Chapter:
Spending on your family and those under your care
بسم الله والحمد لله
والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله ، وبعد
Narrated Sa`d bin Abi Waqqaas رضي الله عنه: Allaah’s Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said: ❝You
will be rewarded for whatever you spend for Allaah’s sake even if it were a
morsel which you put in your wife’s mouth.❞
[Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (56, 1295, 4409, 5668, 6373, 6733)
and Saheeh Muslim (3991)]
And in another narration he صلى الله عليه وسلم said: ❝And
what you spend as charity from your property is Sadaqah and your spending on
your family is also Sadaqah, and what your wife eats from your property is also
Sadaqah.❞
[Saheeh Muslim (3997)]
Abu Hurairah reported Allaah’s Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم as saying: ❝Of
the Dinaar you spend in Allaah’s way (Jihaad), or to set free a slave, or as a Sadaqah
given to a needy, or to support your family, the one yielding the greatest
reward is that which you spent on your family.❞ [Saheeh Muslim (2181)]
Narrated Abu Mas`ood رضي الله عنه: The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: ❝If
a man spends on his family (with the intention of having a reward from Allaah)
sincerely for Allaah’s sake then it counts for his as Sadaqah.❞ [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree
(55, 5351) and Saheeh Muslim (2192)]
It was narrated from Miqdaam bin Ma`dikarib (al-Zubaidi) رضي الله عنه that
the Messenger of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم
said: ❝No man earns anything better than that which he earns
with his own hands, and what a man spends on himself, his wife, his child and
his servant, then it is charity.❞ [Sunan Ibn Maajah (2138) and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh al-Albaanee]
`Abdullaah bin `Amr bin Al-`Aas رضي الله عنهما reported:
The Messenger of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: ❝It is sufficient a sin for a
man that he neglects his own dependents.❞ [Abu Dawud (1688) and graded as “Hasan” by Shaikh al-Albaanee]
In the narration of Saheeh Muslim the wordings are: the Messenger
of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم
said: ❝It is enough sin for a person to hold back the due of one
whose provision is in his hand.❞ [Saheeh Muslim (2182)]
***************
Shaikh Ibn al-`Uthaymeen رحمه الله said:
❝Giving
Sadaqah to one’s relatives is deemed superior to that conferred upon distant (relations),
for giving Sadaqah to one’s relative is deemed as Sadaqah and strengthening the
ties of kith and kin.
The Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم statement: ❝You will not
spend something - seeking (by means of it) the Face of Allaah – except that you
will be rewarded, even if it were a morsel which you put in your wife’s mouth.❞
His صلى الله عليه وسلم
statement: ❝You will not spend something...❞, meaning: whatever
you spend, either wealth, including Deenaars and Dirhams, clothes, furniture,
food or other than this – seeking by it the Face of Allaah – you will be
rewarded for it.
And his statement: ❝seeking (by means of it) the
Face of Allaah❞,
meaning: the intended objective of this Sadaqah is to seek the Face of Allaah عز وجل, by means of
admittance in to the Jannah so that one is able to look at the Glorious Face of
Allaah عز وجل.
For the people of Jannah – may Allaah make me and
yourselves from amongst them – will see Allaah سبحانه وتعالى. They will look
towards Him, witnessing Him with their own eyes as they see the sun shining on
a clear day when there are no clouds, and when they see the full moon on a
clear night. Meaning: they will see Him in truth.
The Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم statement: ❝even if it were
a morsel which you put in your wife’s mouth❞, meaning: even a
single morsel of food which an individual provided for his wife to eat, he shall
receive the reward for it if he intended with it to seek the Face of Allaah
(and His pleasure).
Moreover, spending upon one’s wife is an obligation. If
one does not spend on her, she would surely say: “either spend on me or divorce
me.” So along with this (obligation) if one spends on his wife with the aim of
seeking the Face of Allaah, Allaah will reward him for it.
Similarly, if one spends on his children, and spends on
his mother and father, or even if he spends upon himself – with the aim of
seeking the Face of Allaah – Allaah will reward him for it.❞
[Sharh Riyaadh al-Saaliheen of Shaikh Ibn
al-`Uthaymeen (1/45)]
***************
Shaikh Ibn al-`Uthaymeen رحمه الله also
said:
❝These
Ahaadeeth which the author (Imaam al-Nawawee) رحمه الله mentioned in his
book, under the chapter: “Spending upon one’s family” – all of them point to
the superiority of spending upon one’s family (to fulfill their basic needs);
and that it is the better than spending in the Way of Allaah, and that it is
better than spending to set the slaves free, and that it is better than
spending upon the poor. This is because Allaah تعال made it a duty upon you in regards to (the
welfare of) your family, and made it obligatory upon you to spend on them.
Spending on them is “Fardh `Ain” (individual obligation, i.e. each and
every individual is responsible for carrying it out), whereas spending on other
than them is “Fardh Kifaayah” (collective obligation, i.e. if some
people do it then the rest are absolved of its responsibility, but if all of
them fail to do it then all are guilty of sin).
Fardh al-`Ain is better than Fardh al-Kifaayah.
(Other than Zakaah) spending upon others may be an optional deed, whereas fulfilling
an obligation is far more superior to doing optional deeds, because of the
saying Allaah تعالى
in the Hadeeth al-Qudsee:
❝{And the most beloved things with which My slave comes
nearer to Me, is what I have made obligatory upon him…}❞ [Saheeh
al-Bukhaaree]
But the Shaitaan (diverts) the man and increases his
interest in the optional deeds (by making them more attractive and pleasing to
him) while reducing his interest in the obligatory deeds (by making them less
attractive to him).
Example: you will find a person keen in giving Sadaqah
(optional charity) while missing on the obligatory one (i.e. Zakaah); or
that he spends on the poor (and the homeless) while ignoring the obligations
towards his family; or he spends on the poor and ignores the obligations that
are upon him like paying off the debts. His creditor would be requesting him to
pay off his debts; but instead of discharging his debts, he goes and gives
charity to the poor or goes to perform optional `Umrah or Hajj
while not fulfilling that which is obligatory upon him. This is against the Sharee`ah
and this is not Hikmah (wisdom). He is foolish in his understanding and
has gone astray regarding the Sharee`ah.
It is mandatory upon a Muslim to first begin by fulfilling
that which has been made obligatory upon him and that which is required from
him. After fulfilling the obligations, he has the choice of carrying out
whatever he wishes of the optional deeds, with the condition that he does not
spends extravagantly or behaves miserly - thereby leaving the middle (just) path
(and going into either of the two extremes).
Allaah تعالى
described one of the characteristics of the “Slaves of al-Rahmaan” as:
﴿وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا
أَنْفَقُوا لَمْ يُسْرِفُوا وَلَمْ يَقْتُرُوا وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ قَوَاماً﴾
{And those, who, when they
spend, are neither extravagant nor niggardly, but hold a medium (way) between
those (extremes)} [Surah al-Furqaan (25): 67]
Meaning: neither being niggardly nor being extravagant,
but being just between these (two extremes). Sometimes it becomes necessary to
increase or to decrease (the spending) or to adopt the just path between the
two.
Anyways, all these Ahaadeeth make it evident that it is
obligatory upon a person to spend on all those who are dependent on him; and
that spending on his dependents is better than spending on other than them.
Also in these Ahaadeeth there is threat and warning for
him who neglects his dependents – and in the dependents both humans and non-humans
are included. For example, a person owns anything from insects (and fishes) to
moving creatures like camels, cows and sheep. So he would be sinning if he
neglects those who depend on him for their provision – whether humans or non-humans.
❝It is enough sin for a person to hold back the due of one
whose provision is in his hand.❞ And in another narration it is: ❝It
is sufficient a sin for a man that he neglects his own dependents.❞ In this there is
evidence about the obligation of spending on those whom Allaah has made them to
be under his care.❞
[Sharh Riyaadh al-Saaliheen of Shaikh Ibn
al-`Uthaymeen (3/158-159)]
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