On refraining from begging, and those who said: the upper hand is better than the lower hand

Sayyiduna Hakim bin Hizam (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever seeks to be self-sufficient, Allah Almighty makes him self-sufficient; whoever seeks to remain chaste (from asking), Allah Almighty keeps him chaste; and the upper hand (the giving hand) is better than the lower hand (the receiving hand)."

Sayyiduna Hakim bin Hizam (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The upper hand is better than the lower hand."

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) said: One day I had tied a band on my stomach because of hunger. Then I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and heard him saying: "Whoever seeks to remain chaste (from asking), Allah Almighty keeps him chaste; whoever seeks self-sufficiency, Allah Almighty makes him self-sufficient; and whoever asks us, we will either give to him or help him. (But) whoever remains self-sufficient and chaste (from asking) towards us, that is better for him than asking us." He said: So I went back and did not ask him for anything.

Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Layla narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Be independent of people (by not asking them), even if it is for a broken bit of a tooth-stick (miswak)."

Something similar is reported from Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Layla, but he did not narrate it as a saying of the Prophet (marfu').

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: We used to say among ourselves that the upper hand is the one that refrains (from asking).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The upper hand is better than the lower hand. The best charity is that which leaves (the giver) self-sufficient, and begin with those whom you support."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Tha'labah bin Zahdam (may Allah be pleased with him) that some people of (the tribe of) Tha'labah came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was delivering a sermon, and he was saying: "The hand of the giver is the upper one and the hand of the one who asks is the lower one. And begin (in giving) with those whom you support: your mother, your father, your sister, your brother, then the one nearest to you, then the next nearest."