BEGGING is as BAD as AIDS

Begging is one of the activities which God loathes the most. But, we still several of them roaming around. Sometimes I feel the fear of God is not present in our society anymore. God forbid, but it seems like that we have become gladiators who are not afraid from the wrath of Allah. Coming back to the topic, begging has become a curse on our society. It looks like we will never get rid of this menace. But, on a positive note, everything’s possible because where there is a will there is a way.

The government and NGOs need to turn their attention towards the beggar community and they should provide solutions too. It’s easier to say than to make it done, therefore solving such matters is not easy as a snap of finger. A lot of commitment and patience is required from the authorities to tackle this situation. Commitment is required to ensure the continuity of the eradication of beggary while patience is essential because the authorities have to influence the un-educated.

The most important aspect to remind them is that one should always pray to be blessed. By pleading for money they are committing themselves to sin and additionally they are losing the blessings of Allah. Indulging in this sin has a heavy punishment as informed by the Holy Messenger of Allah: "A person keeps on begging until he meets Allah (on the Day of Resurrection) with no flesh on his face." (Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim). Moreover, one who begs should forget that he might be rich some day because Allah takes away dignity from the beggar’s life as Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) said: "Begging is similar to scratching the flesh off your face; so if someone wants to save his face he should avoid it, except for asking from the ruler or asking in case of dire need." (Reported by Abu Dawud and An-Nisa'i). This implies that dignity is essential for this life and the hereafter.

There are two groups in the field of beggary. One is the category of professional beggars and the other is the needy. I quote Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) once again here to clarify that begging is unlawful and people should abstain from it: "Charity is Halal (lawful) neither for the rich nor for the able bodied." (Reported by At-Tirmidhi). Therefore, a person who is able to work does not deserve charity thus the case for professional beggars is ‘shut and close’. The needy deserve the charity because they are unable to make the ends meet.

But, to cure this disease we need give a look on the reasons people opt to place themselves in the beggar hood instead of associating them in the working class. Some people opt for earning income through begging to pay off their loans. If you have deep look inside the lives of these people you will find out that they were once living their life self-sufficiently as farmers. But, due to the agricultural crisis and feudalism they lost their jobs and were left in debt because their income of source got vanished. The feudalist starts to threaten them to pay off or face dire consequences. The result – they jump into begging to clear their debts. We should sympathize with this segment of people but that does not mean that they should resort to begging. Additionally, a section of people is present in our society who resorts to begging because they find it as an easy source of income generation. Moreover, they push their children into this occupation because they know that people can be easily blackmailed by their innocence. Horrifyingly, the beggars at times disable their children physically to earn more funds. There is no gadget in the world to gauge the level a human being can lower himself.

Beggars tarnish the image of the country and Islam. Therefore, strict measures should be taken so that nobody dares to be a street beggar. Islam does not teach us to beg instead one is deprived of the blessings of Allah. The government should take a tough stance on the beggar’s mafia by making this occupation as bad as a crime like prostitution. If this law is applied, then it would be as easy as a snap of a finger to stop this ‘blackmailing’ done by the beggars as police force could be used to take this occupation near extinction. Moreover, the needy people should be identified and helped immediately. They should be provided with food, clothing and shelter without delay so that they stop asking for money. Moreover, they should be trained as skilled workers and given the opportunity to work so that they don’t indulge in this sin ever again. While, the children should be provided free education because we don’t want the future generation to know that such an occupation existed ever in our country.

The biggest drawback to our misery is the lack of leadership. The leadership crisis has become so threatening that if it’s not solved soon, we would be thrown back to ‘Jahiliat’. Once we are back there, then we should start gearing up for the Day of Judgment.