Ḥadīth Lesson: On Begging and Asking

As-Salāmu ‘Alaykum wa RaḥmatuLlāhi wa Barakātuh. A‘ūdhu BiLlāhi Minash-shayṭāni r-rajīm. BismiLlāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm. Wa ṣ-Salātu wa s-Salāmu ‘alá Rasūlinā Muḥammadin Sayyidi l-Awwalīna wa l-Akhirīn. Madad yā RasūlAllāh, Madad yā Sādāti Aṣḥābi RasūliLlāh, Madad yā Mashāyikhinā, Dastūr Mawlana Sheikh Abdullāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghistāni, Sheikh Muḥammad Nāẓim al-Ḥaqqānī. Madad.

1Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Send away the beggar [with something], even with only a burnt hoof.” So, by all means, give them something—even if it is just a trifle. Do not turn away empty-handed a beggar who comes asking of you, even if the offering holds little material value. It was the custom of the Mashāyikh, following the practice of our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, never to turn anyone away empty-handed.

2Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Give something to the beggar, even if it is an object the size of a fly’s head.” So, “Do not turn him away empty-handed,” says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam, give him even if something very small or worthless. If he likes it, good for him; if he doesn’t, it’s his issue. You will have done your duty. Today’s beggars - people work hard to bake bread and sell simit (bagels); If you give the price of simit to the beggar, he won’t like it. It’s his issue then. Therefore, give even if a little; whether he likes it or not.

3Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ says, “The most severe of calamities that can happen to a person is when you need what people have and are prevented from it.” So you need something of someone, but even though he has it, he doesn’t give it to you, he prevents you. This is also a great affliction, may Allāh ﷻ protect us.

4Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ says, “The most evil of people is the one who is asked for something in God’s name and does not give it.” So he mentions the name of Allāh ﷻ and says, “Give me for the sake of Allāh ﷻ,” but you do not give anything. These are the worst of people. Because the name of Allāh ﷻ has been mentioned, but you do not respect it. As our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam said, give even if it is a small amount, because the name of Allāh ﷻ was mentioned.

5Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ says, “Put something in the hand of the beggar, even though it should be a burnt hoof.”

6Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

This is also very important. Our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam narrates this from Prophet Dāwūd ‘alayhi s-salām. Prophet Dāwūd said: “It is better for you to put your hand up to your elbow into the mouth of a big dragon and have it bite your arm than to beg for something from someone who was poor before but became rich later.” “Tinnīn” in Arabic means dragon. As they say, “upstarts”. Those upstarts are so bad; this is what Prophet Dāwūd says. May Allāh ﷻ not make anyone need them.

7Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “A rich person’s begging will appear as a stain of shame on his face on the Day of Judgment.” The person is rich, but he has a habit of begging from this and that; that person will be disgraced on the Day of Judgment.

8Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “No doubt, it is better for a person to take a rope and proceed in the morning to the mountains and cut the wood and then sell it, and eat from this income and give alms from it than to ask others for something.” It is much better for you to go to the mountains with your own labor, collect wood, sell it, and give from it to charity than begging from people.

9Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “The beggar has a right, even if he comes on a horse.” If that person is a beggar and comes by car or horse and asks for something from you, you still have to give him something.

10-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “If you knew how bad begging is, no one would go to anyone else and ask him for anything.” Let alone begging, you would not ask anything from anyone, says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam; begging is such a heavy wrong.

11-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “If the beggar knew what would happen to him because of his begging, he would never beg.” If he had known what a shame and affliction this was, he would not have begged even if he was hungry.

12-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

This point is also very important: our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam addresses both the giver and the receiver, conveying to people what Allāh ‘Azza waJalla has revealed to him. He says, “If the needy—that is, the poor—did not lie, those who turned them away would not prosper.” For some poor people do tell many lies, claiming, “I have nothing; I need this.” The Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wasallam remarks, “It is a good thing that they lie; otherwise, those who turned them away empty-handed would not prosper.”

13-Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “On the Day of Judgment, there will be such groups that will not have a piece of flesh left on their faces because of their begging.” Begging is that bad to leave no flesh on one’s face.

14Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Whoever wants to be independent of means, Allāh ﷻ will make him independent.” Whoever does not beg from anyone, Allāh ﷻ will make him rich and will not need help. “Whoever wants to refrain from asking, Allāh ﷻ will help him to refrain.” Allāh ﷻ preserves the honor and chastity of the person who desires to be chaste. “Whoever wants to be content with his lot, Allāh ﷻ will suffice him. Whoever asks when he has something worth one Uqiyah, then he is being too demanding.” If he still wants it even though he has a little money, then he insistently asks for his own loss.

Sadaqa RasuluLlah fi ma qal, aw kama qal. The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ says the truth in what he ﷺ said or as he ﷺ said.

❁❁❁❁❁

Ihda’ – Dedication:

Ziyadatan ila sharafi’ ‘n-Nabi, sallaLlahu `alayhi wa sallam wa Alihi wa Asahabihi l-kiram, wa ila arwahi jamee’i al Anbiya’i wa l-Mursalin wa Khudama’i sharai’ihim wa ila arwahi al ‘Aimmati al arba’a, wa ila arwahi Mashayyikhina fi t-Tariqati nNaqshbandiyyati l-Aliyyah, khassatan Imamu t-Tariqah wa Ghawthu l-Khaliqah Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, wa sai’ri Sadatina wa s-Siddiqiyun, wa man nahnu fi hadratihim wa jiwarihim. To the souls of all our ancestors. For goodness to come and evil to be warded off. For happiness here and hereafter. Li-Llahi Ta’ala, Al-Fatiha.

[(Translation) To the honor of the Prophet, Prayers and Peace be upon Him, and his family, and his companions, and the souls of all the prophets as well as of His messengers and of those who served their Sharia, and to the souls of the four Imams. And to the souls of our Mashayikh of the Most Distinguished Naqshbandi Tariqa, in particular to the soul of the Imam of the Tariqa Ghawth al-Khaliqa (the Help of Creation), Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, and the rest of our masters and Siddiqiyun, and to whom we are in their presence and near them. To the souls of all our ancestors. For goodness to come and evil to be warded off. For happiness here and hereafter. To Allah Almighty. Al Fatiha.]

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 13 October 2026/ 02 Jumada al-Awwal 1448 Beylerbeyi Dergah, Istanbul