Anyway. I posted one hadith by Imam Ali (as), and was also struck by what someone I follow had posted on instagram, so I'm embedding them both here.
"If poverty were a man, I would have slain him." - Imam Ali (as).
— I (@th_mnmlst) May 13, 2014
I: Poverty
I'm always struck by the very bluntness of this Hadith. There is no nuance, no second guessing, no room for manoeuvre, no doubt. Poverty is a Bad Thing, and it is so bad, that were poverty to be personified, the Imam (as) would have had no trouble in killing him instantly. And what does this mean for us, as followers of the Imam (as)? I would venture to say that we should be as firm in our belief that poverty is one of the great evils of the earth that we live in, and we should work as hard as we can to eradicate it in our lifetimes. Now, I know that, were I to try with every fibre of my being to eliminate poverty for the whole of my life, I probably would not be able to, but still I should try. And God willing, I will (try, that is).
II: Generosity & Justice
The Ahlulbayt (as) were the very definition of both of those terms. No-one can outmatch them in terms of how generous they were, and when the Prophet Muhammad (saww) and Imam Ali (as) were leaders of the Ummah, nobody was more able than them in dispensing justice.
And yet.
Given the choice between the two, Imam Ali (as) beautifully explains the difference between the two, and conclusively makes the case for justice being the better one.
III: Tying the two together.
I've started reading a book recently called Manifestations of the All Merciful (link). It's a lovely exegesis of the short dua normally prayed after Salat in Shahr Ramadhan. This is a lovely dua, because we pray for humanity at large, and not necessarily for ourselves. The book makes the point that, unless we are spiritually flawed/weak, we should have no trouble genuinely wishing for these things to happen for others. We are after all, extremely capable of manifesting, in our limited way, the attribute of Mercy which belongs to our Creator.
And the second line in the dua?
"O Allah, enrich every poor person"
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If I want to eradicate poverty, or work towards it's eradication, then I will not do so by amassing very large amounts of money and giving them to charity. It's a Good Deed, for sure, and it's recommended in the Quran to give charity, so no doubt there. But any charity I give will only be a temporary balm to a problem that needs a whole structural overhaul. (Having said that, I fully intend to give as much as I can to charity. Sometimes, a balm is needed as well for the present, whilst you work to change futures as well.)
Poverty exists because of injustice, and the current systems that exist economically and politically serve only to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. The most successful in this scheme also have a large enough middle class as a bulwark against revolution, which the poor can aspire to join, whilst they in turn aspire to join the rich.
Justice in the world is what will end poverty, and, looking to the tenets of our faith, this is what the Imam (aj) will bring when he returns. The earth will be filled with justice, and then with prosperity.
And for me? As I pointed out some time ago, it is not enough for us to ask Allah for something, without also acknowledging that we are in essence asking him to make us the active agents who work towards achieving what we ask Him for. Therefore, if I want to make a dent in the poverty that exists, I need to actively work to change the systems of the world I live in to make it a more just place, and prosperity will follow.
InshaAllah
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If this is too rambly, or doesn't make sense, please forgive me, and ask any questions. All errors are mine.
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