Helping the poor and needy should be the prime objective of every human! Countries across the globe are suffering from extreme poverty issues with subjects degrading down to below the poverty line! The great barrier and space between the rich and the poor are widening and it becomes imperative for every person to lay aid to the issue. It is omniscient that helping our society can bring vast changes to the current scenario. It is a common saying that the more you donate, the more you earn. Allah says:
فَوَجَدَا فِيهَا جِدَارًا يُرِيدُ أَن يَنقَضَّ فَأَقَامَهُ قَالَ لَوْ شِئْتَ لَتَّخَذْتَ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا
“Then they found in it a wall which was on the point of falling, so he put it into the right state.” (Surah, Al-Kahf, 18:77)
The poor and needy people cannot even afford the basic requirements of living and are fighting each day for life. Work with the poor and needy people and help them discover their capabilities and capacity and put them to use at the right place at the right time. Support them and let them know that they have something of value which can be used for meeting their basic requirements. Allah says:
وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُم بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ ۖ وَلَا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا
“Keep yourself patient with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. Let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life.” (Surah Al-Kahf 18:28)
Poverty is disastrous in many countries striking millions of people around the globe. Many poor and needy people struggle to attain the necessities of life for themselves and their families to improve their way of living. These poor people cannot improve their standard of life on their own we have to help them in making their life comfortable. We cannot make such needy and poor people lavish but can at least help them to achieve the essentials of life so that they can lead prosperous life.
Following are the few ways to help the poor and needy people:
- Helping one individual can make a small change
- Help through financial, emotional, and physical
- Help a poor community fight against diseases
- Help and comfort those who lost their loved
- Help someone succeed in a job application
- Help someone conceptualize a business
- Helping the Poor through direct action
- Help them evacuate during calamities
- Help create a dialogue about poverty
- Help the poor and deserving people
- Help someone who wants to work
- Help them to solve a problem
- Help a financially-struggling
- Help those who have talents
- Help them in different ways
- Help them in an honest way
- Help them in your unique way
- Help them moral support, show love
- Help a young student find a scholarship
- Help to educate the people in different ways
- Help to encourage more people to do charity
- Help someone contact their distant loved ones
- Help and must think about the poor and needy
- Help in the shape of old books to poor students
- Help and sponsor a consistent voice of the poor
- Help and sponsor a pledge to give up some treat
- Help and support better education for the community
- Help and donate to your local and global organizations
Understand the needs and requirements of the poor and needy people. Help them overcome the adversities of life. One can help the poor and needy people by understanding their wants, desires, and thoughts without diminishing their dignity and helping them respectably achieve those wants. Allah says:
أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يُكَذِّبُ بِالدِّينِ فَذَٰلِكَ الَّذِي يَدُعُّ الْيَتِيمَ وَلَا يَحُضُّ عَلَىٰ طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ
“Have you seen him who denies the Judgment? That is the one who repels the orphan and does not encourage feeding the poor.” (Surah Al-Maun 107:1-3)
Imparting knowledge can help the poor and needy to stand on their feet. Education is the beginning of getting out of the hardships of life. Giving free education to the poor and needy people help them to grow as individuals and help them lead better lives. Education can help them to get a job, be employed build a career and achieve success, the capability of handling problems and lead a successful life.
لَيْسَ الْمِسْكِينُ بِالَّذِي تَرُدُّهُ التَّمْرَةُ وَالتَّمْرَتَانِ وَلَا اللُّقْمَةُ وَاللُّقْمَتَانِ إِنَّمَا الْمِسْكِينُ الْمُتَعَفِّفُ اقْرَءُوا إِنْ شِئْتُمْ لَا يَسْأَلُونَ النَّاسَ إِلْحَافًا
“The poor person is not the one who is satisfied with a date or two or a morsel or two, but rather the poor person is only who abstains from begging. Recite the verse if you wish: They do not ask people persistently.” (Sahih Bukhari 4265)
Helping the poor and needy people is a good deed and a noble aim. There are many ways that you can utilize or contribute towards the cause of further eliminating poverty from the world. Needy and poor people die because of a lack of basic amenities. Lack of proper caution and improper knowledge can certainly be hazardous to humanity and mankind.
Allah Almighty says in The Holy Quran:
- “Call upon your Lord humbly and in secret.” (Quran 7:55)
- “Remembrance of Allah indeed is the greatest virtue.” ( Quran 29:46)
- “…Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.” ( Quran 13:28)
- “Seek forgiveness of your Lord and then turn to Him in repentance.” (Hud : 3)
- “But they plan and Allah plans and Allah is the best of planners.” (Quran 8:30)
- “O you who believe! Fear Allah and be with those who are truthful.” (At-Taubah 9:119)
- “Show forgiveness, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the ignorant.” (Quran 7:199)
- “Do not keep your hand fastened to your neck nor outspread it, altogether widespread, for you will be left sitting rebuked, destitute.” (Quran 17:29)
- “You shall not attain righteousness until you spend out of what you love (in the way of Allah). Allah knows whatever you spend.” (Quran 3:92)
The poor and needy people can become an independent, self-sufficient and better human being through the power of education. Through education, we can help the poor and needy people to develop their skills so that they can take over efforts to revitalize their life rather than always depending on the outsiders to do so for them. Allah says:
إِن تُبْدُوا الصَّدَقَاتِ فَنِعِمَّا هِيَ وَإِن تُخْفُوهَا وَتُؤْتُوهَا الْفُقَرَاءَ فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ وَيُكَفِّرُ عَنكُم مِّن سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ
“If you give charity openly then what a good thing it is; and if you give to beggars, hiding it is better for you than everything, and He will remove some of your sins. And Allah is Aware of what you do.” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:271)
There are many ways that poverty is linked to reproductive rights, workers’ rights, to environmental justice. By educating yourself, you will figure out where your time and energy is best spent in helping the impoverished gain the skills and the power they need to help themselves. Allah says:
وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا أَنفَقُوا لَمْ يُسْرِفُوا وَلَمْ يَقْتُرُوا وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ قَوَامًا
“who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor miserly but keep the golden mean between the two (extremes).” (Surah Al-Furqan 25:67)
Helping those in need and supporting those in distress is a way of thanking and praising Allah The Almighty for His blessings, and this causes the blessings of Allah The Almighty to continue and increase, as the more blessings a person is granted, the more people need his help. Allah says:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْكَبِيرُ
“Verily, those who had faith and had done righteous deeds will have gardens beneath which rivers flow. That is a great achievement.” (Surat Al-Buruj 85:11)
Therefore, if a person praises Allah The Almighty for His blessings, they will last and, vice versa. We seek refuge with Allah The Almighty against the cessation of His blessings, and may His blessings and peace be upon His Messenger his family, his Companions and those who follow him.
