Episode 11 – The Tax Collectors' Gifts
Abū Humaid as-Sā'idī (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed a man from the tribe of ‘Azd, named Ibn al-Lutbiyyah, to collect the zakat.
Ibn Sirrah related that he appointed Ibn Utbayyah to collect the zakat, and said: (This person) came fulfilling his task and said, “This wealth is yours [belonging to the Bayt al-Mal], and this was a gift to me, it belongs to me.”
Thereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ascended the pulpit, praised and glorified Allah, and said: "What is the attitude of this collector? We send him out, and he comes saying, 'This is yours, and this was a gift to me.' Take care! Let him sit in his mother’s or father’s house, let us see if anything will be gifted to him. From now on, none of you should come with something from a gift. Whoever takes anything unjustly from the zakat wealth, he will bring it on the Day of Resurrection [carried] on his shoulder. If it is a camel, its braying; if it is an ox, its bellowing; if it is a sheep, its bleating. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ raised his hands so high that we saw the whiteness of his armpits, and said, “O Allah, have I conveyed [the message]?”