4 November 2026 24 Jumada al-Ula 1448 AH
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Mishkat al-Masabih 1788

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Hadith 1788
وَعَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
" قَالَ رَجُلٌ: لَأَتَصَدَّقَنَّ بِصَدَقَةٍ فَخَرَجَ بِصَدَقَتِهِ فَوَضَعَهَا فِي يَدِ سَارِقٍ فَأَصْبَحُوا يَتَحَدَّثُونَ تصدق عَلَى سَارِقٍ فَقَالَ اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ عَلَى سَارِقٍ لَأَتَصَدَّقَنَّ بِصَدَقَةٍ فَخَرَجَ بِصَدَقَتِهِ فَوَضَعَهَا فِي يَدي زَانِيَةٍ فَأَصْبَحُوا يَتَحَدَّثُونَ تُصُدِّقَ اللَّيْلَةَ عَلَى زَانِيَةٍ فَقَالَ اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ عَلَى زَانِيَةٍ لَأَتَصَدَّقَنَّ بِصَدقَة فَخرج بِصَدَقَتِهِ فوضعها فِي يَدي غَنِي فَأَصْبحُوا يتحدثون تصدق عَلَى غَنِيٍّ فَقَالَ اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ عَلَى سَارِق وعَلى زَانِيَة وعَلى غَنِي فَأُتِيَ فَقِيلَ لَهُ أَمَّا صَدَقَتُكَ عَلَى سَارِقٍ فَلَعَلَّهُ أَنْ يَسْتَعِفَّ عَنْ سَرِقَتِهِ وَأَمَّا الزَّانِيَةُ فَلَعَلَّهَا أَنْ تَسْتَعِفَّ عَنْ زِنَاهَا وَأَمَّا الْغَنِيُّ فَلَعَلَّهُ يَعْتَبِرُ فَيُنْفِقَ مِمَّا أَعْطَاهُ اللَّهُ ". مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيْهِ وَلَفظه للْبُخَارِيّ
Abu Huraira said that God’s messenger told of a man who expressed his intention to give sadaqa, and who when he took it out placed it in a thief’s hand. In the morning the people were talking and saying, “Sadaqa was given to a thief last night.” The man said, “O God, to Thee be the praise—to a thief!’’
He then expressed his intention to give sadaqa and when he took it out he placed it in a prostitute’s hand. In the morning the people were talking and saying, “Sadaqa was given to a prostitute last night." The man said, "O God, to Thee be the praise— to a prostitute!"
He then expressed his intention to give sadaqa and when he took it out he placed it in a rich man’s hand. In the morning the people were talking and saying, “Sadaqa was given to a rich man last night." The man said, “O God, to Thee be the praise—to a thief, a prostitute and a rich man!”
He then had a vision in which he was told that his sadaqa to a thief might result in his refraining from his theft, the prostitute might perhaps refrain from her immorality, and the rich man might perhaps pay heed and spend from what God had given him.

(Bukhari and Muslim, the wording being Bukhari’s.)
Mishkat al-Masabih 1788

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Hadith 1787
عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا أَنَّ بَعْضُ أَزْوَاجِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قُلْنَ لِلنَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَيُّنَا أَسْرَعُ بِكَ لُحُوقًا؟ قَالَ: " أَطْوَلُكُنَّ يَدًا فَأَخَذُوا قَصَبَةً يَذْرَعُونَهَا فَكَانَت سَوْدَة أَطْوَلهنَّ يدا فَعلمنَا بعد أَنما كَانَت طُولُ يَدِهَا الصَّدَقَةَ وَكَانَتْ أَسْرَعَنَا لُحُوقًا بِهِ زَيْنَبُ وَكَانَتْ تُحِبُّ الصَّدَقَةَ. رَوَاهُ الْبُخَارِيُّ. وَفِي رِوَايَةِ مُسْلِمٍ قَالَتْ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسلم: «أَسْرَعكُنَّ لُحُوقا بَين أَطْوَلكُنَّ يَدًا» . قَالَتْ: فَكَانَتْ أَطْوَلَنَا يَدًا زَيْنَبُ؟ لِأَنَّهَا كَانَت تعْمل بِيَدِهَا وَتَتَصَدَّق
‘A’isha said that when some of the Prophet’s wives asked him which of them would join him soonest, he replied that it would be the one with the longest arm. So they took a rod and measured, and Sauda was the one among them who had the longest arm. They later came to know that sadaqa was the meaning of the length of the arm, for Zainab was the one who joined him soonest and she was fond of giving sadaqa.*

Bukhari transmitted it.

In Muslim’s version she reported God’s messsenger as saying, “The one of you who will join me first is the one who has the longest arm.” She said they measured one another’s arms to see which was the longest, and the one with the longest was Zainab because she worked with her hand and gave sadaqa.

* She was called Umm al-masakin (mother of the needy), a title given her in the pre-Islamic period.
Mishkat al-Masabih 1787 Open
Hadith 1789
وَعَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «بَيْنَا رَجُلٌ بِفَلَاةٍ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ فَسَمِعَ صَوْتًا فِي سَحَابَةٍ اسْقِ حَدِيقَةَ فُلَانٍ فَتَنَحَّى ذَلِكَ السَّحَابُ فَأَفْرَغَ مَاءَهُ فِي حَرَّةٍ فَإِذَا شَرْجَةٌ مِنْ تِلْكَ الشِّرَاجِ قَدِ اسْتَوْعَبَتْ ذَلِكَ الْمَاءَ كُلَّهُ فَتَتَبَّعَ الْمَاءَ فَإِذَا رَجُلٌ قَائِمٌ فِي حَدِيقَتِهِ يُحَوِّلُ الْمَاءَ بِمِسْحَاتِهِ فَقَالَ لَهُ يَا عَبْدَ اللَّهِ مَا اسْمُكَ فَقَالَ لَهُ يَا عَبْدَ اللَّهِ لِمَ تَسْأَلُنِي عَنِ اسْمِي فَقَالَ إِنِّي سَمِعْتُ صَوْتًا فِي السَّحَابِ الَّذِي هَذَا مَاؤُهُ يَقُول اسْقِ حَدِيقَةَ فُلَانٍ لِاسْمِكَ فَمَا تَصْنَعُ فِيهَا قَالَ أما إِذْ قُلْتَ هَذَا فَإِنِّي أَنْظُرُ إِلَى مَا يَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا فَأَتَصَدَّقُ بِثُلُثِهِ وَآكُلُ أَنَا وَعِيَالِي ثُلُثًا وأرد فِيهَا ثلثه» . رَوَاهُ مُسلم
He said that the Prophet told of a man in a waterless plain hearing a voice from a cloud say, “Water so and so’s garden.”
Those clouds then moved away and emptied their water on a lava tract, and a channel collected the whole of that water. He followed the water and came upon a man standing in his garden diverting the water with his spade. He asked him his name, and when he told him, it was the very name he had heard from the cloud. The man then asked him why he had asked his name, and he replied that he had heard a voice from the clouds from which that water had come saying, “Water so and so’s garden," using his name.
He then asked him what he was doing in the garden and he replied, “Since you have said this, I am waiting for what it produces, when I shall give a third as sadaqa, use a third as food for myself and my family, and put a third back into it.”

Muslim transmitted it.
Mishkat al-Masabih 1789 Open
Hadith 1786
وَعَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «شَرُّ مَا فِي الرَّجُلِ شُحٌّ هَالِعٌ وَجُبْنٌ خَالِعٌ» . رَوَاهُ أَبُو دَاوُدَ
Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying,
“The worst things in a man are anxious niggardliness and unrestrained cowardice.”

Abd Dawud transmitted it.