Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Allah Almighty accepts charities and receives them in His right hand, then He continues to increase them just as one of you raises a foal, a she-camel, or a calf, until a morsel becomes as great as the mountain of Uhud. In his narration, Waki’ said: The confirmation of this statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is found in these verses of the Noble Qur’an: Allah accepts the repentance of His servants and takes their charities. () And Allah destroys usury and increases charities. ()

It is also narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever among the believers gives charity from lawful and pure earnings—and Allah Almighty accepts only that which is pure, and only this lawful earning ascends towards the sky—then Allah Almighty takes this (charity) in His hand and keeps increasing it just as one of you raises his mare or calf, until a single date becomes as large as a great mountain.

Sayyida Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) has also narrated a similar type of hadith from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: The example of the miser and the one who gives charity is like two men upon whom are two iron coats of armor, and their hands are tied up to their collarbones. When the charitable person intends to give charity, his coat expands so much that it begins to erase the marks of his feet. But when the miserly person intends to give charity, each ring of his coat contracts and becomes tightly bound upon him. Then I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say: Then he tries his utmost to loosen his coat, but it does not become wide.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Darda’ (may Allah be pleased with him), he says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: When the sun rises, two angels are sent on its both sides, they announce to everything on the face of the earth except jinn and mankind, making them hear: O people! Come towards your Lord, surely a little that suffices is better than abundance that makes one heedless. Similarly, when the sun sets, at that time also two angels are sent on its both sides and, making the rest of the inhabitants of the earth except jinn and mankind hear, they announce: O Allah! Grant a substitute to the one who spends in Your way, and destroy the wealth of the miser.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, stated: Allah Almighty said: O son of Adam! Spend (in My way), I will spend on you. Then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Allah’s right hand is full and always giving, and nothing spent during the night and day can diminish it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: A man was in a desert when he heard a voice in the cloud: (Cloud!) Go and water the garden of such-and-such man. The cloud moved to one side and rained on a solid piece of land. When this man reached there, he saw that all the water had gathered and, flowing through various channels, had formed a large stream. This man walked along with the water and, going further, saw a man standing in his garden, watering his plants with a shovel. He asked: O servant of Allah! What is your name? He gave the same name that he had heard in the cloud. The garden owner said: O servant of Allah! Why do you ask my name? He said: The cloud from which this water came, I heard a voice in it, mentioning your name and saying to go and water his garden. Therefore, now tell me, do you do any special deed because of which Allah’s special mercy continues to reach you? The garden owner said: Since you have asked, then listen! I give one third of the total income of this garden in charity in the way of Allah, one third is for me and my family to eat, and one third I spend on this garden.

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) says: A man from Banu Tamim came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah! I am quite wealthy and I have a large family, children, and I often have many guests; now tell me how should I spend my wealth or what should I do? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Pay the zakat of your wealth, this pure act will purify you; likewise, maintain ties of kinship with your relatives, and you should also be aware of the rights of the beggar, the neighbor, and the needy. He said: O Messenger of Allah! Please clarify these matters for me briefly. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Give your relatives, the needy, and travelers their rights, and avoid extravagance. Upon hearing this, he said: O Messenger of Allah! Is it sufficient for me that when I pay zakat to your envoy, will I have fulfilled my responsibility before Allah and His Messenger? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes, when you pay zakat to my envoy, you will be absolved of it and you will receive its reward; however, whoever changes it (unlawfully), its sin will be upon him alone.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Sayyiduna Mu’adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) towards Yemen, he said to him:“You are going to a people from among the People of the Book. First, invite them to testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah. If they accept this from you, then inform them that Allah has made five prayers obligatory upon them during the day and night. If they accept this from you, then inform them that Allah has also made zakat obligatory upon their wealth, to be taken from their rich and distributed among their poor. If they accept this from you, then (when taking zakat) avoid taking their most valuable possessions, and beware of the supplication of the oppressed, for there is no barrier between it and Allah.”

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify that there is no god but Allah. When they testify to this, they will protect their blood and wealth from me, and their reckoning will be with Allah the Exalted. When Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) assumed the caliphate and those who had turned apostate became apostates, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) intended to fight them. But Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: How will you fight those who perform prayer? But Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: By Allah! I will certainly fight those who refuse to pay zakat. By Allah, if they withhold even a single she-goat which they used to give as obligatory charity to Allah and His Messenger, I will fight them for it. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When I saw that Allah had opened the chest of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) to fight those who refused zakat, I knew that this was the truth.