“Which deed is most beloved to Allah?” He answered, “Performing the prayer at its appointed time.” I said, “Then what comes next?” He replied, “Showing dutifulness to one’s parents.” I asked again, “Then what?” He said, “Striving in the path of Allah.”

Likewise, Abū Dharr—may Allah be pleased with him—asked the Prophet ﷺ about the most virtuous deeds. The Prophet clarified that the foremost deeds are faith in Allah and fighting in His cause. Abū Dharr then inquired about manumission: “Which slaves (raqab) are best to set free?”—that is, who gains the greatest merit when emancipated. The Prophet replied, “The one most precious to its owners and highest in price.” “Most precious to its owners” means the slave they love most; “highest in price” means the one that costs them the most. In such a slave both qualities—dearness and great monetary value—are combined, and only a person of real strength and faith will bring himself to sacrifice something of that caliber.

To illustrate: suppose a man owns several slaves, among whom is one he is fond of because the slave manages his affairs well, is good-natured, and benefits his master—and he is also the costliest slave in the household. If the man asks, “Which is better: to free this one or a lesser, cheaper slave?” we say, “Free this one,” for he is the dearest and most expensive. The Prophet ﷺ declared that in the matter of slaves, “the dearest in price and most precious to their owners” are the best to liberate. This echoes the divine statement: “You will never attain righteousness until you spend of that which you love” (Āl ʿImrān 92).

ʿAbd-Allāh ibn ʿUmar—may Allah be pleased with them both—would give away in charity anything from his property that pleased him, in obedience to this verse.

When this verse was revealed, Abū Ṭalḥah—may Allah be pleased with him—came to the Prophet