Al-Matalib al-'Aliyah 3629 — Surah al-Tawbah

Sayyiduna Ibn Abi Aqil narrates from his father (Sayyiduna Abu Aqil al-Ansari, may Allah be pleased with him) that he spent the whole night doing laborious work hauling loads on his back with a rope, in return for which he received two sa' of dates. He said: I went back to my family with one sa' of them and came with the other to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in order to seek through it the pleasure of my Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, and nearness to Him. Then I told him (peace and blessings be upon him) the whole story, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Scatter it in the mosque (on the pile of the other charity)." Seeing this, the hypocrites mocked and said: "Surely Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has no need of the one sa' of charity of this poor man." Then Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, revealed this verse: "Those who criticize the believers who give charity voluntarily, and (criticize) those who find nothing (to give) except their effort, and ridicule them, Allah will ridicule them, and they will have a painful punishment" [Surah al-Tawbah: 79].
Imam Ibn Abi Shaybah narrated this hadith in his al-Musannaf. Although this chain contains Musa bin Ubaydah al-Rabadhi, a weak narrator, this event of Sayyiduna Abu Aqil al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) giving charity and the hypocrites' taunting is narrated and established through other reliable chains in Sahih al-Bukhari (1415) and Sahih Muslim (1018).