A Welfare System, and a Representative for Every Group

Some points follow regarding Ahl al-Ṣuffah. Number one, the importance of having a social welfare system. People would stay at the Ṣuffah and eat at the houses of the Anṣār — the Anṣār (may Allah be pleased with them), as recounted earlier, would invite them and take them to their houses. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would do the same; Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān and the well-off Muhājirūn would do the same. So it is important to have this welfare system, and it is also part of daʿwah. ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit (may Allah be pleased with him) said: the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was busy, so he would turn over the new Muslims to men such as himself — when a Muhājir man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), he would send him to one of them to teach him the Qurʾān, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sent one such man to ʿUbādah, who kept him in his own house and fed him. So daʿwah to such people also involved taking care of new Muslims who could not afford life in Madīnah, because some of them made hijrah to Madīnah and left all of their wealth behind. These could be wealthy people, but they sacrificed everything for Allah (swt) and came to Madīnah, so it became the responsibility of the Muslims to take care of them. ʿUbādah is saying that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sent this man to him to teach him the Qurʾān, but he also had to take care of his social needs — and this is very important in daʿwah. Sometimes people come from poor backgrounds when becoming Muslim; sometimes people have to give up their work because it is ḥarām, and then they have nothing. It is a duty of the Muslims to be generous towards them and to take care of them in their first steps toward Allah (swt).

Number two, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) wanted the Muslim jamāʿah, the Muslim society, to become organised, so he appointed representatives over these groups. Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) was an ʿarīf. An ʿarīf is someone who represents his people, knows them, and expresses their needs to the leader. So Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) was the representative of Ahl al-Ṣuffah: if the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had any instructions to give to Ahl al-Ṣuffah, or wanted to hear their needs, it would occur through their representative, Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) — and this shows the organisation the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) instilled in the Muslim jamāʿah. It is important that Muslim communities be organised wherever they are, organised according to need.