90 – The Fourth: Abu Hurayrah reported that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “Messenger of Allah, which charity earns the greatest reward?” He replied, “That you give in charity while you are healthy and tight-fisted, fearing poverty and hoping for wealth. Do not delay until the soul reaches the ḥulqūm and you begin to say, ‘Give so-and-so this and so-and-so that,’ when indeed it has already come to belong to so-and-so.” Agreed upon.

(ḥulqūm): the airway; (marīʾ): the passage of food and drink.

Explanation
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—cites this ḥadīth in the chapter on hastening to perform good deeds and on avoiding hesitation when the opportunity presents itself. The man asked the Prophet ﷺ which charity is best; he was not inquiring about the type or the amount of charity, but about the time at which giving charity is superior to any other time. The Prophet ﷺ answered, “That you give in charity while you are healthy and tight-fisted,” meaning sound in body yet reluctant in spirit, for when a person is healthy he tends to cling to his wealth: he hopes to stay alive and fears poverty. When he falls ill, however, the world loses its luster for him and charity becomes easy.

He said, “That you give in charity while you are healthy and tight-fisted, hoping to remain alive and fearing poverty”—in another wording, “fearing poverty and hoping for wealth,” though the first narration is preferable. His phrase “hoping to remain alive” means that, because you are healthy, you look forward to continued life and to a long life.