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English translation
2198. It was narrated from Anas bin Mālik that a man from among the Ansār came to the Prophet ﷺ and begged from him. He said, "Do you have anything in your house?" He said: "Yes, a blanket, part of which we cover ourselves with and part we spread beneath us, and a bowl from which we drink water." He said: "Give them to me." So he brought them to him, and the Messenger of
Allāh ﷻ took them in his hand and said, "Who will buy these two things?" A man said: "I will buy them for one Dirham." He said: "Who will offer more than a Dirham?" two or three times. A man said: "I will buy them for two Dirham." So he gave them to him and took the two Dirham, which he gave to the Ansāri and said: "Buy food with one of them and give it to your family, and buy an axe with the other and bring it to me." So he did that, and the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ took it and fixed a handle to it, and said: "Go and gather firewood, and I do not want to see you for fifteen days." So he went and gathered firewood and sold it, then he came back, and he had earned ten Dirham. (The Prophet ﷺ) said: "Buy food with some of it and clothes with some." Then he said: "This is better for you than coming with begging (appearing) as a spot on your face on the Day of Resurrection. Begging is only appropriate for one who is extremely poor or who is in severe debt, or one who must pay painful blood money."[1] (Hasan)
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Footnotes
1
[1] Painful blood money' i.e., if the blood money is not paid, the killer will be executed and his family will suffer his loss.
Commentary
A calamity stricken person is allowed to make an appeal of financial support but taking beggary as a profession is unlawful. The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: "Begging is only allowed for three type of people: a person who took a loan (to set right someone else's matters and the loan was more than his financial capability) is allowed to make an appeal until he gets the required amount of money and then he should stop; the second person allowed to make financial appeal is the one who is afflicted by a calamity and all his property got ruined. He is allowed to do so until he finds means to fulfill the needs of his daily life. The third person having this is the one who is suffering from starvation; three wise and reliable individuals from among his people should certify the case that so-and-so is really suffering from starvation. (Sahih Muslim: 1044)
