Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir al-Juhani (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: "The one who collects customs (taxes) will not enter Paradise." Janab Yazid says: "By 'sahib maks' is meant the one who collects the entry tax (upon entering cities)."

And the explanation of the virtue of that tax collector who acts justly in his work, and the explanation of likening him to a warrior (ghazi) striving in the way of Allah.

Sayyiduna Rafi' bin Khadij (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The one who collects Zakat with justice and fairness is like a warrior fighting in the way of Allah, until he returns to his home."

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "The faith of the one who is not trustworthy is not correct, and the one who commits injustice and excess in the collection of zakat is like the one who does not pay zakat."

Sayyidah Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates: While the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was present in her house and some of his noble companions were also with him, engaged in conversation, a man came and said, "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), if there is such and such an amount of dates, how much zakat is due on them?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied, "This much zakat is obligatory." The man said, "Indeed, such-and-such an official has wronged me and has taken this much zakat from me and has taken one sa‘ more." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "What will your condition be when your collector will oppress you even more than this?" Then the people became engaged in conversation and this matter astonished and perplexed them, until a man said, "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), if a person is (living far from the town) with his camels, animals, and crops, and he pays the zakat on his wealth, then the collector oppresses him, what should he do when he lives far from you?" The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Whoever pays zakat willingly for the pleasure of Allah and the success of the Hereafter, and does not hide anything from his wealth (from the collector), and establishes prayer, then he pays zakat and the collector oppresses him, and he takes up arms and fights and is killed, then he is a martyr."

Sayyiduna Abu Rafi’ (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had performed the ‘Asr prayer, he would go to the tribe of Banu ‘Abdil-Ashhal and converse with them until Maghrib. Sayyiduna Abu Rafi’ (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Then, during this time, as the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was hurrying for the Maghrib prayer, we passed by Baqi’, and he said:“Woe to you. Woe to you.”These words weighed heavily upon me and I fell back. I thought that you had said these words about me, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“What is the matter with you? Come.”I said: A new thought has come to my heart. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“What is the matter with you?”I said: You said ‘woe’ to me. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“No, rather (I said it) about such-and-such a person. I had sent him to collect the zakat of such-and-such a tribe, and he committed a breach of trust with a sheet, so it has been wrapped around him as fire from Hell.”Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that the meaning of“ghulul”is to steal something from the spoils of war.

Allah—Mighty and Majestic—said: [‏وَمَنْ يَغْلُلْ يَأْتِ بِمَا غَلَّ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ‏]

Sayyiduna ‘Adi bin ‘Umayrah Kindi (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Whoever is appointed by us to do any work and then conceals from it even a needle or anything less than that, it is a betrayal, and he will bring it with him on the Day of Resurrection.”Upon hearing this, a black Ansari man— as if I am seeing him— said,“O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), take back your responsibility from me.”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked,“Why?”He replied,“Because I heard you say such and such.”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“And I say this: When we appoint someone to a responsibility, he should bring forth whatever little or much he has, then take what is given to him and refrain from what is withheld from him.”

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Humayd As-Sa'idi (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) appointed a man from the tribe of Azd, who was called Ibn Lutbiyyah, to collect zakat. When he returned, he said, "This is your zakat, and this is a gift that was given to me." Upon this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) addressed the people, praised and glorified Allah, and then said: "What is the matter with that official whom we send, and when he returns, he says, 'This wealth is yours, and this was given to me as a gift'? Why does he not sit in the house of his father and mother and see whether he is given any gift or not? By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), whoever among you brings such wealth, he will carry it on his neck on the Day of Resurrection. If it is a camel, it will be groaning; if it is a cow, it will be mooing; and if it is an ox, it will be bellowing." Sometimes the narrator used the word "tay'aru" instead of "thawaar" (both mean making a sound). Then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) raised both his hands until we saw the whiteness of his armpits. Then he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "O Allah, have I conveyed Your command?" He repeated these words three times.

Sayyiduna Abu Humayd As-Sa’idi (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed a man from the tribe of Azd, who was called Ibn Lutbiyyah, as a collector of zakat from Banu Sulaym. When he returned with the wealth, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took account of him. He said,“This is your share, and this (other) is a gift that was given to me.”Upon this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Why did you not sit in your father’s or mother’s house so that your gift would come to you if you are truthful?”Then he addressed us and praised and glorified Allah, then said:“To proceed, I appoint one of you over some of the tasks which Allah has entrusted to me, and he returns saying, ‘This is your wealth and this was given to me as a gift.’ Why did he not sit in his father’s or mother’s house so that his gift would come to him if he is truthful? By Allah, whoever among you takes anything unlawfully will meet Allah on the Day of Resurrection carrying it. So I do not want to see any of you meeting Allah carrying a camel that is groaning, or a cow that is mooing, or a sheep that is bleating on his neck.”Then he raised his hands until the whiteness of his armpits was visible and said:“O Allah, have I conveyed (Your command)?”My eyes saw this scene and my ears heard these words.