البُخل

MISERLINESS

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2- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Miserliness is
[a source of] shame.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 3]

3- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Miserliness is the garment of wretchedness.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 77, p. 238, no. 1]

4- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Miserliness in giving
[to others] what is at hand is a mistrust in God.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1258]

5- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘A man who is miserly with his money will face humiliation, but a man who is miserly with his faith
[i.e. he does not readily give it up] will be dignified.’
[Ibid. nos. 7921-7922]

6- Imam al-Hasan (AS), when his father asked him about greed, said, ‘
[It is] when you count what is in your hands as a source of honour, while you count what you have given away as a waste.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 305, no. 23]

7- Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘The miser is he who denies what is Allah’s right, and spends instead for a purpose other than Allah’s sake.’
[Ibid. no. 25]

8- Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘Greed is worse than miserliness because a miser is parsimonious in spending what he has, whilst a greedy man covets that which others possess in addition to what he himself possesses, such that whatever he sees in the hands of others he wishes to be his – lawfully or unlawfully. He cannot be satiated, and nor does he derive any benefit from what Allah has granted him.’
[Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 371, 372]

9- Imam al-Ridha (AS) said, ‘Miserliness rips one’s honour apart.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 78, p. 357, no. 12]

عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) : البُخلُ أذَمُّ الأخلاقِ.
10- Imam al-Hadi (AS) said, ‘Miserliness is the most blameworthy vice.’
[Ibid. v. 72, p. 199, no. 27]

11- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘The least comfortable one among people is the miser.’
[Ibid. v. 73, p. 300, no. 2]

12- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The miser stores
[wealth] for his inheritors.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 464]

13- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Miserliness humiliates its companion and honours the one who abandons it.’
[Ibid. no. 1409]

14- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘A miser can have no friend.’
[Ibid. no. 7473]

15- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘I wonder at the miser – he expedites the same poverty from which he escapes, and misses the same richness for which he yearns! So he leads a life of deprivation in this world like the poor, yet he will be judged with the rich in the Hereafter.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 72, p. 199, no. 28]

16- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Your need to a miser is colder than the cold wind.’
[Ibid. v. 78, p. 31, no. 99]

17- Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘No one should love for others to be rich as much as the misers; for when others become rich, they would subsequently keep away from their wealth.’
[Amali al-Saduq, p. 316, no. 8]

18- Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘The miser’s parsimony suffices as mistrust of his Lord, for a man who is certain of
[God’s] compensation would give generously.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 306, no. 28]

19- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘The real miser is the one who refuses to pay the mandatory alms-tax from his wealth, and refuses to spend on the necessities of his people, yet he squanders it on other things.’
[Ma`ani al-Akhbar, p. 245, no. 4]

20– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘The real miser is he before whom my name is mentioned and he does not say ‘peace be upon him’.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 306, no. 28]

21- The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘The most miserly person is he who refuses to give what Allah has made obligatory
[i.e. the alms-tax].’
[Ibid. p. 300, no. 2]

22– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘The most miserly person is he who is miserly with his greeting
[i.e. he does not greet others].’
[Ibid. v. 76, p. 4, no. 11]

23- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The most miserly person is he who does not spend his money on himself and stores it away for his inheritors.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 3253]

24- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘A person’s freedom from
[coveting] what others possess is better than the liberality in giving.’
[Ibid. no. 3537]

25- Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘The Commander of the Faithful (AS) sent someone five camel-loads of dates … at which a man said to him, ‘By Allah, he did not even ask you for anything. Indeed, one camel-load would have been enough to recompense him!’ The Commander of the Faithful (AS) replied, ‘May Allah increase not the people of your type! I am giving and you are the one being miserly?!’
[Wasael al-Shi`aah , v. 6, p. 318, no. 1]

26- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Abundance of excuses
[for not giving] is a sign of miserliness.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 77, p. 209, no. 1]

27- Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The miser justifies himself by presenting
[many] excuses and justifications.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1275]