Islam's Response to Contemporary Issues — Page 147
Socio-economic Peace 147 Likewise: Chide not him who seeks thy help. 11 Begging Even beggars should be treated with respect. Do not speak harshly to a beggar. Although, begging is discouraged, the right to beg when one is in dire need is guaranteed. Not only that, no one is permitted to injure the self-respect of those who are compelled to beg. In early Islam, despite the fact that the self-respect of even the beggar had been fully safeguarded, society as a whole had not failed to understand that not to beg was certainly better than to beg. Once the Holy Founder sa of Islam highlighted this comparison by stating: The hand of the donor is better than that of the receiver. 12 As a result of this a considerable number of Muslims preferred to die in poverty than to beg for survival. To cater for their needs, the Holy Quran reminds society as a whole that among you there are people striving in the path of Allah who have no way out of their poverty.