Whom Should a Muslim Feed?
لمن يكون الإطعام؟
Who should someone feed?
The answer names those to be fed: first the poor and needy (Al-Hajj 22:27-28), then the neighbor, one's own family, the guest, the fasting person, and every living creature, ending with the hadith that the best charity is giving water to drink.
1. The Poor and the Neighbors
Feeding is mainly for the poor and the needy. Allah says: (Call all people to the pilgrimage. They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel from every distant path, so they may obtain the benefits in store for them, and pronounce the Name of Allah on appointed days over the sacrificial animals He has provided for them. So eat from their meat and feed the desperately poor.) Surah Al Hajj 22: 27 to 28.
This duty also includes the adjoining neighbor. Al-Tabarani reports that the Messenger of Allah said: (He has not believed in me who spends the night full while his neighbor beside him is hungry and he knows it.)
2. Family and Guests
A person must also spend on his family, such as his wife and children, and for the morsel in his wife's mouth there is a reward, as in the hadith: (even the morsel he places in his wife's mouth).
Moreover, one should always honor his guest and present the absolute best food for him. This generous hospitality is a fundamental requisite of true faith.
3. The Fasting and All Living Creatures
He who offers any food for anyone to break his fast on, will be rewarded with a reward similar to the fasting person. But the mercy of Islam goes even further to include all living beings.
In short, in every moist liver there is a reward. Abdullah ibn Amr reported that a man came to the Messenger of Allah and said: I draw water into my trough, and when I have filled it for my camels, another man's camel comes and I give it water; is there a reward for me in that? The Messenger of Allah said: (In every creature with a thirsty liver there is a reward.) Narrated by Ahmad and graded sahih by al-Albani. And in the hadith: (The best charity is giving water to drink.)
Note: The Prophet's reply in this hadith has been corrected to its wording in Musnad Ahmad: in every creature with a thirsty liver there is a reward.
لمن يكون الإطعام؟
يذكر الجواب من يكون لهم الإطعام: الفقير والمسكين أولا (الحج 22:27-28)، ثم الجار والأهل والضيف والصائم وكل كبد رطبة، ويختم بحديث أفضل الصدقة سقي الماء.
الفقراء والجيران
الإطعام يكون للفقير والمسكين بشكل أساسي. قال الله تعالى: (وَأَذِّن فِي النَّاسِ بِالْحَجِّ يَأْتُوكَ رِجَالًا وَعَلَىٰ كُلِّ ضَامِرٍ يَأْتِينَ مِن كُلِّ فَجٍّ عَمِيقٍ * لِّيَشْهَدُوا مَنَافِعَ لَهُمْ وَيَذْكُرُوا اسْمَ اللَّهِ فِي أَيَّامٍ مَّعْلُومَاتٍ عَلَىٰ مَا رَزَقَهُم مِّن بَهِيمَةِ الْأَنْعَامِ ۖ فَكُلُوا مِنْهَا وَأَطْعِمُوا الْبَائِسَ الْفَقِيرَ) الحج 22: 27 إلى 28.
كما يشمل هذا الواجب الجار الملاصق. وعند الطبراني قول رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: (ما آمن بي من بات شبعان وجاره جائع إلى جنبه وهو يعلم به).
الأسرة والضيوف
كما يلزم الإنسان نفقته على أسرته كالزوجة والأولاد، واللقمة في في امرأته لك بها أجر، كما في الحديث: (حتى اللقمة تضعها في في امرأته).
ويعنى الإنسان أيضا بإكرام الضيف بتقديم أطيب ما عنده من الطعام، فهذا من صميم الإيمان.
الصائمون والحيوانات
من أفطر صائما فله مثل أجره. ولكن رحمة الإسلام تمتد لتشمل جميع الكائنات الحية.
والجملة ففي كل كبد رطبة أجر. فعن عبد الله بن عمرو رضي الله عنهما: أن رجلا جاء إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال: إني أنزع في حوضي، حتى إذا ملأته لإبلي ورد علي البعير لغيري فسقيته، فهل في ذلك من أجر؟ فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: (في كل ذات كبد حرى أجر) رواه أحمد وصححه الألباني. وفي الحديث: (أفضل الصدقة سقي الماء).
ملاحظة: صحح لفظ جواب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم في هذا الحديث إلى لفظه في مسند أحمد: "في كل ذات كبد حرى أجر".
1. Even the Morsel in Your Wife's Mouth | حتى اللقمة في في امرأتك
The Prophet told Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas: Whatever you spend is charity for you, even the morsel you raise to your wife's mouth (Sahih al-Bukhari 5354). This is the hadith behind the answer's point that spending on one's family is rewarded.
قال النبي ﷺ لسعد بن أبي وقاص: "ومهما أنفقت فهو لك صدقة حتى اللقمة ترفعها في في امرأتك" (صحيح البخاري 5354). وهذا أصل ما ذكره الجواب من الأجر في النفقة على الأهل.
2. Whoever Gives a Fasting Person Food to Break His Fast | من فطر صائما
The Prophet said: Whoever gives a fasting person food to break his fast will have a reward like his, without anything being reduced from the reward of the fasting person (Jami at-Tirmidhi 807, which al-Tirmidhi called hasan sahih).
قال النبي ﷺ: "من فطر صائما كان له مثل أجره غير أنه لا ينقص من أجر الصائم شيئا" (جامع الترمذي 807، وقال: حسن صحيح).
3. Which Charity Is Best? | أي الصدقة أفضل؟
Sa'd ibn Ubadah said: O Messenger of Allah, my mother has died; may I give charity on her behalf? He said: Yes. I said: Which charity is best? He said: Giving water to drink (Sunan an-Nasa'i 3664, graded hasan by al-Albani). This is the hadith the answer quotes at its end.
قال سعد بن عبادة: "يا رسول الله إن أمي ماتت أفأتصدق عنها؟ قال: نعم. قلت: فأي الصدقة أفضل؟ قال: سقي الماء" (سنن النسائي 3664، وحسنه الألباني).
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
Who should a Muslim feed?
The answer names the poor and needy first, then the neighbor, one's own family, the guest, the fasting person, and every living creature.
Is spending on my own family rewarded?
Yes. The Prophet said: whatever you spend is charity for you, even the morsel you raise to your wife's mouth (Sahih al-Bukhari 5354).
What is the reward for feeding a fasting person?
A reward like the fasting person's, without anything being reduced from his (Jami at-Tirmidhi 807).
Which charity did the Prophet call the best?
When Sa'd ibn Ubadah asked which charity is best, he said: giving water to drink (Sunan an-Nasa'i 3664).