A Guide to Best Worship Allah

9: Worship of Salaf (Part Three)

3. Sadaqah:

Recognising the immeasurable benefits that Sadaqah has in this world and the next, the Salaf weren't far behind in this action.

ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Zubayr said,
"I have never seen two women more generous than 'Ā'ishah and Asmā'. They had different ways of being generous. As for 'Ā'ishah, she used to gather things, until she had a collection, then she would distribute it. As for Asmā', she would never keep anything until the next day."
(Al-Bukhārī, Al-Adab Al-Mufrad. Shaykh Al-Albānī grades its chain of transmission ṣaḥīḥ in Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Adab Al-Mufrad Vol.1 p123.)

Their love for sadaqah was such that it overrode any keenness to rectify or fulfill their own need.

'Urwah b. Al-Zubayr – Allah have mercy on him – said:

'Ā'ishah – Allah be pleased with her – gave seventy thousand (dirham) in charity, while her own skirt used to be patched.
('Abdullah b. Mubārak in Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqā'iq Vol. 1 p588, no.705.)

Naafi' said: "Ibn 'Umar (radhiyallaahu 'anhu) would distribute thirty thousand in a sitting, and then there would come upon him a month in which he would not find a small piece of meat to eat."
( Siyar A'laam an-Nubalaa vol 3, p.218.)

'Umar once took four hundred deenaars and said to a youth: "Take it to Abee 'Ubaidah; and then remain in his house for a while and see what he does." So he said: The youth took it from him and went and said: "Ameerul Mu'mineen tells you to take this." So he replied: "May Allaah bring him close and have mercy upon him." Then he said: "Come here, O servant girl! Take these seven (deenaars) to so and so, and take this five to so and so..." until he had dispatched it all.

So the youth came back to 'Umar and informed him, and found that he had prepared a similar amount for Mu'aadh bin Jabal. So he sent him to him with it, so Mu'aadh said: "May Allaah bring him close. O servant girl! Go to the house of such and such with this much, and to the house of such and such with that much." So the wife of Mu'aadh came and said: "By Allaah, we are in a meagre state, so give us some," And there remained in the pouch nothing but two deenaars, so he propelled them to her. So the youth came back and informed 'Umar, and as a result, he became pleased at that and said: "Indeed they are brothers, one like unto another."
(Siyar A'laam an-Nubalaa vol 1 p.456.)

Even in actions such as charity that included direct dealing with people, they went a mile beyond to carefully guard their sincerity and earn Allah's pleasure.

It is reported that there used to be poor people in Al-Madīnah who didn't know where they were getting their food from. When 'Alī b. Ḥusayn passed away, they started missing what they used to be given at night.

Abū Ḥamzah Al-Thumālī narrates that 'Alī b. Ḥusayn used to carry bread on his back in the darkness of the night and follow the poor people (to give it to them). He used to say, "Charity in the darkness of the night extinguishes the Lord's anger."

'Amr b. Thābit reports that when 'Alī b. Ḥusayn died, they found marks on his back from the sacks of provisions he used to carry at night to the houses of the widows.

Shaybah b. Nu'āmah narrates that when 'Alī b. Ḥusayn died they found out that he used to provide for a hundred (poor) families.
(Al-Dhahabī in Siyar A'lām Al-Nubalā' under the biography of 'Alī b. Ḥusayn Zayn Al-'Ābidīn.)

In fact, one among the seven categories of people who are shaded on the day of Judgement when there is no shade except Allah's, is a man who when he spends in charity, conceals it such that his right-hand does not know what his left hand has given. (Saheeh Bukhari 629, Saheeh Muslim 1031)

Consequently, the Salaf lived this hadith. Their Sadaqah was massive yet they made sure not a single eye discerned their deed.

May Allah enable us to be included in the above category. Aameen.