Samurah bin Jundub (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah said, “Begging is a cut that a person inflicts upon his face; except for asking a ruler, or under the stress of circumstances from which there is no escape”. Tirmidhi
Begging, a global phenomenon is asking people for charity using different methods to generate kindness and compassion or pretending to perform a particular service for the purpose of making money. It has many reasons, such as: poverty, family disintegration, take begging as a profession, physical disabilities and quick material gain. Begging does not belongs to any specific nation. It is observed that people asking for money from people in public roads by using different ways to raising their kindness and passions in all countries of the world, poor and rich one. Begging is the most common social diseases which is found in each community around the world. So, in this article we try to get the causes of this practice and its effects by viewing this phenomenon. The main religions in the world: (Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism) guide people to treatment this social disease. Begging means asking people for money, food or other things. In cities, it is common to see beggars who ask for money, food or other things. Beggars often ask for money using coffee cups, cups, small boxes, hats, or other items in which one can deposit money and sometimes display signs with messages like “Help me or I’m homeless,” or other similar phrases that arouse people’s compassion. Begging has many reasons such as (1) Poverty: Poverty is a major cause of the spread of this phenomenon, as the poor man seeks through begging to meet the needs of the sustenance of others. (2) Family disintegration: one of the main indicators in the cracking of the social environment, where children have the largest share of exposure to homelessness and therefore need and then beg. (3). Taking begging as a profession: It is a contemporary reason for begging, where a certain group in society has made the phenomenon of begging a source of material gain. (4) Physical impairments: is that the human be a poor and unable to work because of a physical condition due to a birth defect or accidental certain, so some exploit this situation to ask people. (5) Propagation: It is to ask the beggar money not for a specific need, but to increase his money, given the quick financial gain he gets from begging as prophet Muhammed (PBUH) pointed by saying: “He who begs without need is like a person holding a burning piece of coal in his hand.” (Reported by Al-Bayhaqi and by Ibn Khuzaymah) There are various types of begging such as (a)Apparent panhandle: It is obvious begging that beggar asks the money by wearing clothes torn and dirty or showing a specific disability has, or repeating certain phrases that evoke the passion of the people or of all those combined. (b) Un Apparent panhandle: In this method, the beggar conceal himself behind the services symbolic offered to people; such as calling them to buy some light goods like tissues or doing light works like cleaning the car’s glass or shoes or others. (c) Seasonal panhandle: It is begging in certain seasons and occasions such as holidays or Ramadan. (d) Circumstantial panhandle: Is begging for emergence to meet urgent need for the person; as the person who lost his way or wasted his money. This type ends by the end of the unusual situation of the person. (e ) Professional panhandle: It is taking the begging as profession. (f) Panhandle of able man: Begging is the practice of the person who is able to work and earn, but he chooses the begging. (g) Panhandle of unable man: Is begging practiced by the patient person or the mentally retarded. (h) Aggressive panhandle: Is begging, which is accompanied by criminal acts such as theft; So, the begging is a best cover to his criminal acts. The Beggars are using different forms to do begging, and take a lot of ways and tricks to get the money, these forms are: 1. Show the need for urgent for people by crying, as Beggar claiming that he lost his money, so he asking the people to help. 2. Impersonate some diseases and disabilities by using the deception and camouflage; such as use the lotions cosmetic, for example, to stimulate the emotions of people. 3. Request donations; for the project charity, such as building mosques or schools, And so. 4. Claim that the person suffering dysfunctional mental by use of non-understandable words or using vague signs to win the pity of people and their money. 5. Take the kids, especially who suffer from the disorder or specific disability, to certain frequented places, such as mosques and markets; to win the emotions, compassion and kindness of the people. 6. Exploit the feelings of people and compassion by presents official documents and some of fake bills that needs to be paid such water and electricity bills or prescriptions drugs. Begging has negative and harmful effects on beggar itself, he loses his dignity and his normal place in society and become unacceptable to do any normal job. So, we can summarize the effects of this societal lesion as follow: (i) Social impacts: The child’s improper upbringing has a profound impact on all stages of his life. A child does not develop healthy way unless he lives in the right environment. The family may be exposed to the loss of a breadwinner, as well as the spread of unemployment as a result of wars, internal conflicts and other circumstances, which leads to psychological destabilization for children and lead them to begging, this situation makes them loss of dignity within the community, as well as leads them to serious shift in the psychological state and making them hostile and possible to engage in
crime. (ii) Economic Impacts: The economic situation of any country is inversely proportional to the unemployment rate of that society, as the general economic situation is reflected in the economic situation of the family, which increases the unemployment rate, lethargy and laziness and thus encourages family members to beg and leads to lose an element that can be effective within the country. (iii) Psychological effects: Begging has psychological effects on the beggar, because of what gets contempt and contempt for humiliation during the question, and when you return. In major religions of the world Begging and Beggars is discussed. If we look at the phenomenon of begging during Jewish history, we see that it has gone through several stages that can be summarized as follows: Biblical Stage: Although Judaism provided ample provisions for the relief of the poor, the Torah legislation contains no provision for beggars, biblical Hebrew does not have a specific term for professional level, and the closest expression is (to ask or seek for bread), and where the Bible praises Charity, or even gifts for the needy (Book of Esther, 9:22). This is not to be urged by in truders and beggars, but the charity practiced by the giver spontaneously, where there is a need, and thus praises the Bible worthy of a woman with these words: “She gives her hand to the poor, yes, she reaching her hands to the needy”(Proverbs, 31:20) . This omission is all care for beggars who roam from door to door, is not without reason, but it is located at the heart of the nature of the Mosaic Law (De Troyer, 2005), as the holy land distribution among all the children of Israel are equally compared with the number of members of each family, as well as double supplies to relief each family, or ndividuals who are impoverished due to misfortune or illness , and also forced prevention for all types of usury, and the cancellation of all debts year, and restore all land owners in need to repeat the previous property when the jubilee year (Leviticus, 25: 8-13), and fnally, the text that the Hebrew poor, who sold himself to his rich brother, should serve him until the Jubilee only without being deprived of his citizenship, and his master should not treat him as a slave, and all those laws, as far as practiced effectively, must make The presence of beggars is completely impossible (Leviticus, 25: 39).
“The Muslim community should be heedful of those self-sufficient or restraint poor persons, One should not give out charity in a way that may hurt the dignity of the poor, Training one’s self on restraint and contentedness, Preventing one’s self from exaggerated restraint, Avoiding begging without a legal or shari`ah-based necessity, and finding all possible means to become a productive member of society.”
The situation of beggars changed with the beginning of the ghetto era when Jews were confined to some streets or neighborhoods, Within the ghetto, the Jews formed one large family, begging from house to house silently took place. Thus, the regime received new impetus in the centuries of the ghetto, and restored itself in Jewish life, but begging was limited to Friday and middle days of festivals, but begging in front of Major churches and ghetto streets are strictly forbidden, and begging from house to house was sometimes favored by the rich, but the average middle class opposed the phenomenon. (Yoreh De’ha, 255) Christians have to treat beggars the same way we treat others, the same way we want others to treat us, and we must remember the golden rule: as you want people to do for you, I work for them too “ (Luke, 6:31). In his sermon on the mountain, Christ taught that people should be treated the same way we want them to treat us, which is all it takes to achieve what the divine law and the prophets want” (Matthew, 12:7). Begging was a well-known phenomenon in Christianity, and beggars formed a large class in the Gospel era, as evidenced by references to charity in the sermon preaching on the mountain. (Matthew, 5-7). Begging has been restricted or prevented at different times and for different reasons, usually around the desire to maintain public order or to urge people to work instead of begging for economic or moral reasons. Many religions have described begging as an acceptable means only to support certain groups of their followers, and Buddhism provides a means for some of its followers to focus specifically on spiritual development without the possibility of becoming a cover for their religious affairs. They attributed some religious works, such as “zakat” in Islam and charity in Christianity and the Hindu bhiksha, along with other alms given, to explain these commitments from giving generous donations outside religious sites to beggars in the name of God (Gopalakrishnan, 2002). In Buddhism, monks and nuns live traditionally by begging for alms, as the historical “Gautama Buddha” did himself, that is, among other reasons, even ordinary people can obtain religious merit by giving food, medicine and other essential items to monks, Monks rarely need food. In villages and towns throughout modern Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and other Buddhist countries, families can often be found at dawn every morning focking on the way to the local temple to give food to the monks. Begging in Hinduism (Bhiksha) is a long-standing religious and spiritual tradition. When the Buddha founded Buddhism, his monks called Bhekchus, the monks and beggars spread in the Indian subcontinent from the beginning of civilization in search of food for a day “bhikshatana” and freedom “Moksha” for survival, Therefore, in Indian spirituality, begging was an integral part of the search for freedom. In worldly life, begging is the last resort for survival when people have no other choice, and sometimes it becomes the least resistant way to those who want to escape the burdens of life. In the first chapter of Bhagavadgita (Davis, 2014), Arjuna argues that it is better to seek alms and live like a beggar than to commit a crime. Usually the mentality that drives them to think about this when people feel very frustrated or desperate, Hindu ethics encourage people to help beggars because it is a great way to do the charity that “Brahma” advised people in particular to work, and know their weakness, however, Begging for food and water is only allowed in Hinduism because it is essential for survival. As for begging for money is one that is perceived as immoral because it encourages immersion in life. The principles of the Islamic religion form the basis of social integration between individuals and groups. The Islamic religion urged the society to care for orphans, beggars and patients. In the Holy Quran and within the hadiths of the Prophet, Muslims have worked hard to help them in many positions and throughout the stages of history. With regard to the rule of begging in Islam, the majority of scholars of Hanaf, Maliki, Shaf’i and Hanbalis went to prohibit begging, but some scholars of Malikiyah said hate the begging even inevitable. Islam Put different plans to deal with this phenomenon, and has methods of treatment of begging, such as: 1. Enticement to work and pay tribute to workers and encourage the gain, and make work a virtue and value of the values of society. 2. Punish the infringing beggar and confiscate his money and put it in the public money of Muslims. 3. Achieving social solidarity. Takaful in Islam has many means, the most important of which are: Zakat and Wakf, and the last term means: “The permanent dedication by a person professing the Islam, of any movable or immovable property for any purpose recognized by Muslim Law as religious, pious, or charitable.” (Wakf Act, 1954). It is concluded that (i) There is obvious difference in views about begging between the celestial religions and others, so, in celestial religion, the begging ranging between never mentioned as in the Judaism, and the relative prohibition as in the Islam, while we find the opposite in Buddhism and Hindu as the its teachings are based on the idea of begging. (ii) Islam put an indirect plan to help the beggars and those in need by Zakat, which is take a specific amount from rich people and give it to the needy to create a balance between different societies, as well as restrict the begging in necessarily situation only. To conclude, the following lessons can be highlighted as were clearly understood from the above. The Muslim community should be heedful of those self-sufficient or restraint poor persons, One should not give out charity in a way that may hurt the dignity of the poor, Training one’s self on restraint and contentedness, Preventing one’s self from exaggerated restraint, Avoiding begging without a legal or shari`ah-based necessity, and finding all possible means to become a productive member of society.
(The authors write regularly on Islamic topics exclusively for the opinion pages of “Kashmir Horizon”. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
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