٧٠. عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«لَأَنْ يَتَصَدَّقَ الْمَرْءُ فِي حَيَاتِهِ بِدِرْهَمٍ خَيْرٌ لَهُ مِنْ أنْ يَتَصَدَّقَ بِمِائَةِ دِرْهَمٍ عِنْدَ مَوْتِهِ».
70. Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (r.a.) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said the following:
“A man giving a dirham as sadaqah (charity) during his life is better than giving one hundred dirhams as sadaqah (charity) at the moment of his death.” (Abu Dawud, Wasaya, 3/2866)
Explanations:
Sadaqah (charity) is considered the best way of doing goodness because of its benefits to individuals and the society. Indeed under the previous title, we have mentioned many narratives concerning the blessings and benefits of sadaqah. Therefore, one must hurry to benefit from such an important act of worship. This was one of the distinguishing attributes of the Messenger of Allah, who was always the leading figure in all good deeds. In the first and second hadith, we have seen examples of how the Messenger of Allah used to hurry in giving charity. When the planned charity is postponed, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) got worried and he got up and went home leaving the congregation right after the prayer even if he did not typically used to act in this way. He explained the reason for this when he returned as:
“I remembered that there were some goods in our room saved to be given as charity, and I hastened to order that they should be distributed among the poor so that it would not prevent me to turn to Allah, and also I should not worry about giving the account of postponing it on the Judgment Day.”
One should hurry when he intends to do a good deed.For disasters may ruin the wealth or other obstacles may come up. Most important of all, no one knows when death will come. Therefore, it is not right to postpone performing good deeds and thinking about doing it later. Another point is that everything is better in their times; they would not have any value after their time passes. Because of this, our ancestors said “do not postpone the good deed of the morning to the night!”
In various occasions, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) forbade walking in hurry in the mosques and stepping on the shoulders of those who are sitting. However, it is understood from the second hadith that he encouraged to hurry in giving charity and performing good deeds. This explains how much one should hurry in performing good deeds and giving charities.
One of the most important benefits of the charity is to beautify human soul by purifying it and to strengthen the donor’s faith. One needs this benefit of sadaqah most during his youth and prime years. Young people who are in the best years of their life think that they should earn more to raise their kids. For this reason, they tend to save more and be stingy. Satan also scares one with poverty and discourages giving sadaqah and charity (Al-Baqarah; 2:268)
To be able to give charity by opposing the inner self in such feelings is something hard to accomplish. It is also considered as the best type of sadaqah since it is very influential in disciplining the inner self. On the other hand charity given in this period of life shows that the person prefers the Hereafter over this world and performs his deeds with a tranquil heart and sincerity. The good deeds postponed to a time when all hopes are gone indicate that the person acted selfish and preferred himself over his heirs. Their benefits would be little even if Allah rewards them. That is because they have seen the end of the tunnel and lost their hopes from this world.
If someone gives alms in his young age by overcoming all of the difficulties, he benefits more but if he postpones it to the last minute, he loses. That is because death may catch him before he gets a chance to give alms. After that, even if he wants to give alms, he can not make others listen to him. As a matter of fact, his wealth would already be about to change hands. Now, the wealth that he has not spent due to his greed and love had fallen into hands of others’ ambitions and desires. Therefore, a smart person should hurry in performing good deeds when his health is alright and prepare himself for the Hereafter. If a person does not personally do a good deed, he should not expect others to do it on his behalf. What did he do for his ancestors to deserve to expect something from his heirs? One must not forget that wealth spent in the way of Allah is his real wealth and the wealth saved for himself becomes others’ at the very end.
The following narration is so meaningful and supports our point:
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“Allah the Almighty says:
“O Son of Adam! How would you think that you could incapacitate Me?! As a matter of fact, I have created you from a spit of water and shaped you in a perfect and the most appropriate form in every aspect. You have walked on earth in greed and arrogance within embellished clothing. You have buried your children alive. (In other words, you have committed such major sins) You have saved wealth and did not share it. You say “I give charity” at your last breath. Is this the time to give charity?” (Ahmad, IV, 210. Also see Ibn Majah, Wasaya, 4; Hakim, II, 545/3855)
Since the mystery of testing starts to become clear at the last moments of one’s life, the time for some acts ends and the deeds that were very valuable before do not mean a lot anymore. Pointing out to this side of the issue, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) informed us that the sadaqah given at the death bed is not even as valuable as one hundredth of a charity given on time.
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) described those who come to their senses at the last minute as follows:
“A man who emancipates a slave (or gives charity) at the time of his death is like a man who gives the remaining food as present after satisfying his appetite.” (Abu Dawud, Kitab Al-‘Itq, 15/3968; Tirmidhi, Wasaya, 7/2123)
Usage of the term “to give as a present” is to show how ridiculous the situation of such people is. That is because those people think only themselves with selfish feelings, and accept to share things with others only when they are full and satisfied and do not need them anymore.
Another important issue regarding charity ordered to be given at the death bed is that such charity becomes a will. A person who wants to give charity in this state has the right of use only in one third of his wealth. Transactions exceeding this limit require the permission of the heirs. Besides, it is not permissible to give charity just to harm the heirs even if the amount does not exceed one third of the wealth. The Righteous Predecessors (Salaf al-Salihin) said about those who like to show off and act wastefully:
“They rebel against Allah twice with their wealth. First, they are acting stingily when they have the money in this world. Second, they are wasting their wealth by distributing it on their death bed after they have already lost their right over it.” (Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari, V, 374/2597)
The following noble verse from the Qur’an is so alarming and eye-opening. It expresses the regret of those at the time of death who did not give charity in time and earn rewards for Hereafter:
“And spend something (in charity) out of the substance which We have bestowed on you, before death should come to any of you and he should say, “O my Lord! Why did You not give me respite for a little while? I should then have given (largely) in charity, and I should have been one of the doers of good”.” (Al-Munafiqun; 63:10)
Apart from that, if a good heir comes and gives charity on behalf of his ancestors, Allah accepts that as well:
According to the narration of Abdurrahman bin Abi Amra, once his mother had wanted to emancipate a slave and postponed it till the next morning. However, she had passed away before the morning. Abdurrahman came to Qasim b. Muhammad and asked:
“If I emancipate a slave in the name of my mother, would she benefit from it?”
Qasim answered:
“Once Sa’d bin Ubada came to the Messenger of Allah and asked:
“My mother passed away and if I emancipate a slave in her name, would she benefit from it?”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“Yes!” (Muwatta, Kitab Al-‘Itq, 13)
Aisha (r.anha) narrated that a person came to the Messenger of Allah and asked:
“My mother unexpectedly passed away. I believe that if she could talk she would give charity. Can I give charity in her name?”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“Yes, give charity in her name!” (Bukhari, Wasaya, 19; Abu Dawud, Wasaya, 15/2881)