Chapter on the Excellence of Kindness to One’s Slave

Allah the Exalted says: “Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and show kindness to parents, relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbor, the distant neighbor, the companion at your side, the traveler, and those whom your right hands possess.”

1360 – Al-Maʿrūr ibn Suwayd reported: I saw Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) wearing a cloak, and his servant was dressed in a cloak identical to it. I asked him about this, and he told me that he had once quarrelled with a man in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and had reviled him by mentioning his mother. The Prophet ﷺ said, “You are a man who still has traces of jāhiliyyah (the pre-Islamic age of ignorance) in you. They are your brothers and your servants; Allah has placed them under your authority. So whoever has his brother under his hand must feed him from what he eats and clothe him from what he wears. Do not burden them with work that overpowers them; and if you must assign them such work, then help them with it.” Agreed upon.

1361 – Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: “When your servant brings food to one of you, if you do not seat him to eat with you, then give him a morsel or two, or a bite or two, for he has handled its preparation.” Narrated by al-Bukhārī.

Al-uklah, with a ḍammah on the hamzah, means “a single morsel.”