In a report by Abdullah bin `Amr bin `Aas (radiallahu ‘anhu), he related that a woman came to the Messenger of Allah with her daughter. On the daughter’s wrist were two heavy gold bracelets. The Messenger asked her, “Do you pay Zakaat on this?” She replied, “No.” The Messenger said: “Would it please you that Allah will encircle you with two bracelets of fire?” The reporter commented that she took them off and threw them down in front of the Messenger, and said: “They are for Allah and his Messenger.” [Recorded in Ahmed, Tirmidhi]

Think about this for a second–fiqh of zakah aside. Imagine, if you will, yourself in this place. The Messenger of Allah comes to you, and says, “you need to pay zakah on those two gold bracelets.”

What would you do? Probably hum and haw, then get them weighed, calculate the value, and leave your zakah with the masjid to distribute.

But what did this sahabi (in similar narrations, Asma the daughter of Abu Bakr) do? She gave the ENTIRE bracelets, both of them, as charity! Not just paid zakah–2.5% of of the value–she actually donated the whole thing feasabilillah!

And this is what makes companions so special! (And so much better than us!) We do the bare minimum, enough to just scrape by; but they go for the MAXIMUM reward.

And that’s the lesson of this hadith–and what a valuable lesson it is!

Action Items:

  1. Read about Ihsaan. Learn about it. Ask yourself frequently: “What would it mean to do ihsaan in this thing I’m doing right now?”
  2. Aim for the gold medal. Don’t be satisfied with memorizing only half of Juz Amma. Memorize the entire Qur’an! (Step by step, of course.) Or if you’ve studied one area of fiqh (like the fiqh of salah), learn what the different scholarly opinions are (like study fiqh from a different madhab).
  3. Give a Little Extra. If someone asks you for help–with some project, essay, exam, task, chore around the house (parents?), don’t just do the bit they ask! Throw in a little extra, do a little extra. As Allah says, “Is there any reward for ihsaan other than ihsaan?” [55:60].

We ask Allah to help us learn the lessons from these great companions and to help us implement them in our lives (ameen)!

What examples come to your mind that you can personalize with? Post them in the comments insha’Allah! If other people benefit, you get the ajr too!