The meaning of stinginess and avarice
1
أبي - رحمه الله - قال: حدثنا سعد بن عبد الله، عن القاسم بن محمد الأصبهاني، عن سليمان بن داود المنقري، عن الفضيل بن عياض، قال: قال أبو عبد الله عليه السلام: أتدري من الشحيح؟ فقلت: هو البخيل؟ فقال: الشحيح أشد من البخيل إن البخيل يبخل بما في يديه وإن الشحيح يشح بما في أيدي الناس وعلى ما في يديه حتى لا يرى في أيدي الناس شيئا إلا تمنى أن يكون له بالحل والحرام، ولا يشبع ولا يقنع بما رزقه الله تعالى.
1. My father, may Allah grant him mercy, said: We were told by Sa’d bin Abdullah, from Qasem bin Muhammed al-Esbahani, from Sulayman bin Dawud al-Manqari, from Fudail bin ‘Ayyadh, that he said: Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, said: Do you know who the avaricious is? I said: Is he the stingy? He said: The avaricious is worse than the stingy. Indeed, a stingy person is stingy with what is in his own hand, and the avaricious person is avaricious with what is in the hands of people as well as what is in his own hand, until he does not see in the hands of people anything except that he wishes for it to be his, (regardless if it is earned) through (the) lawful and the forbidden. He does not become satisfied, nor is he content, with what Allah, Exalted is He, has sustained him.
2
أبي - رحمه الله - قال: حدثنا أحمد بن إدريس، عن أحمد بن محمد، عن أبيه، عن النضر بن سويد، عن عبد الأعلى الأرجاني، عن عبد الأعلى بن أعين، عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال: إن البخيل من كسب مالا من غير حلة وأنفقه في غير حقه.
2. My father, may Allah grant him mercy, said: We were told by Ahmad bin Idrees, from Ahmad bin Muhammed, from his father, from Nadhr bin Suwayd, from Abdul-A’la al-Arjani,from Abdul-A’la bin A’yan, from Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, that he said: Indeed, the stingy is the one who acquires a property from other than its lawful method and spends it in other than its right.
3
حدثنا محمد بن علي ماجيلويه - رضي الله عنه -، عن أبيه، عن أحمد بن أبي عبد الله، عن بعض أصحابنا بلغ به سعد بن طريف، عن الأصبغ بن نباتة، عن الحارث الأعور، قال: فيما سأل علي صلوات الله عليه ابنه الحسن عليه السلام أن قال له: ما الشح؟ فقال: أن ترى ما في يدك شرفا وما أنفقت تلفا.
3. We were told by Muhammed bin Ali Majilawayh, may Allah be pleased with him, from his father, from Ahmad bin Abi Abdillah, from some of our companions, to whom Sa’d bin Turaif informed, from Asbagh bin Nubata, from Harith, the half-blinded, that he said: Among what Ali, Allah’s blessings be upon him, asked his son, Hasan, peace be upon him, is that he said to him: What is avarice? He said: That you see what is in your hand as an honor, and that what you have spent is a loss.
4
حدثنا محمد بن علي ماجيلويه، عن عمه محمد بن أبي القاسم، عن محمد بن علي الكوفي، عن أبي جميلة، عن جابر، عن أبي جعفر عليه السلام قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: ليس البخيل من يؤدي - أو الذي يؤدي – الزكاة المفروضة من ماله ويعطي البائنة في قومه وإنما البخيل حق البخيل الذي يمنع الزكاة المفروضة من ماله ويمنع البائنة في قومه و هو في ما سوى ذلك يبذر.
4. We were told by Muhammed bin Ali Majilawayh, from his paternal uncle, Muhammed bin Abi’l-Qasem, from Muhammed bin Ali al-Kufi, from Abu Jameela, from Jabir, from Abu Ja’far, peace be upon him, that he said: The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said: The stingy is not the one who gives the obligatory alms tax from his property and grants the final to his people. Rather, the stingy, the truly stingy, is the one who prevents (the deduction of) the obligatory alms tax from his property, and who prevents (the giving of) the final to his people, and who spendthrifts in other than that.
5
حدثنا محمد بن الحسن بن أحمد بن الوليد - رضي الله عنه - قال: حدثنا محمد بن الحسن الصفار، عن أحمد بن محمد، عن أبيه، عن حماد بن عيسى، عن حريز، عن زرارة، قال: سمعت أبا عبد الله عليه السلام يقول: إنما الشحيح من منع حق الله وأنفق في غير حق الله عز وجل.
5. We were told by Muhammed bin Hasan bin Ahmad bin Waleed, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: We were told by Muhammed bin Hasan al-Saffar, from Ahmad bin Muhammed, from his father, from Hammad bin Isa, from Huraiz, from Zurara, that he said: I heard Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, say: The avaricious is only the one who prevented the right of Allah and spent in other than the right of Allah, Exalted and Glorious is He.
6
وبهذا الاسناد، عن أحمد بن محمد، عن أبيه، عن أبي الجهم، عن موسى بن بكر عن أحمد بن سليمان، عن أبي الحسن موسى بن جعفر عليهما السلام، قال: البخيل من بخل بما افترض الله عليه.
6. With this chain of narrators, from Ahmad bin Muhammed, from his father, from Abu’l-Jahm, from Musa bin Bikr, from Ahmad bin Sulayman, from Abu’l-Hasan, Musa bin Ja’far, peace be upon them both, that he said: The stingy is the one who is stingy with regards to what Allah has obliged upon him.
7
أبي - رحمه الله - قال: حدثنا علي بن إبراهيم، عن أبيه، عن ابن فضال، عن معاوية بن وهب، عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال: البخيل من بخل بالسلام.
7. My father, may Allah grant him mercy, said: We were told by Ali bin Ibrahim, from his father, from Ibn Faddal, from Mu’awiya bin Wahab, from Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, that he said: The stingy is the one who is stingy with (the sending of) peace.
8
حدثنا أحمد بن محمد بن عبد الرحمن المقري، قال: حدثنا أبو الحسن علي بن الحسن بن بندار بن المثنى التميمي الطبري، قال: حدثنا أبو نصر محمد بن الحجاج المقري الرقي، قال: حدثنا أحمد بن العلاء بن هلال، قال: حدثنا أبو زكريا، قال: حدثنا سليمان بن بلال، عن عمارة بن غزية، عن عبد الله بن علي بن الحسين، عن أبيه، عن جده عليهم السلام قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: البخيل حقا من ذكرت عنده فلم يصل علي.
8. We were told by Ahmad bin Muhammed bin Abdul-Rahman al-Maqarri, that he said: We were told by Abu’l-Hasan, Ali bin Hasan bin Bandar bin Muthanna al-Tameemi al-Tabari, that he said: We were told by Abu Nasr, Muhammed bin Hajjaj al-Maqarri al-Riqqi, that he said: We were told by Ahmad bin ‘Alaa’ bin Hilal, that he said: We were told by Abu Zakariya, that he said: We were told by Sulayman bin Bilal, from Umara bin Ghaziya, from Abdullah bin Ali bin Hussain, from his father, from his grandfather, peace be upon him, that he said: The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his Family, said: The truly stingy is the one to whom I am mentioned and does not ask Allah to send blessings upon me.