Al-Kafi · Hadith 3

The Book of al-Zakat · The Reason for Amount of Zakat Levied without the Need to Increase or Decrease · Volume 3, book 5, chapter 3, Hadith 3

Original Arabic text

3ـ أَحْمَدُ بْنُ إِدْرِيسَ وَغَيْرُهُ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَحْمَدَ عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ حَفْصٍ عَنْ صَبَّاحٍ الْحَذَّاءِ عَنْ قُثَمَ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ الْسَّلام) قَالَ قُلْتُ لَهُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ أَخْبِرْنِي عَنِ الزَّكَاةِ كَيْفَ صَارَتْ مِنْ كُلِّ أَلْفٍ خَمْسَةً وَعِشْرِينَ لَمْ تَكُنْ أَقَلَّ أَوْ أَكْثَرَ مَا وَجْهُهَا فَقَالَ إِنَّ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ خَلَقَ الْخَلْقَ كُلَّهُمْ فَعَلِمَ صَغِيرَهُمْ وَكَبِيرَهُمْ وَغَنِيَّهُمْ وَفَقِيرَهُمْ فَجَعَلَ مِنْ كُلِّ أَلْفِ إِنْسَانٍ خَمْسَةً وَعِشْرِينَ مِسْكِيناً وَلَوْ عَلِمَ أَنَّ ذَلِكَ لاَ يَسَعُهُمْ لَزَادَهُمْ لأَنَّهُ خَالِقُهُمْ وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِهِمْ.

Published English translation

3. Ahmad ibn Idris and others have narrated from Muhammad ibn Ahmad from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad from Muhammad ibn Hafs from Sabah al-Hadhdha’ from Quthama who has said the following: “I once said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, why the amount of zakat on every one thousand is twenty-five and not less or more and what is the reason?’ He (the Imam) replied, ‘Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Glorious, created all people, small, large, wealthy and poor. He made twenty-five destitute ones in every one thousand. If this much did not suffice, He would have levied more; He is their Creator and He knows more about them than they do.’”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: مجهول

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (6/20)

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi: Catalogue non-inclusion note (not an authenticity grade)

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī

Source records non-inclusion in this scholar's selection; this is not itself a weak or authentic grade.

Source, rights, and attribution

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edition: Al-Kafi, volume 3, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
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source File Hash: c1963d9c5ae304c52e135f93552237f5ab876e0b12123bbc2d513a90dbd36cc2
original Source Url: https://thaqalayn.net/hadith/1/5/3/3
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