٧٣. عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«لَمَّا خَلَقَ اللّٰهُ الْأَرْضَ جَعَلَتْ تَمِيدُ فَخَلَقَ الْجِبَالَ فَعَادَ بِهَا عَلَيْهَا فَاسْتَقَرَّتْ فَعَجِبَتِ الْمَلَائِكَةُ مِنْ شِدَّةِ الْجِبَالِ قَالُوا: يَا رَبِّ هَلْ مِنْ خَلْقِكَ شَيْءٌ أَشَدُّ مِنَ الْجِبَالِ؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ اَلْحَدِيدُ قَالُوا: يَا رَبِّ فَهَلْ مِنْ خَلْقِكَ شَيْءٌ أَشَدُّ مِنَ الْحَدِيدِ؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ اَلنَّارُ فَقَالُوا: يَا رَبِّ فَهَلْ مِنْ خَلْقِكَ شَيْءٌ أَشَدُّ مِنَ النَّارِ؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ اَلْمَاءُ قَالُوا: يَا رَبِّ فَهَلْ مِنْ خَلْقِكَ شَيْءٌ أَشَدُّ مِنَ الْمَاءِ؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ اَلرِّيحُ قَالُوا: يَا رَبِّ فَهَلْ مِنْ خَلْقِكَ شَيْءٌ أَشَدُّ مِنَ الرِّيحِ؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ اِبْنُ آدَمَ تَصَدَّقَ بِصَدَقَةٍ بِيَمِينِهِ يُخْفِيهَا مِنْ شِمَالِهِ».
73. Anas bin Malik (r.a.) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“When Allah the Exalted has created the Earth, it started to shake. Upon that Allah has created mountains and placed them on earth and stabilized it. Angels were fascinated with the power of the mountains. They asked:
“O our Lord, have You created a more powerful creature than mountains?” Allah said:
“Yes, I have created the iron.”
“O our Lord, have You created something more powerful than the iron?” they asked. Allah the Exalted said:
“Yes, I have created the fire.” They asked:
“O our Lord, have You created something more powerful than the fire?” Allah the Exalted said:
“Yes, I have created the water!”
“O our Lord, have You created something more powerful than the water?” they asked and He answered:
“Yes, I have created the wind.” They asked:
“O our Lord, have You created something that is more powerful than the wind?” Allah said:
“Yes, I have created the humankind. If he gives charity with his right hand and keeps it secret even from his left hand, (he becomes more powerful than all of the mentioned above).” (Tirmidhi, Tafsir, 113-114/3369; Baihaqi, Shuab, III, 244)
Explanations:
Since the charity given for the sake of Allah reaches Allah before it reaches to the poor, one must be careful about the quality of the goods saved for zakat and charity. On the other hand, the quality of a person’s charity should be as good as he would like it to be if he were the receiver. When one thinks like this, he is expected to give the best of his propert as zakat and sadaqah; however, Allah is so merciful to His servants that He informed us that He accepts our charities from the middle quality of our goods.
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“…when paying the zakat, one should not give an aged animal, nor one suffering from itch or ailing, and one most condemned, but one should give animals of medium quality (to have the taste of faith), for Allah did not demand from you the best of your animals, nor did He command you to give the animals of worst quality.” (Abu Dawud, Zakat, 5/1582)
When Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) sent Muadh to Yemen, he told him to invite them to believe in Allah, perform five-daily prayers, and pay their zakat, and he added:
“Avoid taking the best of their possessions (as zakat)! Be afraid of the curse of an oppressed person because there is no screen between his invocation and Allah.” (Bukhari, Zakat, 63; Maghazi, 60; Tawhid, 1; Muslim, Iman, 29, 31)
Allah warned those who save the worst part of their property as zakat and charity ignoring all these blessings and mercy of Allah the Almighty. Bara b. Azib (r.a.) narrated:
Ansar used to hang bunches of dates to a rope tied between two columns of Masjid al-Nabawi during the harvest time and the needy Muslim immigrants used to come and eat from them. Some ansar left dates with poor quality among the others by looking at the abundance of dates and thinking that it would not matter. Allah the Almighty revealed the following verse about those who acted like this:
“O you who believe! Give of the good things which you have (honorably) earned, and of the fruits of the earth which We have produced for you, and do not even aim at getting anything which is bad, in order that out of it you may give away something, when you yourselves would not receive it except with closed eyes. And know that Allah is Free of all wants, and worthy of all praise.” (Al-Baqarah; 2:267) (Wahidi, p. 90)
In the first hadith, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) informed us that those who gave dates with poor quality as charity even if they could afford the better ones will be punished in Hereafter. Since the punishment will be in terms of the sin done, those who bring dates with poor quality will be fed by bad things in the Hereafter. As a matter of fact, even the best blessings of this world would be like pain compared to the unimaginable fruits of Paradise. One must imagine how unfortunate it is to eat dates with poor quality there! Therefore, one must never find it acceptable to give things to the poor which he himself would not like.
One day Aisha (r.anha) wanted to give a piece of meat as sadaqah which smelled a little different.
The Prophet (pbuh) told her:
“Are you going to give something that you are not going to eat yourself?!” (Haythami, III, 113)
Again our mother Aisha asked the following question about a food that the Messenger of Allah did not like:
“O the Messenger of Allah, is it acceptable if we give it to the needy?”
The Noble Prophet (pbuh) said:
“Do not give them something that you would not eat!” (Ahmad, VI, 105, 123; Haythami, III, 113; IV, 37)
Even if giving sadaqah is a good deed under all conditions, it is considered better if it is done secretly. Allah the Almighty says:
“If you disclose (acts of) charity, even so it is well, but if you conceal them, and make them reach those (really) in need, that is best for you: It will remove from you some of your (stains of) evil. And Allah is well acquainted with what you do.” (Al-Baqarah; 2:271)
In the following Qur’anic verse, the words “night” and “secret” come before the words “day” and “publicly” to emphasize the importance of giving charity secretly:
“Those who (in charity) spend of their goods by night and by day, in secret and in public, have their reward with their Lord: on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (Al-Baqarah; 2:274)
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) put a lot of emphasis upon the importance of giving charity secretly. That is because giving it secretly both protects the donor from the temptations of the carnal-self and also saves the receiver from embarrassment. In order to encourage this, we are informed that those who give charity in such a manner that “the left hand would not know what the right hand gives” will be forgiven and will be under the shade of Heaven in the fearsome moments of the Day of Judgment. (Al-Baqarah; 2:271; Bukhari, Adhan, 36)
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said about another benefit of giving sadaqah in secret:
“A sadaqah that is given in secret extinguishes the anger of Allah.” (Baihaqi, Shuab, III, 244; VI, 255; Haythami, III, 115)
Moreover, those who give sadaqah secretly gain the love of Allah. This is expressed in another hadith:
“…A man comes to a community and asks for something not because he is related to them but only in the name of Allah. They don’t give what he asks for. One of them slowly and secretly goes towards the rear of the community and gives something to the man. (He gives so secretly that) only Allah and the man who received the goods knows about it. (Allah loves this person)…” (Tirmidhi, Jannah, 25/2568; Nasai, Zakat, 75/2568)
In our third hadith, it is expressed how much power and strength that a secretly given sadaqah provides humans. As a matter of fact, giving sadaqah secretly requires a strength that is more than what mountains, fire, water, and wind have. That is because acting in this manner requires overcoming greediness and desire to be known by opposing the inner-self and casting Satan down. This indeed is a very difficult thing to do. On the other hand, when a believer gives sadaqah in secret, Allah protects him with the blessing of the sadaqah from disasters that may come from mountains, iron, fire, water, wind, and such.
Also, sadaqah given in secret connects the heart of a believer to Allah with such a strong bond that with this bond the believer becomes more powerful than anything else. The spiritual power of those with strong spiritual lives is an example of this. As a matter of fact, about them is said:
هِمَّةُ الرِّجَالِ تَقْلَعُ الْجِبَالَ
“The favor of the friends of Allah knocks the mountains down.”
If no such problematic issues exist, then it is permissible to give sadaqah in public. Furthermore under some circumstance, it may even be better to give sadaqah in public. Under such circumstances, one does not have to give sadaqah in secret. On the other hand, Muslim scholars considered that it is better to give the obligatory zakat in public and supererogatory sadaqah in secret.
There are other manners that must be followed when giving sadaqah. Some of them can be listed as follows:
1. Those who give sadaqah should personally give it to the poor. According to Abdullah bin Abbas’s narration, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) did not have anyone give sadaqah on his behalf, but rather he preferred to give it personally. (Ibn Majah, Taharah, 30)
Companion Harise b. Numan (r.a.) had lost his eyesight. He tied a rope from his prayer room to the door of his living room and placed next to him a basket that had dates and other things in it. When someone poor passed by and saluted him, he would take something from the basket, come to the door holding from the rope and give it to the poor personally.
Whenever his family said:
“We can give it on your behalf,” he would respond:
“I heard the Prophet (pbuh) saying:
“Giving sadaqah personally to the poor saves one from dying in an unfortunate way.” (Ibn Sa’d, III, 488; Tabarani, Kabir, III, 229, 231; Haythami, III, 112)
2. One should not nullify the rewards of his charity by unwanted reminders of his generosity to the receiver and hurting him. Allah strongly forbids acting in such an unpleasant manner. (Al-Baqarah; 2:262-264) (Al-Insan; 76:8-11)
As a matter of fact, the donor should thank the receivers of his zakat or sadaqah. That is because by taking them, the poor ensures that the donor fulfills his responsibility and gain divine rewards.
3. Another important issue is not to return from sadaqah and alms after giving it. Indeed, in order to discourage people from this, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said that:
“Those who take their sadaqah back are compared to a dog that eats his vomit.” (Muslim, Hibat 5)
Umar (r.a.) narrated:
I had given a horse to a person who fights in the name of Allah. That person did not take good care of the horse and the horse lost weight. Then, I thought that he would sell it for cheap and wanted to buy the horse back from him. I asked this to the Prophet.
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“Never buy it! Even if he sells it for one dirham, do not take your sadaqah back! That is because those who take their sadaqah back are like a dog that eats his vomit.” (Bukhari, Zakat, 59; Hibat, 29, 37; Jihad, 119, 137; Muslim, Hibat, 1-2; Muwatta, Zakat, 49)
4. The most important one is to give sadaqah sincerely and with good intentions, and only for the sake of Allah. The alms that are given to show off or for other worldly benefits would be a waste and do not benefit the donor. (Al-Baqarah; 2:264)
The following are said in the noble verses of Qur’an:
“And they feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive, (Saying), “We feed you for the sake of Allah alone: no reward do we desire from you, nor thanks.” “We only fear a Day of distressful Wrath from the side of our Lord.” But Allah will deliver them from the evil of that Day, and will shed over them a Light of Beauty and (blissful) Joy.” (Al-Insan; 76:8-11)
In this verse the praised servants of Allah are those who are so sincere and humble in their act of giving that even if they internally say “…We feed you for the sake of Allah alone…” they never say this out loud to the face of the poor, and it is as if they reflect this fact in their acts. In order to point out this nuance, the word “saying” is not explicitly mentioned in the verse.