What is the ruling on accepting a gift, and did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) accept gifts?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : What is the ruling on accepting a gift? And did the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) accept gifts?
The Shaykh : Yes, accepting a gift is part of the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). In fact, some scholars said: It is obligatory to accept a gift if the conditions are met. The conditions are that the giver not be known for boasting about his generosity, meaning he should not be one of those who show off, because accepting a gift from such a person leads to harm. This person who gave the gift might speak among people saying, "I gave so-and-so this, and I gave him that," and the like. In this case, a person has the option of not accepting the gift so as not to be harmed by that person's boasting. Another condition is that the giver's wealth must be lawful. If his wealth is forbidden, there is no blame on a person for returning his gift to avoid the forbidden. If his wealth contains both forbidden and lawful, he should accept the gift, and there is no blame on him, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) accepted gifts from the Jews, who were known for taking usury and consuming illicit earnings. Then, it is recommended for one who accepts a gift to reciprocate with the giver. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to accept gifts and reward them in kind. He said:Sunan Abi Dawud 1672Sahih (Al-Albani).
The Shaykh : Yes, accepting a gift is part of the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). In fact, some scholars said: It is obligatory to accept a gift if the conditions are met. The conditions are that the giver not be known for boasting about his generosity, meaning he should not be one of those who show off, because accepting a gift from such a person leads to harm. This person who gave the gift might speak among people saying, "I gave so-and-so this, and I gave him that," and the like. In this case, a person has the option of not accepting the gift so as not to be harmed by that person's boasting. Another condition is that the giver's wealth must be lawful. If his wealth is forbidden, there is no blame on a person for returning his gift to avoid the forbidden. If his wealth contains both forbidden and lawful, he should accept the gift, and there is no blame on him, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) accepted gifts from the Jews, who were known for taking usury and consuming illicit earnings. Then, it is recommended for one who accepts a gift to reciprocate with the giver. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to accept gifts and reward them in kind. He said: