Asking people for help (al-masala)

Asking people for help (al-masala) means asking others for gifts. Sheikh Omar Abdelkafy presents the Prophet's teaching to the beggar and the needy on this point. ¹

He says poverty is not a trade a person follows, and that Islam gives the needy their right to help, not the honour of poverty. ^{1 2}

He recounts that a poor man asked the Prophet, who asked what he owned; the man said he had a cup to drink from and a mat, part of which he spread and part of which he wore. ² The Prophet sold them to whoever would pay more, gave the man two dirhams, and told him to buy food with one and an axe with the other. ³ He was told to cut wood and sell it; he came back after fifteen days with much money. ³

He says asking is lawful only for a person in extreme poverty, under a crushing debt, or facing a painful calamity, and that asking leaves its mark on the face of the one who asked on the Day of Judgement. ⁴ (needs_source: the three categories are not clear in the automatic transcript.)

He warns against complaining to people about one's family, neighbours, the times or poverty, and says complaint is made to God. ⁵