Bulugh al-Maram

Takhrij:
[مسلم البر والصلة 6576],
[تحفة الاشراف 218/2]

Benefits:
➊ Extreme greed, accompanied by miserliness, which becomes a person’s habit, is called «اَلشُّحُّ».
➋ In Sahih Muslim, the complete hadith is as follows:
«واتقوا الشح، فإن الشح أهلك من كان قبلكم، حملهم على أن سفكوا دماءهم، واستحلوا محارمهم.»
“And beware of greed filled with intense miserliness, for this intense miserliness destroyed those before you. It incited them and led them to shed each other’s blood and to make lawful for themselves what was forbidden.”
As a result of severe miserliness and intense greed, when people began to usurp the wealth and rights of others, turmoil, corruption, and conflicts spread everywhere. Then, neither did they care for their own nor for others, nor did they distinguish between lawful and unlawful. The result was ruin in this world and destruction in the Hereafter.
➌ Allah, the Exalted, has condemned miserliness and greed:
«وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ» [59-الحشر:9]
“Whoever is saved from the intense greed of his own soul, then such are the successful.”
And He said:
«وَمَن يَبْخَلْ فَإِنَّمَا يَبْخَلُ عَن نَّفْسِهِ» [47-محمد:38]
“And whoever is miserly, the burden of his miserliness is only upon himself.”
And He said:
«وَلَا يَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ يَبْخَلُونَ بِمَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّـهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ هُوَ خَيْرًا لَّهُم ۖ بَلْ هُوَ شَرٌّ لَّهُمْ ۖ سَيُطَوَّقُونَ مَا بَخِلُوا بِهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ» [3-آل عمران:180]
“Those who are miserly with what Allah has given them should never think that it is good for them; rather, it is bad for them. Soon, on the Day of Resurrection, that with which they were miserly will be made into a collar around their necks.”
And the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:
«شر ما فى رجل شح هالع وجبن خالع» [ابوداؤد عن ابي هريرة 2511، صحيح ابن داؤد 2192]
“The worst trait in a man is miserliness that leads to panic and cowardice that snatches away the heart.”
➍ The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) used to supplicate after prayer:
«اللهم إني اعوذ بك من الجبن، ‏‏‏‏‏‏واعوذ بك من البخل، ‏‏‏‏‏‏واعوذ بك من ان ارد إلى ارذل العمر، ‏‏‏‏‏‏واعوذ بك من فتنة الدنيا وعذاب القبر» [بخاري عن سعد 6374]
“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from cowardice, and I seek refuge in You from miserliness, and I seek refuge in You from a useless old age, and I seek refuge in You from the trials of the world and the punishment of the grave.”
➎ What is miserliness? Generally, every person considers himself generous and others as miserly, and sometimes when a person does something, someone calls it miserliness, while another says it is not. So, what is the criterion for that miserliness which leads to destruction?
The author of Sabil says that generosity is to fulfill what Allah, the Exalted, has made obligatory upon a person. There are two types of obligations: one is the legal (shar‘i) obligation, such as zakat (obligatory charity), the expenses of those whose maintenance is his responsibility, and other places where Allah has commanded spending; the second is the obligation that becomes necessary due to a promise or that human dignity and nobility demand. Whoever withholds from fulfilling either of these is miserly, and whoever fulfills Allah’s rights, such as zakat and the maintenance of family and dependents, with a cheerful heart, and deals with people generously, avoiding stinginess and excessive scrutiny over trivial matters, is generous.
➏ There are two causes for the disease of miserliness. The first is the love of desires that cannot be fulfilled without wealth and long hopes.
The second is the love of wealth itself, that it should remain with him. For example, initially, the love for money was because it fulfilled needs and desires. But when this increased, love for money itself developed, and needs and desires were forgotten—money itself became the need and desire. This is extreme misfortune for a person, because when he does not spend on necessities, then what is the difference between gold and stone?
➐ The cure for greed and miserliness is to free oneself from the love of desires by being content and satisfied with what Allah has given, and to be patient with it. The cure for long hopes is to remember death frequently, to pay attention to the deaths of one’s companions, and to see how much effort they put into accumulating wealth and building houses and properties, and then how they could not benefit from it.
Some people are miserly with their wealth for their children; the cure for this is to understand well that Allah, the Exalted, created them and He will provide for them. Let him look at himself—sometimes parents do not leave even a penny for him, then who is it that brings him to his current state?
For the cure of miserliness, one should look at those verses of the Qur’an that prohibit miserliness, and at the lives of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), the noble Companions (radi Allahu anhum), and the beloved servants of Allah. Then, reflect on the consequences of miserliness, because whoever hoards wealth inevitably becomes a target of calamities and misfortunes.
In short, generosity is a source of goodness and blessing for a person in this world and the Hereafter, provided it remains within the limits of moderation. Allah, the Exalted, said:
«وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا أَنفَقُوا لَمْ يُسْرِفُوا وَلَمْ يَقْتُرُوا وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ قَوَامًا» [25-الفرقان:67]
“And (the servants of the Most Merciful are those) who, when they spend, do not do so extravagantly nor are they miserly, but keep a balance between the two.”

Takhrij:
«أخرجه مسلم، البر والصلة، باب تحريم الظلم، حديث:2578.»©Explanation:
In this hadith as well, oppression is prohibited, as on the Day of Resurrection it will appear in the form of darknesses and shadows.
Where there will be a need for light and illumination, one will be confronted with darknesses and shadows. Furthermore, in this hadith, there is also an instruction to avoid greed and miserliness.
And "shuhh" refers both to the greed and desire for acquiring wealth, as well as to miserliness and stinginess in spending it.
And it is precisely this greed and miserliness that always become the cause of bloodshed and evil deeds, against which warning has been given in the hadith.
(Sabil al-Salam)