads to bliss."

He
did not prohibit or discourage the aquisition of wealth but insisted
that it be lawfully aquired by honest means and that a portion of it
would go to the poor. He advised his followers

"To give the laborer his wages before his perspiration dried up."

He did not encourage beggary either and stated that

"Allah is gracious to him who earns
his living by his own labor, and that if a man begs to increase his
property, Allah will diminish it and whoever has food for the day, it is
prohibited for him to beg."

To his wife he said,

"O Aysha, love the poor and let them come to you and Allah will draw you near to Himself." (Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari)

One
or two instances of the Prophet's (pbuh) concern for the poor may be
given here. A Madinan, Ibad Bin Sharjil, was once starving. He entered
an orchard and picked some fruit. The owner of the orchard gave him a
sound beating and stripped off his clothes. The poor man appealed to the
Prophet (pbuh) who remonstrated the owner thus:

"This man was ignorant, you should have dispelled his ignorance; he was hungry, you should have fed him."

His clothes were restored to the Madinan and, in addition, some grain was given to him (Abu Dawud, Kitabul Jihad).
A debtor, Jabir Bin Abdullah, was being harassed
by his creditor as he could not clear his debt owing to the failure of
his date crop. The Prophet (pbuh) went with Jabir to the house of the
creditor and pleaded with him to give Jabir some more time but the
creditor was not prepared to oblige. The Prophet (pbuh) then went to the
oasis and having seen for himself that the crop was really poor, he
again approached the creditor with no better result. He then rested for
some time and approached the creditor for a third time but the latter
was adamant. The Prophet (pbuh) went again to the orchard and asked
Jabir to pluck the dates. As Allah would have it, the collection not
only sufficed to clear the dues but left something to spare (Bukhari,
Sahih Bukhari).
His love for the poor was so deep that he used to pray:

"O Allah, keep me poor in my life and at my death and raise me at resurrection among those who are poor." (Nasai, Chapter: Pardon)