Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 2138
حَدَّثَنَا هِشَامُ بْنُ عَمَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ عَيَّاشٍ، عَنْ بَحِيرِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ، عَنْ خَالِدِ بْنِ مَعْدَانَ، عَنِ الْمِقْدَامِ بْنِ مَعْدِيكَرِبَ الزُّبَيْدِيِّ، عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " مَا كَسَبَ الرَّجُلُ كَسْبًا أَطْيَبَ مِنْ عَمَلِ يَدِهِ وَمَا أَنْفَقَ الرَّجُلُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ وَأَهْلِهِ وَوَلَدِهِ وَخَادِمِهِ فَهُوَ صَدَقَةٌ " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Hisham ibn ʿAmmar narrated to us; Ismaʿil ibn ʿAyyash narrated to us, from Bahir ibn Saʿd, from Khalid ibn Maʿdan, from al-Miqdam ibn Maʿdikarib al-Zubaydi, from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace), who said: ‘A man never earns anything better than what he earns through the work of his own hands. Whatever a man spends on himself, his family, his child, and his servant is charity.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " مَا كَسَبَ الرَّجُلُ كَسْبًا أَطْيَبَ مِنْ عَمَلِ يَدِهِ وَمَا أَنْفَقَ الرَّجُلُ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ وَأَهْلِهِ وَوَلَدِهِ وَخَادِمِهِ فَهُوَ صَدَقَةٌ " .
عمل يده is work performed with one’s own hands; صدقة is charity/almsgiving, applied here to expenditure on oneself and dependents.
Does ‘work of his own hands’ preserve the phrase and ‘is charity’ retain the religious framing of ordinary provision?