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Loving the poor Na'eem Jeenah We were sitting at a restaurant, having just broken our fast and taking a digestion break. Haroun, General Manager of the international aid organisation, Islamic Relief, was telling us stories as we allowed the food to settle. Mostly, he was narrating anecdotes from the life of a companion of the Prophet (s), Abu Dharr. Quite appropriate, I thought, for the man who heads up the global operations of an organisation which claims to be ‘alleviating the suffering of the world’s poorest people’, considering Abu Dharr’s reputation. My other thought was of the next day, the 17th October, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. I decided then that from that day on, I would always regard the 17th October as ‘Abu Dharr Day’. In Islam, poverty is regarded in an extremely serious light. While some religious traditions glorify poverty, Islam, philosophically, has a somewhat more complex approach. On the one hand, poverty is seen as not only a material or physical problem but also as a threat to one’s very faith. ‘Poverty,’ the Prophet Muhammad (s) said, ‘leads to kufr (a rejection of belief).’ But, Islam does not glorify wealth – particularly in reference to the accumulation of wealth – either. Indeed, the Qur’ān and the Prophet (s) spoke harshly about wealth accumulation or hoarding. On the other hand, Islam regards poor people in a special way. A well-known supplication of the Prophet (s) was that he would be raised on the Day of Judgment with those who are poor. And his advice to Abu Dharr is very instructive. On one occasion, after meeting with the Prophet (s), Abu Dharr returned to his tribe and was asked whether the Prophet (s) had given him any advice. ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘He has ordered me to do seven things. ‘He has ordered me to love the poor and to get close to them. ‘He has ordered me to look to those who are lower than I and not to those who are higher than I. ‘He has ordered me to maintain close relations with my relatives even if they turn their backs on me. ‘He has ordered me not to ask anyone for anything. ‘He has ordered me to say the truth even if it is bitter. ‘He has ordered me not to fear anyone, for the sake of Allah. ‘And he has ordered me to say often: “There’s neither might nor power but with Allah.”’. The advice to ‘love the poor’ was one that Abu Dharr took extremely seriously. For the rest of his life, he eschewed wealth – for himself and for all other Muslims. After the death of the Prophet, as the Muslim empire began to grow and the elite within the community began building large palaces for themselves, he became so critical of those in power that, more than once, he was exiled. It is said that the words of the Qur’ān which forbade wealth accumulation were always on his lips. So much so that he would often be welcomed by people with the words: ‘Announce to those who hoard up gold and silver, the warning of branding irons,’ referring to the verse from Surah Taubah: ‘And those who hoard up gold and silver and do not expend it in the cause of Allah, announce to them a painful chastisement. On the Day when it shall be heated in the Fire and with it their foreheads, their bodies and their backs shall be branded, “This is what you treasured for yourselves, so taste the evil of what you were treasuring”’ (9: 34-35). Abu Dharr devoted his life to this mission as he saw that wealth was increasingly being accumulated and monopolized for power and being turned into a means of control and abuse. He witnessed a passion for comfort which, he believed, threatened to destroy the beauty, sincerity, vision and values developed during the years of the mission of the Prophet (s). ‘Loving the poor’ is a very different thing from giving to the poor. Haroun recounted the story of a would-be volunteer at Islamic Relief who was told about ‘loving the poor’ as per this report by Abu Dharr. ‘But how can I,’ he replied. ‘They are so filthy.’ He wanted to work with an organisation that sought to uplift people from poverty, but he wanted to have nothing to do with poor people. He didn’t last long, Haroun concluded. Many of us with some means believe it is enough to give our lillah and zakah in Ramadan. By it, we believe, we have done our Islamic duty and our duty to the poverty-stricken. But to ‘love the poor’? To ‘get close to them’? That is asking a little too much, we feel. And so there are many of us who are willing to sponsor food hampers, donate blankets or sponsor an orphan, but have never been into a squatter camp (I prefer to use this harsher term than the euphemistic ‘informal settlement’). It is, after all, much easier dealing with numbers on a computer than with the filth of poverty. The Prophet (s) knew the impact of his advice on the very committed Abu Dharr. The Prophet once asked him, ‘Abu Dharr! What would you do if you witnessed a time when commanders monopolize the war booty?’ He replied, ‘I swear by Allah Who sent you with the truth, I would strike them with my sword!’ The Prophet (s) said to him, ‘Shall I guide you to what is better? Be patient till you meet me.’ With these words, the Prophet stayed Abu Dharr’s sword, while predicting a time he knew would arrive among Muslims. But he did not stay his tongue. Indeed, the Prophet (s) encouraged that tongue when he said: “The earth never carried above it, nor did the sky ever shade under it a more truthful tongue than Abu Dharr’s”. It was a tongue and a voice which lost Abu Dharr many friends. And so it was that this man, who was among the first six people to embrace Islam, fulfilled the prophecy of the Prophet (s) that he would ‘live alone, die alone and be raised alone’.
October 2005
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