Understanding Generosity and Munificence

“A man once asked abu al-Hassan, the 1st (a.s.), when he was performing Tawaf (walking seven times around the Ka‘bah), ‘Tell me about generosity.’ The Imam replied, ‘Your question has two sides. If you are asking about a generous creature, the answer is that a generous creature is one who pays what Allah has made obligatory on him to pay. If you are asking about the generosity of the Creator, then the answer is that the Creator is generous when He gives you something, and He is generous if He denies you something; if He gives you something, it does not belong to you; and if He denies you something, it does not belong to you.’”

“I asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), ‘What is the limit of generosity?’ The Imam replied, ‘It is to pay what Allah has made obligatory on you to pay to properly deserving recipients.’”

“Ja’far (a.s.), from his ancestors, ‘Alayhim al-Salam, narrated that the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, has said, ‘A generous person is beloved in the heavens and on earth. Such persons are created from sweet clay. The water of the eyes of such people is created from the water of al-Kawthar. Stingy persons are hated in the heaven and on earth. Such people are created from salty clay and the water of the eyes of such people is created from the water of thorns.’”

“Abu al-Hassan Musa (a.s.), has said, ‘A generous person who possesses good moral discipline is under Allah’s protection and Allah does not leave such a person alone until He admits him to Paradise. Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious, has never sent a prophet or an executor of the will of the prophets who is not generous. All the people of good deeds were generous. My father continued to encourage me to be generous until he passed away. He said, ‘One who pays zakat completely and pays it to properly deserving persons is not questioned wherefrom he has earned his wealth.’”

"A delegate from Yemen once came to the Messenger of Allah (sw). Among them, there was a man who was the greatest among them in speaking and most intense in arguing with the Prophet (sw). The Prophet (sw) became angry and the sweat of anger appeared between his eyes, his complexion changed, and he began to look down on the ground. Jibril (Gabriel (AS)) came to him and said, ‘Your Lord sends you greetings of peace and says, “This is a generous man. He provides food (for people).” The anger of the Prophet (sw) calmed down. He raised his head and said to him, "Had it not been for Jibril informing me about Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, that you are generous, feeding food (to people), I would have driven you away and made you a subject of discussion for those who came after you." The man said to him, "Indeed, your Lord loves generosity." He (sw) replied, "Yes." He (the man) said, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah, and by the One who sent you with the truth, I will not take back any my wealth from anyone."

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that Ibrahim (a.s.), was the father of guest- entertaining people. Whenever he did not have a guest, he would go out to search for a guest. He would close his door and take the keys with him when looking for guests. Once he returned home and found a person, or someone similar to a person, in his house. He asked, ‘Who are you, O servant of Allah and by whose permission have you come here?’ He replied, ‘I have come here by the permission of the owner of the house,’ and repeated it three times. Ibrahim then realized that he is Jibril. He thanked Allah and said, ‘Your Lord has sent me to one of His servants whom He has chosen as His friend.’ Ibrahim then said, ‘You should inform me, who is he so I serve him until the time of my death?’ He (Jibril) replied, ‘That person is yourself.’ He (Ibrahim) asked, ‘Why is that?’ He (Jibril) replied, ‘It is because you have never asked anyone for help and you are never asked.’ I said, ‘No, it has not happened.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that once a man came to the Holy Prophet, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, and said, ‘O the Messenger of Allah, who among people is of more excellent belief?’ He replied, ‘He is one whose hands are more open than others.’”

The Messenger of Allah (sw) has said, ‘On the Day of Judgment a man will be brought and will be told to present his argument (to support his merits). He will say, "O Lord, You created me and guided me, You provided for me abundantly, and I have always extended Your provision to Your creation and made it easy for them, so that Your mercy may be spread over me today and You make it easy for me." Then the Lord, Exalted is His praise and Elevated is His remembrance, says, "My servant has spoken truthfully, admit him to Paradise."‘

“I heard abu al-Hassan (a.s.), say, ‘A generous person is close to Allah, close to Paradise and close to people.’ I also heard him say, ‘Generosity is a tree in Paradise. Whoever holds to one of its branches will enter Paradise.’”

“Abu al-Hassan al-Rida (a.s.), has said, ‘A generous person eats people’s food so that they eat his food. A stingy person does not eat people’s food so that they will not eat his food.’”

“’Amir al-Mu’minin (a.s.), once asked his son, al-Hassan (a.s.), ‘My son, what is generosity?’ He replied, ‘It is providing assistance in both easy and difficult conditions.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), once said to a certain person in his presence, ‘Should I tell you about something that gets you close to Allah and to paradise and away from hell fire?’ He said, ‘Yes, please do so.’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘You must maintain generosity. Allah has created a creature by His kindness for His kindness. He has made them true deserving recipients of Benevolent Assistance, the proper place for good deeds, and a direction for people to strive toward them, so that they revive them, just as rain revives the barren land. Such people are the believers who live in peace in paradise on the Day of Judgment.’”

“He (the Imam) has said, ‘Allah the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious, sent revelation to Moses and told him not to kill the Samiriy because he was a generous person.”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that a young generous man excessively involved in sins is more beloved to Allah than an old worshipping man who is stingy.”

“I heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), say, ‘The virtuous ones among you are the generous ones, and the wicked ones among you are the stingy ones. You must do good to your brothers (in belief) and striving to help them comes from pure belief. The Beneficent loves those who do good to their brothers (in belief), and such manners humiliate Satan, distance one from the fire of hell, and admit one into paradise. O Jamil, inform the most distinguished ones of your people of this fact.’ I then asked, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, who are the most distinguished ones of my people?’ He (the Imam) replied, ‘They are the ones who do good to their brothers (in belief) in both trouble-free and difficult conditions.’ He then said, ‘O Jamil, for affluent people, it is easy. Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious, has praised the not-so-affluent ones in His book. ‘They give preference to them (the needy) over themselves, even concerning the things that they themselves urgently need. Whoever controls his greed will have everlasting happiness. (59:9)’”