What Is the Role of Youth in Combating Poverty and Hunger?
Answered by Shaykh Abdul Sami‘ al-Yaqti
Question
What is the role of youth in combating poverty and hunger?
Answer
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon the Master of the Messengers, and upon his family and all of his companions.
Work and earning have great significance and importance in Islam due to their effect on sufficing the individual and the society, and protecting them from poverty and hunger. Therefore, Islam has called for and encouraged it, making it one of the greatest acts of worship.
This societal sufficiency is a shared responsibility of all community sectors, starting from parents and guardians to official and non-official institutions. This undoubtedly includes the youth, who are one of the most important groups responsible for societal sufficiency and eradicating poverty and hunger. Their role can be summarized in three stages:
- The preparation stage (moral, educational, and practical)
- The work and production stage
- The spending and giving stage
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) taught us an important principle that became a great maxim, by which he preceded all worldly legislative systems and cultures in combating poverty and hunger. He (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “The upper hand is better than the lower hand.”
Allah ultimately knows best.
Detailed Explanation:
Islam has called for earning, striving on the earth, and working, thus combating laziness, poverty, and stinginess and seeking refuge from them.
Allah the Exalted says: “He is the One Who smoothed out the earth for you, so move about in its regions and eat from His provisions. And to Him is the resurrection ˹of all˺.” [Quran, 67:15]
Making Dua against Poverty
Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “O Allah, I seek refuge with You from poverty, scarcity, and humiliation; and I seek refuge with You from oppressing or being oppressed.” [Abu Dawud, Nasa’i]
Anas ibn Malik (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) used to say: “O Allah, I seek refuge with You from worry and grief, from incapacity and laziness, from cowardice and miserliness, from being heavily in debt and from being overpowered by men.” [Bukhari, Muslim]
An Example in the Prophets and Companions
Miqdam (Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “No one has ever eaten a better meal than that which one has earned by working with his own hands. The Prophet of Allah, Dawud (peace be upon him), used to eat from the earnings of his own labor.” [Bukhari]
Our Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and the Messengers before him used to earn and work. Adam was a farmer, Noah was a carpenter, Dawud made armor, Zakariya was a carpenter, and our Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) herded sheep and worked in trade.
The honorable Companions did the same: Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (Allah be pleased with him) was a cloth merchant, ‘Umar worked with hides, ‘Uthman was a trader who would import food and sell it, and ‘Ali earned a living by putting himself for hire. Allah be pleased with them all.
The Islamic Work Ethic
One of the most important hadiths clarifying Islam’s approach and its call to work and earn and to avoid begging and reliance on others is what Zubair ibn al-Awwam (Allah be pleased with him) narrated: the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “For one of you to take a rope and bring a bundle of wood on his back to sell so that Allah might save his face is better for him than to ask people for something, whether they give it or withhold it.” [Bukhari]
Hakim ibn Hizam (Allah be pleased with him) narrates: “I asked the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace), and he gave me. Then I asked him again, and he gave me. Then I asked him again, and he gave me. Then he said: ‘O Hakim, this wealth is sweet and green. Whoever takes it with a pleasant soul is blessed therein, and whoever takes it with covetousness is not blessed therein—like one who eats and is not satisfied. The upper hand is better than the lower hand.’” Hakim said: “By the One who sent you with the truth, I will not ask anyone for anything after you until I leave this world.”
Then, when Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him) called Hakim to give him (from the charity), he refused to accept anything from him. And when ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him) called him to give him something, he refused to accept anything from him. ‘Umar then said: “I make you witnesses upon Hakim, O Muslims, that I have offered him his right from these spoils, but he refuses to take it.” Hakim did not ask anyone for anything after the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) until he died. [Bukhari]
Therefore, working and combating poverty, hunger, and laziness is the responsibility of the entire community—its institutions, categories, and individuals, including the youth.
Stages for the Youth to Prevent Poverty and Hunger
The role of youth in combating poverty and hunger and eradicating it is summarized in three stages:
1. The stage of moral, educational, and practical preparation:
Moral preparation is through upbringing on altruism and loving good for others, abandoning selfishness and egotism, and embodying the values that aid in fulfilling this role. These values include patience, enduring hardships, humility, as well as serving others and society.
We learn this from the verse, “As for those who had settled in the city and ˹embraced˺ the faith before ˹the arrival of˺ the emigrants, they love whoever immigrates to them, never having a desire in their hearts for whatever ˹of the gains˺ is given to the emigrants. They give ˹the emigrants˺ preference over themselves even though they may be in need. And whoever is saved from the selfishness of their own souls, it is they who are ˹truly˺ successful.” [Quran, 59:9]
We can also understand this lesson in light of the hadith, “None of you [truly] believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” [Bukhari, Muslim]
Preparation and acquisition of scientific and practical experiences can be achieved through education and learning. Muslim youth must learn the arts of management and accounting in general, and financial management in particular. They must master the arts of commerce, economics, and other related engineering specializations such as agricultural and industrial engineering. These are in addition to the need to learn crafts and professions, understand the global markets and currencies, laws of trade, import and export, etc.
We can take these lessons from the story of Prophet Yusuf (peace be upon him) when he said to the ruler: “Put me in charge of the store-houses of the land, for I am truly reliable and adept.” [Quran, 12:55]
2. The stage of work and production:
This involves going into the field, participating in work and production, understanding the reality, and identifying the needs of society and the areas of shortage and deficiency to strengthen and fill them.
It also involves initiating charitable campaigns and voluntary work, promoting them, participating in them, and cooperating with institutions or other entities that call for them.
3. The stage of giving and spending:
Spending involves spending on oneself and those under one’s responsibility.
Ka‘b ibn ‘Ujra (Allah be pleased with him) narrates: “The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) passed by me, and the companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) saw in me strength and enthusiasm. They said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, would that this were in the cause of Allah!’
The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: ‘If he goes out to strive for his young children, then he is in the cause of Allah; if he goes out to strive for his elderly parents, then he is in the cause of Allah; if he goes out to strive to keep himself self-sufficient, then he is in the cause of Allah; and if he goes out to strive in show and pride, then he is in the cause of Satan.’” [Haythami, Majma‘ al-Zawa’id; Bayhaqi, Shu‘ab al-Iman]
One must also spend and contribute to charitable causes. There are many hadiths on this topic, but sufficient is the great principle launched by the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in the hadith of Hakim – as we have seen – when he said, “The upper hand is better than the lower hand.”
The upper hand is the one that produces, spends, and gives, while the lower hand is the one that consumes and takes.
Conclusion
This topic is one of the most important societal issues for which many parties bear responsibility, each with its own role. Therefore, I call and advise:
Parents: To raise and train their children from a young age to work and earn a good livelihood, to love good for others (for all members and categories of society), and to cooperate in this together. These, as well as other societal morals, must be linked to worship. Children must also be encouraged with appropriate rewards and reinforcement methods.
The youth: To utilize and invest their time, energy, and capabilities in increasing their expertise in their specializations. They must increase their production, serve their people, and help their community.
Public and private institutions, governments, and responsible authorities: To prepare, direct, and equip the youth for the labor market, then provide suitable job opportunities for them and reduce unemployment and its causes.
Allah ultimately knows best.
[Shaykh] Abdul Sami‘ al-Yaqti
Shaykh Abdul Sami‘ al-Yaqti is a Syrian scholar born in Aleppo in 1977. He obtained his degree in Shari‘a from the Shari‘a Faculty of Damascus University, a Diploma in Educational Qualification from the Faculty of Education at Aleppo University, and a Diploma in Shari‘a and a Master’s in Shari‘a from the Faculty of Sharia, and Law at Omdurman University in Sudan. He is currently writing his doctoral thesis.
He studied under esteemed scholars such as Shaykh Abdul Rahman al-Shaghouri, Shaykh Mustafa al-Turkmani, and Shaykh Dr. Nur al-Din Itr, among others. Shaykh al-Yakti has worked in teaching and cultural guidance in orphanages and high schools in Aleppo. He served as an Imam, Khatib, and reciter at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and as a certified trainer for Khatibs in Abu Dhabi’s Khatib Qualification Program.
He is involved in developing and teaching a youth education program at Seekers Arabic for Islamic Sciences.
Among Shaykh al-Yaqti’s significant works are “Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni: Bayna Ilm al-Kalam Wa Usul al-Fiqh” and the program “The Messenger of Allah Among Us (Allah bless him and give him peace).”
