The beggar in the mosque whose status is unknown: should he be given or prevented?
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The questioner : Shaykh, if a person is found begging in the mosque!
The Shaykh : What do you mean?
The questioner : He is begging, and I do not know whether he is rich or not. Should I give to him or not?
The Shaykh : First: May Allah reward you. According to my knowledge, the state strictly prohibits this, because some of these people may be lying. And if they are not lying, they disturb those who are establishing the prayer. Moreover, mosques were built for prayer, remembrance, and reciting the Qur'an, not for begging, meaning for asking. So it is said to this man: Go out to the door and ask there.
The questioner : Should I give to him?
The Shaykh : Whether you give to him or not, that is what you think is most likely. But fundamentally, asking in the mosque is prohibited from the regulatory standpoint. From the Sharia standpoint, one might say that it is not permissible. However, there is a hadith in *Sunan Abu Dawud* that a man asked people in the mosque, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved it. But this may have been due to dire necessity, and dire necessity has its own rulings.
The Shaykh : What do you mean?
The questioner : He is begging, and I do not know whether he is rich or not. Should I give to him or not?
The Shaykh : First: May Allah reward you. According to my knowledge, the state strictly prohibits this, because some of these people may be lying. And if they are not lying, they disturb those who are establishing the prayer. Moreover, mosques were built for prayer, remembrance, and reciting the Qur'an, not for begging, meaning for asking. So it is said to this man: Go out to the door and ask there.
The questioner : Should I give to him?
The Shaykh : Whether you give to him or not, that is what you think is most likely. But fundamentally, asking in the mosque is prohibited from the regulatory standpoint. From the Sharia standpoint, one might say that it is not permissible. However, there is a hadith in *Sunan Abu Dawud* that a man asked people in the mosque, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved it. But this may have been due to dire necessity, and dire necessity has its own rulings.