The smallest act of kindness counts as ṣadaqah.
Narrated by Abū Dharr (أبو ذر)
تَبَسُّمُكَ فِي وَجْهِ أَخِيكَ لَكَ صَدَقَةٌ
"Your smile in your brother's face is charity."
An accessible hadith that expands the definition of charity beyond wealth. A smile, a kind word, removing something harmful from the road, helping someone carry a burden — all are ṣadaqah. The one who cannot afford to give materially can still give this, and the scale of the record is the same.
Passages that draw on this hadith
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"He replied, Has Allah not given you that which you can offer in charity? Every tasbih, glorification, is charity. Every tahmid, praise, is charity. Every tahlil, declaration of oneness, is charity. Every takbir, affirmation of Allah's greatness, is charity."
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"Enjoying good is charity. Forbidding evil is charity. Placing a morsel in your family's mouth is charity. And in the intimate relations of one of you, there is charity. They said, O Messenger of Allah, does one of us fulfill his desire and get rewarded"
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"If he couldn't fulfill a request, he simply remained silent. In a narration it is said, the son of Adam awakens, and every joint in his body owes a charity, each joint totaling 360 joints. Commanding good is a charity, forbidding evil is a charity, helping the weak is a charity,"
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"reading is like the virtue of secret charity over public charity. In another wording, the one who publicizes the Quran is like the one who publicizes charity, and the one who keeps it secret is like the one who keeps charity secret, reported by Abu Dawud al-Nasa'i and"
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"Al-Shubi stated, Whoever does not see himself as more in need of the reward of charity than the poor, or of his charity has invalidated his charity and thrown it in his face. Malik remarked, We see no harm in a believer drinking from water given in charity and being"
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"The devoted brother pledged to God that he would neither eat nor drink until God cured his brother of his desire. He fasted for 40 days, continually asking about his brother's condition, to which the brother replied,"
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"for his brother, for his brother takes his place, and they are like one person differing only in body. This is the essence of brotherhood, neither showing off in deeds before him, nor transitioning deeds from being secret to public, since his brother's knowledge of his deeds is like his"
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"daily, and torches are lit. Among the illustrious residents were Khatib al-Sir Baha al-Din ibn Ghanim, a renowned scholar known for generosity and kindness, and his brother Husam al-Din, the Sheikh of the Noble Jerusalem, as we mentioned before. Another brother, Ala al-Din, was Khatib al-Sir"