The virtue of charity

Sayyiduna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) relates: I said: O Messenger of Allah! What do you say about prayer? He said: It is the completion of deeds. I said: O Messenger of Allah! I ask you about the virtue of charity. He said: Charity is a wonderful thing. I said: O Messenger of Allah! You have left out the deed that, in my view, is the most excellent and the best. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: Which one is it? I said: Fasting. He said: It is good, but that is not what is meant. He said: O Messenger of Allah! Which charity is most excellent? After this the narrator mentioned a word. I said: What if I am not able to do it? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Give your surplus in charity. I said: What if I cannot do even that? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Give half a date. I said: What if I cannot do even that? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Say a good word. I said: What if I cannot do even that? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Keep people safe from your evil, for that too will be a charity that you give to yourself. I said: What if I cannot do even that? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Do you want to leave no good at all in yourself?
(Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Imam al-Nasa'i (may Allah have mercy on him) has recorded part of this narration.
Al-Bazzar recorded it. Its chain contains a narrator, al-Awwam bin Juwayriyah, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Rafi' bin Khadij (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Charity closes 70 doors of evil."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, and its chain contains a narrator, Hammad bin Shu'ayb, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) relates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Some people passed by Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him), and Sayyiduna Isa (peace be upon him) said: One of these people will die today, if Allah wills. They went on. When they came back in the evening, they had bundles of firewood with them. Sayyiduna Isa (peace be upon him) said: Put them down. Then he said to the man about whom he had said that he would die today: Untie your bundle. He untied it, and in it there was a black snake. Sayyiduna Isa (peace be upon him) asked: What did you do today? He replied: I did nothing. Sayyiduna Isa (peace be upon him) said: Consider what you did today. He said: I did nothing, except that I had a piece of bread with me; a poor man passed by me and asked me, so I gave him some of it. Sayyiduna Isa (peace be upon him) said: Because of it, (death) has been averted from you.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains a narrator, Ahmad bin Abi Shaybah, and I do not know him.

Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Give charity early in the morning, for calamity cannot get past it."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains a narrator, Isa bin Abdullah bin Muhammad, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) relates: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Charity extinguishes the anger of the Lord."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat within a long hadith that will come later in the chapter on virtues (manaqib), if Allah wills. The chain of this narration contains a narrator, Asram bin Hawshab, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Rafi' bin Makith (may Allah be pleased with him), who was one of those who had the honour of being present at Hudaybiyah, relates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Treating well those under one's ownership is a cause of increase, bad character is a cause of ill omen, righteousness adds to one's lifespan, and charity protects from an evil death." (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Imam Abu Dawud has recorded these words from it: "Treating well those under one's ownership is a cause of increase, and bad character is a cause of ill omen."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator who has not been named.

Sayyiduna Amr bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A Muslim's charity increases his lifespan and prevents an evil death, and through it Allah Almighty removes arrogance, poverty and boasting."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains a narrator, Kathir bin Abdullah al-Muzani, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The best door of righteousness is giving charity."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator whom I do not know.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) relates this as a marfu' hadith: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Charity never decreases wealth. Whenever a servant stretches out his hand to give charity, it is placed in the Hand of Allah Almighty before it falls into the hand of the one who asks. And any servant who opens a door of begging while he is well-off, Allah Almighty opens a door of poverty upon him."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator whom I do not know.

Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) relates: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "(On the Day of Resurrection) every person will be in the shade of his charity, and will remain so until judgement is passed between the people."

In one narration the words are: A Companion narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "On the Day of Resurrection, the believer's shade will be his charity." The narrator says: The narrator Yazid used to give charity every day, even if it was a piece of bread, or an onion, or something else. Ahmad recorded all of these narrations, and Abu Ya'la and al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir recorded some of them. The narrators of Ahmad are thiqat (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Charity extinguishes the heat of the grave for its people (that is, those who give it), and on the Day of Resurrection the believer will be in the shade of his charity."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator, Ibn Lahi'ah, and he has been criticised.

Sayyiduna Abu Barzah al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A servant gives a morsel in charity, and it keeps growing in the presence of Allah Almighty until it becomes like the mountain of Uhud."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator, Sawwar bin Mus'ab, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyidah Aishah Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) relates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, Allah Almighty accepts charity and makes it grow for one of you, just as one of you raises his foal or his weaned young camel."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih. Another hadith is also transmitted from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), which will come after this.

Sayyidah Maymunah bint Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with her) relates that she said: O Messenger of Allah! Tell us the ruling about giving charity. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is a barrier from Hell for the one who hopes for its reward, seeking thereby the pleasure of Allah Almighty."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator whom I do not know.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Charity reaches the Hand of Allah Almighty before it reaches the hand of the one who asks. Then Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) recited this verse: "He is the One who accepts repentance from His servants."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator, Abdullah bin Qatadah al-Muharibi; no one has declared him da'if (weak), and the rest of its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).