The Book of Endowments

كتاب الإحباس

Chapter 1: What The Messenger Of Allah Left Behind When He Died

It was narrated that 'Amr bin Al-Harith said

"The Messenger of Allah did not leave behind a Dinar nor a Dirham, or any slave, male or female; except his white mule which he used to ride, his weapon and some land which he left to be used for the cause of Allah." (One of the narrators) Qutaibah said on one occasion: "In charity."

Abu Ishaq narrated

"I heard 'Amr bin Al-Harith say: 'The Messenger of Allah did not leave behind anything except his white mule, his weapon and some land which he left as a charity.'"

Yunus bin Abi Ishaq narrated that his father said

"I heard 'Amr bin Al-Harith say: 'I saw the Messenger of Allah and he left nothing behind except his white mule, his weapon and some land which he left as a charity.'"

Chapter 2: Endowments: How The Endowment Is To Be Recorded, And Mentioning The Differences Reported From Ibn 'A

It was narrated from Sufyan Ath-Thawri, from Ibn 'Awn, from Nafi', from Ibn 'Umar, from 'Umar, that he said

"I was allocated some land of Khaibar. I came to the Messenger of Allah and said: 'I have acquired some land and I have never acquired any wealth that is dearer to me or more precious than it.' He said: 'If you wish, you can give it in charity.'" So he gave it in charity on condition that it would not be bought or given away, for the poor, relatives, slaves, guests and wayfarers. And there is no sin on the administrator if he eats from it or feeds others on a reasonable basis, with no intention of becoming wealthy from it.

A similar report was narrated from Abu Ishaq Al-Fazari, from (Ayyub) bin 'Awn, from Nafi', from Ibn 'Umar, from 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet.

It was narrated that Yazid -Ibn Ruzaiq- said

"Ibn 'Awn narrated to us, from Nafi', from Ibn 'Umar, from 'Umar, who said: 'I acquired some land at Khaibar. He came to the Prophet and said: I have acquired some land at Khaibar, and I have never been given any wealth that is more precious to me than it. What do you command me to do with it? He said: If you wish, you can 'freeze' it and give it in charity. So he gave it in charity on condition that it would not be sold, given away or inherited, to the poor, relatives, slaves, for the cause of Allah, guests and wayfarers. There is no sin on the one who administers it if he eats from it on a reasonable basis and feeds his friend, with no intention of becoming wealthy from it.'"

It was narrated from Bishr, from Ibn 'Awn, from Nafi', from Ibn 'Umar who said

"Umar acquired some land at Khaibar. He came to the Prophet and consulted him about it. He said: 'I have acquired a great deal of land, and I have never acquired any wealth that is more precious to me than it. What do you command me to do with it?' He said: 'If you wish, you may freeze it and give it in charity.' So he gave it in charity on condition that it would not be sold or given away, and he gave it in charity to the poor, relatives, to emancipate slaves, for the cause of Allah, for wayfarers and guests. There is no sin -on the administrator- if he eats (from it) or feeds a friend, with no intention of becoming wealthy from it.'" These are the wordings of Isma'il.

It was narrated from Azhar As-Samman, from Ibn 'Awn, from Nafi', from Ibn 'Umar, that 'Umar acquired some land at Khaibar. He came to the Prophet and consulted him about that. He said

"If you wish, you may 'freeze' it and give it in charity." So he 'froze' it, stipulating that it should not be sold, given as a gift or inherited, and he gave it in charity to the poor, relatives, slaves, the needy, wayfarers and guests. There is no sin on the administrator if he eats from it on a reasonable basis or feeds a friend with no intention of becoming wealthy from it.

It was narrated that Anas said

"When this Verse was revealed -'By no means shall you attain Al Birr (piety, righteousness--here it means Allah's reward, i.e. Paradise), unless you spend (in Allah's cause) of that which you love'- Abu Talha said: 'Our Lord will ask us about our wealth. I adjure you, O Messenger of Allah! I am giving my land to Allah.' The Messenger of Allah said: 'Make it for your relatives, Hassan bin Thabit and Ubayy bin Ka'b.'"

Chapter 3: Endowment Benefiting Everyone

It was narrated that Ibn 'Umar said

"Umar said to the Prophet: 'The one hundred shares that I acquired in Khaibar -I have never acquired any wealth that I like more than that, and I want to give it in charity.' The Prophet said: Freeze it and donate its fruits."

It was narrated that 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said

"Umar came to the Messenger of Allah and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I have acquired some wealth the like of which I have never acquired before. I had one hundred head (of livestock) with which I bought one hundred shares of Khaibar from its people. I wanted to draw closer to Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, by means of it.' He said: 'Freeze it and donate its fruits.'"

It was narrated that 'Umar said

"I asked the Messenger of Allah about some land of mine in Thamgh. He said: 'Freeze it and donate its fruits.'"

Chapter 4: An Endowment (Waqf) For Masjids

Al-Ahnaf said

"I came to Al-Madinah, and I was performing Hajj, and while we were in our camping place unloading our mounts, someone came to us and said: 'The people have gathered in the Masjid.' I looked and found the people gathered, and in the midst of them was a group; there I saw 'Ali bin Abi Talib, Az-Zubair, Talhah and Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas, may Allah have mercy on them. When I got there, it was said that 'Uthman bin 'Affan had come. He came, wearing a yellowish cloak. I said to my companion: Stay where you are until I find out what is happening. 'Uthman said: Is 'Ali here? Is Az-Zubair here? Is Talhah here? Is Sa'd here? They said: Yes. He said: I adjure you by Allah, beside Whom there is none worthy of worship, are you aware that the Messenger of Allah said: Whoever buys the Mirbad of Banu so and so, Allah will forgive him, and I bought it, then I came to the Messenger of Allah and told him, and he said: Add it to our Masjid and the reward for it will be yours? They said: Yes. He said: I adjure you by Allah, beside Whom there is none worthy of worship, are you aware that the Messenger of Allah said: Whoever buys the well of Rumah, Allah will forgive him, so I came to the Messenger of Allah and said: I have bought the well of Rumah. He said: Give it to provide water for the Muslims, and the reward for it will be yours? They said: Yes. He said: 'I adjure you by Allah, beside Whom there is none worthy of worship, are you aware that the Messenger of Allah said: Whoever equips the army of Al-'Usrah (i.e. Tabuk), Allah will forgive him, so I equipped them until they were not lacking even a rope or a bridle?' They said: Yes. He said: O Allah, bear witness, O Allah, bear witness, O Allah, bear witness."

It was narrated that Al-Ahnaf bin Qais said

"We set out for Hajj, and came to Al-Madinah intending to perform Hajj. While we were in our camping place unloading our mounts, someone came to us and said: 'The people have gathered in the Masjid and there is panic.' So we set out and found the people gathered around a group in the middle of the Masjid, among whom were 'Ali, Az-Zubair, Talhah and Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas. While we were like that, 'Uthman came, wearing a yellowish cloak with which he had covered his head. He said: Is 'Ali here? Is Talhah here? Is Az-Zubair here? Is Sa'd here? They said: Yes. He said: I adjure you by Allah, beside Whom there is none worthy of worship, are you aware that the Messenger of Allah said: Whoever buys the Mirbad of Banu so and so, Allah will forgive him, and I bought it for twenty or twenty-five thousand, then I came to the Messenger of Allah and told him, and he said: Add it to our Masjid and the reward for it will be yours? They said: By Allah, yes. He said: 'I adjure you by Allah, beside Whom there is none worthy of worship, are you aware that the Messenger of Allah said: Whoever buys the well of Rumah, Allah will forgive him, so I bought it for such and such an amount, then I came to the Messenger of Allah and told him, and he said: Give it to provide water for the Muslims, and the reward for it will be yours?' They said: By Allah, yes. He said: 'I adjure you by Allah, beside Whom there is none worthy of worship, are you aware that the Messenger of Allah said: Whoever equips these (men), Allah will forgive him, -meaning the army of Al-'Usrah (i.e. Tabuk)- so I equipped them until they were not lacking even a rope or a bridle?' They said: By Allah, yes. He said: O Allah, bear witness, O Allah, bear witness."

It was narrated that Thumamah bin Hazn Al-Qushairi said

"I was present at the house when 'Uthman looked out over them and said: 'I adjure you by Allah and by Islam, are you aware that when the Messenger of Allah came to Al-Madinah, and it had no water that was considered sweet (suitable for drinking) except the well of Rumah, he said: "Who will buy the well of Rumah and dip his bucket in it alongside the buckets of the Muslims, in return for a better one in Paradise?" and I bought it with my capital and dipped my bucket into it alongside the buckets of the Muslims? Yet today you are preventing me from drinking from it, so that I have to drink salty water.' They said: 'By Allah, yes.' He said: 'I adjure you by Allah and by Islam, are you aware that I equipped the army of Al-'Usrah (Tabuk) from my own wealth?' They said: 'By Allah, yes.' He said: 'I adjure you by Allah and by Islam, are you aware that when the Masjid became too small for the people and the Messenger of Allah said: Who will buy the plot of the family of so and so and add it to the Masjid, in return for a better plot in Paradise? I bought it with my capital and added it to the Masjid? Yet now you are preventing me from praying two Rak'ahs therein.' They said: 'By Allah, yes.' He said: 'I adjure you by Allah and by Islam, are you aware that when the Messenger of Allah was atop Thabir -the Thabir in Makkah- and with him were Abu Bakr, 'Umar and myself, the mountain shook, and the Messenger of Allah kicked it with his foot and said: Be still, Thabir, for upon you are a Prophet, a Siddiq and two martyrs?' They said: 'By Allah, yes.' He said: 'Allahu Akbar! They have testified for me, by the Lord of the Ka'bah' -i.e., that I am a martyr."

It was narrated from Abu Salamah bin 'Abdur-Rahman that 'Uthman looked out over them when they besieged him and said

"By Allah, I adjure a man who heard the Messenger of Allah, on the day when the mountain shook with him, and he kicked it with his foot and said: 'Be still, for there is no one upon you but a Prophet or a Siddiq or two martyrs,' and I was with him." Some men responded and affirmed that. Then he said: "By Allah, I adjure a man who witnessed the Messenger of Allah, on the day of Bai'at Al-Ridwan, say: 'This is the Hand of Allah and this is the hand of 'Uthman.'" Some men responded and affirmed that. He said: "By Allah, I adjure a man who heard the Messenger of Allah say, on the day of the army of Al-'Usrah (i.e. Tabuk): 'Who will spend and it will be accepted?' And I equipped half of the army from my own wealth." Some men responded and affirmed that. Then he said: "By Allah, I adjure a man who heard the Messenger of Allah say: 'Who will add to this Masjid in return for a house in Paradise,' and I bought it with my own wealth." Some men responded and affirmed that. Then he said: "By Allah, I adjure a man who witness Rumah being sold, and I bought it from my own wealth and allowed wayfarers to use it." Some men responded and affirmed that.

It was narrated that 'Abdur-Rahman Al-Sulami said

"When 'Uthman was besieged in his house, the people gathered around his house and he looked out over them" and he quoted the same Hadith.