Which is better: sponsoring an orphan or sponsoring a da'iyah? And the discussion is on the issue: which is better, the grateful rich man or the patient poor man?
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The questioner: Regarding the virtue and the greater reward; which is better, sponsoring an orphan or sponsoring a da'iyah?
The Shaykh: Allah knows best. This varies from person to person. Do you mean by sponsoring a da'iyah that a rich man provides for a Muslim man who calls to Islam?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Or that he takes responsibility for an orphan?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: This is a matter that is difficult to answer; because it varies from one orphan to another and from one da'iyah to another. It may be that this da'iyah can provide for himself, and it may be that providing for him is, as is the reality with regret today, like many employees, indeed like the imams of mosques, preachers, and da'iyahs who are named, most of whom take these salaries and then do not fulfill their right!! It may be that the matter is like this, and it may be the opposite; the man truly has knowledge, and he has activity in da'wah, and he works for Allah, and does not work for the sake of money, so providing for him is assistance for him to continue in his activity in da'wah, and in expanding the scope of his work therein, and this is better than spending on an orphan, who may be provided for by a charitable society, or by another man who does not care about da'wah and the da'iyahs themselves. The important thing is that this issue varies from person to person.
And a example comes to my mind now in which the scholars differed in the past; asking: is the patient poor man better, or the grateful rich man?
There are opinions; some say this, some say that. Then I did not see a decisive answer to the disagreement that refutes it except the word of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him): "The best of them in the sight of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is the one who does the most righteous deeds." So the issue has no relation to wealth or poverty. A man may be rich and wealth may be a calamity for him, and a man may be poor and his poverty may also be a calamity for him. And a poor man may be patient and content with the divine decree and destiny of Allah, and this may be better than that rich man we spoke of just now. And the opposite; there may be a man whose wealth was acquired through lawful means, and then he also spends it in lawful ways, and he does not corrupt his spending with boasting and harm, as is commanded in the Noble Qur'an, and this may be better than many of the patient poor men; because the benefit of this one is greater than the benefit of that one who is patient in his poverty. So the answer here in the issue of the poor man and the rich man is as Ibn Taymiyyah said.
Here the issue is similar to this: if the spending on the da'iyah is, in the opinion of the spender, more beneficial for the society than spending on an orphan; then this is the better. Or it may be the opposite, and Allah knows best.
The Shaykh: Allah knows best. This varies from person to person. Do you mean by sponsoring a da'iyah that a rich man provides for a Muslim man who calls to Islam?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: Or that he takes responsibility for an orphan?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: This is a matter that is difficult to answer; because it varies from one orphan to another and from one da'iyah to another. It may be that this da'iyah can provide for himself, and it may be that providing for him is, as is the reality with regret today, like many employees, indeed like the imams of mosques, preachers, and da'iyahs who are named, most of whom take these salaries and then do not fulfill their right!! It may be that the matter is like this, and it may be the opposite; the man truly has knowledge, and he has activity in da'wah, and he works for Allah, and does not work for the sake of money, so providing for him is assistance for him to continue in his activity in da'wah, and in expanding the scope of his work therein, and this is better than spending on an orphan, who may be provided for by a charitable society, or by another man who does not care about da'wah and the da'iyahs themselves. The important thing is that this issue varies from person to person.
And a example comes to my mind now in which the scholars differed in the past; asking: is the patient poor man better, or the grateful rich man?
There are opinions; some say this, some say that. Then I did not see a decisive answer to the disagreement that refutes it except the word of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him): "The best of them in the sight of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is the one who does the most righteous deeds." So the issue has no relation to wealth or poverty. A man may be rich and wealth may be a calamity for him, and a man may be poor and his poverty may also be a calamity for him. And a poor man may be patient and content with the divine decree and destiny of Allah, and this may be better than that rich man we spoke of just now. And the opposite; there may be a man whose wealth was acquired through lawful means, and then he also spends it in lawful ways, and he does not corrupt his spending with boasting and harm, as is commanded in the Noble Qur'an, and this may be better than many of the patient poor men; because the benefit of this one is greater than the benefit of that one who is patient in his poverty. So the answer here in the issue of the poor man and the rich man is as Ibn Taymiyyah said.
Here the issue is similar to this: if the spending on the da'iyah is, in the opinion of the spender, more beneficial for the society than spending on an orphan; then this is the better. Or it may be the opposite, and Allah knows best.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.