Islam > Hadiths > Jurisprudence and juristic principles > The example of a miser and a generous person is that of two men wearing two iron cloaks co…
Authentic hadithUpdated on 24 September 2026 at 12:34 AM
📖 1 min readعن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه مرفوعاً: «مثل البخيل والمنفق، كمثل رجلين عليهما جُنتان من حديد من ثُدِيِّهما إلى تَرَاقِيهما، فأمَّا المنفق فلا ينفق إلا سَبَغت -أو وَفَرَت- على جلده حتى تخفي بنانه وتَعْفُو أثره، وأمَّا البخيل فلا يريد أن ينفق شيئاً إلا لزقت كل حلقة مكانها، فهو يوسعها فلا تتسع».
The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) gave an example of the miser and the generous person. He described them as two men, each wearing an iron armor that covers him from the breast to the collar bone. Whenever the generous person spends in charity, his armor expands and increases in length until it drags behind him and covers his feet and footprints. As for the miser, he is like a man whose hand is tied to his neck, and whenever he tries to wear it (i.e. the armor), it gets more stuck to his neck and collar bone.
Categories : Jurisprudence of Acts of Worship · Zakah · Jurisprudence of Ethics · Jurisprudence and Juristic Principles · Virtues and Manners · Voluntary Charity