Absolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship — Page 331
— Part III 324 And among them there are those who made a covenant with Allah, saying , 'If He gives us of His bounty, we would most surely give alms and be of the virtuous'. But when He gave them of His bounty, they became niggardly of it, and they turned away in aversion. So He requited them with hypocrisy which shall last in their hearts until the day when they shall meet Him, because they broke their promise to Allah, and because they lied. (S u rah al-Taubah; Ch. 9: Vs. 75-77) Relating to this individual covenant, we read in the traditions that once an extremely poor person * begged the Holy Prophet sa to pray for him because he was tired of his poverty. He promised that if God be bounteous to him he would be bounteous to others. Allah responded to the prayer of the Holy Prophet sa and made that man exceptionally rich. Once, when an emissary of the Holy Prophet sa approached him for his share of Zakat, he grumbled: you do not know the trouble we take to earn our livelihood, but just by observing what we have from outside, you rush to us * Tha‘laba bin Hat ib.