The ḥadith thus points out that in a person’s wealth there is a right in addition to the obligatory zakah. The well-to-do must not think their liability is cleared merely by paying their annual zakah; rather, there are further dues dictated by unexpected needs and emergencies that they are duty-bound to meet. If they fail to do so, they come under the threat of the Almighty’s words:

“And those who hoard gold and silver and do not spend it in the way of Allah—give them tidings of a painful punishment. On the Day when these treasures are heated in the Fire of Hell and their foreheads, flanks, and backs are branded with them: ‘This is what you stored up for yourselves; so taste what you were hoarding.’” (Qur’an 9:34–35)

150 – “Indeed, Allah has allowed me to relate that there is a rooster whose legs pierce the earth and whose neck is bent beneath the Throne. It proclaims, ‘Glory be to You; how tremendous You are, our Lord!’ and it is answered, ‘Only the one who swears falsely by Me is unaware of that.’”

Al-Ṭabarānī narrated it in al-Awsat (1/156/1): “Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Akhram told us; al-Faḍl ibn Sahl al-Aʿraj told us; Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr told us; Isrāʾīl told us, from Muʿāwiyah ibn Isḥāq, from Saʿīd ibn Abī Saʿīd, from Abū Hurayrah—marfūʿ.” He (al-Ṭabarānī) said, “No one narrated it from Muʿāwiyah except Isrāʾīl; Isḥāq alone transmitted it.”

I say: Isḥāq is trustworthy and is counted among the narrators relied upon by the two Shaykhs, and the rest of the transmitters are likewise reliable and belong to al-Bukhārī’s narrators, apart from Ibn al-Akhram; yet he was a jurist-ḥadith scholar noted for his precision, as stated in Lisān al-Mīzān. Hence, the ḥadith’s chain of transmission is sound.

Al-Haythamī said in Majmaʿ (4/180–181): “Al-Ṭabarānī narrated it in al-Awsat and its transmitters are those of the Ṣaḥīḥ.” This blanket statement, however, warrants scrutiny, especially since he said elsewhere (8/134):