Great reward for simple actions (5)

Charities and expenditures

• Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: "If one gives in charity what equals one date-fruit from the honestly-earned money and Allah accepts only the honestly earned money - Allah takes it in His right (hand) and then enlarges its reward for that person (who has given it), as anyone of you brings up his baby horse, so much so that it becomes as big as a mountain." [Reported by Al Bukhari and Muslim: Sahih Al Bukhari in the book of Zakah, chapter on charity from honestly-earned money 2/113, and Sahih Muslim in the book of Zakah, chapter on accepting charity from honestly-earned money and increasing it 3/85, with the wordings of Al Bukhari].

• Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: "A dinar you spend in Allah's way, or to free a slave, or as a charity you give to a needy person, or to support your family, the one yielding the greatest reward is that which you spend on your family." [Reported by Muslim in his Sahih in the book of Zakah, chapter on the virtue of spending on children and slaves 3/78].

• The Hadith is an exhortation to spending on children, and showing the greatness of its reward because some of them are incumbent to spend on, whereas some are desirable to spend on and that will be a kind of charity and maintaining the ties of kinship. [Sahih Muslim with the explanation of An-Nawawy 7/81].

• Muslim also reported on the authority of Abu Qilabah (may Allah be pleased with him): "Who is the person with greater reward than a person who spends on young members of his family (and thus) preserves (saves them from want) (and by virtue of which) Allah brings profit for them and makes them rich." [Sahih Muslim 3/78].

• Abu Kabshah As-Saluly narrated: I heard `Abdullah ibn `Amr (may Allah be pleased with them) saying: The Messenger of Allah said: "There are forty virtuous deeds and the best of them is the Maniha of a she-goat, and anyone who does one of these virtuous deeds hoping for Allah's reward with firm confidence that he will get it, then Allah will make him enter Paradise."

• Hassan [Hassan ibn `Atiyyah, the narrator of the Hadith from Abu Kabshah As-Saluly] said: See the explanations of the Hadith along with other narrations with the same meaning in Fathul-Bary 5/242-246]. He said: We counted the matters which are less than Maniha of a she-goat, such as: Answering the greetings, invoking Allah for a sneezer with mercy, removal of harmful objects from the road, and of the like, but we could not count 15 qualities. [Reported by Al Bukhari in the book of donation, chapter on the virtue of Maniha 3/144].

• Maniha is the she-camel or she-goat which you give to others for a while then give it back to you.

• Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The one who looks after a widow or a poor person is like a Mujahid (warrior) who fights for Allah's Cause, or like him who performs prayers all the night and fasts all the day." [Reported by Al Bukhari and Muslim: Al Bukhari in the book of manners, chapter on the one who looks after a needy 7/77, and Sahih Muslim in the book of asceticism, chapter on kind treatment to widows, the needy, and orphans 8/221, with the wordings of Muslim].

• Sahl ibn Sa`d (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "I and the one who looks after an orphan will be like this in Paradise, showing his middle and index fingers and separating them." [Reported by Al Bukhari and Muslim: Sahih Al Bukhari in the book of manners, chapter the virtue of those who look after an orphan 7/76, and Sahih Muslim in the book of asceticism, chapter on kind treatment to widows and orphans 8/221, with the wordings of Al Bukhari].

• The one who looks after an orphan is the one who spends, buys clothes, disciplines, and rears an orphan.

• This virtue is given to those who look after orphans with their own money or a guardian who looks after an orphan from the orphan's money. [Sahih Muslim with the explanation of An-Nawawy 18/113].

• Ibn Hajar reported the saying of Ibn Battal: It is the duty of every person hears this Hadith to act accordingly in order to be a companion to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in Paradise, and there is no degree in the Hereafter better than this.

• Ibn Hajar said: Probably, the meaning is the nearness of degree in case of entering Paradise. [see Fathul-Bary 10/436].