Chapter 61: The Prohibition of Miserliness (bukhl) and Greed (shuḥḥ)

Allah the Exalted says:

“But as for him who withholds and deems himself self-sufficient, and denies al-ḥusnā (the best reward), We shall ease him toward hardship, and his wealth will be of no benefit to him when he plunges down.” (Al-Layl 92:8–11)

And He, Most High, says:

“Whoever is protected from the greed of his own soul—it is they who will prosper.” (At-Taghābun 64:16)

Commentary

Imām al-Nawawī—may Allah have mercy on him—opens this section of Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn with the chapter that forbids bukhl (miserliness) and shuḥḥ (avarice).

Bukhl is to withhold what is obligatory or what ought, by moral right, to be given.

Shuḥḥ is to covet what one does not possess; it is more severe than bukhl, for the greedy person hankers after what is in other people’s hands while also withholding what is in his own. The miser merely withholds what he possesses of the duties Allah has imposed on him—such as zakāt and financial maintenance—and what courtesy and honour demand that he spend.

Both traits—miserliness and greed—are reprehensible. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, censures those who are miserly and who command others to be miserly, and He says: “Whoever is protected from the greed of his own soul—it is they who will prosper.” (At-Taghābun 64:16)

The author then adduces two passages from the Book of Allah.

The first concerns miserliness; it is His statement: “But as for him who withholds and deems himself self-sufficient, and denies al-ḥusnā, We shall ease him toward hardship, and his wealth will be of no benefit to him when he plunges down.” (Al-Layl 92:8–11) These verses stand in contrast to the ones that precede them: “But as for him who gives and is mindful of Allah, and affirms what is most true, We shall ease him toward ease.” (Al-Layl 92:5–7)

Thus, the person who affirms the truth and gives what he is required to give—whether of knowledge,