What has come on urging charity and commanding it

Sayyiduna Jarir (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon to us and urged us to give charity. The people were slow to give charity, so that signs of anger appeared on his (peace and blessings be upon him) blessed face. Then a man of the Ansar came with a purse and gave the purse to him (peace and blessings be upon him), and the rest of the people followed that man of the Ansar, until signs of joy appeared on the blessed face of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever starts a way and practice of good will have its reward, and the reward of all the people who act upon it will also be his, without anything being reduced from their reward; and whoever starts a practice of evil, its sin is upon him, and the sin of all the people who act upon it will also be upon him, without anything being reduced from their sins."

Al-Mundhir bin Jarir narrates from his father, Sayyiduna Jarir (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: Once we were present in the gathering of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the early part of the day, when a group of people came to him who were destitute, dressed in garments of white and black, carrying swords and wearing turbans. Most of them were from the tribe of Mudar; rather, I would say all of them were from Mudar. On seeing their state of poverty, the colour of the blessed face of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began to change. He (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up and went inside, then ordered Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) to call the adhan; after that he led the people in prayer, and then recited this verse: "O people, fear your Lord who created you from a single soul," then recited to the end of the verse, and recited: "Fear Allah, and let every soul look to what it has sent forth for tomorrow." (And he commanded:) "O people, give charity from your dinars, from your dirhams, from your clothes, from your wheat and from your dates, even if it is only a piece of a date." Meanwhile a man of the Ansar came carrying a purse which his palm could hardly lift; rather, I would say his hands could not lift it. Then the rest of the people followed him, until two heaps of clothes and of food and drink were piled up before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The narrator said: On seeing this, the blessed face of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began to shine like gold. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever starts a good and righteous practice in Islam, and people act upon it after him, will receive, along with his own reward, the reward of those people as well, and nothing will be reduced from their reward; and whoever starts an evil practice in Islam, and people act upon it after him, will bear, besides his own sin, the sin of those people who act upon it after him, without anything being reduced from their sins."

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I bear witness about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed before the sermon. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered the sermon to the people. He (peace and blessings be upon him) saw that the women had not heard the sermon, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) came to them, admonished and advised them, and ordered them to give charity. Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) began collecting it in his garment, and the women gave their rings, earrings and other things as charity.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O assembly of women, give charity, for indeed most of those who go to Hell are from among you." A woman who was not one of the prominent women said: "Why is that, and for what reason?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Because you curse a great deal and are ungrateful and disobedient to your husbands."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) that once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned the Fire (Hell); then he (peace and blessings be upon him) turned his blessed face away, as if he were looking at it. Then he mentioned Hell again and turned his blessed face away, as if he were looking at it, until we thought that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was looking at Hell. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Protect yourselves from the Fire of Hell, even if it is by giving a piece of a date in charity; and whoever does not find even that, let him say a good word (for indeed a good word is also charity)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Protect yourselves from the Fire of Hell, even if it is only (by giving in charity) a piece of a date."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went out (to the place of prayer) on the day of Eid al-Fitr and prayed two rak'ahs with the people. Then he gave the salam, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) stood facing the people while all the people were seated. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Give charity, give charity." So the women gave their rings and earrings in charity the most.

Sayyidah Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of Abdullah, said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered us to give charity and said: "O assembly of women, give charity."

Ibn Bujad narrates from his grandmother (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, sometimes a beggar comes to me, but I have nothing to give him." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not turn your beggar away without giving him something, even if it is only the (cloven) hoof of a cow, goat or deer."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Harithah bin Wahb al-Khuza'i (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Give charity, for a time will come when a man will go out to give his charity but will not find anyone to accept his charity."

Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: No charity is brought out on the earth until the jaws of seventy devils are pried away from it, all of them forbidding him from it.

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A monk remained (occupied in worship) in his place of worship for sixty years. A woman came and settled beside him, and the monk kept going to her for six nights. Then, out of remorse for what he had done, he fled from there and took refuge in a mosque, and he stayed in the mosque for three days without eating or drinking anything. (After three days) a loaf of bread was brought to him; he broke it into two parts and gave half to the man on his right and the other half of the loaf to the man on his left. Then the Angel of Death came and took the monk's soul. His sixty years of deeds were placed in one pan of the scale and the sin in the other pan, and the pan of sins outweighed it. Then that loaf (which he had given in charity) was brought, and with that loaf placed in it, the pan of good deeds outweighed the pan of sins.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed Allah Almighty accepts charity and takes it with His right hand, and makes it grow for the one who gave it, just as one of you raises (rears) his foal or his weaned young camel, until the (reward of a) single morsel of charity becomes equal to Mount Uhud. And this is also confirmed by these words of Allah Almighty; Allah says: 'It is He who accepts repentance from His servants and takes (accepts) their charities,' and elsewhere He said: 'Allah destroys usury (riba) and makes charities grow.'"

It is narrated from Abu Salamah that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Giving charity never decreases wealth in the least, so give charity."

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: A roasted sheep came to me as a gift, and I gave all of the sheep away in charity except the meat of the shoulder. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came, I informed him of it, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No, all the rest of the sheep is for you, except the one shoulder of meat which you did not give in charity."

Yazid bin Bishr al-Saksaki said: Yazid bin Abd al-Malik sent me to the Ka'bah with the covering of the Ka'bah. When I reached Tayma, a beggar came and said: "Give charity, for charity saves a person from seventy doors of evil." I asked (the people): "Who is the most learned person here?" They replied: "A man from the Jews named Nusayy." I came to his house and called out: "Is Nusayy here?" A woman looked out and gave me permission to come in. When he saw me, he performed ablution. I asked him: "When you saw me you performed ablution; what is the reason for this?" He said: "Allah Almighty said to Musa: 'O Musa, perform ablution; if you do not do so and a calamity befalls you, then blame no one but yourself.'" I said: "A beggar, while begging, was saying: 'Give charity, for charity saves a person from seventy doors of evil.'" He said: "He spoke the truth." Then he mentioned death, a wall collapsing, being thrown by one's mount and having one's neck broken, drowning, and many things that Allah wills, which he counted among the kinds of death. I said: "And charity saves from the Fire of Hell."

Marthad bin Abdullah al-Yazani said: A man who heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) told me that he said: "The believer's charity will be a shade over him on the Day of Resurrection."

It is narrated from Ali bin al-Aqmar that Abu al-Ahwas said: "Successful indeed is he who purifies himself." He said: (This means) the one who gives a little.

Abu Madinah said: A beggar came to Sayyiduna Abd al-Rahman bin Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) while grapes were placed in front of him. He gave the beggar one grape, and the people disliked this. He said: "This little atom will be a great deal (on the Day of Resurrection)."

Umm al-Hasan said: I was with Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when some poor women came. I asked Sayyidah Umm Salamah: "Shall I put them out?" She said: "Allah did not command us to do this; give them a date each."

It is narrated from Amr bin Sa'id that Humayd bin Abd al-Rahman said: It used to be said: Give the beggar something, even if it is only as much as the head of a sandgrouse (qata).

Fatimah bint Husayn narrates from her father (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The beggar has a right over you, even if he comes riding on a horse."

Salim bin Abi al-Ja'd said: It is the saying of Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him): "The beggar has a right over you, even if he comes riding on a horse with a silver collar around its neck."

Abu al-Ahwas said: When a beggar comes to you while he intends the prayer, or he said (the narrator is in doubt): intends to pray, then if you are able, give charity, for Allah Almighty says: "Successful indeed is he who purifies himself, and remembers the name of his Lord and prays." And if he is able to give charity before his prayer, he should give charity.