UNIT THIRTEEN MISERLINESS, GENEROSITY AND ALTRUIS

UNIT THIRTEEN
MISERLINESS, GENEROSITY AND ALTRUIS

TRANSLATION
It is related that Abu Hurayra said that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “There is never a day wherein the ser- vants (of Allah) get up in the morning, but are not visited by two angels.
One of them says: ‘O Allah, give him more who spends (for the sake of Allah)’,
and the other says: ‘O Allah, bring destruction to one who withholds.’”
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Zakah, 27; Sahih Muslim, Zakah, 57).
NARRATOR
Abu Hurayra,19 may Allah be well pleased with him.
EXPLANATION
1. In the Qur’an, which Allah has sent as the “prescription” for humanity’s
salvation, Allah places great emphasis on generosity and its
benefits. It is declared, for instance:
Those who act meanly (in spending out of what Allah has granted
them) and urge others to be mean, and conceal the things Allah
has granted them out of His bounty (such as wealth or knowledge,
and certain truths in their Book). We have prepared for (such) unbelievers
a shameful, humiliating punishment. (an-Nisa 4:37)
It can be understood from the verse that Allah has placed meanness
among the attributes of unbelievers and has declared that its outcome is a
debasing punishment.

Refer to Unit Twelve for further information regarding the narrator Abu Hurayra.19

As narrated by Adi ibn Hatim, the Messenger of Allah, upon him be
peace and blessings, said: “So whoever among you can protect himself from
the Fire, even with half a date, let him do so.”
Spending from the bounties that Allah has favored us with in consideration
of His approval and good pleasure is elemental. Allah’s Messenger informs
us that spending done in this way is among the causes delivering a
human being from the Fire.
2. As can be gleaned from the hadith in question, miserliness is also not
without is consequence. However, what needs to be pointed out at
this juncture is that the wealth that is cursed is the wealth of which
the prescribed annual alms are not given. Such destruction and ruin
is not asked upon those who are lax with respect to supererogatory
goodness.
The word khalaf mentioned in the hadith comes to mean that which is
given, or received, in place of, or in exchange for, another thing. This takes
the form of wealth in this world and rewards in the Hereafter. This is the
meaning illustrated in the verse, “Whatever you spend (in Allah’s cause and
in alms), He will replace it” (Saba 34:39). Talaf implies physical or immaterial
ruin, loss, dissipation, or destruction. It is again declared in a Qur’anic
verse: “Those who spend their wealth night and day, secretly and in public,
their reward is with their Lord, and they will have no fear, nor will they
grieve” (al-Baqarah 2:274).
Abu Bakr gave away in charity, at a stroke, the forty thousand dinars
in his possession, keeping nothing back—ten thousand at night, ten thousand
during the day, ten thousand in secret, ten thousand in public—such
that it is said that this verse was revealed in relation to him. When Ali possessed
nothing other than four dirhams, he gave away all of these, one by
night, one by day, the third secretly and the fourth openly. When the Prophet
asked him why he had done so, he replied, “In order to be merit my
Lord’s words.” Upon this, Allah’s Messenger affirmed that he had.

3. Again, with respect to altruism, the highest level of generosity, it has
been stated: “And (indeed) they prefer them over themselves, even
though poverty be their own lot” (al-Hashr 59:9).
As is evident in the verse above, altruism refers to preferring the needs
of another to one’s own needs, even if one is in more need themselves.
4. Allah’s Messenger was the most generous of people. He himself stated:
“The generous are near to Allah, near to Paradise, and near to people,
and distant from Hell. The miserly, however, are distant from Allah, distant
from Paradise, and distant from human beings, but near to Hell.” The best
of humankind in terms of his life and outward appearance (ahsan an-nas),
the Prophet was the most generous of people (ajwad an-nas) in heart and
giving to others.
A great many hearts unable to be unlocked with the keys of tenderness
and other lofty feelings were opened to him with the key of generosity. Safwan
ibn Umayya was one of these: “Anas reports that when the Messenger
of Allah was on his way to Hunayn, he had borrowed some weapons from
Safwan ibn Umayya. As Allah’s Messenger inspected the war spoils he noticed
Safwan gazing upon the herds that were crowding around him in bewilderment
and said that Safwan could have as many camels as he wanted.
Allah’s Messenger continued giving to Safwan until Safwan was astounded
by such generosity. With a heart that was filled with abhorrence of
the Prophet, Safwan had changed at once. Indeed, this generosity caused
Safwan to abandon his hatred and Allah’s Messenger thus became the
dearest of people to him. Winning over Safwan’s heart was of course more
precious than thousands of camels and cattle. This generosity shown towards
him was not in vain. Safwan immediately ran to his people and announced:
‘O my people!Accept Islam without hesitation, for Muhammad
gives in such a way that only one who has no fear of poverty and relies fully
on Allah can give!’ Such generosity was enough to guide Safwan and his
people, who had been among the bitterest enemies of Islam until just before
that day, to the truth.”

ALLAH GIVES TEN FOR ONE
A beggar wanted something from Ali. The latter then instructed one of his
sons, Hasan or Husayn, saying, “Go to your mother and bring one of the
six dirhams that I gave to her.” Upon his return, his son said, “My mother
said that she is withholding these to buy flour.” Ali then replied, “A person
cannot be said to have truly believed until they trust in Allah more
than they trust in whatever they have. Go and bring all of that money.”
Fatima subsequently sent the money in its entirety. Ali then gave all of it
to the beggar.
Scarcely a few minutes had passed when a camel trader arrived. Upon
learning that the camel trader was selling the camel for one hundred and
forty dirhams, Ali asked if he could purchase the animal on credit. The seller
agreed, tethered his camel there and left.
A short while later, another man arrived and offered to buy the camel
from Ali for two hundred dirhams. After paying his creditor the one hundred
and forty dirhams, Ali went home and gave his wife Fatima the balance
of sixty dirhams, from whom he had only earlier taken six dirhams.
When she inquired in astonishment as to what these were for, Ali replied,
“It is the result of Allah’s promise, through Allah’s Messenger, ‘Whoever
comes to Allah with a good deed will have ten times as much’” (al-An’am
6:160).

LESSONS FROM THE HADITH
1. Good is never left unrewarded. 2. Close-fistedness and sullenness is to
no avail. 3. The wealth of the well to do, who do not pay their prescribed
annual alms despite their affluence, is deserving of ruin and destruction. 4.
The angels too entreat Allah. That their supplication is answered is demonstrated
in the hadith, “When one of you says, Amin, as do the angels in the
heaven, and they coincide with one another, he will be forgiven his past
sins.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Bad al-khalq, 7)

EVALUATION
1. “How do the two angels visiting a person each morning entreat Allah?”
2. Protect yourself from the Fire, even with half a ………
3. What is implied in the terms khalaf and talaf used in the hadith?
4. What is altruism? Provide an example.
5. From which of Allah’s Names is generosity derived?
6. Provide an example of the Prophet’s generosity.