The Prophet said, "The upper hand is better than the lower hand (i.e. he who gives in charity is better than him who takes it). One should start giving first to his dependents. And the best object of charity is that which is given by a wealthy person (from the money which is left after his expenses). And whoever abstains from asking others for some financial help, Allah will give him and save him from asking others, Allah will make him self-sufficient."

Umar said to him: The Ka'bah does not need your property. Make atonement for your oath and speak to your brother. I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: An oath or vow to disobey the Lord, or to break ties of relationship or about something over which one has no control is not binding on you.

A man alighted at Harrah with his wife and children. A man said (to him): My she-camel has strayed; if you find it, detain it.

He found it, but did not find its owner, and it fell ill. His wife said: Slaughter it. But he refused and it died.

She said: Skin it so that we may dry its fat and flesh and then eat them.

He said: Let me ask the Messenger of Allah (saws). So he came to him (the Prophet) and asked him. He said: Have you sufficient for your needs? He replied: No. He then said: Then eat it.

Then its owner came and he told him the story. He said: Why did you not slaughter it? He replied: I was ashamed (or afraid) of you.

"The Prophet said, 'The best alms is that which is given when one is rich, and a giving hand is better than a taking one, and you should start first to support your dependents.' A wife says, 'You should either provide me with food or divorce me.' A slave says, 'Give me food and enjoy my service." A son says, "Give me food; to whom do you leave me?" The people said, "O Abu Huraira! Did you hear that from Allah's Apostle ?" He said, "No, it is from my own self."

The Prophet used to say, "O Allah! I seek refuge with You from laziness from geriatric old age, from being in debt, and from committing sins. O Allah! I seek refuge with You from the punishment of the Fire, the afflictions of the grave, the punishment in the grave, and the evil of the affliction of poverty and from the evil of the affliction caused by Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal. O Allah! Wash away my sins with the water of snow and hail, and cleanse my heart from the sins as a white garment is cleansed of filth, and let there be a far away distance between me and my sins as You have set far away the East and the West from each other."

`Amr bin Taghlib said, "Some property was given to the Prophet and he gave it to some people and withheld it from some others. Then he came to know that they (the latter) were dissatisfied. So the Prophet said, 'I give to one man and leave (do not give) another, and the one to whom I do not give is dearer to me than the one to whom I give. I give to some people because of the impatience and discontent present in their hearts, and leave other people because of the content and goodness Allah has bestowed on them, and one of them is `Amr bin Taghlib." `Amr bin Taghlib said, "The sentence which Allah's Apostle said in my favor is dearer to me than the possession of nice red camels."

I asked `Aisha "Did the Prophet forbid eating the meat of sacrifices offered on `Id-ul-Adha for more than three days" She said, "The Prophet did not do this except in the year when the people were hungry, so he wanted the rich to feed the poor. But later we used to store even a trotter of a sheep to eat it fifteen days later." She was asked, "What compelled you to do so?" She smiled and said, "The family of Muhammad did not eat to their satisfaction white bread with meat soup for three successive days till he met Allah."

The Prophet used to say, "O Allah! I seek refuge with You from laziness and geriatric old age, from all kinds of sins and from being in debt; from the trial and affliction of the grave and from the punishment in the grave; from the affliction of the Fire and from the punishment of the Fire; and from the evil of the affliction of wealth; and I seek refuge with You from the affliction of poverty, and I seek refuge with You from the affliction of Al-Mesiah Ad-Dajjal. O Allah! Wash away my sins with the water of snow and hail, and cleanse my heart from all the sins as a white garment is cleansed from the filth, and let there be a long distance between me and my sins, as You made East and West far from each other."

The Prophet used to say, 'O Allah! I seek refuge with You from the affliction of the Fire, the punishment of the Fire, the affliction of the grave, the punishment of the grave, and the evil of the affliction of poverty. O Allah! I seek refuge with You from the evil of the affliction of Al-Masih Ad- Dajjal, O Allah! Cleanse my heart with the water of snow and hail, and cleanse my heart from all sins as a white garment is cleansed from filth, and let there be a far away distance between me and my sins as You made the East and West far away from each other. O Allah! I seek refuge with You from laziness, sins, and from being in debt."

The Prophet (saws) said: He who begs (from people) when he is affluent will come on the Day of Resurrection with scrapes, scratchings, or lacerations on his face. He was asked: What constitutes affluence, Messenger of Allah? He replied:It is fifty dirhams or its value in gold.

The narrator Yahya said: Abdullah ibn Sufyan said to Sufyan: I remember that Shu'bah does not narrate from Hakim ibn Jubayr. Sufyan said: Zubayr transmitted to us this tradition from Muhammad ibn AbdurRahman ibn Yazid.

When the verse: "O ye who believe! eat not up your property among yourselves in vanities, but let there be amongst you traffic and trade by mutual good will" was revealed, a man thought it a sin to eat in the house of another man after the revelation of this verse.

Then this (injunction) was revealed by the verse in Surat an-Nur: "No blame on you whether you eat in company or separately."

When a rich man (after revelation) invited a man from his people to eat food in his house, he would say: I consider it a sin to eat from it, and he said: a poor man is more entitled to it than I. The Arabic word tajannah means sin or fault. It was then declared lawful to eat something on which the name of Allah was mentioned, and it was made lawful to eat the flesh of an animal slaughtered by the people of the Book.

Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr that A'isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Abu Bakr as-Siddiq gave me palm trees whose produce was twenty awsuq from his property at al-Ghaba. When he was dying, he said, 'By Allah, little daughter, there is no one I would prefer to be wealthy after I die than you. There is no one it is more difficult for me to see poor after I die than you. I gave you palm-trees whose produce is twenty awsuq. Had you cut them and taken possession of them, they would have been yours, but today they are the property of the heirs, and they are your two brothers and your two sisters, so divide it according to the Book of Allah.' A'isha continued, "I said, 'My father! By Allah, even if it had been more, I would have left it. There is only Asma. Who is my other sister?" Abu Bakr replied, 'What is in the womb of Kharija? (Kharija was the wife of Abu Bakr's 'brother' from the Ansar.) I think that it is going to be a girl.' "

Allah's Apostle gave (gifts) to some people to the exclusion of some others. The latter seemed to be displeased by that. The Prophet said, "I give to some people, lest they should deviate from True Faith or lose patience, while I refer other people to the goodness and contentment which Allah has put in their hearts, and `Amr bin Taghlib is amongst them." `Amr bin Taghlib said, "The statement of Allah's Apostle is dearer to me than red camels." Narrated Al-Hasan: `Amr bin Taghlib told us that Allah's Apostle got some property or some war prisoners and he distributed them in the above way (i.e. giving to some people to the exclusion of others) .

Some property or something was brought to Allah's Apostle and he distributed it. He gave to some men and ignored the others. Later he got the news of his being admonished by those whom he had ignored. So he glorified and praised Allah and said, "Amma ba'du. By Allah, I may give to a man and ignore another, although the one whom I ignore is more beloved to me than the one whom I give. But I give to some people as I feel that they have no patience and no contentment in their hearts and I leave those who are patient and self-content with the goodness and wealth which Allah has put into their hearts and `Amr bin Taghlib is one of them." `Amr added, By Allah! Those words of Allah's Apostle are more beloved to me than the best red camels.

When `Abdur-Rahman bin `Auf came to Medina, the Prophet established a bond of brotherhood between him and Sa`d bin Ar-Rabi al-Ansari. Sa`d was a rich man, so he said to `Abdur-Rahman, "I will give you half of my property and will help you marry." `Abdur-Rahman said (to him), "May Allah bless you in your family and property. Show me the market." So `Abdur-Rahman did not return from the market) till he gained some dried buttermilk (yogurt) and butter (through trading). He brought that to his house-hold. We stayed for sometime (or as long as Allah wished), and then `Abdur-Rahman came, scented with yellowish perfume. The Prophet said (to him) "What is this?" He replied, "I got married to an Ansari woman." The Prophet asked, "What did you pay her?" He replied, "A gold stone or gold equal to the weight of a date stone." The Prophet said (to him), "Give a wedding banquet even if with one sheep."

Malik said, "The position with us concerning the dividing up of zakat is that it is up to the individual judgement of the man in charge (wali). Whichever categories of people are in most need and are most numerous are given preference, according to how the man in charge sees fit. It is possible that that may change after one year, or two, or more, but it is always those who are in need and are most numerous that are given preference, whatever category they may belong to. This is what I have seen done by people of knowledge with which I am satisifed."

Malik said, "There is no fixed share for the collector of the zakat, except according to what the imam sees fit."

Once `Umar (bin Al-Khattab) said to the companions of the Prophet "What do you think about this Verse:--"Does any of you wish that he should have a garden?" They replied, "Allah knows best." `Umar became angry and said, "Either say that you know or say that you do not know!" On that Ibn `Abbas said, "O chief of the believers! I have something in my mind to say about it." `Umar said, "O son of my brother! Say, and do not under estimate yourself." Ibn `Abbas said, "This Verse has been set up as an example for deeds." `Umar said, "What kind of deeds?" Ibn `Abbas said, "For deeds." `Umar said, "This is an example for a rich man who does goods out of obedience of Allah and then Allah sends him Satan whereupon he commits sins till all his good deeds are lost."

While we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (saws) a man brought him some gold equal in weight to an egg, and said: Messenger of Allah, I have got this from a mine; take it; it is sadaqah. I have no more than this. The Messenger of Allah (saws) turned his attention from him. Then he came to him from his right side and repeated the same words. But he (the Prophet) turned his attention from him. He then came to him from his left side and repeated the same words. But he (again) turned his attention from him. He then came to him from behind. The Messenger of Allah (saws) took it and threw it away. Had it hit him, it would have hurt him or wounded him. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: One of you brings all that he possesses and says: This is sadaqah. Then he sits down and spreads his hand before the people. The best sadaqah is that which leaves a competence.

It was narrated that as-Sa`ib bin Yazeed said: `Umar met `Abdullah bin as-Sa`di... and he mentioned a similar report, but he said: “Give it in charity,” and he said: “Do not hanker after it.`

I, al-Abbas, Fatimah and Zayd ibn Harithah gathered with the Prophet (saws) and I said: Messenger of Allah, if you think to assign us our right (portion) in this fifth ( of the booty) as mentioned in the Book of Allah, and this I may divide during your lifetime so that no one may dispute me after you, then do it. He said: He did that. He said: I divided it during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (saws). AbuBakr then assigned it to me. During the last days of the caliphate of Umar a good deal of property came to him and took out our portion. I said to him: We are well to do this year; but the Muslims are needy, so return it to them. He, therefore, returned it to them. No one called me after Umar. I met al-Abbas when I came out from Umar. He said: Ali, today you have deprived us of a thing that will never be returned to us. He was indeed a man of wisdom.

Uyaynah ibn Hisn and Aqra' ibn Habis came to the Messenger of Allah (saws). They begged from him. He commanded to give them what they begged. He ordered Mu'awiyah to write a document to give what they begged. Aqra' took his document, wrapped it in his turban, and went away.

As for Uyaynah, he took his document and came to the Prophet (saws) at his home, and said to him: Muhammad, do you see me? I am taking a document to my people, but I do not know what it contains, just like the document of al-Mutalammis. Mu'awiyah informed the Messenger of Allah (saws) of his statement.

Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: He who begs (from people) when he has sufficient is simply asking for a large amount of Hell-fire. (An-Nufayl (a transmitter) said elsewhere: "embers of Hell".)

They asked: Messenger of Allah, what is a sufficiency? (Elsewhere an-Nufayl said: What is a sufficiency which makes begging unfitting?)

He replied: It is that which would provide a morning and an evening meal. (Elsewhere an-Nufayl said: It is when one has enough for a day and night, or for a night and a day.) He (an-Nufayl) narrated to us this tradition briefly in the words that I have mentioned.

The people complained to the Messenger of Allah (saws) of the lack of rain, so he gave an order for a pulpit. It was then set up for him in the place of prayer. He fixed a day for the people on which they should come out.

Aisha said: The Messenger of Allah (saws), when the rim of the sun appeared, sat down on the pulpit, and having pronounced the greatness of Allah and expressed His praise, he said: You have complained of drought in your homes, and of the delay in receiving rain at the beginning of its season. Allah has ordered you to supplicate Him has and promised that He will answer your prayer.

Then he said: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Universe, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the Master of the Day of Judgment. There is no god but Allah Who does what He wishes. O Allah, Thou art Allah, there is no deity but Thou, the Rich, while we are the poor. Send down the rain upon us and make what Thou sendest down a strength and satisfaction for a time.

He then raised his hands, and kept raising them till the whiteness under his armpits was visible. He then turned his back to the people and inverted or turned round his cloak while keeping his hands aloft. He then faced the people, descended and prayed two rak'ahs.

Allah then produced a cloud, and the storm of thunder and lightning came on. Then the rain fell by Allah's permission, and before he reached his mosque streams were flowing. When he saw the speed with which the people were seeking shelter, he (saws) laughed till his back teeth were visible.

Then he said: I testify that Allah is Omnipotent and that I am Allah's servant and apostle.

Abu Dawud said: This is a ghraib (rate) tradition, but its chain is sound. The people of Medina recite "maliki" (instead of maaliki) yawm al-din" (the master of the Day of Judgement). But this tradition (in which the word maalik occurs) is an evidence for them.