wealthy nor poor; neither among the generous, who do not concern themselves with it, nor among the miserly. A miser is so intent on pursuing what he has lost that he will seek even a fingernail clipping, as the poet said:

I would wear away the ruins if I did not stop by them,
like a miser whose ring was lost in the dust.

Thus, no consideration is given to the miser, nor to the poor person either, for whatever the poor person loses becomes the object of his concern. If ten riyals were lost by you, you would not care about them; but if they were lost by a poor person, he would care about them. Likewise, if someone gave you ten riyals, you would neither care much nor rejoice over them, nor regard it as a significant amount for you; but if he gave them to a poor person, he would rejoice in them.

Therefore, what is meant is people of moderate means, both in character and in wealth: in character, they are neither among the generous who do not concern themselves with such matters, nor among the miserly, whose attention pursues every little thing. Such property belongs to its finder, unless he knows its owner. The evidence for this is that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, found a date on the road and said: “Were it not that it might be from charity, I would have eaten it.” (1) This is because charity—both obligatory and voluntary—is forbidden to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. The family of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, are forbidden only obligatory charity, not voluntary charity. As for all other people, if they are eligible recipients of zakah, they may receive both voluntary and obligatory charity.

The Prophet’s saying, peace and blessings be upon him, “Were it not that it might be from charity, I would have eaten it,” raises a question: how could the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, refrain from it when the basic presumption is that it is lawful and that it