Those who permitted gifts from rulers and officials

Ja'far bin Muhammad reports from his father that Sayyiduna al-Hasan and Sayyiduna al-Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them both) used to accept the gifts sent by Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him).

Habib said: Gifts from al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi used to come to Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) and Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), and they would accept them.

Abd al-Rahman bin Ismah said: I was with Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) when a messenger came to her with a gift from Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), and she accepted the gift.

Ata said that Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) sent Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) a necklace valued at one hundred thousand. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) accepted the necklace and distributed it among the Mothers of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with them).

Abd al-Malik bin Umayr said: Bishr bin Marwan gave me five hundred dirhams to distribute among Sayyiduna Abu Juhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), Abu Razin, Amr bin Maymun, Murrah and Abu Abd al-Rahman. Abu Razin, Sayyiduna Abu Juhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) and Amr bin Maymun returned this money, and the others accepted it.

Something similar is reported through another chain.

A man asked al-Hasan: I go to the official and he gives me something; should I accept it? He said: Woe to you! Take the money and go.

Qays said: I went with my father to visit Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) during his illness, and he mounted us on two horses for the return. I saw Sayyidah Asma' (may Allah be pleased with her) with woad on her hands, and she was keeping the flies away from him.

Ibrahim and Tamim bin Salamah went to an official, and the official gave Tamim more gifts than Ibrahim, at which Ibrahim became angry.

Khalid bin Usayd sent thirty thousand dirhams to Masruq, and he returned them. Someone said to him: You should accept them and give them in charity and use them to join ties of kinship. But even then he refused to take the dirhams.

Ikrimah said that there is no harm in accepting gifts from governors.

Al-A'mash said that Ibrahim went to an official. The official gave him a reward and mounted him on a riding animal, and Ibrahim accepted all of it.

Abu Ja'far said that there is no harm in accepting gifts from officials.

Amir said that there is no harm in accepting gifts from officials.

Humayd said that Ibn Hubayrah sent gifts to al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) and Bakr. Both of them accepted, but when he sent them to Muhammad (Ibn Sirin), he did not accept them.

Habib said that a man sent a gift to Dharr. He asked the messenger whether the man had sent this gift to every Muslim. The man answered no, so Dharr refused to accept it and recited this verse: "By no means! Indeed, it is a blazing Fire, stripping away the scalp." [Al-Ma'arij: 15-16]

Ibn Mina said that Abdul Aziz bin Marwan sent a gift to Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both), and he accepted it. He also sent a gift to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Ayyash (may Allah be pleased with him), and he did not accept it.

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said that there is no harm in a gift from an official. He has an allowance and a stipend, and he gives to you from his good wealth.

Ibrahim said: If I were to go to an official and he gave me some gifts, I would accept them. He is like the public treasury, into which every kind of wealth comes, good and bad. When a courier comes to you with a gift for a matter of disobedience, there is no good in that gift; but if he brings a gift for a permissible matter, there is no harm in that gift.

Sayyiduna Sa'id bin Amir bin Hidhyam (may Allah be pleased with him) said that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) gave him a gift of one thousand dinars.

Ash'ath bin Abi al-Sha'tha said: A group of thirty of us set out on a journey. Our leader was al-Aswad, whom Bishr bin Marwan had appointed as leader. Bishr gave him fifty dinars, which he accepted.