492 – On the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both): “The Prophet ﷺ dispatched Muʿādh to Yemen—then the narrator recounted the rest of the report—in which he said, ‘Allah has made obligatory upon them a charity taken from their wealthy and returned to their poor.’” Agreed upon, and the wording is that of al-Bukhārī.⦗1⦘
Vocabulary notes
• “dispatched Muʿādh to Yemen”: that is, he sent him as a judge or governor. It is said this occurred in the tenth year, and he remained there until he returned during the caliphate of Abū Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him).
• “has made obligatory” (iftaraḍa): meaning He has enjoined it upon them, for al-farḍ denotes what is legally mandatory.
• “charity” (ṣadaqah): derived from ṣidq (truthfulness), indicating the sincerity of the one who pays zakāh. Wealth is beloved to people, and none parts with it except through genuine faith; thus it is proof of the giver’s belief. The term ṣadaqah is used here for zakāh, as in Allah’s statement, “Al-ṣadaqāt (charitable dues) are only for…” (Qur’an 9:60); the intended meaning is zakāh.
• “is taken”: passive voice; the clause functions as an adjective describing “charity.”
• “returned”: passive voice, coordinated with “is taken.”
Points derived from the hadith
- Muʿādh b. Jabal al-Anṣārī, one of the scholars among the Companions (may Allah be pleased with him), was sent by the Prophet ﷺ to Yemen in the tenth year. The Prophet ﷺ instructed him: “You are going to a people of the Book, so let the first thing to which you invite them be the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah. If they