Chapter: The prohibition of giving gifts to agents

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) appointed a man from the Asad tribe who was called Ibn Lutbiyya in charge of Sadaqa (i. e. authorised hign to receive Sadaqa from the people on behalf of the State. When he returned (with the collictions), he said: This is for you and (this is mine as) it was presented to me as a gift. The narrator said: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upod him) stood on the pulpit and praised God and extolled Him. Then he said: What about a State official whom I give an assignment and who (comes and) says: This is for you and this has been presented to me as a gift? Why didn't he remain in the house of his father or the house of his mother so that he could observe whether gifts were presented to him or not. By the Being in Whose Hand is the life of Muhammad, any one of you will not take anything from it but will bring it on the Day of Judgment, carrying on his neck a camel that will be growling, or a cow that will be bellowing or an ewe that will be bleating. Then he raised his hands so that we could see the whiteness of his armpits. Then he said twice: O God, I have conveyed (Thy Commandments).

The Prophet (ﷺ) appointed Ibn Lutbiyya, a man from the Azd tribe, in charge of Sadaqa (authorising him to receive gifts from the people on behalf of the State). He came with the collection, gave it to the Prophet (ﷺ), and said: This wealth is for you and this is a gift presented to me. The Prophet (ﷺ) said to him: Why didn't you remain in the house of your father and your mother to see whether gifts were presented to you or not. Then he stood up to deliver a sermon. Here follows the tradition like the tradition of Sufyan.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) appointed a man from the Azd tribe called Ibn al-Utbiyya, in charge of Sadaqat to be received from Banu Sulaim. When he came (back), the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked him to render his account. He said: This wealth is for you (i.e. for the public treasury) and this is a gift (presented to me). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: You should have remained in the house of your father and your mother, until your gift came to you if you spoke the truth; then he addressed us. He praised God and extolled Him, and afterwards said: I appoint a man from you to a responsible post sharing with him authority that God has entrusted to me, and he comes to me saying: This wealth is for you (i.e. for the public treasury) and this is a gift presented to me. Why did he not remain in the house of his father and his mother and his gift came to him, if he was truthful? By God, any one of you will not take anything from (the public funds) without any justification, but will meet his Lord carrying it on himself on the Day of judgment. I will recognise any one of you meeting Allah and carrying a growling camel, or a cow bellowing or a goat bleating. Then he raised his hands so high that whiteness of his armpits could be seen. Then he said: O my Lord, I have conveyed (Thy Commandments). The narrator says: My eyes saw (the Prophet standing in that pose) and my ears heard (what he said).

This tradition has been hanoed down through a different chain of transmitters on the authority of Hisham with aslight variation in the wording.

This is for you and this has been presented to me as a gift. Here follows the tradition that has gone before except that 'Urwa (one of the narrators in the chain of transmitters) asked Abu Humaid: Did you hear it from the Messenger of Allah (himself) (ﷺ)? He replied: My ears heard it from his mouth.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: Whosoever from you is appointed by us to a position of authority and he conceals from us a needle or something smaller than that, it would be misappropriation (of public funds) and will (have to) produce it on the Day of Judgment. The narrator says: A dark-complexioned man from the Ansar stood up - I can visualise him still - and said: Messenger of Allah, take back from me your assignment. He said: What has happened to you? The man said: I have heard you say so and so. He said: I say that (even) now: Whosoever from you is appointed by us to a position of authority, he should bring everything, big or small, and whatever he is given therefrom he should take, and he should restrain himself from taking that which is forbidden.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Isma'il with the same chain of transmitters.

Adi b. 'Amira al-Kindi heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying (as) was narrated in the (above-mentioned) hadith.