hadith
163
۞
163. It has been reported that Abu 'Abd Allah (a.s) once said to one of his companions
“O Thabit! Can you not free a slave every day?' 'May Allah make you prosper,' he replied, 'I do not have the (financial) power to do it!' 'Are you not able,' asked the Imam (a.s), 'to entertain four Muslims for lunch or dinner?' 'I am able to do,' replied the companion. 'By Allah I swear,' said the Imam (a.s), 'that is equal to free a slave.'
163 - وعن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام قال
لبعض أصحابه، يا ثابت، أما تستطيع أن تعتق كل يوم رقبة؟ أصلحك الله، ما أقوى على ذلك، قال: أما تقدر أن تغدي أو تعشي أربعة من المسلمين؟ قلت: أما هذا فاني أقوي عليه، قال: هو والله يعدل عتق رقبة.
Similar narrations
- Al-Kāfi #776 “Once Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) said to me, ‘O Thabit, what do you have to do with people? Leave the people alone and do not invite anyone to...
- Kitāb al-Muʾmin #160 If two believers were to enter the house of a believer and he were to feed them to full, this would be better than freeing a slave.”
- Kitāb al-Muʾmin #170 Feeding a Muslim is equal to freeing a human being.
- Kitāb al-Muʾmin #159 Feeding four Muslims is equal to freeing a slave from the descendants of Prophet Ishmael.