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Sunan an-Nasai 2548 (Book 23, Hadith 114) #17159
Generosity vs Miserliness

SUMMARY: The hadith compares a miser and a generous person to two men wearing coats of mail. The coat of mail expands for the generous person when they think of giving in charity, while it contracts and sticks to the miser when they think about giving in charity.

It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet said: "The parable of the miser and the one who gives in charity is that of two men wearing coats of mail with their hands tied to their collarbones. Every time the one who gives thinks of giving in charity, the (coat of mail) expands until it obliterates his traces, and every time the miser thinks of giving charity, every circle (of the coat of mail) contracts and sticks to him, and his hand is tied up to his collarbones". I heard the Messenger of Allah say: "He tries to expand it, but he cannot".
أَخْبَرَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ سُلَيْمَانَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَفَّانُ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا وُهَيْبٌ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ طَاوُسٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ قَالَ ‏"‏ مَثَلُ الْبَخِيلِ وَالْمُتَصَدِّقِ مَثَلُ رَجُلَيْنِ عَلَيْهِمَا جُنَّتَانِ مِنْ حَدِيدٍ قَدِ اضْطَرَّتْ أَيْدِيَهُمَا إِلَى تَرَاقِيهِمَا فَكُلَّمَا هَمَّ الْمُتَصَدِّقُ بِصَدَقَةٍ اتَّسَعَتْ عَلَيْهِ حَتَّى تُعَفِّيَ أَثَرَهُ وَكُلَّمَا هَمَّ الْبَخِيلُ بِصَدَقَةٍ تَقَبَّضَتْ كُلُّ حَلْقَةٍ إِلَى صَاحِبَتِهَا وَتَقَلَّصَتْ عَلَيْهِ وَانْضَمَّتْ يَدَاهُ إِلَى تَرَاقِيهِ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ وَسَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ يَقُولُ ‏"‏ فَيَجْتَهِدُ أَنْ يُوَسِّعَهَا فَلاَ تَتَّسِعُ

TOPICS
generosity  *  miserliness  *  charity  *  mail

QUICK LESSONS:
Think generously towards others; Give away some portion from your wealth; Be charitable; Help those who need help; Be kind towards others; Spend your money wisely on good causes; Appreciate what you have been given by Allah SWT .

EXPLANATIONS:
This hadith compares generosity and miserliness by using an analogy between two men wearing coats of mail. When the generous person thinks about giving in charity, their coat expands until it obliterates their traces. On the other hand, when the miser thinks about giving in charity every circle contracts and sticks to them so that their hands are tied up to their collarbones. This is meant to illustrate how difficult it is for a miserly person to give away money or possessions even if they want to do so. It also shows how easy it is for someone who has been blessed with wealth or possessions to give away some of what they have without feeling any burden or difficulty at all. The lesson here is that those who are blessed with wealth should be generous with what Allah has given them as this will bring them closer to Allah and increase their reward on Judgment Day.

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