Reports on avarice

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Beware of greed, for it destroyed those before you: it urged them to sever the ties of kinship, so they severed them; it urged them to miserliness, so they were miserly; and it urged them to immorality, so they committed immorality."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Miserliness and faith cannot be combined within a Muslim man."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The worst trait found in a man is excessive miserliness and heart-shaking cowardice."

Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If the wealth of Bahrain comes, I will give you such and such an amount." The narrator says: I came to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "You are being miserly with me." He said: "What disease is more dangerous than miserliness? You have not asked me even once without my intending to give to you."

Al-Aswad bin Hilal says that a man came to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "I fear that I will not be among those described by this verse of the Qur'an: 'And whoever is saved from the greed of his own soul' [Al-Hashr: 9], because I do not have the strength to spend things, only the strength to withhold them." Sayyiduna Abdullah said: "That is miserliness, and miserliness is the worst of things."

Ibn al-Ahmas says: I said to Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him): "A hadith has reached me from you, which you narrate from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)." He said: "I heard it from him and I have narrated it." Then he mentioned: "There are three people whom Allah, the Lord of Might, hates: the miser, the one who reminds others of his favors, and the arrogant."

Sayyiduna Zayd bin Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to make this supplication: "O Allah, I seek refuge in You from miserliness."

Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to seek refuge from miserliness.

The aforementioned statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is also reported from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) through this chain.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to seek refuge from miserliness.

Talhah bin Ubaydullah bin Kariz says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed Allah, the Lord of Might, is generous and loves generosity, and He loves lofty character and dislikes base character."

Yahya bin Abi Kathir says that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had received a large bowl from Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him), which went around with him (peace and blessings be upon him) whenever he (peace and blessings be upon him) made his rounds among his pure wives. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) would say in his supplication: "O Allah, grant me wealth, for no great deed can be accomplished except through wealth."

Urwah says that Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to supplicate: "O Allah, grant me praise, and grant me honor and glory; honor and glory are not attained except through a great deed, and there is no great deed except through wealth. O Allah, a little wealth cannot benefit me, nor do I do well on it."

Urwah says: I saw Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him) calling out from his tall building: "Whoever loves fat and meat, let him come to Sa'd bin Ubadah." The narrator says: Then after that I saw his son making the same call. And in the days of my youth I was walking on a road of Madinah when Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) passed by me, going to his land in al-Aliyah. He said: "O young man, look and see whether anyone is calling out from the tall building of Sa'd bin Ubadah." I looked and said: "No." He said: "You have spoken the truth."

Urwah says that Sayyiduna Qays bin Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him) set out toward Madinah with his companions, and he would slaughter a camel every day, until he reached the place called Sirar, near Madinah.

Ibn Sirin says that when evening came, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would distribute the People of the Suffah among the Companions. Then one Companion would take one person, another would take two people, and another would take three people, until he mentioned ten. And he said: Sayyiduna Sa'd bin Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him) would return every night with 80 of them and give them their evening meal.

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was more generous than the blowing wind.

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was the most generous of people in goodness, and his (peace and blessings be upon him) generosity increased further when Jibril met him (peace and blessings be upon him).