Ramadhan
1] Fudalah b. ‘Ubayd said when the Prophet – peace be upon him – prayed with the people, some people would swoon and fall down, because of hunger and weakness. They were mostly people of the platform (As-hab as-Suffah). Once, some Bedouins, who didn’t know their economic condition, remarked: “These people must be mad.” When the Prophet had done the prayers he turned to them (i.e., As-hab as-Suffah) and said: “If you knew what has been prepared for you by Allah – subhanahu wa ta’ala – surely, you’d wish that Allah multiplied your hunger and needs.”
[From Sahih Ibn Hibban, 724]
2] Abu Hurayrah – may Allah have mercy on him – says, ‘I heard the Prophet, peace be upon him, say: “Whoever spent two of the same kind of things in the way of Allah – glorified be He – will be invited to the gates of Paradise in words, ‘O slave of Allah. Surely, this is better.’ And, (continued the Prophet), of Paradise there are several gates. Whosoever was of the people of Salah, will be invited by the Gate of Salah. Whosoever was of the people of Jihad, will be invited by the Gate of Jihad. Whoever was the people of Charity, will be invited by the Gate of Charity; and whoever was of the people of Fasts, will be invited by the ‘Rayyan Gate.’” At that Abu Bakr – may Allah have mercy on him – asked: “Obviously, O Messenger of Allah, if one is invited by one gate, he doesn’t need to be invited by any other gates. But, will there be anyone invited by all the gates?” The Prophet, peace be upon him, answered: “Yes. And I hope you will be one of them.”
[Sahih Ibn Hibban]
3] Ali – may Allah have mercy on him – has reported the Prophet, peace be upon him, as having said: “Allah – glory to Him – has made obligatory (spending) on the rich of the Muslims as much as is sufficient for their poor. The destitute never face the hardship of hunger and nakedness but because of the way their rich behave. Surely, Allah will subject them to a strict reckoning and chastise them with a painful chastisement.”
(Tabrani has recorded this hadith in his “Saghir” as well as “Awsat.” Some of the narrators have been treated as trustworthy, while others have been spoken against).
[The report is from Kitab as-Siyam of Haythami’s Majma’ az-Zawa’id. Notes about the hadith or transmitter’s authenticity are by him].
Commentary
The above hadith would be classified as da’if, because of the reason that Haythami has stated. However, it cannot be denied that the hadith contains a historical truth: the poor don’t go through hardships but because of the rich. It is the rich of a nation who design the economic system in a way that they remain rich while the poor remain poor. Zakah works against that system. Where it is enforced, no one will be permanently poor, deprived of his basic needs. Nevertheless, when Zakah proves insufficient, the poverty of the poor still remains the responsibility of the rich and not of the government. “Sadaqaat” take over to render economic justice. Government is an abstract body whose various body-parts often function incoherently. It is only in times of emergencies – of war, famine, epidemic, etc – that the governments react sensibly and act somewhat coherently. In normal times, itis controlled by the bureaucrats whose inefficiency fails every good objective and whose corrupt hands scoop off the cream of every beneficial scheme. Hence, it is the rich who have been made responsible for the poor. Every rich man should look around him and do what is required to alleviate the hardships of the poor. It might be by way of direct charity, or, it might take the form of educational, social or economic help.
The hadith also throws the hint that the Islamic system of economy is not designed to ensure that everybody becomes rich, or to achieve a complete levelling of the rich and the poor. Neither does it work where the poor indulge in luxuries, while they don’t have enough money to bear the costs of education. It ensures, on the one hand, that nobody is reduced to such poverty levels that he or she goes hungry and unclothed, and, on the other, (though not touched upon in this particular hadith) the market remains a free economy for the enterprising.
4] Jabir says someone asked the Prophet: “O Messenger of Allah, what have you to say of a man who has paid off his Zakah?” The Prophet replied “Whoever paid off Zakah due on his wealth, got rid of the evil in him.” (The Hadith is of hasan status)
[Ibid]
Commentary
That is, each man carries lesser or greater degree of evil in him. Some of it pertains to wealth. When Zakah is paid off, he gets rid of the evil pertaining to wealth.
[Selections of hadith below are from Meaning and Message of the Traditions, Vol. III, by Muhammad Manzoor Nu’mani]
5] It is related by Abu Hurayrah that the Apostle of Allah said: “The reward on every virtuous deed (of a Muslim) is increased from ten to seven hundred times, except for fasting, because Allah says, “Fasting is for Me, and I shall reward him for it as I please.”
“(Continues the Prophet), ‘There are two moments of special joy for the man who fasts. One is when he breaks the fast, and the other will be (in the Hereafter) when he meets his Lord. And I swear that the bad odour emanating from the mouth of a fasting person is better in the judgement of Allah than the smell of musk. Fast is a shield and when anyone of you keeps a fast, he must not utter a filthy or indecent words nor engage in noisy scene, and were anyone to quarrel with him (and call him names) he should say, I’m fasting, I’m fasting.’”
– Bukhari and Muslim [Abridged]
6] It is related by Abu Hurayrah that the Apostle of Allah said: “Allah has no need for him (i.e., the one who is fasting) to go without food and drink who doesn’t shun evil and falsehood.”
– Baihaqi
7] ‘A’ishah – may Allah have mercy on her – related that “the Messenger of Allah strove harder and took greater pains to observe Prayer, (charity), etc., during the last ten days of Ramadhan than during any other days.”
– Muslim
8] It is related by ‘A’ishah that “when the last ten days of Ramadhan began the Messenger of Allah would wake up the members of his family and (then) spend the night in prayer and worship.”
– Bukhari and Muslim
9] It is related by ‘A’ishah that the Messenger of Allah said: “Seek the Night of Power (Laylah-al-Qadr) in the odd nights of the last ten days of Ramadhan.”
– Bukhari
10] ‘A’ishah relates that “I asked the Messenger of Allah if I came to know which was the night of Qadr what should I say. The Prophet replied: “Say, O Allah, You are indeed the most-Forgiving, the most-Merciful, and You like to forgive, so forgive me my sins.”
– Musnad Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.
