Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Sulayman ibn Yasar that the people of Syria said to Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah, "Take zakat from our horses and slaves," and he refused. Then he wrote to Umar ibn al-Khattab and he (also) refused. Again they talked to him and again he wrote to Umar, and Umar wrote back to him saying, "If they want, take it from them and (then) give it back to them and give their slaves provision."

Malik said, "What he means, may Allah have mercy upon him, by the words 'and give it back to them' is, 'to their poor.' "

Yahya related to me from Abdullah ibn Abd ar-Rahman ibn Mamar al- Ansari that Ata ibn Yasar said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Shall I tell you who has the best degree among people? A man who takes the rein of his horse to do jihad in the way of Allah. Shall I tell you who has the best degree among people after him? A man who lives alone with a few sheep, performs the prayer, pays the zakat, and worships Allah without associating anything with him."

The Prophet offered one hundred Budn as Hadi and ordered me to distribute their meat (in charity) and I did so. Then he ordered me to distribute their covering sheets in charity and I did so. Then he ordered me to distribute their skins in charity and I did so.

"Once a delegation of `Abdul Qais came to Allah's Apostle and said, "We belong to such and such branch of the tribe of Rabi'ah and we can only come to you in the sacred months. Order us to do something good so that we may take it from you and also invite to it those whom we have left behind (at home)." So he said, "I order you to do four things and forbid you from four things: To believe in Allah" - and then he explained it to them "to testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am Allah's Apostle, to establish the prayers (at the stated times), to pay the Zakat (obligatory charity), to hand me the Khumus (fifth) if you acquire spoils of war. And I forbid from (using) Dubba, Hantam, Muqaiyyar, and Naqir (all these were utensils used for the preparation of alcoholic drinks).

`Umar bin Al-Khattab gave a horse in charity in Allah's Cause and later he saw it being sold in the market and intended to purchase it. Then he went to the Prophet and asked his permission. The Prophet said, "Do not take back what you have given in charity." For this reason, Ibn `Umar never purchased the things which he had given in charity, and in case he had purchased something (unknowingly) he would give it in charity again.

Once a bedouin came to the Prophet and asked him about the migration. The Prophet said, "Mercy of Allah be on you! The migration is a quite difficult matter. Have you got some camels?" He replied in the affirmative. Then the Prophet said, "Do you give their Zakat?" He replied in the affirmative. The Prophet said, "Do you let others benefit by their milk gratis?" He replied in the affirmative. Then the Prophet asked, "Do you milk them on their watering days and give their milk to the poor and needy?" He replied in the affirmative. The Prophet, said, "Go on doing like this from beyond the seas, and there is no doubt that Allah will not overlook any of your good deeds."

When the delegation of `Abdul Qais came to the Prophet, he said, "Welcome, O the delegation who have come! Neither you will have disgrace, nor you will regret." They said, "O Allah's Apostle! We are a group from the tribe of Ar-Rabi`a, and between you and us there is the tribe of Mudar and we cannot come to you except in the sacred months. So please order us to do something good (religious deeds) so that we may enter Paradise by doing that, and also that we may order our people who are behind us (whom we have left behind at home) to follow it." He said, "Four and four:" offer prayers perfectly , pay the Zakat, (obligatory charity), fast the month of Ramadan, and give one-fifth of the war booty (in Allah's cause), and do not drink in (containers called) Ad-Duba,' Al-Hantam, An-Naqir and Al-Muzaffat."

(the slave of Ibn `Abbas) Allah's Apostle said to Mu`adh when he sent him to Yemen, "You will go to the people of the Scripture. So, when you reach there, invite them to testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and that Muhammad is His Apostle. And if they obey you in that, tell them that Allah has enjoined on them five prayers in each day and night. And if they obey you in that tell them that Allah has made it obligatory on them to pay the Zakat which will be taken from the rich among them and given to the poor among them. If they obey you in that, then avoid taking the best of their possessions, and be afraid of the curse of an oppressed person because there is no screen between his invocation and Allah."

Allah's Apostle said to Mu`adh bin Jabal when he sent him to Yemen. "You will come to the people of Scripture, and when you reach them, invite them to testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah and that Muhammad is His Apostle. And if they obey you in that, then tell them that Allah has enjoined on them five prayers to be performed every day and night. And if they obey you in that, then tell them that Allah has enjoined on them Sadaqa (i.e. rak`at) to be taken from the rich amongst them and given to the poor amongst them. And if they obey you in that, then be cautious! Don't take their best properties (as Zakat) and be afraid of the curse of an oppressed person as there is no screen between his invocation and Allah.

We were at Mirbad. A man with dishevelled hair and holding a piece of red skin in his hand came.

We said: You appear to be a bedouin. He said: Yes. We said: Give us this piece of skin in your hand. He then gave it to us and we read it. It contained the text: "From Muhammad, Messenger of Allah (saws), to Banu Zuhayr ibn Uqaysh. If you bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, offer prayer, pay zakat, pay the fifth from the booty, and the portion of the Prophet (saws) and his special portion (safi), you will be under by the protection of Allah and His Apostle."

We then asked: Who wrote this document for you? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (saws).

In the lifetime of Allah's Apostle , `Umar gave in charity some of his property, a garden of date-palms called Thamgh. `Umar said, "O Allah's Apostle! I have some property which I prize highly and I want to give it in charity." The Prophet; said, "Give it in charity (i.e. as an endowment) with its land and trees on the condition that the land and trees will neither be sold nor given as a present, nor bequeathed, but the fruits are to be spent in charity." So `Umar gave it in charity, and it was for Allah's Cause, the emancipation of slaves, for the poor, for guests, for travelers, and for kinsmen. The person acting as its administrator could eat from it reasonably and fairly, and could let a friend of his eat from it provided he had no intention of becoming wealthy by its means.

`Ali delivered a sermon saying, "We have no book to read except the Book of Allah and what is written in this paper which contains verdicts regarding (retaliation for) wounds, the ages of the camels (given as Zakat or as blood money) and the fact that Medina is a sanctuary in between Air mountain to so-and-so (mountain). So, whoever innovates in it an heresy or commits a sin or gives shelter in it, to such an innovator will incur the Curse of Allah, the angels and all the people, and none of his compulsory or optional good deeds of worship will be accepted. And whoever (freed slave) takes as his master (i.e. befriends) other than his real masters will incur the same (Curse). And the asylum granted by any Muslim is to be secured by all the other Muslims, and whoever betrays a Muslim in this respect will incur the same (Curse).

A man came to Allah's Apostle asking him about Islam, Allah's Apostle said, "You have to offer five compulsory prayers in a day and a night (24 hours)." The man asked, "Is there any more compulsory prayers for me?" Allah's Apostle said, "No, unless you like to offer Nawafil (i.e. optional prayers)." Allah's Apostle then added, "You have to observe fasts during the month of Ramadan." The man said, "Am I to fast any other days?' Allah's Apostle said, "No, unless you wish to observe the optional fast voluntarily." Then Allah's Apostle told him about the compulsory Zakat. The man asked, "Do I have to give anything besides?" Allah's Apostle said, "No, unless you wish to give in charity voluntarily." So, the man departed saying, "By Allah I will neither do more nor less than that." Allah's Apostle said, "If he has said the truth he will be successful."

When this verse was revealed: "And those who hoard gold and silver," the Muslims were grieved about it. Umar said: I shall dispel your care. He, therefore, went and said: Prophet of Allah, your Companions were grieved by this verse. The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: Allah has made zakat obligatory simply to purify your remaining property, and He made inheritances obligatory that they might come to those who survive you. Umar then said: Allah is most great. He then said to him: Let me inform you about the best a man hoards; it is a virtuous woman who pleases him when he looks at her, obeys him when he gives her a command, and guards his interests when he is away from her.

Yahya related to me from Malik that Zayd ibn Aslam said, ''Umar ibn al Khattab drank some milk which he liked (very much) and he asked the man who had given it to him, 'Where did this milk come from?' The man told him that he had come to a watering-place, which he named, and had found grazing livestock from the zakat watering there. He was given some of their milk, which he then put into his water-skin, and that was the milk in question. Umar ibn al-Khattab then put his hand into his mouth to make himself vomit."

Malik said, "The position with us is that if anyone refuses to honour one of the obligatory demands of Allah, and the muslims are unable to get it, then they have the right to fight him until they get itfrom him."

Some meat was presented to the Prophet (p.b.u.h) and it had been given to Barira (the freed slave-girl of Aisha) in charity. He said, "This meat is a thing of charity for Barira but it is a gift for us."

I heard Hudhaifa saying, "While we were sitting with `Umar, he said, 'Who among you remembers the statement of the Prophet about the afflictions?' Hudhaifa said, "The affliction of a man in his family, his property, his children and his neighbors are expiated by his prayers, Zakat (and alms) and enjoining good and forbidding evil." `Umar said, "I do not ask you about these afflictions, but about those afflictions which will move like the waves of the sea." Hudhaifa said, "Don't worry about it, O chief of the believers, for there is a closed door between you and them." `Umar said, "Will that door be broken or opened?" I said, "No. it will be broken." `Umar said, "Then it will never be closed," I said, "Yes." We asked Hudhaifa, "Did `Umar know what that door meant?" He replied, "Yes, as I know that there will be night before tomorrow morning, that is because I narrated to him a true narration free from errors." We dared not ask Hudhaifa as to whom the door represented so we ordered Masruq to ask him what does the door stand for? He replied, "`Umar."

The Prophet (saws) said: 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 said: I read in a document possessed by Abdullah ibn Salim at Hims: Abdullah ibn Mu'awiyah al-Ghadiri reported the Prophet (saws) as saying: He who performs three things will have the taste of the faith. (They are:) One who worships Allah alone and one believes that there is no god but Allah; and one who pays the zakat on his property agreeably every year. 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, 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 said : this tradition has also been transmitted by Abu sa’id through a different chain of narrators to the same effect. A man has narrated in this version from Ibn-Ulayyah one sa’ of wheat. But this version is not guarded.

Allah's Apostle distributed (Zakat) amongst (a group of) people while I was sitting there but Allah's Apostle left a man whom I thought the best of the lot. I asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Why have you left that person? By Allah I regard him as a faithful believer." The Prophet commented: "Or merely a Muslim." I remained quiet for a while, but could not help repeating my question because of what I knew about him. And then asked Allah's Apostle, "Why have you left so and so? By Allah! He is a faithful believer." The Prophet again said, "Or merely a Muslim." And I could not help repeating my question because of what I knew about him. Then the Prophet said, "O Sa'd! I give to a person while another is dearer to me, for fear that he might be thrown on his face in the Fire by Allah."

A delegation of the tribe of `Abdul Qais came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! We are from the tribe of Rabi`a, and the infidels of the tribe of Mudar stands between us and you; so we cannot come to you except during the Sacred Months. Please order us to do something (religious deeds) which we may carry out and also invite to it our people whom we have left behind." The Prophet said, "I order you to do four things and forbid you four others: (I order you) to have faith in Allah, and confess that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, (and the Prophet gestured with his hand like this (i.e. one knot) and to offer prayers perfectly and to pay the Zakat, and to pay onefifth of the booty in Allah's Cause. And I forbid you to use Dubba', Hantam, Naqir and Muzaffat (all these are the names of utensils used for preparing alcoholic drinks)."

The delegates of `Abd-ul-Qais came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! We are from the tribe of Rabi`a and the infidels of Mudar tribe stand between us and you, so that we cannot come to you except in the Sacred Months. Therefore we would like you to give us some instructions which we may follow and convey to our people staying behind us." The Prophet said, "I order you to observe four things and forbid you (to do) four things: (I order you) to believe in Allah testifying that None has the right to be worshipped except Allah; to offer the prayer perfectly; to pay the Zakat; and to give one-fifth of the war booty to Allah. And I forbid you to use Ad-Dubba, Al-Hantam, An-Naqir and Al- Muzaffat." (These are names of utensils in which alcoholic drinks were served.)

The delegation of `Abdul Qais came to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle We belong to the tribe of Rabi`a. The infidels of Mudar tribe intervened between us and you so that we cannot come to you except in the Sacred Months, so please order us some things we may act on and invite those left behind to act on. The Prophet said, "I order you to observe four things and forbid you from four things: (I order you) to believe in Allah, i.e. to testify that None has the right to be worshipped except Allah." The Prophet pointed with finger indicating one and added, "To offer prayers perfectly: to give Zakat, and to give one-fifth of the booty you win (for Allah's Sake). I forbid you to use Ad-Dubba', An-Naquir, Al-Hantam and Al-Muzaffat, (Utensils used for preparing alcoholic liquors and drinks).

I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "Give in charity because there will come a time on the people when a person will go out with his alms from place to place but will not find anybody to accept it."

A man asked the Prophet, "O Allah's Apostle! What kind of charity is the best?" He replied. "To give in charity when you are healthy and greedy hoping to be wealthy and afraid of becoming poor. Don't delay giving in charity till the time when you are on the death bed when you say, 'Give so much to soand- so and so much to so-and so,' and at that time the property is not yours but it belongs to so-and-so (i.e. your inheritors).

For the pasturing goats, he narrated the tradition similar to that transmitted by Sufyan bin Husain. This version adds “An old goat, one with defect in the eye or a male goat is not to be accepted in sadaqah(zakat) unless the collector wishes.”