Lesson 5 of 6 · What feeds it
The hadith that stops Muslims asking, and its counterweight
These two must be read together or neither one should be read.
The upper hand is better than the lower hand, the upper being the giver and the lower the one who asks. That report, on its own, has probably stopped more Muslims from asking for help than anything else in the tradition. There is a matching set about the dignity of earning, that a man taking a rope and gathering firewood is better for him than begging from people. And there is the report that whoever abstains from asking, Allah makes him content, and that nobody is given a better gift than patience. That last one opens, before any of that, with the Ansar asking him for something and being given it, and asking again and being given it, until everything he had was gone. The opening is what stops the rest of it landing as a prohibition on asking.
There is a positive form of the same idea that carries no comparison with a beggar in it at all. Nobody has ever eaten a better meal than one he earned with his own hands, and the Prophet of Allah, Dawud, ate from the earnings of his own labour. If you are working and still in arrears, that is the one to hold.
Now the counterweight. Qabisah came asking, and before he was told anything he was told to wait until the sadaqah arrived so that it could be given to him. He was answered first. Then he was told that asking is permitted in three cases: a man who has taken on a payment on somebody else's behalf, until it is settled; a man whose property has been destroyed by a calamity, until he has what will support life; and a man struck by poverty that three sensible people who know him will attest to.
Be exact about this, because it is usually quoted loosely and you deserve better than that. Ordinary personal debt is not one of the three. Two of them are, however, most people who are reading this: a calamity that took your property, and poverty that the people around you can see. What the report establishes is that asking has named, legitimate, unembarrassed cases, and that the man who asked was given something before he was given a rule.
And there is a category in the Qur'an's own list of who zakat is for, al-gharimin, those in debt. Most Muslims in difficulty have no idea it is there. Receiving from it is not charity in the sense of a favour. It is a share the Qur'an allocated to people in your situation. Whether you personally qualify is a question for someone knowledgeable, and it is a question worth actually asking.
Qur’an and Sunnah
Most Muslims in difficulty have no idea this is here. Those in debt are one of the categories the Qur'an allocates zakat to. Whether you personally qualify is a question for someone knowledgeable, and it is worth actually asking.
۞إِنَّمَا ٱلصَّدَقَٰتُ لِلۡفُقَرَآءِ وَٱلۡمَسَٰكِينِ وَٱلۡعَٰمِلِينَ عَلَيۡهَا وَٱلۡمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمۡ وَفِي ٱلرِّقَابِ وَٱلۡغَٰرِمِينَ وَفِي سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱبۡنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِۖ فَرِيضَةࣰ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمࣱ
Alms are meant only for the poor, the needy, those who administer them, those whose hearts need winning over, to free slaves and help those in debt, for God’s cause, and for travellers in need. This is ordained by God; God is all knowing and wise
Qur’an 9:60
The one that has to be read together with what follows and never on its own. The upper hand is better than the lower, the upper being the giver. Alone it has probably stopped more Muslims asking for help than anything else in the tradition.
Narrated Ibn `Umar:I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) 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
Sahih al-Bukhari 1429graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
Taking a rope, gathering firewood and selling it is better for a man than begging from people. It is one of the reports about the dignity of earning, and it is shown beside the upper hand report rather than instead of it, because the two are meant to be read together.
Narrated Abu Huraira:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "By Him in Whose Hand my life is, it is better for anyone of you to take a rope and cut the wood (from the forest) and carry it over his back and sell it (as a means of earning his living) rather than to ask a person for something and that person may give him or not
Sahih al-Bukhari 1470graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
Notice how this one opens. The Ansar asked and were given, and asked again and were given, until everything he had was gone. That opening is what stops the rest of it landing as a prohibition on asking.
Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri:Some Ansari persons asked for (something) from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and he gave them. They again asked him for (something) and he again gave them. And then they asked him and he gave them again till all that was with him finished. And then he said "If I had anything. I would not keep it away from you. (Remember) Whoever abstains from asking others, Allah will make him contented, and whoever tries to make himself self-sufficient, Allah will make him self-sufficient. And whoever remains patient, Allah will make him patient. Nobody can be given a blessing better and greater than patience
Sahih al-Bukhari 1469graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
The positive form of the idea, with no comparison to a beggar in it at all. If you are working and still in arrears, it is the one to hold.
Narrated Al-Miqdam:The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Nobody has ever eaten a better meal than that which one has earned by working with one's own hands. The Prophet of Allah, David (ﷺ) used to eat from the earnings of his manual labor
Sahih al-Bukhari 2072graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
Qabisah came asking and was told to wait until the sadaqah arrived so that it could be given to him, and only then told that asking is permitted in three cases. This is the counterweight to the upper hand. Ordinary personal debt is not one of the three, and what it establishes is that asking has named legitimate cases and that the man was answered before he was given a rule.
Qabisah b. Mukhiriq al-Hilali said :I became a guarantor for a payment, and I came to Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him). He said: Wait till I receive the sadaqah and I shall order it to be given to you. He then said : Begging, Qabisah, is allowable only to one of three classes: a man who has become a guarantor for a payment to whom begging is allowed till he gets it, after which he must stop (begging); a man who has been stricken by a calamity and it destroys his property to whom begging is allowed till he gets what will support life (or he said, what will provide a reasonable subsistence); and a man who has been smitten by poverty, about whom three intelligent members of his people confirm by saying: So and so has been smitten by poverty, to such a person begging is allowed till be gets what will support life (or he said, what will provide a reasonable subsistence), after which he must stop (begging). Any other reason for begging, Qabisah, is forbidden, and one who engages in such consumes it as a thing which is forbidden
Sunan Abi Dawud 1640graded sound, albanithe Arabic and its grading
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.