Which is Superior: Giving Charity Secretly or Publicly?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpūrī by Shaykh Ghulām Muṣṭafā Ẓahīr Amunpūrī
❖ Question
Is it better to give charity secretly or publicly?
❖ Answer
Giving charity secretly is superior.
❖ Evidence from Ḥadīth
◈ Abū Hurayrah (RA) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
((سبعة يظلهم الله فى ظله، يوم لا ظل إلا ظله … ورجل تصدق، أخفى حتى لا تعلم شماله ما تنفق يمينه))
“Seven types of people will be shaded by Allah under His shade on the Day when there will be no shade except His… (one of them is) a man who gave charity so secretly that his left hand did not know what his right hand had spent.”
— Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 660, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1031
❖ Scholarly Consensus
◈ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597H):
((اتفق العلماء على أن إخفاء الصدقة النافلة أفضل من إظهارها))
“The scholars are unanimously agreed that concealing voluntary charity is superior to making it public.”
— Zād al-Masīr 1/243
✅ Conclusion
- Voluntary charity is best given secretly, as it is more sincere and free from showing off (riyāʾ).
- Public charity, however, is allowed when there is a clear benefit, such as encouraging others.
- The general rule and scholarly consensus affirm that secrecy is more virtuous.
