Holistic Understanding Of Poverty From The Islamic Perspective
By
Sayed Bilal Rizvi
7th
December 2020
Oh Mankind! You are the ones who stand in need
of Allah, and Allah is all-sufficient and all-praiseworthy.” (Quran 35:15)
Poverty is
currently one of the greatest challenges faced by the global community as a
whole. It is estimated that approximately 713 million people, or nearly 9% of
the world’s population, live in extreme poverty today [1]. Extreme poverty in
these studies is defined as living on less than $1.90 a day. It should also be
mentioned that another quarter of the world’s population lives below $3.20.
These
numbers have been on the rise given the global pandemic as stated by the World
Bank Group president, David Malpass: “the pandemic and global recession may
cause over 1.4% of the world’s population to fall into extreme poverty”. As we
can see from these numbers, poverty is a serious challenge that we as a global
community are facing and will continue to face as the global population
increases.
While many
organizations are making an effort to alleviate the challenges caused by this
issue, what I will seek to accomplish in this article is to provide a
theological understanding of poverty based on the verses of the Qu’ran and the
traditions of the Prophet and his family.
When one
examines the Islamic literary corpus, as a whole, one will find two conflicting
descriptions regarding the concept of poverty. One batch of traditions seems to
be praising the role of poverty in one’s spiritual development, while another
set strongly warns about the social dangers of this challenge. The question
here is which particular aspect of poverty do each of these sets of traditions
refer to? When this is understood, only then will one be able to gain a
holistic understanding of poverty from the Islamic perspective, otherwise
simply examining just one batch of traditions without a thorough understanding
of the other can be harmful to one’s worldview and social responsibilities.
The word
for poverty, or need, in the Arabic language, is faqr (الفقر) and the one who is in a
state of poverty is called a faqīr (الفقیر). When we examine the portion
of the Islamic literary corpus that praises the idea of poverty, the first
consideration should be given to verse [35:15] of the Qu’ran which states: “Oh
Mankind! You are the ones who stand in need of Allah, and Allah is
all-sufficient and all-praiseworthy.” In this verse, we find that all of
mankind is described as being in a state of poverty, or need, before Allah.
From this
verse, we come to understand that the portion of the Islamic literary corpus
which praises poverty is, firstly, referring to one’s existential poverty and
need before Allah. This recognition of our endless need before Allah in every
aspect of our life, beginning with existence itself, is considered a highly
praised act. So in this sense, we are never able to escape being in a state of
existential poverty, for we possess nothing of our own in the truest
unconditional sense of possession.
The second
regards to which poverty is praised in Islamic literature are those narrations
which incite mankind to ascetism. It should be noted here that asceticism,
conveyed by the Arabic word zuhd (الزهد), does not mean to forgo
utilizing one’s abilities to acquire worldly blessings in a manner that has
been deemed lawful by the Islamic legislation. Rather, it means to remove
materialism and attachment to the perishing entities of this transient world,
particularly when these material attachments hinder one from carrying out their
responsibilities to Allah.
In this
regard, we find that the Prophet states: “Poverty is relief, and affluence is a
punishment” [2]. This “relief” from poverty comes from the fact that it aids in
removing materialism. From the opposite angle, we also find traditions that
describe true wealth as spiritual richness. For example, the Prophet has been
quoted to have said: “Wealthniess does not come from an abundance of
possessions, but rather it comes from the wealth of one’s self” [3].
It is
stated that one day the famous companion of Imam Mūsa al-Kāẓim, by the name of Buhlūl, went to Hārūn al-Rashīd, the caliph, and gave
him an old coin. When Harūn asked him about this, he replied by saying: “I had
made a vow that if a particular problem of mine was solved, I would donate this
coin to a poor person and after searching I found no one who is more poor, in
the trust sense, than you”. Though Hārūn was the caliph possessing all the
wealth one could imagine, Buhlūl taught a lesson that true wealth is spiritual
wealthiness and true poverty is spiritual poverty.
So it can
be seen from this discussion, thus far, that these traditions in the praise of
poverty are speaking from either the virtue of recognizing one’s existential
poverty before Allah or from the angle of inciting one toward’s the removal of
materialism, thus building a stronger spiritual foundation in one’s life.
Now we come
to the examination of that portion of the Islamic literature which outright
condemns poverty and mentions the importance of poverty alleviation. Here I
find it appropriate to start by quoting Ayatullah Nāsir Makārim Shirāzī, who in
one of his lessons on Akhlāq (morality), said: “Poverty, in and of itself, is
the well-spring (source) for many individual and communal deviations and
corruptions” [4].
This quote
shows that poverty is a serious issue which needs to be solved not only for
alleviation in this world, but for a spiritual flourishing of the greater
global community. Imam ‘Alī when speaking to his son Muḥamamd al-Ḥanafiyyah said: “Oh my son, I fear for you
because of poverty, so seek refuge in Allah from it, for poverty diminishes
one’s faith, brings confusion to one’s judgments, and incites one towards
hatred” [5].
We often
see that areas suffering from poverty are also more prone to an increase in
crime rates. It is unfortunate that sometimes we as a society only examine the
issue of crime from a superficial level at times, instead of understanding that
one of the root causes for criminal behavior is economic deprivation. This
negative effect of poverty has been mentioned in various narrations, such as
the quote of Imam Ali above, and other traditions from our religion, such as
the one which states: “Poverty darkens the face in both realms (this world and
the hereafter)” [6].
Based on
this category of traditions in the strong condemnation of poverty, we can say
that the Islamic emphasis on poverty alleviation consists of both the angle of
bringing about social equity and comfort for mankind, but also the angle of
spiritual flourishment which arises in an individual and a society when their
basic needs are being met. It is for this reason, we see many verses of the
Quran and narrations which emphasize giving charity.
To quote
all of these verses would be outside the scope of this article, but we find
great praise for those who strive to alleviate the plight of the needy by
giving charity in [2:274] when the Quran says: “Those who give their wealth by
night and by day, secretly and openly, they shall have their reward near their
Lord, and they will not fear, nor will they grieve”.
It is here
that I conclude this brief discussion which was written with a general audience
in mind, and leave you all with a quote by the Commander of the Faithful, Imam
‘Alī, who reminds us of our individual responsibility of helping the needy by
saying: “cure poverty with charity and by giving generously” [7].
References
[1] These numbers were
taken directly from The World Bank’s official website.
[2] Muḥammad al-Raysharī, Mīzān al-ḥikmah, vol. 3, p. 2442.
[3] al-Shaykh al-Ḥasan ibn ‘Alī al-Ḥarrānī, Tuḥaf al-‘uqūl ‘an āl-Rasūl, p.
57.
[4] I had come across this
quote in a book titled al-arba‘ūn ḥadīthan. This work was prepared by al-Sayyid Muḥammad ‘Abdallah Zādeh, a
student of Ayatullah Nāsir Makārim Shirāzī, and is a collection of forty
traditions which Nāsir Makārim Shirāzī has discussed in his lessons on Akhlāq.
[5] al-Sharīf al-Radhī,
Nahj al-Balāghah, short saying no. 319.
[6] Mīzān al-ḥikmah, vol. 7, p. 498.
[7] ‘Abd al-Wāḥid ibn Muḥammad al-Tamīmī al-Āmudī,
Ghurar al-ḥikam wa
durar al-kalim, hadith no. 5156.
Original
Headline: The Islamic Perspective on Poverty: Understanding the Conflicting
Narrations
Source: The Muslim Vibe