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Sadaqa in Islam is not money alone: every good deed is charity. The Prophet taught his companions that a smile at your brother is charity, a kind word is charity, and clearing harm from the path is charity — so the poor and the rich can both give it.
Sadaqa in Islam is a gift by which its giver draws near to God — mostly the giving of wealth to the poor and the needy; scholars differ on its relation to zakat, sadaqa being the wider term for some, covering both obligation and the voluntary. The hadiths of the Forty widen its meaning: when the poor companions thought charity was only money, the Prophet ﷺ counted for them charities of the body and tongue — a smile, a kind word, tasbih, enjoining good and removing harm. The fiqh books treat sadaqa of wealth and its kinds, and its effect in blessing and repelling harm in the hadith. Sadaqa remains the pillar of Muslim charitable life today.
Storytellers (10–12) read the Explorers text, then cross to the Scholars text.
Sadaqa in the Islamic tradition is wider than giving money: in language from sidq (truthfulness), the gift evidencing the giver's truth of faith and need of God; in usage any gift intended as nearness to God — obligatory, as some scholars call zakat itself sadaqa, or voluntary. In the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth hadiths of Nawawi's Forty, as Ibn Rajab explains, the poor companions assumed charity belonged to the rich, and the Prophet ﷺ answered: 'every good deed is sadaqa' — counting for them charities of heart, tongue and body within the poor man's reach: tasbih, tahmid, takbir, tahlil, enjoining good, forbidding evil, removing harm from the road, and even intimacy in the famous hadith. The fuqaha read in this the principle that all righteous work is worship and charity, and include in it spending on wife and children ('a dinar spent in God's path... and a dinar spent on your family'). Fiqh separates it from the obligatory zakat, and studies its conditions — sincerity, lawfulness, freedom from ostentation — its effect in repelling affliction and blessing wealth, its rightful recipients, and its modern forms: charity banks and welfare institutions.
Overview
Charity (sadaqa) in the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth hadiths of the Forty is wider than charity in money. The poor Companions thought that there was no charity except in wealth, so the Prophet pointed them to forms of charity they could give. 1
Forms of charity
Among them are glorifying God, saying "God is greatest," praising Him, and proclaiming His oneness; enjoining good and forbidding wrong; removing harm from the road; helping the weak; guiding the blind; making the deaf and the mute understand; pointing out someone in need; and hastening to one in distress. And in the intercourse of one of you there is charity. 1
In the hadith of Hudhayfa in Muslim: "Every good deed is charity." In the hadith of Abu Mas'ud in the two Sahihs: "A man's spending on his family is charity." 1
In the hadith of Abu Hurayra, on every joint, that is, every articulation, there is a charity each day the sun rises. It is said that there are three hundred and sixty joints. In a report of Abu Dharr and Buraida, the two rak'as of the forenoon prayer suffice in place of all of them. 1
The permissible and the intention
Ibn Rajab holds that the apparent sense of the hadith is that the permissible, such as intercourse, is rewarded when done with an intention, such as seeking a righteous child or chastity. Al-Nawawi says that it is evidence that permissible acts become acts of obedience through sincere intentions. This is connected with intention. 1
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Connections
- Based on
- Arba'un 25 — the wealthy have taken all the reward· Arba'un 26 — charity is due on every joint· Muwatta 261· Muwatta 262· Muwatta 2211· Muwatta 2212· Muwatta 2213· Muwatta 718· Muwatta 766· Muwatta 767· Muwatta 768· Niyya (intention in deeds)
- Mentioned in
- Muslim 1014 — The date from lawful earning grows like a mountain· Muslim 1016 — Shield yourselves from the Fire even with half a date· Muslim 1017 — Whoever sets a good precedent in Islam· Muslim 1031 — Seven God shades in His shade· Muslim 1033 — The upper hand is better than the lower· Muslim 1035 — This wealth is fresh and sweet· Muslim 1042 — Gathering firewood beats begging· Muslim 1553 — Every Muslim who plants or sows and is eaten from it earns charity· Muslim 1631 — When a person dies their work ends except through three· Muslim 2588 — Charity never diminishes wealth
- Related to
- Spending in the way of God (infaq)· Social solidarity and religious brotherhood
People and things also explored
Muhammad· Abu Hurayra· Muwatta, Book of Zakat· Malik ibn Anas· Muwatta, Book of Judgements (aqdiya)· Salah (the prescribed prayer)· Spending in the way of God (infaq)· Niyya (intention in deeds)
Sources
- Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali , p.533-547
- Principles of Islamic Economics — Rafiq Yunus al-Misri
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Charity (sadaqa)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/sadaqa/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-26.