526 – ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “When a woman spends from the food of her house without being wasteful, she receives a reward for what she gives, her husband receives a reward for what he earns, and the store-keeper receives a reward equal to both of them; none of their rewards is diminished in the least.” Agreed upon. (1)

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Glossary of the ḥadith
– “Without being wasteful”: i.e., free of extravagance or squandering and without reducing the household’s essential provision.

Points derived from the ḥadith

1. A woman may give charity from the household’s food even without her husband’s prior permission, but the scholars attach two conditions:
   (a) The husband must not have forbidden her to do so, nor be so miserly that she doubts his consent; otherwise it is unlawful.
   (b) Her charity must be limited to what customarily may be given away—such as a loaf of bread or surplus cooked food.
2. The same ruling applies to a servant entrusted with his employer’s wealth: he may give what people customarily allow, provided he knows of no stinginess on the owner’s part and the owner has not prohibited it; if he has, giving is forbidden.
3. Anyone who manages a man’s household—daughter, sister, child, or brother—shares the same ruling as the woman and the servant mentioned in the ḥadith.
4. Whoever among these individuals spends in this permissible manner receives a distinct reward, and that reward does not lessen the reward of the others in any way; Allah’s bounty is boundless.