What indicates that the poor (faqir) is in greater need than the needy (miskin)

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The miskin (needy) is not these people who keep going round to people and are sent away by one or two morsels, or one date or two dates." The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) asked: "O Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Who then is the miskin?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The one who does not have enough wealth to suffice him, who is not recognised (as needy) so that sadaqah may be given to him, and who does not ask people for anything." The wording of Imam Malik's narration is: "and they do not stand up to beg from people."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The miskin (needy) is not these people who keep going round to people, to whom a morsel or two morsels, a date or two dates are returned; rather, the miskin is the one who does not have enough wealth to suffice him, who feels shy to ask people, and who is not taken (to be poor) so that sadaqah may be given to him."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The miskin (needy) is not the one who asks people and is given back a morsel or two or a date or two; rather, the miskin are those who refrain from asking. If you wish, recite this verse: 'They do not ask people persistently.' [Surah al-Baqarah: 273]"

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to make this supplication for himself: 'Allahumma inni a'udhu bika min al-faqri, wal-qillati, wal-dhillati, wa a'udhu bika min an azlima aw uzlam' (O Allah, I seek refuge in You from poverty, scarcity and humiliation, and I seek refuge in You from wronging others or being wronged).
It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to make this supplication: 'Allahumma inni a'udhu bika min al-kufri wal-faqr' (O Allah, I seek refuge in You from disbelief and poverty).
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he used to say: 'Allahumma iqdi 'anna al-dayna, wa aghnina min al-faqr' (O Allah, settle our debts for us and free us from poverty).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ubadah bin al-Samit (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to make this supplication: 'Allahumma ahyini miskinan, wa tawaffani miskinan, wahshurni fi zumrat al-masakin' (O Allah, keep me alive among the needy, let my death come among the needy, and raise me (on the Day of Resurrection) with the needy).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Allah, keep me alive with the needy, let my death come with the needy, and raise me on the Day of Resurrection with the needy." Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked: Why, O Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Because they will enter Paradise forty years before the rich. O Aishah, do not turn a needy person away, even if it is only with half a date. O Aishah, love the needy and draw close to them; indeed Allah Almighty will draw you close to Himself on the Day of Resurrection."
(b) Our companions (scholars) said: He (peace and blessings be upon him) sought refuge from poverty and asked for neediness (maskanah), while he (peace and blessings be upon him) had something to live on that sufficed him. This indicates that the miskin is one who has a little wealth for his sufficiency.
(c) The Shaykh said: In the narration of Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) it is reported that he (peace and blessings be upon him) sought refuge from neediness and poverty. It is not possible that he sought refuge from the state whose honour he (peace and blessings be upon him) described in many hadiths, nor from the state in which he asked to live and die; and it is not possible that his (peace and blessings be upon him) supplication contradicted the state in which he died, for he (peace and blessings be upon him) died provided with sufficiency through what Allah Almighty granted him. In my view, the explanation of these hadiths is that he (peace and blessings be upon him) sought refuge from the trial of poverty and neediness, whose meaning comes back to scarcity, just as he sought refuge from the trial of wealth. And Allah knows best.

(a) Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to seek refuge, saying: 'Allahumma inni a'udhu bika min fitnat al-nar, wa fitnat al-qabr, wa 'adhab al-qabr, wa sharri fitnat al-ghina, wa sharri fitnat al-faqr; Allahumma inni a'udhu bika min sharri fitnat al-Dajjal' (O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the trial of the Fire, from the trial of the grave and the punishment of the grave, and from the evil of the trial of wealth and the evil of the trial of poverty; O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the evil of the trial of the Dajjal).
(b) This is an established hadith; both (Bukhari and Muslim) recorded it in the Sahih. It indicates that he sought refuge only from the trial of poverty, not from the state of poverty, and from the trial of wealth, not from the state of wealth.
(c) As for his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying, if he did say it: 'Allahumma ahyini miskinan wa amitni miskinan' (O Allah, keep me alive as a miskin and let me die as a miskin), then, if its chain is sound, and there is doubt about that, his (peace and blessings be upon him) state at the time of his death indicates that he did not ask for the neediness whose meaning comes back to scarcity; rather, he asked for the neediness whose meaning comes back to humility and lowliness, as though he (peace and blessings be upon him) asked Allah Almighty not to make him one of the arrogant tyrants, and not to raise him on the Day of Resurrection among the luxurious rich.
Al-Qa'nabi said: Maskanah is a word taken from sukun (stillness). It is said 'tamaskana al-rajul' when a man becomes gentle, humble and submissive. From it is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to the one praying: 'Taba'as wa tamaskan', meaning: humble yourself and be lowly before Allah.

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O people, fear Allah, and let not heedlessness lead you to seek provision from other than its lawful sources, for I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'Allahumma uhshurni fi zumrat al-masakin, wa la tahshurni fi zumrat al-aghniya', fa inna ashqa al-ashqiya' man ijtama'a 'alayhi faqr al-dunya wa 'adhab al-akhirah' (O Allah, raise me among the ranks of the needy, and do not raise me with the rich; indeed the most wretched of all is the one upon whom the poverty of this world and the punishment of the Hereafter are combined).