What is the philosophy behind the importance of “Feeding”?
“Feeding” the people especially the poor people is so much recommended in Islam.
You can see this feeding in general in some occasions like what happens in the day of Ashura( the tenth day of the lunar month of Mohharam in which we hold ceremonies for the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein peace be upon him and his faithful companions) or what happens at the month of Ramadan in which people feed others in the time of Iftar( at the sunset of the day of fasting) etc.
But we can feed others in other days of the year and obtain the rewards and blessings of this recommended act.
It is interesting that in Islamic Feqh and jurisprudence, in some cases Muslims must feed the needy, like if someone could not fast in the month of Ramadan and he/she did not compensate that in the other days of the year till the next month of Ramadan, he/she must give specific amount of food to numbers of poor people (of course it has some rules in detail that we do not talk about them here).
It is very shocking that in the holy Quran, Allah said in chapter Maaun verses 1-2-3:
أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يُكَذِّبُ بِالدِّينِ
فَذَلِكَ الَّذِي يَدُعُّ الْيَتِيمَ
وَلَا يَحُضُّ عَلَى طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ
“Have you seen he who belied the recompense?
It is he who turns away the orphan,
and does not urge others to feed the needy”.
We see that Allah blamed the one that does not encourage others to feed the poor.
And from 33 till 36 verses in chapter Haqqa, we understand that the one who did not believe in the great Lord and did not encourage others to feed the poor, he/she has no friend in the fire of Hell and he/she has no food except foul pus.
Now imagine what is the punishment of the one that not only does not encourage others to feed the poor, but also prevents them and forbid them to do so?
On the other hand, we see that in chapter Insan, Allah has praised Imam Ali and Lady Fatimah and their two sons, Imam Hasan and Imam Husein peace be upon them all, because of feeding the poor and the orphan, and the captive.
There is an interesting story for which the chapter Insan revealed and it is accepted by all branches of Muslims, and let me mention very briefly that story, Imam Hasan and Imam Hussein got sick, so their parents i.e. Imam Ali and Lady Fatimah made Nazr (oath) that if our children get cured, we will fast for three days, the children got healthy, so the parents fasted three days and in every sunset of fasting .i.e. at the time of Iftar, a needy came to their house. In the first night a poor came at their door and asked for help and in the second night an orphan came and did so and this happened in the third night by an captive, this very generous family for all three nights gave their food for the sake of Allah to the poor and orphan and captive and remained hungry, and then the verses of chapter Insan descended, and if you refer to this chapter you will see that how much Allah has praised them in many verses one after the other.
We see this good customs in the life of the Prophets of Allah, for example there is a Narration that says: Prophet Abraham was chosen as the Khalil and dear friend of Allah because of some attributes, and among them, he was feeding the people.
Feeding the people especially the needy people creates a kind of sympathy and kindness among the people and paves the way for gathering the hearts with each other.
And this is a way for reducing and removing hunger and poverty from the members of the society.
It is narrated from Imam Sadiq peace be upon him that he said:
The one who makes a believer to taste the sweetness of a bit, Allah will make away from him/her the bitterness of the Day of Judgment.
It is mentioned in a Narration that a believer on the Day of Judgment is told: Look at the people and distinguish the one who has done a good to you and make the one who has drunk you and has fed you and has done good to you, enter paradise.
Imam Sadiq peace be upon him said:
There are three things that make the human released from the punishment of the hereafter:
-Feeding.
-Saying hello.
-And prayer in night or night prayer.
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Sources:
Maarefquran.org
Mehrnews.com
