Hadithcore
Sahih al-Bukhari, 1446
sahih

Narrated Um 'Atiyya:

A sheep was sent to me (Nusaiba Al-Ansariya) (in charity) and I sent some of it to `Aisha. The Prophet (ﷺ) asked `Aisha for something to eat. `Aisha replied that there was nothing except what Nusaiba Al-Ansariya had sent of that sheep. The Prophet (ﷺ) said to her, "Bring it as it has reached its place."

حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ يُونُسَ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو شِهَابٍ، عَنْ خَالِدٍ الْحَذَّاءِ، عَنْ حَفْصَةَ بِنْتِ سِيرِينَ، عَنْ أُمِّ عَطِيَّةَ ـ رضى الله عنها ـ قَالَتْ بُعِثَ إِلَى نُسَيْبَةَ الأَنْصَارِيَّةِ بِشَاةٍ فَأَرْسَلَتْ إِلَى عَائِشَةَ ـ رضى الله عنها ـ مِنْهَا فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏ عِنْدَكُمْ شَىْءٌ ‏"‏‏.‏ فَقُلْتُ لاَ إِلاَّ مَا أَرْسَلَتْ بِهِ نُسَيْبَةُ مِنْ تِلْكَ الشَّاةِ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ هَاتِ فَقَدْ بَلَغَتْ مَحِلَّهَا ‏"‏‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 24, Hadith 49
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Vol. 2, Book 24, Hadith 525 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
One of the special characteristics that the Prophet ﷺand his noble family had was that they would eat from food that was offered as a gift, and not from what was given as alms. In this hadeeth, Umm ʿAṭṭiyyah al-Ansaariyyah- whose name is Nusaybah - reports that a sheep was sent as a form of charity to her. The sender was the Prophet ﷺ as mentioned in a narration reported in Saheeh Muslim, where said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent me a sheep from the alms. I sent some of it to A’ishah”, meaning: as a gift to her, and not as alms. So, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) and asked her about the food, she said: ‘No, it was nothing except what Nusaybah had sent from this sheep.’ To which, he ﷺresponded, ‘Bring it here; for it has reached its proper place.’ Then, he ﷺ explained that when it was charity, it was permissible for her to dispose of it to the poor by way of sale or gift; for the validity of it being in his possession [could be established.] So, when Nusaybah (may Allah be pleased with her) gifted it to ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) some of the sheep - it was judged for her with the ruling of a gift. Thus, It shifted from the meaning of charity from being in the possession of the giver, and transferred to the meaning of a lawful gift for the Prophet ﷺ. He ﷺ would only eat what came as a gift, and not what was offered as charity, as a form of honour and etiquette because gifts bring hearts closer and make people love each other, and it is permissible to be rewarded the sender of the gift with something similar or better than it so that no one has favour over the other and no one feels humiliated. All this is not possible with charity, because it is the filth of the people in which they purge the wealth of its impurity. One benefit that we can conclude from this hadeeth is it shows that things that are forbidden for known reasons become lawfulif those reasons are removed..
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