58. Sadaqa

Malik related to me from Yahya ibn Said from Abu'l-Hubab Said ibnYasar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, said, "Whoever gives sadaqa from good earning - and Allah onlyaccepts the good - it is as if he placed it in the palm of theMerciful to raise it, as one of you raises his foal or young cameluntil it is like the mountain " Malik related to me that Ishaq ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Talha heardAnas ibn Malik say, "Abu Talha had the greatest amount of property inpalm-trees among the Ansar in Madina. The dearest of his properties tohim was Bayruha which was in front of the mosque. The Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to go into it anddrink from the pleasant water which was in it." Anascontinued, "When this ayat was sent down 'You will not obtainrightness of action until you expend of what you love,' (Sura 2 ayatl76), Abu Talha went to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless himand grant him peace, and said, 'Messenger of Allah! Allah, theBlessed, the Exalted, has said, "You will not obtain until you expendof what you love." The property which I love the best is Bayruha. Itis sadaqa for Allah. I hope for its good and for it to be stored upwith Allah. Place it wherever you wish, Messengerof Allah. ' " "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,said, 'Well done! That is property which profits! That is propertywhich profits. I have heard what you have said about it and I thinkthat you should give it to your relatives.' Abu Talha said, 'I will doit, Messenger of Allah!' Abu Talha therefore divided it among hisrelatives and the children of his paternal uncle." Malik related to me from Zayd ibn Aslam that the Messenger ofAllah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Give to abeggar even if he comes on a horse." Malik related to me from Zayd ibn Aslam from Amr ibn Muadh al-Ashali al-Ansari that his grandmother said, "The Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'O trusting women! Letnone of you despise giving to her neighbour even if it is only aroasted sheep's trotter.' Yahya related to me from Malik that he heard that a beggar askedA'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, for something while she was fasting and there was only a loafof bread in her house. She said to her female mawla, "Give it to him."The mawla protested, "You will not have anything to break your fastwith." A'isha repeated, "Give it to him," so she did so. When eveningcame, the people of a house or a man who did not usually give to them,gave them a sheep and some food to go with it. A'isha, umm al-muminin,called her mawla and said, "Eat from this. This is better than yourloaf of bread." Yahya related to me that Malik said, "I heard that a beggar askedfor food from A'isha, umm al-muminin, while she had some grapes. Shetold some one to take him one grape. He began to look in amazement.A'isha said, 'Are you amazed? How many atoms' weights do you see inthis grape?' " (referring to Sura 99 ayat 7). Malik related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Ata ibn Yazidal-Laythi from Abu Said al-Khudri that some people of the Ansar askedthe Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, andhe gave to them. Then they asked him again, and he gave to them untilhe used up what he had. Then he said, "What wealth I have, I will nothoard from you. Whoever has forbearance, Allah will help him. Whoevertries to be independent, Allah will enrich him. Whoever tries to bepatient, Allah will give him patience, and no one is given a better orvaster gift than patience." Yahya related to me from Malik from Nafi from Abdullah ibn Umarthat the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,said from the mimbar when mentioning sadaqa and refraining fromasking, "The upper hand is better than the lower hand. The upper handis the one which expends, and the lower one is the one which asks." Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibnYasar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, sent a gift to Umar ibn al-Khattab, and Umar returned it. TheMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,"Why did you return it?" He said, "Messenger of Allah, didn't you tellus that it is better for us not to take anything from anyone?" TheMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,"That is by asking. Provision which Allah gives you is different fromasking." Umar ibn al-Khattab said, "By the One in whose hand my selfis, I will not ask anything from anyone, and anything that comes to mewithout my asking for it, I will accept." Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu'z-Zinad from al-Araj fromAbu Hurayra that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said, "By Him in whose hand myself is! To take your ropeand gather firewood on your back is better for you than that you cometo a man to whom Allah has given some of His favour and ask him, so hegives to you or refuses." Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam from Ata ibnYasar that a man of the Banu Asad said, "My family and I dismounted torest at Baqi. My family said to me, 'Go to the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, and ask him for something that wecan eat,' and they began to mention their need. I went to theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and foundthat a man was asking for something, and the Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, was saying, 'I do not haveanything to give you.' The man turned away from him in anger, saying,'By my life! You give to whomever you wish.' The Messenger of Allah,may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'He is angry with mebecause I do not have anything to give him. Whoever asks of you whilehe has an uqiya or its like, has asked with importunity.' " The man continued, "I said to myself about a camel that we had, 'It isbetter than an uqiya.' (Malik explained that an uqiya was fortydirhams.) So I returned and did not ask him for anything, and theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent mebarley and raisins after that. He gave us from his share until Allah,the Mighty, the Majestic gave us relief." Yahya related that Malik heard al-Ala ibn Abd ar-Rahman say,"Sadaqa does not decrease property, and Allah only increases a slavein worth for his restraint, and no slave is humble but that Allahraises him." Malik said, "I do not know whether this hadithgoes back to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ornot." Yahya related to me from Malik that he heard that the Messengerof Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Sadaqa tothe family of Muhammad is not halal. It is only people's impurities." Yahya related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr fromhis father that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, gave a man from the Banu Abd al-Ashal charge over somesadaqa. When he came to ask him for some camels from the sadaqa, theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was soangry that the anger showed in his face. One way in which anger couldbe recognised in his face was that his eyes became red. Then he said,"This man has asked me for what is not good for me or him. If I refuseit, I hate to refuse. If I give it to him, I will give him what is notgood for me or him." The man said, "Messenger of Allah! I will neverask you for any of it!" Yahya related to me from Malik from Zayd ibn Aslam that hisfather said, "Abdullah ibn al-Arqam said, 'Show me a riding-camelwhich the amir al-muminim can give me to use.' I said, 'Yes. One ofthe sadaqa camels.' Abdullah ibn al-Arqam said, 'Would you want astout man on a hot day to wash for you what is under his lower garmentand its folds, and then give it to you to drink?' I was angry andsaid, 'May Allah forgive you! Why do you say such things to me?'Abdullah ibn al-Arqam said, 'Sadaqa is the impurities of people whichthey wash off themselves.' "