سورة التوبة

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): There is no good in the world except for one of two men: a man who increases his good deeds each day, and a man who makes up for his death by repentance — and how can he attain repentance? By Allah, if he were to prostrate until his neck were severed, Allah would not accept any deed from him except through the wilayah of us, the Ahl al-Bayt.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): O Ali! I asked Allah the Mighty and Majestic not to deprive your Shia of repentance until the soul of one of them reaches his throat. He granted me this request, and this privilege has not been given to anyone else.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): One day I gave one dinar in charity. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to me: "Do you not know, O Ali, that the charity of a believer, as soon as it leaves his hand, seventy satans separate from him — each of them commanding him not to do it — and it does not reach the hand of the beggar until it has fallen into the hand of the Lord, the Blessed and Exalted." Then he recited this verse: أَلَمْ یَعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللهَ هُوَ یَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبَادِهِ وَ یَأْخُذُ الصَّدَقَاتِ وَ أَنَّ اللهَ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِیمُ [Do they not know that Allah accepts repentance from His servants and takes the alms, and that Allah is the Oft-returning, the Merciful].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): When you give something to a poor person, the one who gave it should bring his hand to his mouth and kiss it, for before the alms reach the hand of the beggar, Allah the Exalted receives it, since He is the receiver of alms. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "The alms that a believer gives, before it falls into the hand of the poor person, falls into the hand of Allah the Exalted." Then he recited this verse: أَ لَمْ یَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللهَ هُوَ یَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبادِهِ وَ یَأْخُذُ الصَّدَقاتِ وَ أَنَّ اللهَ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِیمُ [Do they not know that Allah accepts repentance from His servants and takes the alms, and that Allah is the Oft-returning, the Merciful?].

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): The alms of a believer, before it reaches the hand of the beggar, reaches the hand of Allah. Then he recited this verse: أَ لَمْ یَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللهَ هُوَ یَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبادِهِ وَ یَأْخُذُ الصَّدَقاتِ [Do they not know that Allah accepts repentance from His servants and takes the alms].

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): I guarantee on behalf of my Lord that the alms does not reach the hand of the servant until it first reaches the hand of the Lord, and this is His own statement: هُوَ یَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبَادِهِ وَ یَأْخُذُ الصَّدَقَاتِ [He accepts repentance from His servants and takes the alms].

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Muhammad ibn Muslim, from one of the two Imams (peace be upon them), that he said: "Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him), whenever he gave alms to a needy person, would kiss the hand of the beggar. He was asked: 'Why do you do this?' He said: 'Because before it is placed in the hand of the servant, it is placed in the hand of Allah.' And he said: 'There is nothing but an angel is appointed over it, except for alms, for it falls into the hand of Allah.'" Al-Fadl said: "I think he used to kiss the bread or the dirham."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Indeed, Allah has not created anything except that He has appointed a keeper for it to store it, except for alms, for the Lord, Blessed and Exalted, Himself undertakes it. My father, whenever he gave something in alms, would place it in the hand of the needy, then take it back from him and kiss it and smell it, then return it to the hand of the needy, because alms reaches the hand of Allah before it reaches the hand of the needy. I loved to undertake it (the alms), since Allah undertook it and my father undertook it. And indeed, giving alms at night extinguishes the wrath of the Lord and wipes out the great sin and eases the reckoning [of the Day of Judgment], and giving alms during the day increases wealth and lengthens life.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah the Exalted says: ... Even if a person gives a date or half a date in charity, I nurture it for him just as a man nurtures his calf, and he will meet Me on the Day of Resurrection and [this charity of his] will be the size of Uhud or greater.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Another meaning of qabd (taking) in the case of Allah the Mighty and Majestic is a taking that goes together with acceptance, as He has said: وَ یَأْخُذُ الصَّدَقاتِ [And He takes the alms] — that is, He accepts them from those who give them and rewards them for it.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): There are two qualities I do not like anyone to share with me: my wudu, because it is part of my prayer, and giving charity with my own hand into the hand of the needy, because it falls into the hand of Allah the Blessed and Exalted [before it reaches the servant's hand].

Imam Husayn (peace be upon him): One of the Jews came to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) while Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) was with him. The Jew said to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): "What is the benefit in the letters of the alphabet?" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to Ali (peace be upon him): "Answer him." And he said: "O Allah, grant him success and set him aright." Then Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) said: "There is no letter but that it is a name from the names of Allah the Mighty and Majestic. As for ta — it is al-Tawwab (the Oft-returning), یَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبادِهِ [He accepts repentance from His servants]."