Want to give right away? Give a gift
A family that has lost almost everything has not lost its dignity, and we do not want to be the ones who make it feel otherwise. So we give the way people give to those they love: a gift.
What is the difference between a gift and charity?
In Islam, sadaqah is giving for the sake of God to someone in need; a gift (hadiyah) is giving to show love and honour, with no need implied. For you, the giver, what you send is a good deed with its reward. We hand it to the family in the manner of a gift: chosen with care, wrapped, and given at their door, with no label of charity.
Whether giving in this way changes the legal (fiqh) status of a sadaqah, for example for families descended from the Prophet ﷺ, is a question for scholars. We make no ruling on it.
«لَّا خَيْرَ فِي كَثِيرٍ مِّن نَّجْوَاهُمْ إِلَّا مَنْ أَمَرَ بِصَدَقَةٍ أَوْ مَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ إِصْلَاحٍ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ ابْتِغَاءَ مَرْضَاتِ اللَّهِ فَسَوْفَ نُؤْتِيهِ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا»
"There is no good in much of their private talk, except for one who calls for charity, or for what is kind and right (ma'ruf), or for setting things right between people. Whoever does that seeking the pleasure of God, We will give him a great reward."
Qur'an 4:114 (Arabic text: Tanzil, verbatim). The English is a meaning, not a word-for-word translation. We invite you to the middle of the three, ma'ruf: kindness, the gift; and to the last, mending what is between people: letting families know they are not forgotten, and letting love and compassion travel between people, whatever their race, religion or origin.
Did the Prophet ﷺ accept gifts?
Yes, and he answered them with gifts in return.
«كان رسولُ الله ﷺ يقبلُ الهديّةَ ويُثيبُ عليها»
"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to accept gifts and give something in return for them."
What does "Give gifts to one another, you will love one another" mean?
«تَهادَوا تَحابُّوا»
"Give gifts to one another, you will love one another."
A gift is not only a thing. It is a bond. We hope every basket carries a little of that bond, from someone far away to a family who may never meet them.
A gift can leave today. Give a gift
Why does a hadith call sadaqah "the impurities of people"?
The words come from a sahih hadith, and they need their context.
«إنّ هذه الصدقاتِ إنّما هي أوساخُ الناسِ، وإنّها لا تَحِلُّ لمحمدٍ ولا لآلِ محمدٍ»
"These sadaqat are only the impurities of people, and they are not lawful for Muhammad or for the family of Muhammad."
The context: two young men of the Prophet's family asked to be appointed as collectors of zakat so that they could earn from it. He declined, because sadaqah is not lawful for his family. The scholars explain that sadaqah purifies the wealth of the giver, as the Qur'an says: «خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْ وَتُزَكِّيهِم بِهَا» "Take from their wealth a sadaqah to purify them and cause them to grow" (Qur'an 9:103). The "impurity" is what leaves the giver's wealth; it says nothing low about the person who receives.
We never use this hadith to shame anyone who receives charity. The Qur'an honours the poor who «لَا يَسْأَلُونَ النَّاسَ إِلْحَافًا» "do not ask people persistently" (2:273) and praises giving in secret (2:271). Receiving sadaqah is no disgrace. We simply choose, where we can, the higher courtesy of a gift.
This is our model in one line: your sadaqah, their gift.
The Prophet ﷺ, his family, and the gift
The Prophet ﷺ did not eat from sadaqah, but he gladly accepted gifts. When food was brought to him, he would ask: "Is it a gift or sadaqah?" If it was sadaqah, he told his companions to eat, and did not eat himself. If it was a gift, he reached out and ate with them.
«كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ إِذَا أُتِيَ بِطَعَامٍ سَأَلَ عَنْهُ: أَهَدِيَّةٌ أَمْ صَدَقَةٌ؟ فَإِنْ قِيلَ: صَدَقَةٌ، قَالَ لأَصْحَابِهِ: كُلُوا، وَلَمْ يَأْكُلْ، وَإِنْ قِيلَ: هَدِيَّةٌ، ضَرَبَ بِيَدِهِ ﷺ فَأَكَلَ مَعَهُمْ»
The same care covered his family. When his little grandson al-Hasan picked up a date from the sadaqah dates and put it in his mouth, the Prophet ﷺ gently told him to drop it: "Did you not know that we do not eat sadaqah?"
«كِخٍ كِخٍ ... أَمَا شَعَرْتَ أَنَّا لاَ نَأْكُلُ الصَّدَقَةَ»
And he said: "Sadaqah is not fitting for the family of Muhammad." «إِنَّ الصَّدَقَةَ لاَ تَنْبَغِي لآلِ مُحَمَّدٍ» (Sahih Muslim 1072; its context is explained above on this page.)
What scholars say. Sunni and Shia scholars agree on the heart of this: the obligatory zakat of others is not for the Prophet's family (Banu Hashim). They differ on the details. Most Sunni scholars allow voluntary sadaqah to his family; some, in times when the family's own share (khums) does not reach them, allow even zakat to a family member in real need. Shia (Ja'fari) scholars say a Sayyid does not take zakat from someone who is not a Sayyid, and is supported through khums, with an exception for real need when khums is not enough. (Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni; Ibn Taymiyyah, al-Ikhtiyarat; al-Sistani, Islamic Laws, ruling 1963.)
Sudan and the Prophet's family. Many Sudanese families hold, with love and pride, that their roots go back to the Prophet's family: to his uncle al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, to his cousin Ja'far al-Tayyar ibn Abi Talib, and to his grandsons al-Hasan and al-Husayn. Historians discuss these family trees, as they do family trees everywhere; the love behind them is not in question.
So this is one more reason we give gifts. A gift is the way the Prophet ﷺ himself liked to receive, and the way his family may always receive. By giving every family a gift, we never have to ask anyone who their grandfather was. Gifts go to every family by need: whatever their lineage, sect, religion or tribe. No one is ranked, and no one is asked.
Give the way he liked to receive. Give a gift
Why do we not ask for thanks?
«إِنَّمَا نُطْعِمُكُمْ لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ لَا نُرِيدُ مِنكُمْ جَزَاءً وَلَا شُكُورًا»
"We feed you only for the sake of God. We want no reward from you, nor thanks." (Qur'an 76:9)
That is why no family is asked to pose, to smile for a camera, or to thank anyone. The gift is complete the moment it is given.
Can people who are not Muslim give?
Of course. Kindness has no single language. Whoever you are, your gift arrives the same way: as a gift, with respect. And it reaches families by need, never by religion or tribe.
Turn your sadaqah into someone's gift.
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Read next: Kindness is a legacy
Compiled from cited sources. This is not a fatwa. Please ask a scholar you trust about your own case.