عن حسين بن علي بن أبي طالب عن عليّ بن أبي طالب قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم البخيل الذي من ذكرت عنده فلم يصلّ علىّ
Hazrat Husain رضي الله عنه reports that Sayyiduna Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم said; “The real miser is the one in whose presence my name is mentioned, yet he does not recite Durood upon me.” (Tirmidhi #3546)
Miserliness and greed are two evil qualities that bring a person disgrace in this world and in the next. Below are some incidents of ‘master misers’ who made every effort to avoid sharing with others:
The Misers of Marw
It is mentioned that people from the land of Marw were renowned for their stinginess. Such was their stinginess that it was their habit, when traveling in a group, that each traveller would purchase his own piece of meat. Each traveller would then tie a piece of string around his piece of meat, after which all the pieces of meat would be placed in the pot to be cooked together.
However, while the meat was cooking, each traveller would sit around the pot, holding onto his string. Thereafter, when the meat had cooked and was ready to eat, each traveller would use the string to pull out his piece of meat. Each person would then eat his own piece of meat, and only the gravy would be shared among them. (Al-Mustatraf vol. 1, pg. 278)
The Guest Offering to Feed the Host
Haitham bin ‘Adiyy mentions: Once, a poet from the land of Yamaamah came to Abu Hafsah as a guest. Abu Hafsah thus vacated the home for the guest, but then fled and disappeared out of the fear that he would be obliged to provide the guest with food that night. Realizing what had happened, the guest came out of the home and purchased whatever food he required. Thereafter, he returned to the home and wrote a note to his host, Abu Hafsah, containing the following couplets:
O person who has come out of his home, and fled out of extreme fear Your guest has brought his own food, so come back and become the guest of your own guest!
(Al-Mustatraf vol. 1, pg. 279)
After reading such incidents, we will definitely commend the actions of these people. However, if we feel that the miserliness of the abovementioned misers is deplorable, then far worse than their miserliness is the miserliness of the person who deprives others of their own wealth (e.g. the debtor not paying the creditor), or he deprives people of the rights which Allah Ta‘ala had granted them (e.g. he does not give the heirs their full share of the inheritance), or he does not spend upon those whom Allah Ta‘ala has given a right in his wealth (e.g. his wife and children, or his poor, old parents). Such a person, apart from being a miser, is also an oppressor.
How beautiful are the words of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم when he mentioned,
“The generous person is close to Allah Ta‘ala, close to Jannah, close to people and distant from the fire of Jahannam, while the miserly person is distant from Allah Ta‘ala, distant from Jannah, distant from the people and close to Jahannam.” (Sunan Tirmizi #1961)
(Adapted from uswatulmuslimah.co.za)
Over and above all of this, the Hadith Shareef speaks about another type of miser- the real miser- the one who fails to recite Durood Shareef upon hearing the Mubarak name of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم.
May Allah Ta‘ala save us all from this evil, Ameen.