FRIDAY LEARNING ZONE FROM WESSEX JAMAAT
17th Rabi’ al-Awwal 1428 AH / 6th April 2007
No. 14
THE KINDS OF DHULM – CON’T
The second kind of Dhulm is HABSUL-HUQOOQ i.e. ‘to confiscate the possessions and belongings of others’. “Verily those who swallow the property of the orphans unjustly, swallow only fire into their bellies, and they shall soon enter into the blazing fire”. (4:10)
Our ‘Ulama tells us that in this verse the orphans have been specifically mentioned because they are the easiest prey for the people, however, the same will be the case for all those who swallow the properties of others. Regarding confiscation of properties, our ‘Ulama have highlighted three things.
One of the things that are considered as Habsul-Huqooq is NOT paying the Shar’ee Huqooq such as Khums and Zakat. Khums and Zakat are both part of Furoo’ al-Deen and just as Salat, Sawm and Hajj are wajib upon us to perform, so are paying of the religious dues such as Khums and Zakat. There are number of verses in the Holy Quran in which Zakat has been mentioned. Infact, in many places Zakat has been mentioned together with Salaat. According to Imam Ar-Ridha (as), this denotes that one who does NOT pay Zakat his Salaat is not accepted. Khums has also been mentioned in the Quran, and like Zakat, it was formally enforced by the Holy Prophet (saww).
Why are Khums & Zakat enforced upon Muslims? There are many reasons for this; however, we shall just look at some of the important ones.
Firstly, through such dues, our degree of love with Allah (SWT) is being tested.
We all claim to love Allah (SWT). However, there are so many other things that we also love in this world and many at times, because of those worldly things, we even tend to forget Allah (SWT). Wealth is one of the worldly things, which is the apple of our eye. Many of us are so much attached to it that we cannot let wealth go at any cost. We can let Salaat go, Sawm go, Hajj go but not wealth; we will follow wherever wealth goes – be it in pubs, or in clubs or anywhere. By making Khums & Zakat wajib, Allah (SWT) has put our claim of loving Him to test. Are we going to part the apple of our eye (wealth) to please Him or not? Those who give are truthful in their claim. As for those who deny are nothing but liars in their claim!!
Secondly, through religious dues, we learn to care and share with the less fortunate.
In other words, it removes miserliness from us. Some people in this world are extremely miser. Whatever you do, they will not part with their money. A story is told of 4 extremely miser people: One was standing outside his home with his staff in his hand. A man passed and said, “Yaa Haadha (O you!)! I am your guest today”. The man showed his staff to him and said, “I use this to welcome and entertain my guests”. Upon seeing the staff, the poor man ran away. The second miser once invited few people to his home and offered them dates to eat. The guests, while eating the dates, also consumed the seeds. Seeing this, the miser created uproar by rebuking them for eating his seeds as well. The third miser once gave a piece of date to a beggar, who said, “May God give you one date in Paradise”. The miser said, “If we give our things to the miserable ones, we shall become more miserable than them”. And whenever a coin got into the hand of the fourth miser, he would kiss it and say: “O Friend! How much have you wandered and travelled before getting into my hands. But now that you have reached me, I shall put you into my safe and your captivity will be a very long one”. When people told him to spend his money in charity, he would say: “I have a long life ahead of me”. Khums & Zakat nurtures us to become generous, teaches us to care for others and share our wealth with the less fortunate.
Thirdly, Khums & Zakat are the sustenance of the Poor sent by Allah (SWT).
Today, when we look at the people all over the world suffering, we quickly blame Allah (SWT) for it. Infact, many people do not believe in the existence of God because they see the sufferings of others. A man went to a barber’s shop for haircut. The barber was a very talkative person and discussed many subjects as he did his work. Finally, they touched on the subject of God. The Barber said, “Look man! I do not believe that God exists. If he did, there would not be so many sufferings in the world. People would not be poor, sick or undergoing difficulties in this life”. Since the barber looked excited, the client did not say anything to start an argument with him. Once his hair was cut and the client paid the Barber his money and walked out. While on street, the client’s eyes fell upon a person with long unkempt hair and dirty beard. He immediately came back to the Barber and announced, “I do not believe that Barbers exist”. “What nonsense” said the Barber, “How can you say that when I am standing here?” The man said, “Well, if the Barbers existed then there would be no people on the street with long hair and dirty beards!” The Barber said, “This does not mean that Barbers do not exist. They simply do not come to us”. The client said, “Exactly! It’s the same with God. He does exist but people don’t turn towards Him and do not look for Him. That’s why there is so much pain and suffering in the world”.
In other words, if people would have lived in this people with their focus on Allah (SWT) and had abided by His laws, there would have been no sufferings. A person asked Imam ‘Ali (as): “If Allah is responsible for the sustenance of His creatures then why do many creatures die of hunger?” Imam (as) said, “Allah sends the sustenance of His creatures to them but there are robbers on the highways that steal their sustenance”. Imam Ja’ffar al-Sadiq (as) has said, “Verily Zakat has been kept as a test for the rich and as means of sustenance for the poor. If people had paid their dues from their wealth, there would not be a single Muslim who would be poor and needy… People are neither poor, nor needy, nor hungry, nor bare except because of the disobedience of the wealthy”. (Wasail al-Shia’h)