Sayyiduna ‘Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I was with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) when two men came; one was complaining about his poverty and the other about the insecurity of the roads. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:“As for the insecurity of the roads, it will be only a short while before (such peace will prevail that) a caravan will travel (from Madinah) to Makkah without any guard or guarantor (and no one will be able to hinder it). And as for the poor, (their situation will be such that) the Hour will not come until (there is so much wealth among people that) one of you will go around with his charity but will not find anyone to accept it. Then (remember that) surely, certainly, each one of you will stand before Allah (on the Day of Judgment). There will be no veil between him and Allah, nor any interpreter to convey his words. Then Allah, the Exalted, will say to him: ‘Did I not give you wealth?’ He will reply: ‘Yes (You did).’ Then Allah, the Exalted, will say: ‘Did I not send a Messenger to you?’ (Who informed you of the obligation of Zakat.) He will reply: ‘Yes (You did send).’ Then that person will look to his right and will see nothing but the Fire, and he will look to his left and will see nothing but the Fire. Therefore, each one of you should protect himself from the Fire, even if it is by giving half a date (in charity). And if he does not find even that, then with a good word.”(Because that too is charity.)

Abu Musa Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A time will come upon the people when a man will go around with gold for charity but will not find anyone to accept it from him, and due to the scarcity of men and abundance of women, forty women will be seen clinging to one man."

Sayyiduna Abu Mas’ud Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) says that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would command us to give charity, one of us would go to the market and carry loads. Then if he received a mudd (of grain, etc.) as wages, he would give that as charity. (At that time, there was such poverty.) And today, some people possess one hundred thousand dirhams.

Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) says: (One day) a woman came asking, and with her were her two daughters. She found nothing with me except one date, so I gave it to her. She divided the date between her two daughters and did not eat anything herself, then she got up and left. When the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to us, I informed him of what had happened. The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:“Whoever is tested with any of these girls (i.e., Allah gives him daughters), then those girls will be a shield for him from the Fire.”

Sayyiduna Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that a man came to the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and asked, "O Messenger of Allah! Which charity has the greatest reward?" The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: "That you give charity while you are healthy, desirous of wealth, fearing poverty, and hoping for affluence. And do not delay so much that when the soul reaches the throat, you say, 'Give so much to so-and-so and so much to so-and-so,' while by then, that wealth has already become the property of so-and-so (i.e., your heir)."

Narrated from Umm al-Mu'mineen Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) that some of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked him, "Who among us will meet you first (after your passing)?" The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) replied: "The one whose hand is the longest among you." So they took a piece of bamboo and began to measure their hands, and Sawda (may Allah be pleased with her) had the longest hand among them. (But when Umm al-Mu'mineen Zainab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her) passed away first among them,) we realized that her hand was made long by charity (and by 'the longest hand' the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) meant abundance in charity, thus) she was the first among us to join the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and she loved to give charity very much."

Narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:“(In a previous era) a man said (in his heart) that (tonight) I will give some charity. So he took his charity and went out, and (unknowingly) placed it in the hand of a thief. In the morning, people began to talk that (look, last night) charity was given to a thief. The man said: O Allah! All praise is for You alone. (Tonight again) I will give charity. So he took his charity and went out, and (unknowingly) placed it in the hand of an adulteress. In the morning, people began to talk that look, last night charity was given to an adulteress. The man said: O Allah! All praise is for You alone. My charity has reached an adulteress, well, (tonight again) I will surely give some charity. So he took his charity and went out, and (unknowingly) placed it in the hand of a rich man. In the morning, people began to talk that look, last night charity was given to a rich man. The man said: O Allah! All praise is for You alone. I have given my wealth (unknowingly) to a thief, an adulteress, and a rich man. Then a messenger (of Allah) came to him and said: (Do) not be grieved, you will receive the reward of your charity, and those to whom you gave will also benefit. Perhaps your giving charity to the thief will benefit him so that he may refrain from stealing, and the adulteress! Perhaps she may refrain from adultery, and perhaps the rich man may take heed and begin to spend from what Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has given him (in the way of Allah).”

Sayyiduna Ma'n bin Yazid (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I, my father, and my grandfather pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and it was the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) himself who arranged my engagement and performed my marriage. One day, I brought a case before him, and (the case was that) my father Yazid had set aside some gold coins for charity and had deposited them with a person in the mosque (saying, "Give them to whomever you wish"). So I went and took those gold coins and brought them home. My father said, "By Allah! I did not intend to give them to you." So I brought this case before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Yazid! You will get the reward for the intention you made, and O Ma'n! Whatever you have taken is yours."

Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“When a woman gives charity from the food of her house, provided that her intention is not to cause harm to the household, then that woman will receive the reward for giving charity, her husband will receive the reward for earning it, and the treasurer will also receive a similar reward. And none of their rewards will be diminished (i.e., the charity is one, but all three will receive the same reward).”

Sayyiduna Hakim bin Hizam (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he said: "The upper hand is better than the lower hand, and begin charity with the one who is among your family (close relatives), and the best charity is that which is given from surplus wealth. And whoever refrains from asking, Allah will keep him from asking, and whoever wants to remain self-sufficient, Allah will make him self-sufficient."