Hadith on Miserliness
26 sayings
Each saying is shown with the book and page it is taken from. The English rendering came with the collection, and the Centre cannot name who made it. The collection carries no grading. Where a saying matters for practice, check it with the alim.
The least comfortable one among people is the miser
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 300, no. 2; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 611 · permalink
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
The miser stores [wealth] for his inheritors
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 464; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 611 · permalink
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Miserliness humiliates its companion and honours the one who abandons it.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1409; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 611 · permalink
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
A miser can have no friend
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 7473; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 611 · permalink
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
I wonder at the miser he expedites the same poverty from which he escapes, and misses the same richness for which he yearns! So he leads a life of deprivation in this world like the poor, yet he will be judged with the rich in the Hereafter.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 72, p. 199, no. 28; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 612 · permalink
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Your need to a miser is colder than the cold wind.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 78, p. 31, no. 99; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 612 · permalink
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Miserliness encompasses all vices, and it is a rein with which one is led to every defect.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 307, no. 36; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 609 · permalink
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Miserliness is [a source of] shame
Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 3; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 609 · permalink
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Miserliness is the garment of wretchedness.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 77, p. 238, no. 1; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 609 · permalink
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Miserliness in giving [to others] what is at hand is a mistrust in God
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1258; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 610 · permalink
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
A man who is miserly with his money will face humiliation, but a man who is miserly with his faith [i.e. he does not readily give it up] will be dignified.
Ghurar al-Hikam, nos. 7921-7922; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 610 · permalink
[It is] (Greed) when you count what is in your hands as a source of honour, while you count what you have given away as a waste
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 305, no. 23; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 610 · permalink
The miser is he who denies what is Allah's right, and spends instead for a purpose other than Allah's sake.
Bihar al-Anwar, v.73 p.305, no. 25; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 610 · permalink
Greed is worse than miserliness because a miser is parsimonious in spending what he has, whilst a greedy man covets that which others possess in addition to what he himself possesses, such that whatever he sees in the hands of others he wishes to be his lawfully or unlawfully. He cannot be satiated, and nor does he derive any benefit from what Allah has granted him
Tuhaf al-`Uqoul, no. 371, 372; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 610 · permalink
Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Rida [a] said
Miserliness rips one's honour apart
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 78, p. 357, no. 12; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 611 · permalink
Miserliness is the most blameworthy vice.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 72, p. 199, no. 27; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 611 · permalink
No one should love for others to be rich as much as the misers; for when others become rich, they would subsequently keep away from their wealth
Amali al-Saduq, p. 316, no. 8; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 612 · permalink
The miser's parsimony suffices as mistrust of his Lord, for a man who is certain of [God's] compensation would give generously.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 306, no. 28; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 612 · permalink
The real miser is the one who refuses to pay the mandatory alms-tax from his wealth, and refuses to spend on the necessities of his people, yet he squanders it on other things.
Ma`ani al-Akhbar, p. 245, no. 4; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 613 · permalink
The real miser is he before whom my name is mentioned and he does not say 'peace be upon him'
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 306, no. 28; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 613 · permalink
The most miserly person is he who refuses to give what Allah has made obligatory [i.e. the alms-tax].
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 73, p. 300, no. 2; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 613 · permalink
The most miserly person is he who is miserly with his greeting [i.e. he does not greet others].
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 76, p. 4, no. 11; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 613 · permalink
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
A person's freedom from [coveting] what others possess is better than the liberality in giving
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 76, p. 4, no. 3537; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 614 · permalink
The Commander of the Faithful (AS) sent someone five camel-loads of dates at which a man said to him, 'By Allah, he did not even ask you for anything. Indeed, one camel-load would have been enough to recompense him!' The Commander of the Faithful (AS) replied, 'May Allah increase not the people of your type! I am giving and you are the one being miserly?!
Wasael al-Shi`aah, v. 6, p. 318, no. 1; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 614 · permalink
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
Abundance of excuses [for not giving] is a sign of miserliness.
Bihar al-Anwar, v. 77, p. 209, no. 1; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 614 · permalink
Imam Amir-ul-Mu'mineen Ali [a] said
The miser justifies himself by presenting [many] excuses and justifications.
Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 1275; Mizan ul Hikmah, page No. 614 · permalink