5/11
Fulfillment of Basic Needs for All
246. Imām Ali (a.s.): “God the Glorified has fixed the livelihood of the destitute in the wealth of the rich. Consequently, whenever a poor person remains hungry it is because a rich person has denied (him his share) and God Almighty will question them about it.”1
247. Imām Ali (a.s.): “God has fixed in the wealth of the rich what is enough to suffice the poor. If the poor remain hungry and clotheless, attempts must be made to restrain the rich. It is a right upon God to judge the rich on the Day of Resurrection and punish them for this [negligence].”2
248. Imām Ali (a.s.): “There is no one in Kufa who does not have a good welfare. The lowest among them in rank has wheat bread, sits in the shade and drinks from the Euphrates.”3
249. Tahdhib al-Ahkām – narrating from Muhammad ibn Abi Hamza on the authority of a man who was met by Ali (a.s.): “An old blind person who was begging passed by and the Commander of the Faithful asked: “Who is that man?” They said: “O Commander of the Faithful! He is a Christian.”
[The narrator says] “The Commander of the Faithful said: “You exploited him until he grew old and disabled, and then you deprive him? Spend on him from the Public Treasury.”4
1.. Nahj al-Balāghah, Aphorism ۳۲۸, Rawdat al-Wā`izin, p. ۴۹۷, `Uyun al-Hikam wa al-Mawā`iz, p. ۱۵۲, h. ۳۳۴۳.
2.. al-Sunan al-Kubrā, vol. ۷, p. ۳۷, h. ۱۳۲۰۶, Kanz al-`Ummāl, vol. ۶, p. ۵۲۸, h. ۱۶۸۴۰.
3.. Fadā'l al-Sahāba, vol. ۱, p. ۵۳۱, h. ۸۸۳, al-Musannif fi al-Ahādith wa al-Athār, vol. ۸, p. ۱۵۷, h. ۱۵.
4.. Tahdhib al-Ahkām, vol. ۶, p. ۲۹۳, h. ۸۱۱.
