60 - Choosing good property for zakat

عن أبي هُريرةَ رضي الله عنه، قال: قال رسولُ الله ﷺ: «أيُّها الناسُ، إن اللهَ طيِّبٌ لا يَقبَل إلا طَيِّبًا،وإن اللهَ أمَر المؤمنين بما أمر به المرسَلين، فقال: {يَا أَيُّهَا الرُّسُلُ كُلُوا مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحًا} [المؤمنون: 51]، وقال: {يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُلُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ} [البقرة: 172]، ثم ذكَر الرجُل يُطِيل السَّفَرَ أَشْعَثَ أَغْبَرَ، يَمُدُّ يَدَيْهِ إلى السماء: يا ربِّ، يا ربِّ، ومطعمُه حرامٌ، ومشرَبُه حرامٌ، ومَلبسُه حرامٌ، وغُذِيَ بالحرام، فأنَّى يُستجاب لذلك؟!»

Abu Hurayrah narrated that God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: 

1. People! [Know that] God is good and He only accepts what is good.  2. God has commanded the believers the same as He commanded messengers, as He says: ‘Messengers! Eat of that which is wholesome, and do good deeds: I certainly have full knowledge of all that you do’. (23: 51) And: ‘Believers, eat of the wholesome things We have provided for you’. (2: 172)  3. He then mentioned the case of a man who goes on a long travel, uncouth with dust on his body. He raises his hands to the sky and says, ‘My Lord! My Lord!’ Yet, his food is unlawfully earned; his drink is unlawfully earned; his clothes are unlawfully earned; and he was fed, when young, with what was unlawfully earned. How can such a supplication be answered?

Related by Muslim, 1015.

Summary of Meaning

The Prophet (peace be upon him) tells us that God is good and He does not accept anything which is not good. Therefore, He has commanded all people to eat of wholesome good food. The Prophet tells us that buying food with earnings that are unlawfully made blocks the  answering of a supplication. 

Hadiths projects