The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 424
CH. 2 AL-BAQARAH had embraced Islam long before him. (2) Sometimes a Muslim becomes confined to a place owing to the hostility of disbelievers and, being surrounded by persecutors, he has often to suffer extreme hardships and remain without the necessities of life. Such men are also among the fittest objects of help. People generally help those who beg for help, ignoring those who need help but, through modesty or shyness, do not ask for it. The Quran exhorts Muslims not to confine their charity to those who beg, but also to look for those who are really needy and whom a sense of honour or modesty prevents from begging. PT. 3 Quran which dealt with charity. Abū Bakr, failing to understand his real object, explained to him the verse and passed on. Then came ‘Umar, and the hunger-stricken Abū Hurairah approached him also with the request to explain the verse. 'Umar too failed to catch his purpose and, explaining to him the verse, went on his way. The Holy Prophet, who at that time happened to be within hearing inside his house, opened his window and with a bowl of milk in his hand, called Abū Hurairah and smilingly asked him whether he was hungry. And, receiving a reply in the affirmative, he further asked him to invite all the seven men who happened to be present in the mosque at that time. Before handing the cup of milk to Abu Hurairah, the Holy Prophet offered it to those seven men who were also hungry like Abū Hurairah. All the seven drank milk out of the bowl but, says Abū Hurairah, it remained as full as ever. Then the Prophet gave it to Abu Hurairah who drank his fill. When Abu Hurairah could drink no says more, the Holy Prophet took the bowl and drank the remaining milk (Tirmidhi ch. on Zuhd). a The words, thou shalt know them by their appearance, contain tribute to the Holy Prophet, who is here spoken of as being able to know such persons as are in want but refrain from disclosing their needs to others; and believers are exhorted to follow the example of the Holy Prophet in this respect. Abu Hurairah relates a personal incident which beautifully brings out this characteristic of the Prophet. He that one day he was suffering from extreme hunger but, as Islam did not approve of begging, he could not ask anybody for food, and at the same time he would not leave the Prophet's mosque for fear of losing his company. At that time Abu Bakr happened to pass by and, in order to draw his attention to his own famished condition, Abu Hurairah asked him to explain a verse of the 424 The verse incidentally praises those who abstain from begging and hints at the impropriety of begging as the words abstaining from) تعفف an improper or unlawful thing) and (with importunity) clearly indicate. The Holy Prophet greatly disapproved of begging and there are diverse sayings of his to that effect.