The Meaning of Allah’s Saying: “And He Does Not Encourage the Feeding of the Poor,” and the Difference Between the Poor and the Needy, with a Mention of the Difference Between Islam and Faith.

The Shaykh : This is also among the characteristics of the one who lies about the Day of Judgment. He does not encourage, meaning he does not urge people to feed the needy. He also does not feed the needy himself. So there is no good in him for himself, and no good in him for others. He does not encourage the feeding of the needy. And who is the needy? The needy is the poor. The needy is the poor. He is called needy because poverty has settled him. He has no dignity, he has no strength, and he has no face to meet people with because he is poor. So the needy is the poor. If a person says, “How do you say the poor is the needy, when Allah has distinguished between them in His saying: ?” making the poor one category and the needy another category?
We say: Yes, there are words in the Arabic language. In the Arabic language, there are words that when the two are combined, each has a distinct meaning, but if one is used alone, it takes the meaning of the other. Pay attention to this rule in the Arabic language. The Qur’an is Arabic. There are words that if one is mentioned alone, it includes the other, and if both are mentioned together, each has its own meaning.
The poor and the needy in the verse of alms: The poor is in greater need than the needy, and the needy is below the poor. The jurists (may Allah have mercy on them) said: If a person finds less than half of his sustenance, he is poor. If he finds half or more, but not a full sustenance, he is needy. So which is in greater need? The poor. And for this reason, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) began with him.
There is also another word as an example, otherwise the words are many. Islam and faith. If Islam is mentioned in a general sense, faith is included in it. If Islam is mentioned alone, faith is included in it. And if faith is mentioned alone, Islam is included in it.
An example of this: Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: Which Islam? The Islam that includes faith.
And Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) said: Who does this include? The Muslims. This is when the word Islam is mentioned alone, and the word faith is mentioned alone. If both are mentioned together, and the brother brings us a verse in which both are mentioned together. No, this... what is it?
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Okay, take a break. Mention a verse, listen to it: Are Islam and faith here the same in meaning? No.
Another verse: So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) distinguished between faith and Islam.
We look at the first verse: . And the city referred to here is the city of the people of Lut. Allah took out from it those who were believers, and that was Lut and his family, except his wife. The house in which they were, does it include the woman? Lut’s wife. Was Lut’s wife a believer or a Muslim?
The student: A Muslim.

The Shaykh : A Muslim, but not a believer, because she pretends to be a Muslim. And for this reason, Allah the Exalted said: They betrayed them in what? In disbelief. It is not bad character or, for example, adultery. No, they betrayed them in disbelief.
Lut’s wife was a Muslim, but she was not a believer. So who was saved from the people of Lut? Who, O brothers? The believers.
And those who were in one house were the Muslims. Good.
. The Bedouins are the inhabitants of the desert. The predominant characteristic of the inhabitants of the desert is roughness and ignorance. Among them are those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, but the predominant characteristic of them is ignorance and roughness. Allah the Exalted said to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Meaning, it has not entered yet, but it will enter with the continuation of Islam. Faith will enter the heart.
We return to the saying of Allah the Exalted in the surah we are discussing: Who is meant by the needy here? The poor.