The upper hand is better than the lower hand
Narrator in the source: Ibn ‘Umar reported: The Messenger of Allah
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said while he was on the pulpit, mentioning charity and refraining from asking people: "The upper hand is better than the lower hand; the upper hand is the giving hand, and the lower hand is the begging hand."- Grade in the source
- Authentic
- Reported by
- Agreed upon
- Source entry
- HadeethEnc · 3599 ↗
Original Arabic wording
عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا: أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ وَهُوَ عَلَى المِنْبَرِ، وَذَكَرَ الصَّدَقَةَ، وَالتَّعَفُّفَ، وَالمَسْأَلَةَ: «اليَدُ العُلْيَا خَيْرٌ مِنَ اليَدِ السُّفْلَى، فَاليَدُ العُلْيَا: هِيَ المُنْفِقَةُ، وَالسُّفْلَى: هِيَ السَّائِلَةُ».Understand this hadith
The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), while delivering a sermon from the pulpit, mentioned charity and refraining from begging; then he said: The upper hand—the one that gives and spends—is better and more beloved to Allah than the lower hand—the one that asks.
Lessons from the hadith
- It highlights the virtue of giving and spending in good causes and the dispraise of begging.
- It encourages refraining from asking others and being self-sufficient and urges the pursuit of noble matters while avoiding lowly ones, for Allah loves lofty aspirations.
- There are four types of hands in terms of virtue, ranked as follows: the highest is the giving hand, followed by the one that refrains from taking, then the one that receives without asking, and the lowest of them is the begging hand.
References (original Arabic)
صحيح البخاري (2/ 112) (1429). صحيح مسلم (2/ 717) (1033). بهجة الناظرين شرح رياض الصالحين، لسليم الهلالي (1/ 590). نزهة المتقين شرح رياض الصالحين، لمجموعة من الباحثين (1/ 465). التوضيح لشرح الجامع الصحيح، لابن الملقن (10/ 315). شرح رياض الصالحين، لابن عثيمين (3/ 388). تحفة الأحوذي بشرح جامع الترمذي، المباركفوري (3/ 288). تطريز رياض الصالحين، لفيصل آل مبارك (ص212).