(11:6)
Juma’ah, such a Mubarak day for begging! The day when our begging through Du’a is accepted.
We beg of Allah Ta’ala because only He can give. He Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala who is not answerable to anyone, but everyone is answerable to Him. His is the dominion over everything, while nothing can overpower Him. His is the infinite knowledge, while ours is infinitesimal. He is the Lord, we the beggars. Our begging may be rewarded here, or awaiting us in the Hereafter, or we may be the recipients of something greater than what we have begged for.
Our Beloved Mustafa SallAllahu alaihi wasallam, the best of mankind, the best of beggars, his pleading in Du’a reflected a total reliance and submission to Allah Ta’ala, the Giver, the Listener, the Bounteous, the Conferer, the Sustainer, the Bestower, the Just, the Kind, the Magnificent.
“O Allah! You hear me and see me and know everything that I reveal or conceal. None of my affairs is hidden from You. I am a person in distress, a needy person, a beggar, a fearful person. I confess my short comings. I entreat You like a humble needy person. I beseech you like a sinful lowly person. I ask You like a person in tribulation whose neck bows before You; who cries in front of You; whose whole body trembles before You. O Allah ! Do not leave me frustrated in my prayer , and be the Most Merciful and the Most Gracious to me. O the best of those who are beseeched! O the best of those who give!” Such moving, sublime words from our Noble Nabi SallAllahu alaihi wasallam on the Plains of Arafat. May we too turn to Allah Ta’ala in such humility, as needy beggars, relying only on His Mercy.
Friends, a family with three children, drove from Kuwait last week for Umrah, travelling as needy beggars seeking Allah Ta’ala’s mercy and favours. They arrived in Makkah in the morning of Juma’ah and performed their Umrah.
Tariq shares his Umrah, depicting his experience of Tawaf, with the arched Safa Marwa in the background, the minbar on the left, Maqam Ibrahim to the right and fellow pilgrims circling around the Ka’abah. He experessively represents women with triangular abayas, and chose to draw the Black Stone as bright yellow. Maybe symbolic of its Mubarak significance through his innocent eyes, his pure heart sensing the Heavenly origin of this once glowing stone. SubhanAllah!
However their plans changed while walking the streets of Makkah on this Mubarak day when the armies of “beggars” are out in force accosting and assaulting the pilgrims. The children were so distressed by the experience they decided not to remain in Makkah and drove directly to Madinah after Salatul Juma’ah. The presence of these beggars has reached epidemic levels, and I deliberately mention it, so you may be aware of the problem and be able to deal with it in the most appropriate manner, whether here or in your Du’a from afar.
The authorities are trying to lessen the incidence, but feel that the problem will persist while people continue to give to these “beggars” thinking that they are destitute. But unfortunately, evidence reveals that the majority of these people, including the severely deformed ones all belong to “gangs”, who are fleecing unsuspecting pilgrims of millions. Some of the stories are horrific where parents “rent” their deformed offspring out to the gang leaders, or cases where the parents deliberately maim their children to ensure an income, or threaten their young children with beatings and denial of food if they do not return each day with so much money. Hundreds of children have been rescued from such abuse, some as young as three and four.
And then there are the scams! Beware! They are ingenious, and before one realizes you are tricked and robbed, or tricked into giving. As harsh as it may sound, the advice is not to respond to any pitiful drama being played out where someone fakes having been robbed, or pretends to be in distress and needs to use your cell phone…it will be snatched in seconds, or who pretends to be so desperate that they offer to sell you the latest model cell phone for a few hundred riyals….and with such sleight of hand exchange it for an empty replica while you are distracted getting your money for such a “bargain”. Or, more a warning for sisters, while in the Saff and praying Fardh, gangs of children run along grabbing handbags.
Our Beloved Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam referred to begging many times in his teachings:
Samurah ibn Jundab RadhiAllahu anhu related that the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said: Begging is an injury that someone inflicts upon his own face, except in the case of asking a ruler or asking for something when one is in extreme need.
Thu’ban RadhiAllahu anhu reported: When the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said, “I will guarantee Paradise for the person who gives me guarantee that he will never ask anyone for anything,” I gave this promise to the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam and I never asked anyone for anything after that.
Abu Kabsha al-Anmari RadhiAllahu anhu reported that the Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said: be the One in whose hand my soul is, had I been an oath taker, I would have taken oaths about three things: one, no wealth diminishes because of charity, two, no man pardons an oppressor, seeking the pleasure of Allah, without Allah increasing his honour on the Day of Judgement and three, no one opens the door of begging for himself without also opening the door of poverty for himself.
Narrated Ibn ‘Umar RadhiAllahu anhu: I heard Allah’s Apostle SallAllahu alaihi wasallam while he was on the pulpit speaking about charity, to abstain from asking others for some financial help and about begging others, saying, "The upper hand is better than the lower hand. The upper hand is that of the giver and the lower hand is that of the beggar."
Narrated Al-Mughira bin Shu’ba RadhiAllahu anhu: The Prophet SallAllahu alaihi wasallam said, "Allah has forbidden for you, (1) to be undutiful to your mothers, (2) to bury your daughters alive, (3) to not to pay the rights of the others (e.g. charity, etc.) and (4) to beg of men begging. And Allah has hated for you (1) vain, useless talk, or that you talk too much about others, (2) to ask too many questions, and (3) to waste the wealth by being extravagant.
The presence of beggars in this City of Radiance and Light is far less than Makkah, and rarely does one see the deformed ones, however they are here with a more subtle style, especially women who suddenly appear at your side, hand outstretched, or as I have experienced, the ones trying to trick you into giving over your cell phone on the pretext of some sob story.
I am not saying do not give, but be aware and be selective. There are thousands of workers here on such miserly wages, working long honest hours in the hot sun, or are cleaning the Haramain for our comfort. These are deserving of our sadaqah, Insha’Allah.
The following are links to various archival articles addressing the beggar issue here.
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=96533&d=23&m=5&y=2007
http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093147845
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=82709&d=25&m=5&y=2006
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=96434&d=21&m=5&y=2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1420494.stm
(11:6)
May our begging be as our Beloved Rasulullah SallAllahu alaihi wasallam begged: "I am a person in distress, a needy person, a beggar, a fearful person. I confess my short comings."
JUMA’AH MUBARAK!
All good is from Allah Ta’ala whereas mistakes are from this humble speck. May Allah Ta’ala Bless all readers, bringing you all closer to Him and His Rasul SallAllahu alaihi wasallam. May He accept our humble efforts and grant us the capacity to be good and do good. Ameen.
Dear Khaltu,
as salamu alaykum wa rahmatulLahi wa barakatuH,
Hope youre keeping well inshaAllah
Jumuah mubarak to you too!
Comment by maida — June 29, 2007 @ 1:49 am
Walaykumassalam and Juma Mubarik. Ameen thuma ameen to all your duas.
As you mentioned sister, Thu’ban RadhiAllahuanhu once said “I gave this promise to the Prophet Salallahualaihiwasalam and I never asked anyone for anything after that.” One of my teachers once commented on how much importance and weight Thu’ban Radiallahuanhu gave to his statement by explaining that even while riding his mount, if his riding stick were to fall, even if there were people around who could have handed it to him, he himself would dismount and pick it up. This was his state, though asking someone to hand it to him wouldn’t constitute begging but it was nonetheless a form of asking for something from someone and he could not do it… Subhanallah! The Love for our Rasul Salallahualaihiwasalm as manifest in the upholding of everything he Salallahualaihiwasalm said and staying bonded to the covenant of what we say! May Allah Taala extend the shade of their understanding to encompass our understanding, ameen.
Regarding the beggars in the Haramain… Another story of those ‘Glowing’ beings of Medina! Several years ago I met a German brother who was doing much the same thing I was, namely sitting in the Masjid looking for Inspirational people to learn from, so the two of us decided to meet nightly at ’share’ our days stories. One night he shows up along with this man whom can I only describe as a Shining ball of Noor. We briefly exchanged Salams and then the old man departed. My German friend had this look of astonishment on his face and after a moment of prodding he proceeded to tell me this;
It was before shortly after Maghrib and I was sitting near the Rawdah when I noticed an older man sitting not far from me, I noticed him because every so often someone would come by shake and kiss his hand, showing him all kinds of love and respect. So I thought to myself that this is a Shaykh to meet. I made my over to him, greeted him and said that my heart had guided me to him. The Shaykh replied by pointing out another man not too far away and saying “He is the one you need to meet”.
So I went and sat down near this other person, who at that moment was engaged in some Nafl prayers. I sat there patiently waiting for this man to finish, but he kept praying, 2 Rakah after 2 Rakah, all the way until the Azan for Isha was called. I told myself I would have to meet with him after the Isha prayer. After the Fard prayer I turned to him and seeing that he was praying sunnah, I too began my sunnah. Upon completing the 2 rakah I once again turned towards the man and just barely caught a glimpse of him exiting the Masjid. I’d missed him! Dejected I sat there looking around and noticed the Shaykh whom I had initially met and so I made my way back to him.
He looked at me and asked “Did you meet that person I pointed out to you?”
I replied “I tried but he didn’t stop praying until Isha, after which he exited the Masjid before I could speak with him”.
He said not to worry and suggested we go and give our Salams to our beloved Rasul Salallahualaihiwasalam. So we proceeded and then left the masjid together. Once outside we started walking and shortly came across a beggar sitting on the courtyard marble, I pulled out some money and handed it to him, my companion noticed but said nothing. A few steps later there was another beggar, much like the first but this time the Shaykh approached him before I did. The Shaykh took out a large denomination bill and asked the beggar for change, of course the beggar shook his head saying he didn’t have any. The Shaykh again made his request, and once again the beggar declined. The third time the Shaykh asked a little more firmly yet at the same time very politely. The beggar looked up and him and then started fumbling through his rags, producing a small bag. He carefully unzipped it and what I saw astonished me, based on the denomination of the stacks of bills I saw, I could easily guess that this beggar had more money on his person than I did in my bank back home. I was overcome with several emotions all at once; anger, confusion, frustration to name a few. But the Shaykh started to walk so I walked with him, fuming within. It was only for a few steps that I was able to hold my emotions in check, before I turned to him, asking him to help me understand how a person could sit and beg, when in reality they had SO MUCH money. The Shaykh smiled and simply said
“You need to learn to see from the eyes of the heart and not your eyes, because your eyes can show you something that really isn’t there. The man in the masjid, the one I asked you to meet, what was he doing?”
“Praying to Allah” I said.
“So can we say he was begging from Allah?” inquired the Shaykh.
“Most definitely, yes” I offered.
“Well let me tell you this, that man is the poorest man in Medina today, there is no one more destitute or needy than he, but look from whom he was begging! He was asking of nothing from anyone, except Allah!! Baseerah (insight), Baseerah is what you need to develop so that your heart will tell you what your eyes cannot see” he said, pointing towards my heart.
And it was at that moment the two reached me, and after briefly greeting me the Glowing ball of Noor left. I don’t know who he was, nor can I even remember the name of my German friend, and I never even saw the man who begged from Allah from Maghrib right until Isha, but May Allah Subhanawatala forever be their Guide, Lighting their way in all the worlds ameen.
My apologies for once again hijacking your comments section sister
Comment by ikramuddin — June 30, 2007 @ 3:47 am
Bismillah-irrahman-irraheem
Mawla ya salli wa sallim daa’iman abadaa
‘Ala habeebika khair-il-khalki kullihimi
ya rabbi bil mustafa balligh maqaasidanaa
waghfir lana ma madaa ya wasi’al karamee
Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
I just wanted to thank you for being the means for me to be sitting thousands of miles away and yet still be able to wander the streets of the city of light.
Jazakallau khairan fiddaarain
Muhammad
Comment by Muhammad — June 30, 2007 @ 9:39 am
Assalamu alaikum, Dear Bheti Maida, Alhumdulillah Ala Kulli hal!!!!
Dear brother Ikramuddin, another one of your GLOWING stories…I think you should bless us with them more often….become a permanent GLOWING appendix! May there be many more from your upcoming visit, Insha’Allah.
Dear brother Muhammad, I too sit here realizing so many across the world are looking at this humble cyber place…the attraction of this tiny place in the Universe connecting hearts of the Ummah stirs ones love even more for our Deen, SubhanAllah.
And again…
Mawla ya salli wa sallim daa’iman abadaa
‘Ala habeebika khair-il-khalki kullihimi
ya rabbi bil mustafa balligh maqaasidanaa
waghfir lana ma madaa ya wasi’al karamee
Wassalamu alaikum
almiskeenah
Comment by almiskeenah — June 30, 2007 @ 8:58 pm