Charity to Relatives: A Double Reward

When we think of charity, our minds usually travel outward — to the poor stranger, the distant appeal, the needy person we may never meet. Those are all worthy doors of giving. But there is a door much closer to home that many of us pass by without noticing: our own relatives. A brother struggling quietly, an aunt whose income no longer covers the month, a cousin too ashamed to ask — the people joined to us by blood often carry their needs in silence.

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ taught that giving to such a relative is not an ordinary act of charity. It is counted twice. One and the same gift earns the reward of charity and the reward of upholding the ties of kinship. The Quran, for its part, does not treat the relative as an optional extra: it speaks of a “right” that belongs to him and is to be handed over, and it places kindness to kinsmen immediately after the worship of Allah Himself.

This article gathers the verses and authentic narrations on charity to relatives — what the double reward means, whose question confirmed it for every household, and how to put it into practice.

1. One Gift, Two Rewards

The clearest statement of this principle was narrated by Salman bin Amir (may Allah be pleased with him), who reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Charity given to the poor is charity, and that given to a relative is two things: charity and upholding the ties of kinship.” (Sunan Ibn Majah 1844 — Sahih)

Read the sentence slowly. Charity to a poor person is a single, complete act of virtue — charity. Charity to a relative is “two things”. The gift itself has not changed; the money or the food is exactly the same. What has changed is the person receiving it, and with that change a second deed is added to the first: the deed of keeping the bond of kinship alive.

The same narration reaches us through another route with a slightly fuller wording. In Jami’ al-Tirmidhi, Salman bin Amir relates that the Prophet ﷺ also said:

“Charity given to the needy is (counted as) charity, and if it is given to relatives it is (counted as) two: charity and nurturing (the ties of kinship).” (Jami’ al-Tirmidhi 658 — Sahih)

Notice the word “counted”. The reckoning belongs to Allah: He counts the one act as two. The first count is charity — you relieved a need. The second count is nurturing the ties of kinship — you strengthened the very relationship that Allah joined by birth. For more on the immense rewards of keeping family ties alive, see our article on upholding ties of kinship.

This is a reminder that the circle of our giving should begin where our responsibilities begin. Before charity travels to the ends of the earth, it has a home address.

2. The Quran Gives the Relative a Right

Long before the question of reward arises, the Quran settles the question of duty. In Surah Al-Isra, Allah commands:

وَءَاتِ ذَا ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ حَقَّهُۥ وَٱلْمِسْكِينَ وَٱبْنَ ٱلسَّبِيلِ وَلَا تُبَذِّرْ تَبْذِيرًا

“Give the relative his right, and the needy and the wayfarer. And do not squander recklessly.” (Quran 17:26)

The wording deserves attention. Allah does not say, “be generous to the relative if you wish.” He says: give the relative his right. A right is something owed. Handing it over is not a favour the giver can boast about; it is a debt discharged. And notice the order within the verse: the relative is named first, before the needy person and the wayfarer.

The same command returns in Surah Ar-Rum, this time with its outcome attached:

فَـَٔاتِ ذَا ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ حَقَّهُۥ وَٱلْمِسْكِينَ وَٱبْنَ ٱلسَّبِيلِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ لِّلَّذِينَ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ

“So give to the kinsman his right, and to the needy and the wayfarer. That is better for those who seek Allah’s pleasure, and it is they who will be successful.” (Quran 30:38)

Here the verse adds the promise: this giving is “better for those who seek Allah’s pleasure”, and those who do it “will be successful”. In both verses the same three recipients appear in the same order — the relative, the needy, the wayfarer — and in both verses the one who wants Allah’s pleasure begins with his own kin.

3. Kindness to Kinsmen Stands Beside the Worship of Allah

In Surah An-Nisa, Allah gathers the greatest duties of a believer into a single verse:

۞ وَٱعْبُدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَلَا تُشْرِكُوا۟ بِهِۦ شَيْـًٔا ۖ وَبِٱلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ إِحْسَـٰنًا وَبِذِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَٱلْيَتَـٰمَىٰ وَٱلْمَسَـٰكِينِ وَٱلْجَارِ ذِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَٱلْجَارِ ٱلْجُنُبِ وَٱلصَّاحِبِ بِٱلْجَنۢبِ وَٱبْنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَـٰنُكُمْ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ مَن كَانَ مُخْتَالًا فَخُورًا

“Worship Allah, and do not associate with Him anything, and be good to parents and to kinsmen and orphans and the needy and the close neighbor and the distant neighbor and the companion at your side and the wayfarer and to those (slaves who are) owned by you.” (Quran 4:36)

The verse opens with the worship of Allah alone, with no partner associated with Him — the highest duty there is. Immediately after it comes goodness to parents, and immediately after them, the kinsmen. The relative is no afterthought at the end of a long list; he is named third in a sequence that begins with Allah’s own right. Around him stand the orphan, the needy, the close neighbour and the distant one, the companion at the side and the traveller — a whole map of the people whose needs surround us, with family placed at its centre.

When a believer gives to his poor relative, then, he is not choosing between family and charity. He is carrying out one connected duty: the worship of Allah expressed as goodness to the people Allah has placed nearest to him. Our article on kindness to family in Islam explores this wider duty of goodness within the home.

4. Zainab’s Question: May I Give to My Own Husband?

The principle came to life in the household of ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him). His wife Zainab narrates the event herself in Sahih Muslim. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had urged the women to give charity, saying:

“give sadaqa even though it be some of your jewellery” (Sahih Muslim 1000a — Sahih)

Zainab returned home and looked at her own situation. Her husband was a man of little means, and she said to him:

“You are a person with empty hands, whereas the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has commanded us to give sadaqa, so better go to him and ask and if this will suffice for me; otherwise I shall give it to someone else.” (Sahih Muslim 1000a — Sahih)

She wanted certainty before she gave. Would charity spent on her own husband count for her, or did it have to go to an outsider? ‘Abdullah told her to go and ask herself. At the door of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ she found another woman of the Ansar who had come with exactly the same purpose — a sign that this question was on many minds. Out of awe for the Prophet ﷺ, the two women did not knock. Instead, they asked Bilal to present their question without revealing who they were. They wanted to know:

“whether it will serve them to give sadaqa to their spouses and to orphans who are under their charge” (Sahih Muslim 1000a — Sahih)

The question covered the two groups of dependants closest to a woman’s daily life: her husband, and the orphans in her care. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked who the women were. Bilal replied that they were a woman from the Ansar and Zainab. “Which of the Zainabs?” he asked. The wife of ‘Abdullah, came the answer. Then he gave the reply that this entire article rests upon:

“There are two rewards for them, the reward of kinship and the reward of Sadaqa.” (Sahih Muslim 1000a — Sahih)

Two rewards — not a reduced, second-class charity, but a doubled one. The very nearness that made Zainab hesitate became the reason for the increase.

5. The Same Event in Sahih al-Bukhari: “He and His Children Deserved It More”

This same event is also reported in Sahih al-Bukhari, narrated by Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), and it deserves to be read as its own report, because it preserves the scene — and the answer — in different words. In Bukhari’s telling:

“Zainab, the wife of Ibn Mas`ud, came and asked permission to enter” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1462 — Sahih)

When she was admitted, she explained exactly what was on her mind:

“O Prophet of Allah! Today you ordered people to give alms and I had an ornament and intended to give it as alms, but Ibn Mas`ud said that he and his children deserved it more than anybody else.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1462 — Sahih)

Her concern was purely practical. That very day the Prophet ﷺ had ordered people to give alms. She owned an ornament and had intended to give it away — but her husband had told her that he and his children deserved it more than anybody else. She was not asking whether charity was good. She was asking where her charity belonged first. The Prophet ﷺ replied:

“Ibn Mas`ud had spoken the truth. Your husband and your children had more right to it than anybody else.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1462 — Sahih)

Set the two reports side by side and they complete one another, as two truthful accounts of a single event often do. Muslim’s report preserves the principle stated as a rule — two rewards, the reward of kinship and the reward of sadaqa — and it includes the orphans under the women’s charge. Bukhari’s report preserves the priority stated as a judgement — the husband and children “had more right to it than anybody else”. Neither wording cancels the other. Together they teach that charity within the family is doubled in reward, and that within a person’s giving, his own dependants have the first claim.

6. Why One Gift Earns Twice

Why should the same coin be counted twice simply because it reaches a relative? Because two distinct duties meet in it. The first is charity: a need existed, and you removed it — that is sadaqa wherever it is given. The second is kinship: Allah created the bond between relatives, and every act that feeds, rescues or honours a relative keeps that bond alive. One act, two duties fulfilled — so Allah, in His generosity, records two rewards.

There is also a wisdom anyone can observe. Need inside a family, left unanswered, hardens into distance. Relatives who watch a kinsman give everywhere except at home learn to expect nothing from him, and the tie quietly breaks. Charity given at home does the opposite: it relieves the need and repairs the relationship in a single act — charity and connection together, exactly as the Prophet ﷺ named them.

Nor is the doubling limited to large sums. The instruction that set Zainab’s whole story in motion was to give “even though it be some of your jewellery” — whatever a person has, down to a single ornament. If you are building the habit of giving, our guide to the virtues of sadaqah gathers its many rewards in one place.

7. Putting It into Practice

– Look at home first. Before answering a distant appeal, ask who among your own relatives is struggling. In both Quranic verses, the relative’s right is named before the needy person and the wayfarer (Quran 17:26; Quran 30:38). – Do not wait to be asked. Zainab’s husband was “a person with empty hands”, yet the need had to be raised for him. Many relatives will never name their need. The question is not “who asked me?” but “who has a right over what I have?” – Remember that your own household is included. A husband, children, and the orphans under a person’s care were the very subjects of Zainab’s question — and the answer was a double reward, not a refusal. – Small is still charity. An ornament was the charity under discussion in both reports. What matters is that the relative’s need is met from what you actually have. – Ask when you are unsure. Zainab did not guess; she sent her question to the Prophet ﷺ before she gave. Seeking certainty before acting is itself part of her example. – Keep the two duties separate in your mind. Obligatory zakat is a duty with its own detailed rulings, covered in our zakat guide. This article concerns voluntary charity — and in voluntary charity, the relative stands first in line.

The next time you set something aside to give, look first at the faces joined to yours by blood. The poor person you help may be an aunt, a cousin, a brother — and the gift you were about to send far away may earn you, close to home, two rewards instead of one. That is the promise of the Quran’s command and the Prophet’s ﷺ answer to Zainab — and for the one who wants his giving to keep bearing fruit, it pairs naturally with sadaqah jariyah, charity that continues after the giver.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Does charity given to a relative really count as two charities? Yes. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Charity given to the poor is charity, and that given to a relative is two things: charity and upholding the ties of kinship.” (Sunan Ibn Majah 1844 — Sahih)

Q2. What exactly are the two rewards? When Zainab asked about giving sadaqa to her spouse and to orphans under her charge, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ answered: “There are two rewards for them, the reward of kinship and the reward of Sadaqa.” (Sahih Muslim 1000a — Sahih)

Q3. What did the Prophet ﷺ say when Zainab wanted to give her charity to her husband and children? He confirmed her husband’s words: “Ibn Mas`ud had spoken the truth. Your husband and your children had more right to it than anybody else.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1462 — Sahih)

Q4. Does the Quran command giving to relatives, or is it only recommended? It is phrased as a right that is owed: “Give the relative his right, and the needy and the wayfarer.” (Quran 17:26) Surah Ar-Rum repeats the command and calls those who do it the successful ones (Quran 30:38).

Q5. I can only afford a little. Does a small gift to a relative still count? Yes. The women were urged to “give sadaqa even though it be some of your jewellery” (Sahih Muslim 1000a — Sahih), and the charity Zainab herself intended to give was a single ornament. The double reward attaches to the act and its recipient, not to the size of the gift.