`Abdullah bin `Amr bin Al-`as (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "There are forty kinds of virtue, the highest of which is to gift a (milch) she goat. He who practises any of these virtues, expecting its reward (from Allah) and believing on the verity of the promise made for it, will enter Jannah."[Al-Bukhari].
Commentary:
The Hadith speaks of the returnable gift of a mammal like a goat or she-camel which should be gifted to somebody for the provision of milk or wool. It is also a benevolent act and good trait of character. The forty qualities of character, as mentioned in this Hadith, have been enumerated by some `Ulama' in their own respective ways. But Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani says that the Prophet (PBUH) did not name these qualities, and that perhaps the reason behind this is that no one should disparage or underestimate a good act, no matter how small it may be, because this could lead to doing without this good act altogether. |