Glossary of the ḥadīth:
– Abū Rāfiʿ: He was the mawla (client/freedman) of al-ʿAbbās. Al-ʿAbbās presented him to the Prophet ﷺ, and when Abū Rāfiʿ later came bearing the glad tidings that al-ʿAbbās had embraced Islam, the Prophet ﷺ set him free in gratitude for that news. Scholars differ about his given name: some said it was Ibrāhīm, others suggested other names. He was a Coptic freedman. The patron is called a mawla “from above,” whereas the slave or the manumitted person is a mawla “from below.” The word is derived from walāʾ, which denotes loyalty and support.

Points derived from the ḥadīth:

1. The ḥadīth shows that zakāt may not be given to the clients of Banū Hāshim; their ruling in this regard follows that of their patrons, who are likewise barred from zakāt. Al-Ṭaḥāwī said, “The reports from the Prophet ﷺ on this point are mass-transmitted.” Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr added, “There is no disagreement that charity is unlawful for the Prophet ﷺ.”
2. The underlying reason is stated in the ḥadīth itself: “The client of a people is counted as one of them.” The honor of the patrons extends to their clients; therefore, just as zakāt is prohibited for Banū Hāshim, it is also prohibited for their freedmen. Al-Khaṭṭābī, however, held that the freedmen of Banū Hāshim’s kinsfolk have no share in the near-of-kin portion of the khums.
3. The ḥadīth affirms the strength of the bond of walāʾ; on its basis the upper mawla inherits from the lower. Al-Ḥākim (7995) and Ibn Ḥibbān (4950) authenticated the report from ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “Walāʾ is a tie like the tie of kinship.”
4. The ḥadīth is an explicit text forbidding wages for zakāt-collection work to the clients of Banū Hāshim; all the more so is it forbidden to Banū Hāshim themselves.
5. It is permissible to call a human being mawla, as in “This is my mawla.” Allah says, “But if you two back each other against him, then Allah is his Mawlā, as are Gabriel and the righteous believers” (Q 66:4). Thus the term is applied both to Allah and to created beings.
6. It is permissible to accept a stipend or salary for performing religious duties, provided that worldly gain is not the sole objective; rather, the payment is taken as an aid in discharging the task and maintaining a state of ribāṭ (vigilant readiness).