7 – The most excellent charity is the earnest giving of one who has little (juhd al-muql). It consists in donating what remains after he has met his own needs and those of his dependants, even though he does not possess abundant wealth. Thus, this statement does not conflict with the sound ḥadīth recorded by al-Bukhārī 1361 and Muslim 1034: “The best charity is that which is given from surplus wealth.” Each text has its particular context and meaning, so the phrase “the effort of the one with little” must be limited to what exceeds his own sufficiency and the sufficiency of those he maintains.

8 – Whoever fails to seek chastity and contentment will not be granted them; instead, his heart will remain attached to the unlawful desires Allah has forbidden, opening for him pathways to what is prohibited. This is the purport of the saying: “Whoever seeks to be chaste, Allah will grant him chastity; and whoever seeks self-sufficiency, Allah will enrich him.”

Benefits

First: Shaykh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb—may Allah have mercy on him—said that the ḥadīth, “The poor will precede the rich by five hundred years,” does not indicate that the poor are superior to the rich; indeed, some of the rich who enter after them will hold a higher rank than they. Many evidences show that a specific virtue does not necessarily entail overall superiority.

Second: Settling debts takes precedence over voluntary charity, because paying one’s debts is obligatory and the rights of people are weighty. For this reason the authentic ḥadīth states that martyrdom in the path of Allah expiates all sins except debt. Shaykh al-Islām added: “Debt is like all the other rights and grievances owed to people.”

Third: Voluntary charity may be given to a non-Muslim, to a wealthy person, to the descendants of Hāshim, and to others who are barred from receiving zakāt.

Fourth: Boasting about one’s charity is a major sin that nullifies its reward, as Allah the Exalted says, “O you who believe! Do not nullify your charities by reminders of generosity or by harm.” ⦗al-Baqarah 264⦘.

Fifth: Abū Qilābah said, “Who could have a greater reward than a man who spends on small children,”