Messenger Audio 36.2 (28-Jan-1983)

Giving to charity is important. Be careful of 'professional beggars'. People who are trapped are those who can't emigrate to earn a living. Rashad explains his encounter with 'professional beggars'.

(0:01) ...retribution of karma with karma and whatever you put out will come back to you and more. (0:11) And in one sense you can guide people, but if you are, you're only doing so in the sense that you're an instrument of God's will. (0:20) And this reminds me of yasin, which I've been reading a lot. Whether you warn them or you warn them not, they will not believe. (0:28) So people who are going to believe will believe, and people who aren't going to believe aren't going to believe. (0:33) You may be there as an intermediary, you may be the first one to stick the Koran in their hand, but it's not in their heart to believe it. (0:39) They're not going to believe it anyway. So it's basically, again, all power is to God. (0:50) Charity shall go to the poor who are persecuted because of their belief and trapped. (0:57) Those who are unaware may think that they are rich due to their honorable character, but you can recognize them by certain signs. (1:08) They never annoy the people by begging, and any charity you give God is fully aware of. (1:14) Those who give charity by name and by deed, secretly and publicly, their recompense is with the Lord. (1:21) They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve. (1:26) In Morocco there are people who bug you about charity. (1:31) They're professional beggars. They may not even be poor. (1:36) I vividly remember one woman in Marrakesh who could cry at will. (1:42) She would come up and, you know, whether her husband was just lazy and they had money, (1:48) and just said, go out and beg if you want something, and maybe they had money. (1:52) Whereas you just see people there just sitting reciting something from the Koran, (1:57) not even thinking about charity, and people would throw that money. (2:04) It's a good illustration. I've seen both kinds. (2:07) some of them, are very rich. Some of them died and found ... (2:12) They are professional beggars. That's the point/ (2:18) So it's basically more about the laws of charity. (2:24) People who are persecuted because of their belief and trapped. (2:44) So I'm just again saying that charity is a good thing, and it's one of the five pillars, (2:48) and it explains a little bit more about life. (3:09) These three lines are about... (3:14) These three items are about charity. (3:17) The poor who are persecuted for their belief and trapped. (3:27) What does that mean in Arabic? (3:29) They can't immigrate or move to another place where they can earn a living. (3:37) Some people are trapped in their properties and can't move around. (3:40) I just think of all the people who I've seen chanting, (3:47) and one man who I remember had the most beautiful voice, (3:53) and he would just stand in the street and recite from the Koran, he was blind. (3:58) It didn't seem like he ever wanted charity. (4:01) People would feed him, and they would give him what he wanted. (4:03) It didn't seem like he cared or not. (4:06) He just felt really good when you gave something to him. (4:10) Then there were these professional beggars who would just go around. (4:14) I like that phrase. (4:15) They'd just go around, and you didn't know if they were really... (4:18) I suppose if you were a tourist and you didn't live there very long, (4:21) you wouldn't really know for sure. (4:25) On the other hand, if you've ever been to Marrakesh, (4:28) you know that if you feed all the beggars in Marrakesh, (4:31) you'll be a beggar yourself. (4:36) In Morocco and in the East, begging is not illegal. (4:40) It's actually something that people do professionally. (4:44) I think these three verses are making a distinction. (4:48) Here you can't just go around and ask people for money for a handout. (4:52) Your considered a bum or a transient or something like that. (4:55) You can be arrested for beggarcy or something like that. (5:18) Just the predominance of begging, alright? (5:21) It's not very predominant in this country compared to... (5:26) It's just not very predominant to see people standing around on the street with a... (5:33) normally their they don't have a social security or a welfare or (5:36) You'll see another guy showing his stump off. (5:42) Make sure you see it. (5:44) Somebody walks up to you and shows you that he doesn't have any arms. (5:49) It's a different... (5:52) so these professional beggars will actually cut their .. (5:58) It's really the people who are persecuted because of what they believe that deserves charity the most. (6:08) You can recognize it by their signs, okay? (6:11) They never annoy people by begging. (6:13) These beggars can be very, very much of a nuisance. (6:19) you think that beggars in Morocco should go to India (6:24) and they can be champion runners I can tell you that. I remember I was riding in-whats the name of those carts that people pull? (6:37) Rickshaw right? There was a Rickshaw pulled by a motorcycle...(6:50) and the streets were crowded, and I must have had like 12 beggars following me (6:58) wherever I go (7:04) Very fast. (7:05) No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. (7:07) The boys are extending their hand, you know, they're beggars. (7:10) Then I get in the rickshaw and the driver goes very fast. (7:16) And the 12 boys are still around with the rickshaw. (7:22) And then he'd go really fast. (7:25) And we'd get rid of the horses for about a minute. (7:27) And then he'd slow down a little bit just a minute. (7:30) And then the 12 again. (7:32) They run for an hour after the pitch, they're very fast. (7:36) Really, I mean they can win marathons and make millions (7:39) of dollars in this country. (7:43) But that's nothing compared to the Moroccans. (7:47) And now Egypt, we had lots of beggars, ... (7:51) and he wiped out that disease. He put them all in jail. (7:58) I mean, (7:59) he didn't give them any help. (8:06) He was that kind (8:09) of dictator. (8:11) No more beggars in Egypt, put them all in prison. (8:21) That's what they do. (8:23) My favorite thing is (8:27) you're playing a musical instrument while you're a street (8:31) entertainer. You just walk around on the street, get a dime, (8:34) you know, a quarter, five dollars. (8:42) I think they're a pretty good group. (9:08) San Francisco is full of people who are actually entertainers, like you said. (9:12) Very talented entertainers. (9:15) Some of them was up from a hundred feet up (9:21) into a can of water. (9:22) You understand this one? (9:27) I mean, they're risking their lives, but they really have to play it. (9:32) What's this? (9:37) Some musicians. (9:40) Musicians. Really talented.