Hadith About Charity

Whenever ​Allah's ‌Messenger ‌(ﷺ) ‌(p.b.u.h) ordered us to give in charity, we used to go to the market and work as porters and get a Mudd (a special measure of grain) and then give it in charity. (Those were the days of poverty) and today some of us have one hundred thousand.

"Save ​yourself ‌from ‌Hell-fire ​even by giving half a date-fruit in charity."

A ​man ‌came ​to ​the Prophet (ﷺ) and asked, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Which charity is the most superior in reward?" He replied, "The charity which you practice while you are healthy, niggardly and afraid of poverty and wish to become wealthy. Do not delay it to the time of approaching death and then say, 'Give so much to such and such, and so much to such and such.' And it has already belonged to such and such (as it is too late)."

Some ​of ​the ‌wives ‌of the Prophet (ﷺ) asked him, "Who amongst us will be the first to follow you (i.e. die after you)?" He said, "Whoever has the longest hand." So they started measuring their hands with a stick and Sauda's hand turned out to be the longest. (When Zainab bint Jahsh died first of all in the caliphate of `Umar), we came to know that the long hand was a symbol of practicing charity, so she was the first to follow the Prophet (ﷺ) and she used to love to practice charity. (Sauda died later in the caliphate of Muawiya).

Allah's ​Messenger ​(ﷺ) ‌(p.b.u.h) ​said, "A man said that he would give something in charity. He went out with his object of charity and unknowingly gave it to a thief. Next morning the people said that he had given his object of charity to a thief. (On hearing that) he said, "O Allah! All the praises are for you. I will give alms again." And so he again went out with his alms and (unknowingly) gave it to an adulteress. Next morning the people said that he had given his alms to an adulteress last night. The man said, "O Allah! All the praises are for you. (I gave my alms) to an adulteress. I will give alms again." So he went out with his alms again and (unknowingly) gave it to a rich person. (The people) next morning said that he had given his alms to a wealthy person. He said, "O Allah! All the praises are for you. (I had given alms) to a thief, to an adulteress and to a wealthy man." Then someone came and said to him, "The alms which you gave to the thief, might make him abstain from stealing, and that given to the adulteress might make her abstain from illegal sexual intercourse (adultery), and that given to the wealthy man might make him take a lesson from it and spend his wealth which Allah has given him, in Allah's cause."

My ​grandfather, ​my ​father ‌and I gave the pledge of allegiance to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). The Prophet (ﷺ) got me engaged and then got me married. One day I went to the Prophet (ﷺ) with a complaint. My father Yazid had taken some gold coins for charity and kept them with a man in the mosque (to give them to the poor) But I went and took them and brought them to him (my father). My father said, "By Allah! I did not intend to give them to you. " I took (the case) to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) . On that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "O Yazid, you will be rewarded for what you intended. O Ma'n, whatever you have taken is yours."

The ​Prophet ​(p.b.u.h) ​said, ​"Seven people will be shaded by Allah under His shade on the day when there will be no shade except His. They are: (1) a just ruler; (2) a young man who has been brought up in the worship of Allah, (i.e. worship Allah (Alone) sincerely from his childhood), (3) a man whose heart is attached to the mosque (who offers the five compulsory congregational prayers in the mosque); (4) two persons who love each other only for Allah's sake and they meet and part in Allah's cause only; (5) a man who refuses the call of a charming woman of noble birth for an illegal sexual intercourse with her and says: I am afraid of Allah; (6) a person who practices charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given (i.e. nobody knows how much he has given in charity). (7) a person who remembers Allah in seclusion and his eyes get flooded with tears."

I ‌heard ‌the ‌Prophet ‌(p.b.u.h) saying, "(O people!) Give in charity (for Allah's cause) because a time will come when a person will carry his object of charity from place to place (and he will not find any person to take it) and any person whom he shall request to take it, I will reply, 'If you had brought it yesterday I would have taken it, but today I am not in need of it."

Allah's ‌Messenger ‌(ﷺ) ‌said, ​"When a woman gives in charity some of the foodstuff (which she has in her house) without spoiling it, she will receive the reward for what she has spent, and her husband will receive the reward because of his earning, and the storekeeper will also have a reward similar to it. The reward of one will not decrease the reward of the others . "

The ‌Prophet ‌(p.b.u.h) ​said, ‌"The best charity is that which is practiced by a wealthy person. And start giving first to your dependents."

Narrated ‌Hakim ‌bin ​Hizam:The ​Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The upper hand is better than the lower hand (i.e. he who gives in charity is better than him who takes it). One should start giving first to his dependents. And the best object of charity is that which is given by a wealthy person (from the money which is left after his expenses). And whoever abstains from asking others for some financial help, Allah will give him and save him from asking others, Allah will make him self-sufficient

The ‌Prophet ​(ﷺ) ‌said, ‌"The upper hand is better than the lower hand (i.e. he who gives in charity is better than him who takes it). One should start giving first to his dependents. And the best object of charity is that which is given by a wealthy person (from the money which is left after his expenses). And whoever abstains from asking others for some financial help, Allah will give him and save him from asking others, Allah will make him self-sufficient."

I ‌heard ​Allah's ‌Messenger ​(ﷺ) (p.b.u.h) while he was on the pulpit speaking about charity, to abstain from asking others for some financial help and about begging others, saying, "The upper hand is better than the lower hand. The upper hand is that of the giver and the lower (hand) is that of the beggar."

Once ‌the ​Prophet ​(ﷺ) ‌offered the `Asr prayer and then hurriedly went to his house and returned immediately. I (or somebody else) asked him (as to what was the matter) and he said, "I left at home a piece of gold which was from the charity and I disliked to let it remain a night in my house, so I got it distributed . "

The ‌Prophet ​(ﷺ) ​went ​out for the `Id prayer on the `Id day and offered a two rak`at prayer; and he neither offered a prayer before it or after it. Then he went towards the women along with Bilal. He preached them and ordered them to give in charity. And some (amongst the women) started giving their forearm bangles and earrings.

Hudhaifa ​said, ‌"`Umar ​said, ​'Who amongst you remembers the statement of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) (p.b.u.h) about afflictions'?' I said, 'I know it as the Prophet (ﷺ) had said it.' `Umar said, 'No doubt, you are bold. How did he say it?' I said, 'A man's afflictions (wrong deeds) concerning his wife, children and neighbors are expiated by (his) prayers, charity, and enjoining good.' (The sub-narrator Sulaiman added that he said, 'The prayer, charity, enjoining good and forbidding evil.') `Umar said, 'I did not mean that, but I ask about that affliction which will spread like the waves of the sea.' I said, 'O chief of the believers! You need not be afraid of it as there is a closed door between you and it.' He asked, 'Will the door be broken or opened?' I replied, 'No, it will be broken.' He said, 'Then, if it is broken, it will never be closed again?' I replied, 'Yes.' " Then we were afraid to ask what that door was, so we asked Masruq to inquire, and he asked Hudhaifa regarding it. Hudhaifa said, "The door was `Umar. "We further asked Hudhaifa whether `Umar knew what that door meant. Hudhaifa replied in the affirmative and added, "He knew it as one knows that there will be a night before the tomorrow morning."

I ​said ​to ‌Allah's ‌Messenger (ﷺ), "Before embracing Islam I used to do good deeds like giving in charity, slave-manumitting, and the keeping of good relations with Kith and kin. Shall I be rewarded for those deeds?" The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, "You became Muslim with all those good deeds (Without losing their reward)."

Allah's ​Messenger ​(ﷺ) ‌said, ​"When a woman gives in charity from her husband's meals without wasting the property of her husband, she will get a reward for it, and her husband too will get a reward for what he earned and the storekeeper will have the reward likewise."

Narrated ​'Aishah:The ​Prophet ​(ﷺ) ​said, "If a woman gives in charity from her husband's house ..." (See next hadith)

The ‌Prophet ‌(ﷺ) ‌said, ‌"If a woman gives in charity from her husband's house .." The Prophet (p.b.u.h) also said, "If a lady gives meals (in charity) from her husband's house without spoiling her husband's property, she will get a reward and her husband will also get a reward likewise. The husband will get a reward because of his earnings and the woman because of her spending."