Chapter on the Virtue of Charity

Abu Ja'far Imam Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Baqir عليه السلام said: "Goodness and charity eliminate poverty, increase lifespan, and protect their giver from seventy types of ill-fated deaths."

Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام said: "Treat your sick ones with charity, ward off tribulations with supplication, and seek sustenance through charity. Charity releases the grip of seven hundred devils. There is nothing heavier on Satan than charity given to a believer. It reaches the hand of the Lord عز وجل, blessed and exalted, before it reaches the hand of the servant."

"Charity given by hand protects against an evil death, wards off seventy kinds of calamities, and loosens the grip of seventy devils, all of whom urge the person not to give."

Imam عليه السلام said: "It is recommended for a sick person to give to the beggar with his own hand and to ask the beggar to pray for him."

Imam عليه السلام said: "Give charity early in the day, for calamities do not surpass it. Whoever gives charity at the beginning of the day, Allah سبحانه وتعالى will protect him from the evil that descends from the sky that day. And if he gives charity at the beginning of the night, Allah سبحانه وتعالى will protect him from the evil that descends from the sky during that night."

The Messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, said: "Indeed, Allah سبحانه وتعالى, there is no deity but Him, wards off through charity diseases, abscesses, burning, drowning, collapse, madness, and He صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم peace be upon him, enumerated seventy types of evil."

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, said: "Charity given in secret extinguishes the wrath of the Lord عز وجل, majestic and exalted is He."

Ammar narrated from Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام that he said to me: "O Ammar, charity given in secret, by Allah سبحانه وتعالى, is better than charity given openly, and likewise, by Allah سبحانه وتعالى, worship in secret is better than worship in public."

The Messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, said: "If a male beggar comes to you at night, do not turn him away."

The Messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, said: "Charity is rewarded tenfold, a loan eighteenfold, kindness to brothers twentyfold, and maintaining ties of kinship twenty-fourfold."

Imam عليه السلام was asked: "Which charity is the best?" Imam عليه السلام replied: "To a relative who harbors enmity (against you)."

Imam عليه السلام said: "There is no (valid) charity while a relative is in need."

Imam عليه السلام said: "Cursed, cursed is the one who burdens others with his responsibilities. Cursed, cursed is the one who neglects those under his care."

Abu Al-Hasan Imam Ali ibn Musa Ar-Ridha عليه السلام said: "A man ought to provide generously for his family so that they do not wish for his death."

Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام was asked about a beggar who asks without it being known what their true condition is. Imam عليه السلام said: "Give to the one for whom your heart feels mercy." Imam عليه السلام also said: "Give him less than a dirham." I asked, "What is the most that can be given?" Imam عليه السلام replied: "Four daniqs."

Al-Wassafi narrates from Imam Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Baqir عليه السلام that he said: "Among the things Allah سبحانه وتعالى, Glorified and Exalted, confided to Musa عليه السلام was this: 'O Musa, honor the beggar, either by giving a small amount or by responding with kindness. Indeed, those who come to you may not be humans or jinn, but angels from among the angels of the Most Merciful who test you in what I have entrusted to you. They ask you from what I have granted you, so consider carefully how you will act, O son of Imran.'"

Imam عليه السلام said: "Give to the one who asks, even if you are on horseback."

The Messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وسلم said: "Do not interrupt the request of a beggar, for if it were not for the fact that some of the needy lie, those who turn them away would never prosper."

It is narrated from Al-Waleed ibn Sabeeh who said: "I was with Abu Abdullah عليه السلام when a beggar came to him, and he gave to him. Then another came, and he gave to him. Then a third came, and he gave to him. Then a fourth came, and he said, 'May Allah سبحانه وتعالى grant you abundance.' Then he said, 'If a man had wealth amounting to thirty or forty thousand dirhams and wished to spend all of it in rightful ways, he could do so and leave himself with nothing. However, he would then be among the three whose supplication is rejected.' I asked: 'Who are they?' Imam عليه السلام replied: 'One of them is a man who had wealth but spent it in ways other than those Allah سبحانه وتعالى approves, and then says, "My Lord عز وجل, provide for me." Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Almighty, will say, "Did I not provide for you already?" Another is a man who sits in his house and does not strive to seek sustenance but says, "My Lord عز وجل, provide for me." Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Almighty, will say, "Did I not make a way for you to seek sustenance?" And the third is a man with a wife who causes him harm, and he says, "My Lord عز وجل, free me from her." Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Almighty, will say, "Did I not place her matter in your hands?"'"

Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام said: "When it comes to the beggars, feed three of them, and if you wish to give more, then give more; otherwise, you have fulfilled the obligation of your day."

Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام said: "When you give to them (those in need), teach them to pray for you, for their prayers for you will be answered, though their prayers for themselves may not be."

Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام said regarding a man who distributes dirhams on behalf of another: "He will receive a reward equal to that of the giver, without diminishing the giver's reward in any way. Even if the act of kindness passes through seventy hands, all of them will be rewarded without any reduction in the original giver's reward."

Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام was asked, "Which charity is the best?" Imam عليه السلام replied: "The charity given by one in hardship. Have you not heard the words of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Mighty and Glorious: 'And they give preference over themselves, even though they are in need.' Do you see any surplus here?"

Imam Ali ibn Al-Husayn عليه السلام said: "I have taken a pledge from my Lord عز وجل, the Mighty and Glorious, that anyone who asks without necessity will one day be compelled by circumstances to beg for a real need."

Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib عليه السلام, said: "Follow the saying of the Messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى (peace be upon him and his family) where he said: 'Whoever opens a door of begging for themselves, Allah سبحانه وتعالى will open for them a door of poverty.'"

Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام said: "No servant asks [for something] without need except that they will die before Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Mighty and Glorious, makes them truly in need of it, and it will be written against them as [a cause for] the Fire."

The Messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: "Indeed, Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Blessed and Exalted, loves something for Himself and dislikes it for His creation. He dislikes for His creation the act of asking [from others] but loves for Himself to be asked. There is nothing dearer to Him than being asked. So, let none of you feel shy to ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Mighty and Glorious, for His bounty, even if it is [as small as] the strap of a sandal."

Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام said: "Beware of asking people [for help], for it is the humiliation of this world, a hastened form of poverty, and a prolonged reckoning on the Day of Judgment."

Imam Abu Ja'far عليه السلام said: "If the one who asks knew what [burden] lies in asking, no one would ask another for anything; and if the giver knew what [reward] lies in giving, no one would refuse anyone."

A group from the Ansar came to the Messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and greeted him with peace. He returned their greeting and said, "What is your need?" They replied: "We have a significant request of you." He said: "Tell me your request." They said: "We ask that you guarantee us Paradise from your Lord عز وجل." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) lowered his head and began to draw in the ground. Then he raised his head and said: "I will grant you this on the condition that you do not ask anyone for anything." It was said that after this, one of them would be on a journey, and if his whip fell, he would not ask anyone to hand it to him but would dismount and pick it up himself to avoid asking. Similarly, when they were seated at a table, if someone closer to the water could pass it, they would not request it but instead stand up and take it themselves.

Commander of the Faithful Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib عليه السلام, said: "Be independent of people, even if it is with the splinters of a toothstick."

Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام said: "Reminding others of a favor destroys the good deed."

The Messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: "Indeed, Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Blessed and Exalted, has disliked for me six traits, and I also dislike them for the successors from my progeny and their followers after me: carelessness in prayer, inappropriate speech during fasting, reminding others of charity after giving it, entering mosques while in a state of impurity, peering into others' homes, and laughing near graves."

Mas’ada ibn Sadaqa narrates from Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام, from his forefathers عليه السلام: "Indeed, the Commander of the Faithful عليه السلام sent to a man five wasaq (measures) of dates from al-Bughaibigha. This man was among those who would hope for his generosity, appreciate his kindness, and be content with what he gave. He would not ask anything of Ali عليه السلام or anyone else. A man said to the Commander of the Faithful عليه السلام, 'By Allah سبحانه وتعالى, so-and-so did not ask you for anything, and one wasaq would have sufficed him from the five wasaqs.' The Commander of the Faithful عليه السلام replied to him: 'May Allah سبحانه وتعالى not increase among the believers those like you. I give, and you are miserly with it. If I do not give to the one who hopes for me except after he asks me, and then I give it to him after he has asked, then I have only given him the price of what I have taken from him. That is because I have subjected him to sacrifice his dignity for me, which he places in the dust before his Lord عز وجل and my Lord عز وجل, the Almighty, in his devotion to Him and his request for his needs from Him. Whoever does this to his Muslim brother, knowing that he is deserving of his kindness and support, has not been truthful with Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Almighty, in his supplication for him. This is when he prays for him, saying: "O Allah سبحانه وتعالى, forgive the believers, male and female." By this supplication, he is asking for Paradise for him. How unfair is he who prays with his tongue but does not support it with action, withholding the trivial wealth of this world from him. That is because the servant may say in his supplication, "O Allah سبحانه وتعالى, forgive the believers, male and female." When he supplicates for his forgiveness, he is asking for Paradise for him. Thus, he is not fair who does this with his words but does not fulfill it with his deeds.'"