المستضعفون
al-Mustaḍʿafūn
Group
The people regarded as weak, who are exploited and oppressed by the powerful of the earth.
What it means
Al-Mustaḍʿafūn is the plural of a word for a person treated as weak. It names those whom the powerful of the land exploit, oppress and push aside, and who are held to be of little account because they lack strength or standing. The Quran uses it of the weak among earlier peoples and in the time of Muhammad (peace be upon him). The Quran speaks of this group in several places. It asks believers why they do not fight in God’s cause for the oppressed men, women and children who pray for deliverance (4:75), and it says that God willed to show favour to those who were treated as weak in the land (28:5).
Often misunderstood as
That the word means simply the poor, when it refers to people held down by the power of others.
What the sources say
The Quran also records the dispute on the Day of Judgement between the arrogant and those who were treated as weak, each side blaming the other (34:31-33). Muslim scholars read these passages as a charge on the strong to protect the weak and on the community to come to their aid.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 36, listed as AL MUSTAḌ'AFŪN. The definition is restated here.