Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 350
Malfuzat - English translation of Urdu Volume 7 350 Exhorting Compassion for the Poor and Discharging the Rights of People What is Zak a t? 1 ِ ء َآ ر َ ق ُ ف ْ ل َی ا ل ِ ا ُّ د َ ر ُ ت َ و ِ ء َآ ر َ م ُ اَلْ َ ا ن ِ م ُ ذ َ خ ُْؤْ ت ِ ء َآ ر َ ق ُ ف ْ ل َی ا ل ِ ا ُّ د َ ر ُ ت َ و ِ ء َآ ر َ م ُ اَلْ َ ا ن ِ م ُ ذ َ خ ُْؤْ ت. It is taken from the rich and given to the poor. This taught the highest level of com- passion. In this way, by meeting each other, the cold and the warm, the Muslims are saved from falling. It is the duty of the well-off to pay [Zak a t]. Even if this was not an obligatory duty, human sympathy demands that the poor be helped. However, I see nowadays that even if a neighbour is dying of hunger, no concern is shown for him; their own ease and comfort are all that matters. I cannot stop communicating what God Almighty has placed in my heart. If someone’s neighbour is starving, Hajj [Pilgrimage—one of the five pillars of Islam] is not permissi- ble for him according to the Shariah. Human compassion and caring have priority because the acts of Hajj come later. The real purport and purpose of acts of worship are not kept in mind nowadays. Instead, acts of worship have been reduced to mere rituals and are performed as such. This is the reason that mis- conceptions have arisen in people’s minds about pilgrims. It is said that a blind woman was sitting somewhere, and someone came and took away her chador. The woman shouted, ‘Child! Ha j i [one who has performed the Hajj]! Return my chador. ’ The man asked her, ‘Lady, tell me how you knew I am a Ha j i. ’ She said that experience has shown that only Ha j i s do such things. So, what is the benefit of [having performed] such a Hajj if this is the case? How can such a Hajj be accepted [by God] while there are 1. The following hadith is found in Buk ha r i : ْ م ِ ه ِئِ َا ر َ ق ُ ِف ی ٰ ل َ ع ُّ د َ ر ُ َت َ ِف ْ م ِ ه ِئِ َا ی ِ ْن ْ ُغ ََأ ْ ن ِ م ُ ذ َ خ ُْؤْ ت ْ م ِ ه ِئِ َا ر َ ق ُ ِف ی ٰ ل َ ع ُّ د َ ر ُ َت َ ِف ْ م ِ ه ِئِ َا ی ِ ْن ْ ُغ ََأ ْ ن ِ م ُ ذ َ خ ُْؤْ ت. See S a hih al-Bukh a r i , Kit a b al-Zak ah , B a b Akhdhul- S adaqati min al-Aghni a ’ wa Turadda f i al-Fuqar a ’i H aithu K a n u , Hadith 1496. [Publisher]