(73) Generosity
The Prophet Peace be upon himonce asked a people, “Who is your leader?”
They said, “Our leader is so and on, although we consider him to be stingy!”
He said, “What disease is worse than stinginess? Rather, your leader is so-and-so with the white complexion and curly hair!”
This was part of a conversation that took place between a tribe and the Messenger of Allah Peace be upon him. When they embraced Islam, the Prophet Peace be upon himasked them who their leader was so he could choose him or someone else as their leader after they had embraced Islam.
Yes, what disease is as bad as stinginess?
How ugly the trait of stinginess is, and how averse to it people are! How wretched the stingy are! One of them would never think of organising a dinner party in his house for his friends, in order to draw closer to them. He would hardly give gifts. He would not look after his appearance and would never pay attention to how he smells, in order to save money.
As for the generous one, then he generously spends on his friends. He is always close to those he loves. If they want to meet up, they know to meet in his house.
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If one of them is lacking in anything, he is the first one to offer help, thereby capturing their hearts by his generosity. He enslaves their hearts with his kindness.
It is important to remember when you show generosity to anyone that your intention be good. Your intention should be to improve brotherhood amongst the Muslims and earn their love, as well as of course getting closer to Allah by showing them kindness. One should not be generous for fame, leadership, or to hear praises.
The Prophet Peace be upon himsaid, “The Fire of Hell will first be ablaze by three people,” and of the three he mentioned a person who used to spend generously so that it was said that he was generous.
He was not generous to seek Allah’s pleasure, but only that of the creation - in order to show off and for fame.
Here is the hadeeth in full: Sufyan said, “I entered Madinah and saw a man with a crowd of people around him.
I enquired, ‘Who is this man?’
They said, ‘Abu Hurayrah.’
I came close to him and sat down in front of him as he spoke to the people. When he became silent and the people left, I said, ‘I ask you by Allah, tell me of a hadeeth you heard from the Messenger of Allah Peace be upon himand learnt.’
Abu Hurayrah replied, ‘I will. I will narrate to you a hadeeth I heard from the Messenger of Allah Peace be upon him, which I have understood and learnt.’
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Abu Hurayrah took a took a deep gasp, such that he fainted and remained so for a while, then he regained consciousness and said, ‘I will surely narrate to you what the Messenger of Allah Peace be upon him told me. The two of us were in this house and there was none other than us present.’ He then took another deep gasp, such that he fainted and remained so for a while, then he regained
conscionsness and wiped his face.
He then said, ‘I will surely narrate to you a hadeeth I heard from the Messenger of Allah Peace be upon him. The two of us were in this house and there was none other than us present.’ Abu Hurayrah then took another deep gasp and fell forward onto his face, and I pleaded with him for a long time, then he regained consciousness and said, ‘The Messenger of Allah Peace be upon himtold me that on the Day of Resurrection, Allah will descend to judge between His servants, and you will see each nation humbled on its knees.
The first people He will call are:
i) A man who had memorised the Qur’an
ii) A man who had been killed in Allah’s path
iii) A rich man
Allah will say to the recitor of the Qur’an: ‘Did I not teach you what I revealed to my messengers?’
He will say, ‘You certainly did!’
Allah will ask, ‘So what did you do with your knowledge?’
He will say, ‘I would be reciting morning and evening.’
Allah will say, ‘You have lied!’
The angels will also say, ‘You have lied!’
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Allah will then say, ‘You wanted the people to say that so-and- so is a recitor, and this is what was said.’ (Meaning, you achieved your reward in the world since you were showing off with your actions. You wanted people’s praise and you achieved it, since the people praised you and said, ‘so-and-so is a recitor!’)
The rich man will then be brought and Allah will say to him: ‘Did I not give you plenty such that you never needed anyone’s help?’
He will say, ‘You certainly did.’
Allah will ask, ‘What did you do with the wealth I gave you?’
He will say, ‘I used to spend it on relatives and give in charity.’
Allah will say, ‘You have lied!’
The angels will also say, ‘You have lied!’
Allah will say, ‘You wanted the people to say that so-and-so is very generous! Now that was what was said.’
Then the person who was killed in Allah’s path will be brought.
He will be asked, ‘Why were you killed?’
He will say, ‘You ordered me to make Jihad, and so I fought until I was killed.’
Allah will say, ‘You have lied!’
The angels will also say, ‘You have lied!’
Allah will say, ‘Rather, you wanted the people to say that soand-so is brave! Now that was what was said.’
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Abu Hurayrah said, ‘The Prophet Peace be upon himthen placed his hands on my knees and said, “O Abu Hurayrah! Those three will be the first of Allah’s creation to be thrown to the fire as fuel on the Day of Resurrection.’” (al-Tirmidhi and al-Hakim, Sahih)
Hence, once you have purified your intention before being generous, then have good tidings of great fortune!
Those most deserving of being the recipients of your generosity in exchange for their love are your family members, such as your mother, your father, your wife and your children, and so on.
As the Prophet Peace be upon himsaid, “Start with yourself, and then whoever you look after.” “It is enough of a sin for a person to forsake those who is obliged to spend on.”
A distinction must be made between generosity and wastefulness.
A man once walked through an old road and passed by a house which seemed as though it was about to crumble. He saw a little girl sitting at the door wearing ragged clothes, looking like a beggar.
He asked her, “Who are you?”
She said, “I am the daughter of Hatim al-Ta’i.” Hatim al-Ta’I was a legendary figure, renowned for his generosity par excellence in Arab history.
The man said, “How strange! The daughter of Hatim al-Ta’i −the one renowned for his generosity in this land!”
She replied, “Our father’s generosity has led us to this state, as you can see!”
Allah says, “Make not your hand tied (like a miser) to your neck, nor stretch it forth to its utmost reach, so that you be-come blameworthy and destitute.”
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So whilst the generous person is praised, the one who is wasteful is criticised. This is why Allah has forbidden us from both clenching our fists tight and opening them up completely, and ordered us instead to be balanced.
The Prophet Peace be upon himwas the most generous of people. He did not have any form of greed and did not cater for his own interests while ignoring that of others.
Abu Hurayrah – may Allah be pleased with him – said, “I swear by Allah − the One besides whom there is no god! I was so hungry once that I was sitting down on the ground with a stone tied around my stomach! For a whole day I sat in the path where people make their way out of the mosque. Abu Bakr passed by me and I asked him about a verse from Allah’s book.
I did not ask him except in the hope that he would ask me to go with him, but he didn’t. Then ‘Umar passed by me, and I asked him about a verse in Allah’s book only in the hope that he would ask me to go with him, but he didn’t.”
The Companions at that point were experiencing a severe food shortage. If any of them had a guest, he probably would not have had anything to offer.
Abu Hurayrah continued, “Then Abul-Qasim Peace be upon himpassed by me and smiled as he saw me. He instantly realised by looking at my face what I needed.
He said, ‘Abu Hurayrah!’
I said, ‘At your service, O Messenger of Allah!’
He said, ‘Come along!’
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He said that and walked off as I followed him. He entered his house. I asked his permission to enter and he gave me it, so I entered.
He found some milk in a utensil and asked, ‘Where did this milk come from?’
His family said: ‘So-and-so gave it to you as a gift.’
He said, ‘Abu Hurayrah!
I said, ‘At your service, O Messenger of Allah!’
He said, ‘Go to the people of as-Sufa and ask them to come over.’
Ahl as-Sufa were the ‘guests of Islam’. They were a group of people who had accepted Islam, left their cities and decided to live in Madinah in the mosque, not worrying about family or wealth.
The Prophet Peace be upon himwould feel pity for them. Whenever he received anything in charity, he would send it to them directly, without having taken anything from it. Whenever he received something which was sent as a gift to them, he would share it with them.
This bothered me. I thought to myself, ‘Why give this milk to Ahl as-Sufa? I am more deserving of drinking this milk to strengthen myself a little.’
When Ahl as-Sufa came, he ordered me to serve them. I wondered what would be left for me of this milk. However, there was no escape from obedience to Allah and His Messenger.
I went and invited them to the Prophet’s house.
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They came,the Prophet Peace be upon himgave them permission to enter, and they began to take their seats in the house.
The Prophet Peace be upon himsaid, ‘O Abu Hurayrah!’
I said, ‘At your service, O Messenger of Allah!’
He said, ‘Take this and give it to them.’
I took the bowl and began to serve it to them one by one, so a person would take it and drink his fill from it and return it to me. I would then give it to the next person who would drink to his fill and return it to me. I would then give it to the third person who would do the same. This happened until I finally reached the Prophet Peace be upon him. By this time all of them had drunk to their fill.
The Prophet Peace be upon himtook the bowl and placed it in my hands. He looked at me with a smile and said, ‘O Abu Hurayrah!’
I said, ‘At your service, O Messenger of Allah!’
He said, ‘It seems only you and I are left.’
I said, ‘That’s right, O Messenger of Allah.’
He said, ‘Have a seat and drink.’
I sat down and drank some.
He said, ‘Drink more, so I drank more.’
He continued to say, ‘Drink more, until I finally said, ‘No. I swear by the one who has sent you with the truth, I do not have any space left!’
He said, ‘Give it to me, then.’
I gave it to him. He praised Allah, said ‘Bismillah’ and drank the rest of the milk.’” (al-Bukhari)
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The art of generosity has many secrets. One of its secrets is that instead of being generous to a person directly, be generous to those he loves. Due to this, he will love you.
A friends of mine once visited me. He had with him a small bag of sweets and toys, which I do not think would have cost him more than a few Riyals. He gave it to me and said, “This is for the children!” My children were very happy, as was I, for he made me realise that he liked to make my children happy.
One of the predecessors was a poor scholar. His students would give him various gifts, such as dates and flour, every now and then. Whenever a student gave him a gift, the teacher would remain pleasant with him for as long as his gift remained, but when it ran out, he would go back to his previous ways. A student consequently came up with the idea that he should give him a gift which was of a reasonable price and would also last.
He therefore gave him a bag of salt as a gift, for salt is cheap and long-lasting as only a very small amount of it is used in food. One bag alone would have sufficed him for a year or two.
If you were to ask me which of two gifts you wish to give to your friend, one being an expensive perfume and the other a clock with his name engraved on it, I would chose the clock simply because it would last for longer and is always noticeable.
Also, perhaps it may even be cheaper.
I recall once giving a student of mine a clock with his name engraved on it. He graduated from the university and years went by. I then visited a city to deliver a lecture and was surprised that he came to attend the lecture and then invited me over to his house.
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When I entered the lounge, he pointed at the clock Generosity on the wall and said, “This is the most precious gift I have been given.” This was seven years after he graduated. And, in fact, this clock was not expensive at all, but its sentimental value was much more.

Point of view…
Opportunities to win people’s hearts do not come often.
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