Chapter: Distribution of Charitable Funds

532 – Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) said, “Charity is not lawful for a wealthy person except in five cases: for the collector appointed over it; for a man who buys it with his own wealth; for a debtor; for one fighting in the path of Allah; or for a poor person who receives it and then offers part of it as a gift to a rich person.” Recorded by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, and Ibn Mājah. Al-Ḥākim declared it sound, though some scholars considered it mursal (1).

Hadith grading
The preponderant view is that the report is connected and sound. It was transmitted by Aḥmad, by Abū Dāwūd—who remained silent about it, as did al-Munḏirī—by Ibn Mājah, and it was authenticated by al-Ḥākim with al-Ḏahabī concurring. Ibn Khuzaymah also graded it sound. Hadith critics have differed over whether its chain is connected or mursal; Abū Dāwūd and al-Bayhaqī leaned toward the mursal opinion. Al-Ḥākim, however, firmly held that it is connected, stating, “A sound hadith on the conditions of the two Shaykhs,” and al-Ḏahabī agreed. The stronger position, as Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr affirmed, is that it is connected. Al-Ḥāfiẓ (Ibn Ḥajar) said, “A group of scholars authenticated it in its connected form; since a connected chain is definitely an addition, it must be adopted.”