In the narration of Sayyiduna Hudhayfah, Jabir bin Abdullah, and Abdullah bin Yazid al-Khatmi (may Allah be pleased with them), the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Every act of goodness and virtue is charity." Therefore, if by the statement of the Chosen Prophet (peace be upon him), "Charity is not lawful for us, the family of Muhammad," you mean every voluntary and obligatory charity, then it would not be lawful to do any act of kindness or goodness to any member of the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him), because according to his command, every kind of kindness and goodness is charity. And if voluntary charity is not permissible for the family of Muhammad, as some ignorant people think, then it would not be lawful for anyone to pour water from his own vessel into the vessel of any member of the family of Muhammad, because the Prophet (peace be upon him) has stated that a person pouring water from his own vessel into the vessel of a thirsty and needy person is also charity. And it would not be lawful for any member of the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him) to spend on his family, because they too are from the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him), and the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) has already stated that "A person's spending on his family is also charity."

Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to visit Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) in Makkah Mukarramah when he was ill. Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) began to weep, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked:“Why are you weeping?”He says, I replied,“I fear that I may die in this city from which I migrated (and my reward may be lost), just as Sa’d bin Khawlah (may Allah be pleased with him) died in Makkah Mukarramah.”So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed:“O Allah, grant Sa’d recovery. O Allah, grant Sa’d health.”Then Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) submitted,“O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), I have a lot of wealth and my only heir is one daughter. Should I bequeath all my wealth (in someone’s favor)?”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“No.”He said,“Then should I bequeath two-thirds?”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“No.”He said,“Then should I bequeath half of my wealth?”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied:“No.”He asked again,“Then should I bequeath one-third of my wealth?”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Bequeath one-third, and one-third is also a lot. Indeed, your giving charity from your wealth is charity, and your spending on your family is also charity, and indeed, whatever your wife eats from your grain is also charity for you. And indeed, if you leave your family wealthy—or he said, leave them with enough to live on—it is better for you than that they go around begging from people.”And he gestured with his hand.

The family of the Prophet ( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم ) upon whom charity is forbidden does not refer to the family of Ali, the family of Ja'far, and the family of Abbas, as some people think.

Imam Abu Bakr, may Allah have mercy on him, states that in the hadith of Hazrat Abdul Muttalib bin Rabee’ah, there is evidence that zakat is forbidden for the family of Abdul Muttalib just as it is forbidden for the descendants of Hashim other than them. As Sayyiduna Zaid bin Arqam, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that those members of the Prophet’s family upon whom zakat is forbidden are the family of Ali, the family of Aqeel, the family of Abbas, and the family of Muttalib. And Janab al-Muttalibi used to say: Indeed, by the family of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is meant Banu Hashim and Banu Muttalib, whom Allah Almighty has granted a share from the spoils of war in place of zakat. Then the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) clarified by distributing the share of the close relatives (Dhu al-Qurba) between Banu Hashim and Banu Muttalib, making it clear that by Allah Almighty’s statement «‏‏‏‏ذَوِي الْقُرْبَىٰ» ‏‏‏‏“Give to the near relatives,”is meant Banu Hashim and Banu Muttalib, and the other relatives of the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) are not included in this.

Yazid bin Hayan narrates that I, Husain bin Samrah, and Amr bin Muslim went to Sayyiduna Zaid bin Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) and sat with him. Husain said to him,“O Zaid (may Allah be pleased with him), you have had the honor of seeing the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and you have also performed prayers behind him. You have heard his sayings and participated in battles with him. O Zaid (may Allah be pleased with him), indeed you have attained much goodness and blessings. O Zaid (may Allah be pleased with him), tell us a hadith that you heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and you were present with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at that time.”He said,“Certainly, O nephew, my meeting with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was a long time ago, and I have grown old, and I have forgotten some of the sayings of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that I used to remember. Therefore, accept whatever I narrate to you, and do not burden me with what I do not narrate.”Then he said,“One day, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up to deliver a sermon to us at a place of water called Khumm. He praised and glorified Allah. He admonished and advised us. Then he said: ‘Amma ba’du, O people, indeed I am only a human being. Soon, the messenger of my Lord will come to me, and I will respond to him. And indeed, I am leaving among you two very important and precious things. The first of them is the Book of Allah, the Noble Qur’an. In it is guidance and light. Whoever holds fast to it and acts upon it will be rightly guided, and whoever leaves it and does not act upon it will go astray. The second thing is my Ahl al-Bayt (household). I remind you by Allah regarding my Ahl al-Bayt (to treat them well and avoid mistreating them).’ He (peace and blessings be upon him) repeated this three times.”Husain said,“O Zaid, who are the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? Are his noble wives not among his Ahl al-Bayt?”He replied,“Why not, his noble wives are among his Ahl al-Bayt. But his Ahl al-Bayt are those upon whom zakat is forbidden.”He asked,“Who are they?”He replied,“They are the family of Ali, the family of Aqil, the family of Ja’far, and the family of Abbas.”Husain asked,“Is charity forbidden for all of them?”Sayyiduna Zaid (may Allah be pleased with him) replied,“Yes.”

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that while we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the Prophet’s Mosque, a man entered the mosque riding a camel. He made the camel sit in the mosque, then tied its knee with a rope, and then asked,“Who among you is Muhammad?”At that time, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting among the companions, reclining. So we told him,“Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is this man of reddish-white complexion who is reclining.”He said,“O son of Abdul Muttalib,”so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“(Say what you wish to say) I am listening to you.”That man said,“Indeed, I will ask you a few questions, and there will be some harshness in my questioning, but please do not mind.”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“Ask whatever you wish to ask.”He said,“I ask you by your Lord and the Lord of all those before you, has Allah sent you as the Messenger to all people?”The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“Yes.”He asked,“I ask you by Allah, has Allah commanded you to establish five prayers in the day and night?”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied,“Yes.”He then said,“I ask you by Allah, has Allah commanded you to take zakat from our wealthy and distribute it among our poor?”The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“Yes.”So that man said,“I believe in the religion you have brought, and I am the envoy of my people behind me, and my name is Dhamam bin Tha’labah. I am from the family of Sa’d bin Hakam.”This narration is from Wahb. The wording of all the narrators is nearly the same. Imam Abu Bakr (may Allah have mercy on him) says that in this hadith is evidence for the issue that it is not permissible to give zakat wealth to disbelievers, even if they are poor and needy. Because the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has stated that Allah has commanded to take zakat from the wealthy Muslims and distribute it among the poor Muslims only. There is no command to give it to poor disbelievers.

And the explanation of the evidence that there is no fixed amount for charity given to a poor person, but he should be given as much as will remove his poverty.

Sayyiduna Qabeesah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that I came to the service of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) so that he may help me in paying off blood money. So he said: "Stay with us; either we will pay all your blood money or we will assist you in it. And know well, asking (for help) is only permissible for three types of people. One is the person who takes the responsibility of blood money or compensation for a people, so he can ask for help in it until it is paid off, then he should stop asking. The second is the person who is struck by a calamity that destroys all his wealth, so he can ask until he gets enough to sustain himself. The third is the person who is afflicted by poverty and three wise or trustworthy men from his people testify that he is facing poverty, then it is permissible for him to ask until he gets enough to sustain himself, then he should stop. Other than this, asking is unlawful. O Qabeesah, anyone who asks beyond this will be consuming what is unlawful." This narration is from Janab Ath-Thaqafi.

Abu Bakr Kinanah bin Na’eem narrates that I was sitting with Sayyiduna Qabeesah (may Allah be pleased with him) when people from his tribe came to him and asked for help for the marriage of one of their companions. He refused to give them anything. I said to him,“You are the chief of your tribe, why did you not give them some wealth?”He replied,“These people have asked me unjustly. If their companion were to rub his private part until it became dry (i.e., useless), that would be better for him than this question they have asked of me. Indeed, I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: ‘Begging is only permissible for three types of people: one whose wealth has been destroyed by some calamity or disaster, so he may ask until he gets enough to sustain himself, then he should stop asking; and one who has taken upon himself blood money or compensation for reconciliation among his people, so he may ask until he gets what he needs, then he should stop asking; and a person about whom three wise men from his people swear by Allah that so-and-so has become truly poor and needy (then he may ask). Other than these, asking is forbidden, and the one who begs consumes what is unlawful.’”

Sayyiduna Qabeesah bin Mukhaariq al-Hilaali رضي الله عنه narrates that I took responsibility for a penalty, so I came to the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم to seek assistance for it. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "O Qabeesah, stay with us until the zakat money arrives. (When the money comes) I will order that you be assisted." Then the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "Indeed, zakat money is only lawful for three types of people. First, the person who takes responsibility for a penalty, for him it is lawful to ask for assistance until he obtains enough to get by. Second, the person who is struck by a calamity that destroys all his wealth, for him it is lawful to ask until he acquires what he needs. Third, the person who is afflicted by poverty and hunger, for him zakat money is lawful until he obtains enough to live on. Other than these, O Qabeesah, asking is unlawful, and the one who asks consumes what is unlawful."