The Book of Zakah

Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna reported: Yahya narrated to us, from Ibn Ajlan, who said: I heard my father relate from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: There are three to whom Allah, Mighty and Majestic, will not speak on the Day of Resurrection: an old man who commits fornication, a destitute man who is conceited, and a lying ruler.

Abu Dawud reported: Arim narrated to us: Hammad narrated to us: Ubayd Allah ibn Umar narrated to us, from Saeed al-Maqburi, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Four are disliked by Allah, Mighty and Majestic: a seller who swears oaths repeatedly, a poor man who is conceited, an old man who commits fornication, and an unjust ruler.

Amr ibn Mansur reported: Abd Allah ibn Maslamah narrated to us: Malik narrated to us, from Thawr ibn Zayd al-Dayli, from Abu al-Ghayth, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: The one who strives on behalf of the widow and the poor is like one who strives in the path of Allah, Mighty and Majestic.

Hannad ibn al-Sari reported from Abu al-Ahwas, from Saeed ibn Masruq, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Num, from Abu Saeed al-Khudri, who said: While Ali was in Yemen, he sent a small piece of gold, along with its raw material, to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ divided it among four men: al-Aqra ibn Habis al-Hanzali; Uyaynah ibn Badr al-Fazari; Alqamah ibn Ulathah al-Amiri, then one man from Banu Kilab; and Zayd al-TaI, then one man from Banu Nabhan. Quraysh became angry—or, in another wording, the leading men of Quraysh—and said: You give to the leading men of Najd and leave us? He said: I did that only to win them over. Then a man with a thick beard, prominent cheekbones, sunken eyes, a protruding forehead, and a shaved head came and said: Fear Allah, O Muhammad. He said: Who would obey Allah if I disobeyed Him? Would He entrust me with the people of the earth while you do not trust me? Then the man turned away. A man from the group asked permission to kill him; they thought he was Khalid ibn al-Walid. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: From the stock of this man there will be a people who recite the Quran, but it does not pass beyond their throats. They kill the people of Islam and leave the people of idols. They will pass out of Islam as an arrow passes through its quarry. If I live to meet them, I will kill them with a killing like that of Aad.

Yahya ibn Habib ibn Arabi reported from Hammad, from Harun ibn Riab, who said: Kinanah ibn Nuaim related to me. [A second chain:] Ali ibn Hujr reported—and this is the wording—from Ismail, from Ayyub, from Harun, from Kinanah ibn Nuaim, from Qabisah ibn Mukhariq, who said: I undertook a financial liability and came to the Prophet ﷺ to ask him for help with it. He said: Asking is not lawful except for three people: a man who undertakes a financial liability among a group of people and asks for help with it until he pays it off, then he must stop.

Muhammad ibn al-Nadr ibn Musawir reported: Hammad narrated to us, from Harun ibn Riab, who said: Kinanah ibn Nuaim narrated to me, from Qabisah ibn Mukhariq, who said: I undertook a financial liability and came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to ask him for help with it. He said: Wait, Qabisah, until charity comes to us, and we will order that something be given to you. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: O Qabisah, charity is lawful only for one of three: a man who undertakes a financial liability; asking is lawful for him until he obtains basic subsistence or sufficient support, then he must stop; a man who suffers a calamity that consumes his wealth; asking is lawful for him until he recovers, then he must stop; and a man struck by poverty, until three discerning people from his community testify that so-and-so has been struck by poverty. Asking is lawful for him until he obtains basic subsistence or sufficient support. Anything beyond this asking, O Qabisah, is ill-gotten wealth that its recipient consumes illicitly.

Ziyad ibn Ayyub informed me: Ismail ibn Ulayyah narrated to us: Hisham narrated to us: Yahya ibn Abi Kathir narrated to me: Hilal narrated to me, from Ata ibn Yasar, from Abu Saeed al-Khudri, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sat on the pulpit, and we sat around him. He said: I fear for you, after me, the splendor that will be opened up to you. He spoke of worldly life and its adornment. A man said: Can good bring evil? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained silent, and people said to him: What is the matter with you? You speak to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, but he does not speak to you. The narrator said: We thought revelation was descending upon him. When he recovered, he wiped away the sweat and said: I call the questioner to witness: good does not bring evil. Among the things that spring growth produces are those that kill or nearly kill, except the grazing animal that eats green fodder. It eats until its flanks are distended; then it faces the sun, defecates, urinates, and grazes again. This wealth is fresh and sweet. How excellent a companion it is for a Muslim, if he gives from it to the orphan, the poor, and the wayfarer. The one who takes it without right is like one who eats but is never satisfied, and it will testify against him on the Day of Resurrection.

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Ala reported: Khalid narrated to us: Ibn Awn narrated to us, from Hafsah, from Umm al-Raih, from Salman ibn Amir, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: Charity given to a poor person is one charity, and charity given to a relative is two: charity and maintaining kinship.

Bishr ibn Khalid reported: Ghundar narrated to us, from Shuubah, from Sulayman, from Abu Wail, from Amr ibn al-Harith, from Zaynab, the wife of Abd Allah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to the women: Give charity, even from your jewelry. She said: Abd Allah had little means, so I said to him: Would it be acceptable for me to give my charity to you and to the orphaned children of a brother of mine? Abd Allah said: Ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about that. I went to the Prophet ﷺ and found at his door a woman from the Ansar named Zaynab, asking about the same thing I was asking. Bilal came out to us, and we said to him: Go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and ask him about this, but do not tell him who we are. He went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said: Who are the two women? He said: Zaynab. He said: Which Zaynabs? He said: Zaynab, the wife of Abd Allah, and Zaynab al-Ansariyyah. He said: Yes, they will both have two rewards: the reward for kinship and the reward for charity.

Abu Dawud reported: Yaqoub ibn Ibrahim narrated to us: My father narrated to us, from Salih, from Ibn Shihab, that Abu Ubayd, the freedman of Abd al-Rahman ibn Azhar, informed him that he heard Abu Hurayrah say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: For one of you to tie a bundle of firewood on his back and sell it is better than asking a man who may give to him or refuse him.

Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Hakam reported from Shuayb, from al-Layth ibn Sad, from Ubayd Allah ibn Abi Jafar, who said: I heard Hamzah ibn Abd Allah say: I heard Abd Allah ibn Umar say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: A man will keep asking until he comes on the Day of Resurrection with not a morsel of flesh on his face.

Muhammad ibn Uthman ibn Abi Safwan al-Thaqafi reported: Umayyah ibn Khalid narrated to us: Shuubah narrated to us, from Bistam ibn Muslim, from Abd Allah ibn Khalifah, from Aid ibn Amr, that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him, and he gave to him. When the man placed his foot on the threshold of the door, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: If you knew what there is in asking, no one would walk to anyone else to ask him for anything.

Qutaybah reported: al-Layth narrated to us, from Jafar ibn Rabiah, from Bakr ibn Sawadah, from Muslim ibn Makhshi, from Ibn al-Firasi, that al-Firasi said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: May I ask, O Messenger of Allah? He said: No. But if you must ask, then ask the righteous.

Qutaybah reported from Malik, from Ibn Shihab, from Ata ibn Yazid, from Abu Saeed al-Khudri, that some people from the Ansar asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for something, and he gave it to them. They asked him again, and he gave it to them, until what he had was exhausted. He said: Whatever good I have, I will never withhold from you. Whoever seeks self-restraint, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, will grant it to him; whoever strives to be patient, Allah will grant him patience. No one is given a gift better or more abundant than patience.

Ali ibn Shuayb reported: Maan informed us: Malik informed us, from Abu al-Zinad, from al-Araj, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: By the One in whose hand is my soul, for one of you to take his rope and gather firewood on his back is better for him than to go to a man whom Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has given of His bounty and ask him, whether he gives or withholds.

Amr ibn Ali reported: Yahya narrated to us: Ibn Abi Dhib narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Qays narrated to me, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid ibn Muawiyah, from Thawban, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Whoever guarantees me one thing, Paradise will be his. Yahya said: The phrase here means that he will not ask people for anything.

Hisham ibn Ammar reported: Yahya—meaning Ibn Hamzah—narrated to us: al-Awzai narrated to me, from Harun ibn Riab, who related to him from Abu Bakr, from Qabisah ibn Mukhariq, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: Asking is lawful only for three: a man whose wealth has been struck by a calamity, who asks until he obtains enough support for his livelihood, then stops; a man who undertakes a financial liability, who asks until he pays off that liability to its creditors, then stops asking; and a man for whom three discerning men from his community swear by Allah that asking has become lawful for so-and-so. He asks until he obtains enough to sustain his livelihood, then stops asking. Anything beyond that is ill-gotten wealth.

Ahmad ibn Sulayman reported: Yahya ibn Adam narrated to us: Sufyan al-Thawri narrated to us, from Hakim ibn Jubayr, from Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid, from his father, from Abd Allah ibn Masud, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Whoever asks while having enough to suffice him will come on the Day of Resurrection with scratches—or wounds—on his face. It was said: O Messenger of Allah, what is enough to suffice him? He said: Fifty dirhams, or the equivalent of that in gold. Yahya said: Sufyan also said: I heard Zubayd relate from Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid.

Al-Husayn ibn Hurayth reported: Sufyan informed us, from Amr, from Wahb ibn Munabbih, from his brother, from Muawiyah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Do not be insistent in asking. None of you should ask me for something when I am reluctant to give it to him, then expect blessing in what I give him.

Ahmad ibn Sulayman reported: Yahya ibn Adam informed us, from Sufyan ibn Uyaynah, from Dawud ibn Shabur, from Amr ibn Shuayb, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Whoever asks while he has forty dirhams is one who begs insistently.