Notes On Beggars in the Muslim World

﷽

Some notes on beggars in the Muslim world 🌍:

Begging in certain areas can be common in the Muslim world and the advice I’ve been given is that generally it’s better to refer people to charity organizations. Giving them money with a sound heart for Allah ﷻ may also be a good deed if you choose to do it. But it may perpetuate the lifestyle if they’re capable of working.

Begging without a need in İslam is discouraged though i don’t know the hukm.
https://islamqa.org/hanafi/hadithanswers/122682/the-prohibition-of-begging/

So it’s not a profession. You only beg as much a you need, basically.

Now there’s a few thoughts I’d like to share here.

Try to be nice and always give them something. What i think many of them need from you more than material things are the immaterial. Du’a, dhikr, and education are very valuable.

One example is if you’re in a hurry, just make Dua for them as you pass by and smile.

Another is give them dhikr, especially children. “Say ya Allah! Ya Mawlana!” I actually had a group of kids crowd around me last week for like 5-10 minutes of out loud group dhikr.

Another is to educate them. The following Hadith is easy to memorize and share with them. I shared this with a kid in the masjid and he said something amazing with this profound understanding like “so if we don’t beg then Allah will give us through a better means?”

Personally I think begging can become a trap in that you keep getting this money via a means that you are wanting to obtain it from, thoughtlessly. If you ask Allah ﷻ to leave this lifestyle and give you better, inshallah much greater good will be ahead for the person. And some people really are stuck for a bit and use begging temporarily, but they seem to be quite a marginal though sincerely desperate percentage.

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Whoever would be independent, Allah Almighty will make him independent. Whoever would abstain from asking people, Allah Almighty will make him abstinent. Whoever is content with sufficiency, Allah Almighty will suffice him.”

Source: Sunan al-Nasa‌’i‌ 2595

Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Albani

عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَنِ اسْتَغْنَى أَغْنَاهُ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَمَنِ اسْتَعَفَّ أَعَفَّهُ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَمَنِ اسْتَكْفَى كَفَاهُ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ

2595 سنن النسائي كتاب الزكاة من الملحف

6027 المحدث الألباني خلاصة حكم المحدث صحيح في صحيح الجامع
https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2022/10/09/sufficiency-from-begging/

والله أعلم