I do not need it when the other poor Muslims have been ignored.

I do not need it when the other poor Muslims have been ignored. Go, take it back and tell him that only a little wheat is enough for me. I am earning my livelihood. What should I do with these dinars?"[^1] Marwan had formed an utterly wrong opinion of Abu Dharr. He was under the impression that just as other seekers of the world did not care for faith and belief for the sake of wealth, Abu Dharr would also do the same.

He did not know that Abu Dharr was on a much higher level as compared to the seekers of the world. If we look at it carefully Abu Dharr exactly followed the Holy Prophet and Ali in sending the money back and in saying, “What does it mean to send the money to me alone ignoring other Muslims?” These were the people who cared for Muslim masses more than for themselves. They did not like that they should be rolling in wealth while the poor remained poor.

They did not like that there should be the least difference between themselves and the poor people. As a proof of it we may cite the incident of Ali's breaking of the fast as narrated by Ahnaf bin Qays before Mu'awiyah in his court. According to Mansur bin Husayn Abi (d. 422 A.H.) in his book Nasr-ud-Durar, as quoted by Shaykh Muhammad Husayn Ale Kashiful Ghita, Ahnaf bin Qays said, "Once I went to Mu'awiyah. He placed before me too many kinds of dishes.

I was still wondering to see them when he put before me a special dish which I could not recognize. I asked him what it was. He answered that they were the intestines of the duck stuffed with brain, roasted in the pistachio oil and sprinkled with spices. Hearing this I began to weep. Mu'awiyah asked me the reason of my crying. I said that I remembered Ali at the time. One day I was with him when the time of breaking the fast approached. He asked me to stay.

In the meantime a sealed bag was brought in. I asked him what it contained. He answered that it was the flour of parched barley. I asked him if it was due to the fear of theft or due to economic hardship that the bag had been sealed. He answered that it was not due to either of the causes. The precaution was due to the fear lest his sons should have mixed butter oil or olive oil with this flour. I further asked if butter oil or olive oil was forbidden. He answered that it was not forbidden.

Still, it was necessary for the leaders of the ummah keep themselves attached to the ranks of the poor masses, so that scarcity of means might not turn this poverty-stricken class into rebels.