Ḥadīth Lesson: Types of Sadaqah

As-Salāmu ‘Alaykum wa RaḥmatuLlāhi wa Barakātuh. A‘ūdhu BiLlāhi Minash-shayṭāni r-rajīm. BismiLlāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm. Wa ṣ-Salātu wa s-Salāmu ‘alá Rasūlinā Muḥammadin Sayyidi l-Awwalīna wa l-Akhirīn. Madad yā RasūlAllāh, Madad yā Sādāti Aṣḥābi RasūliLlāh, Madad yā Mashāyikhinā, Dastūr Mawlana Sheikh Abdullāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghistāni, Sheikh Muḥammad Nāẓim al-Ḥaqqānī. Madad.

1Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “A reward is given in connection with every living creature. Watering every thirsty living creature is a charity for you.” So, giving water to any thirsty living being is an act of charity. When describing deep thirst in Arabic, they say, “a person’s liver burns from thirst.” And that is a great act of charity. The greatest act of charity is giving water. It’s not just for humans; giving water to animals, insects, whatever there is, good or bad, is an act of charity.

2Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “A person must give sadaqah for each of his joints, every day the sun rises.” Now, when we say “give sadaqah” to most people, they say, “I give it, I give it every month, I give it once a week, I give a thousand liras or five thousand liras,” etc. However, it is necessary to give for every day. You will not give five thousand,

but a hundred liras for each day. If you cannot give, our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wasallam says, you can give it by other means. “To judge justly between two persons is regarded as Sadaqa.” So, if two people ask you to judge between them; Judgement on who is right and who is wrong and telling the truth is charity. So not only giving money is charity, even this is charity. “Helping a man concerning his riding animal by helping him to ride it.” In the past, it was sometimes difficult to ride a horse. Even helping him, holding his saddle or rein and helping him mount his horse is considered charity for you. “Or by lifting his luggage on to it, is also regarded as Sadaqa.” It is difficult to load your horse or animal alone; because it has to be loaded and held from one side, and someone else has to hold it from the other side. Helping this person is also charity, says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. “A kind word is charity.” So, greeting someone, saying nice words, asking how they are doing is also charity. This is considered one of the sadaqahs that should be given for the joints of the body. “Every step taken towards prayer is charity.” So, whether the masjid is a hundred steps away or two hundred steps away, all of those steps taken are considered charity. Since every step is considered a charity; whether you take three hundred, four hundred or five hundred steps, it is charity. “Showing someone the way is charity.” If someone asked you for an address, and you showed him the way; this is sadaqah. If you explain and say this nicely, it is also charity. “Removing harmful things from the road is charity.” Whether a stone, soil, thorns or something else; removing them from the road is also considered charity, says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.

3Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Every giving of loan is a charity.” As they call it “Qard Al-Hasan”, the loan given for the sake of Allāh ﷻ. Even if you get it back - that is, even if it is not just charity given without expecting return - giving money as a loan is still considered charity.

4Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ says, “Every good deed is a charity.” There are many good deeds. Doing all kinds of good deeds; doing good to mothers, fathers, children, neighbors and people is considered charity, says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wasallam. So nothing is in vain. Nothing is gone in vain for a Muslim or a believer. Everything is written as charity, sadaqah, good deeds and rewards in the sight of Allāh ﷻ.

5Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ says, “Every good deed you do towards people, whether rich or poor, is charity.” So, there is no such thing as “He is rich, I did him a favor, this does not count as charity” - it is also considered charity. The reward for every good deed is accepted as charity.

6Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “Every good deed is a charity.” Goodness has hundreds, thousands of forms. Each of them is a charity, says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam. “Whoever leads to good, he is like the one who does it.” So, if you show someone else a good deed, a prayer, du’ā’ or help for the sake of Allāh ﷻ, you will be rewarded as much as the person who did that good deed. “Allāh ﷻ likes to help someone who is confused about what to do.” Allāh ﷻ loves those who help people who are in a difficult situation, confused about what to do, or going through a big test, says our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam.

7Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “If anyone lends an animal for milking, or silver coins, or shows someone the way, it will be equivalent to his having emancipated

a slave.” Now of course no one milks milk, they buy it in ready-made boxes. In the past, they would lend the animal. For the sake of Allāh ﷻ, a poor person took care of that animal, benefited from its milk, and when it ran out of milk, he gave it back to its owner. The reward of a person who lends money to such a person or to someone in need or who guides a person who has lost his way is so great that it’s like freeing a slave. Freeing a slave has one of the greatest rewards.

Of course, people today, as our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam said at the beginning of the matter of sadaqah: the surplus. What’s more than one’s own needs. One should not get into trouble by borrowing money from one person or another. That is also important. First of all, he must pay attention to his own sustenance, the sustenance of his family, and the sustenance of his children. If there is anything left over and the other party is really in need, then he can give them. One cannot act with thoughts such as “I will borrow money and earn a lot of money. I will also borrow money from others and give them. I will go and buy a ‘coin’.” “Koyun” means sheep in Turkish. This “coin” is not the four-legged sheep we know. These four-legged people who deal with these new “bitcoin” businesses are making their families miserable. They go and borrow money from someone else. You mustn’t lend money to such people. Money must not be given to those who gamble or deal with unnecessary things such as the stock market or ‘bitcoin'. I don’t say anything about goats, you can go and buy a goat. But never lend money to people who are addicted to drugs and pills. They come and ask, “What should we do?” We say, “Don’t give them money.” What will he do if you don’t give them money? This man won’t buy such harmful things. “He will get angry with us.” Let him be angry. “He will die,” they say. It’s better if he dies. At least he will leave this world clean. We say this to everyone; not only in Türkiye, but all over the world: it has come to the same situation. The more you compromise a one’s ego, the worse you will make the situation. He’s already in a miserable state, so at least don’t become miserable along with him, brother.

This issue of sadaqah is exactly as our Prophet ṣallá Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam said from the very beginning; First of all, everything you spend on yourself and your family is already charity. First take care of them, then you look after others. When your own family is in need, don’t make yourself miserable by helping someone else saying “This child is screaming and crying, let me help him” unnecessarily. Be careful. We live in terrible times, it’s not like the old times anymore. People of old times were truthful with promises, they understood the situation, they understood compassion. There was a feeling of shame and shyness, but now there is nothing of that. Youths shamelessly come and attack their mothers, fathers and families, saying, “Give me money, I will earn more money.” May Allāh ﷻ improve them.

8Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “He who gives a she-camel as a gift, for him is the reward (of the gift) both morning and evening - a reward for drinking milk in the morning and a reward for drinking milk in the evening.” So, as we said, whether it is a sheep or a goat; The person who lends it for someone to benefit from its milk will earn the reward of charity morning and evening as long as that animal is used.

9Qala RasuluLlah salla Llāhu ‘alayhi wa-sallam The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ (peace be upon him ﷺ) says:

Our Holy Prophet ﷺ is saying, “The best charity is the loan of a milk-producing animal. It goes with rewards and returns with rewards.” So, as we said, this is the loaned animal; it can be sheep, goat or cow. The poor would take care of that animal and benefit from its milk, and this would be enough for all their needs. In the past, a person who owned one or two cows was considered rich. Now, the person who owns two hundred cows is just working in that manure, but he earns nothing. They ruined the world, they left no barakah, or anything else. May Allāh ﷻ send the sāhib. May that old barakah come again. May the beautiful things come, in shā’a Llāh.

Sadaqa RasuluLlah fi ma qal, aw kama qal. The Messenger of Allāh ﷻ says the truth in what he ﷺ said or as he ﷺ said.

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Ihda’ – Dedication:

Ziyadatan ila sharafi’ ‘n-Nabi, sallaLlahu `alayhi wa sallam wa Alihi wa Asahabihi l-kiram, wa ila arwahi jamee’i al Anbiya’i wa l-Mursalin wa Khudama’i sharai’ihim wa ila arwahi al ‘Aimmati al arba’a, wa ila arwahi Mashayyikhina fi t-Tariqati nNaqshbandiyyati l-Aliyyah, khassatan Imamu t-Tariqah wa Ghawthu l-Khaliqah Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, wa sai’ri

Sadatina wa s-Siddiqiyun, wa man nahnu fi hadratihim wa jiwarihim. To the souls of all our ancestors. To the souls of all Shahīds. For goodness to come and evil to be warded off. For people to come to their senses. Li-Llahi Ta’ala, Al-Fatiha.

[(Translation) To the honor of the Prophet, Prayers and Peace be upon Him, and his family, and his companions, and the souls of all the prophets as well as of His messengers and of those who served their Sharia, and to the souls of the four Imams. And to the souls of our Mashayikh of the Most Distinguished Naqshbandi Tariqa, in particular to the soul of the Imam of the Tariqa Ghawth al-Khaliqa (the Help of Creation), Khwaja Bahauddin Muhammad al-Uwaisiyi l-Bukhari, Sayyidina Abdul Khaliq al Ghujduwani, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddin al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz al Daghestani, Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al Haqqani, and the rest of our masters and Siddiqiyun, and to whom we are in their presence and near them. To the souls of all our ancestors. To the souls of all Shahīds. For goodness to come and evil to be warded off. For people to come to their senses. To Allah Almighty. Al Fatiha.]

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 04 August 2026/ 21 Safar 1448 Beylerbeyi Dergah, Istanbul