one lives on.

• fāqah: the verb iftāqa means “to become poor.” One does not say fāqa in this sense, for that root carries the idea of loftiness and elevation. Hence fāqah signifies poverty and need.
• ḥijā (with a kasrah on the ḥā’): the intellect.

Lessons derived from the ḥadith:
1 – It is forbidden to ask people for their money without genuine need. Muslim records under 1041 that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever begs from people in order to accumulate wealth is merely asking for embers of fire, so let him take little or much.”
2 – It is permissible to beg when compelled by necessity, and the ḥadith lists three such pressing circumstances.
3 – The first case is a person who undertakes to reconcile two tribes, clans, extended families, or villages. He mediates between them, pledging from his own liability a sum that covers the blood-money or damages owed between the parties so as to extinguish the flames of discord. Having rendered a tremendous service, it is itself a form of kindness that the community relieves him of that financial burden through charity, lest such obligations overwhelm these noble peacemakers and weaken their resolve. The Sacred Law therefore allows him to beg for that purpose and even assigns this class a portion of the zakah, even if they are otherwise wealthy.
4 – The peacemaker who has incurred debt may take only the amount he has undertaken to pay; once he has received that sum, he must stop and take no more.
5 – The second case is someone whose wealth has been struck by a calamity—whether a severe frost or scorching heat, flooding, fire, or any other disaster beyond human control—until nothing remains to meet his basic needs. Such a person may beg until he secures enough to cover his own necessities and those of his dependents, and then he must desist, taking no more than what suffices.
6 – The third case concerns a person who was known to possess wealth but has since been overtaken by poverty and need; for such a person, begging becomes lawful.