On the authority of Abū Maʿn ibn Yazīd ibn al-Akhnas—he, his father, and his grandfather were all Companions—who said: “My father, Yazīd, set aside some gold dinars to give in charity. He placed them with a man in the mosque, but I came and took them. When I later brought them to him, he said, ‘By Allah, you were not the one I had in mind!’ He took the matter to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said, ‘Yazīd, you shall have what you intended, and Maʿn, you shall have what you took.’” Al-Bukhārī narrated the report.

[Commentary]
This ḥadīth—cited by the author—relates the story of Maʿn ibn Yazīd and his father. Yazīd had handed over a sum of silver dirhams to a man in the mosque so that they might be distributed to the poor. Maʿn, his son, came and took them. It is possible that the man entrusted with the money did not realize Maʿn was Yazīd’s son, and so he gave them to him because he judged him to be among those entitled to receive charity.

When the news reached Yazīd he said to his son, “It was not you that I intended”—meaning, “I did not mean these dirhams for you.” He therefore went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the Prophet ruled: “Yazīd, you shall have what you intended, and Maʿn, you shall have what you have taken.”

The Prophet’s words, “Yazīd, you shall have what you intended,” demonstrate that deeds are judged by their intentions and that when a person intends a good deed, its reward is secured for him. Although Yazīd had not meant his son to take those dirhams, the son nonetheless received them, and he was indeed one of those eligible to receive charity.