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How authentic is the Hadith: "Do you not fear that tomorrow you will see a vapor from him in the fire of Hell on the Day of Resurrection?! Spend, Bilal! And do not fear impoverishment from the Lord of the Throne," and why was Bilal accused of vapor in the fire of Hell despite his meager possessions?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The hadith compilations agree on the weakness of the hadith: "Spend, O Bilal, and fear not from the Lord of the Throne any decrease [in your provision]." The strongest of its chains of narration are not free from weakness due to tadlis (concealment), irsāl (discontinuity in the chain), or the weakness of some narrators. Those who authenticated or deemed it hasan (good) reconciled it with texts that limit financial obligations to zakāt, by explaining that the hadith did not forbid hoarding but rather warned against its consequences. They also said that this prohibition was in a specific circumstance due to the presence and need of the poor and the destitute, so spending at that time was to alleviate hardship and assist the needy. It was also said that this prohibition of hoarding was in the early days of Islam and was later abrogated.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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