Duty of the wealthy towards the petitioner

By His Eminence Shaikh Ahmed al Khalili, Grand Mufti of the Sultanate — His Eminence Shaikh Ahmed bin Hamad al Khalili, Grand Mufti of the Sultanate. Allah the Exalted is lenient with the Muslim nation and He likes to see the Muslims treating each other with sympathy and kindness, which is why He made the petitioner entitled to a certain amount of money from the wealth of the affluent as He said in the holy Quran: (And those in whose wealth there is a known right) and (And those within whose wealth is a known right, for the petitioner and the deprived).  Allah also warned against rebuking a needy asking for money. Allah the Almighty said: (And as for the petitioner, do not repel him). The petitioner asks for money out of utter poverty and dire need to meet basic necessities and for this reason we are ordered to treat them delicately and give them a polite reply if we don’t have something to offer to them. The well-to-do among us have a responsibility towards the less-fortunate; they should not refrain from helping them.  We should not respond cruelly to their pleas even if we knew that they are swindlers, but with a kind word so as not to hurt their feelings, as Allah the Exalted has ordered us not to repel a petitioner vehemently. As such Islam ordered us to lend a helping hand to the petitioners and to assist them even with a little amount of money or else to treat them in a dignified way.