Conclusion
The sources do not say which Muslims are poorest in the world today. They contain no figures on poverty by country or community. What they do is define poverty. The poorest person, in the Prophet's sense, is the one who reaches the Day of Judgement with prayers and charity but loses them all to the people he abused, slandered or robbed. In worldly terms, the poor who most deserve help are often the hidden ones who are in need but too dignified to ask.
Ibn Kathir reports two views on the poor in the zakat verse. Ibn Abbas, Mujahid and al-Hasan al-Basri said the faqir (poor) is a dignified person who asks no one for anything, while the miskin (needy) goes round begging. Qatadah said the faqir is the sick person and the miskin is the healthy one. T2
Fear of poverty should not stop anyone from giving. The Qur'an says it is Satan who frightens people with poverty, while Allah promises forgiveness and grace. Maarif-ul-Quran says the hope that charity brings forgiveness and blessing comes from Allah, and should be met with gratitude. Q5T5
The Prophet taught that Paradise said: "The weak and the poor shall enter me." So the weak and the poor are close to Allah's mercy, while the tyrants and the proud are the ones who enter the Fire. H10
Ibn Kathir relays the hadith, collected by al-Bukhari and Muslim, that the truly needy person is not the one who goes round begging for a date or two. It is the one who lacks enough, whose need nobody notices, and who does not ask. The poor most deserving of help are therefore often the ones nobody sees. T2
Sources
Qur'an & Tafsir
Summary
The Qur'an says every human being is poor before Allah, and Allah alone needs nothing. Among people, it singles out a hidden kind of poor: those who are in need but refuse to beg, so that people who do not know them think they are well off. Q4Q1T1
Key points
- Fatir 35:15 says people are the ones "who need Allah" (al-fuqara' ila Allah), while Allah is "Free-of-All-Needs". So need in its fullest sense is the condition of everyone. Q4
- Maarif-ul-Quran, citing al-Qurtubi, says a faqir (poor person) who wears expensive clothes is still poor. It adds that, by the commentators' agreement, these poor do not ask at all. T1
References
- Q1Al-Baqarah 2:273 · The Cow
- Q4Fatir 35:15 · Originator
- T1Maarif-ul-Quran on 2:273
Sunnah
Summary
The Prophet redefined the word muflis (bankrupt). The truly bankrupt person is not the one without money. It is the one who arrives on the Day of Judgement with prayer, fasting and zakat (obligatory charity), but whose good deeds are handed over to the people he wronged. H5H6H11
Key points
- In this hadith (graded Hasan Sahih by al-Tirmidhi), once the wrongdoer's good deeds run out, the sins of his victims are put on him and he is thrown into the Fire. H5
- Material poverty is not a sign of failure: "The poor believers will enter Paradise half a day – five hundred years – before the rich" (graded Hasan Sahih by al-Albani). H6
- Even so, the Prophet asked Allah to protect him from poverty, from want and humiliation, and from wronging others or being wronged (graded Sahih). H11
References
- H5Jami At Tirmidhi 2418 · Chapters on the description of the Day of Judgement, Ar-Riqaq, and Al-Wara'Authenticity
- Sahih Ahmad Muhammad Shakir
- Sahih Al-Albani
- Hasan Sahih Bashar Awad Maarouf
- Sahih Muslim Zubair Ali Zai
- H6Sunan Ibn Majah 4122 · ZuhdAuthenticity
- Hasan Sahih Al-Albani
- Hasan Sahih Muhammad Fouad Abd al-Baqi
- Hasan Sahih Shuaib Al Arnaut
- Isnaad Hasan Zubair Ali Zai
- H11Sunan an Nasai 5460 · The Book of Seeking Refuge with AllahAuthenticity
- Sahih Abu Ghuddah
- Sahih Al-Albani
- Isnaad Sahih Zubair Ali Zai
Hadith Commentaries
Summary
Al-Nawawi explains that the bankrupt described in the hadith is the real bankrupt. What people usually call bankruptcy, having little or no money, ends at death or can end when wealth comes later, while this bankruptcy is total ruin. C4C3C6
Key points
References