Explanation of the words of Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding what he quoted: "
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The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:
These hadiths that the author mentioned in the chapter on spending on the family all indicate the virtue of spending on the family, and that it is better than spending in the cause of Allah, better than spending on freeing slaves, and better than spending on the poor. This is because the family are those whom Allah has obligated you to be responsible for, and He has made their maintenance obligatory upon you. Therefore, spending on them is an individual obligation, and spending on others is a collective obligation, and an individual obligation is better than a collective obligation.
And spending on others may be done on a voluntary basis, and the obligatory is better than the voluntary, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted in the Holy Hadith:Sahih al-Bukhari 6502.
But Satan encourages the person to do voluntary acts and diminishes his desire for the obligatory. So you find him, for example, eager to give charity but neglecting the obligatory. He gives charity to a poor person or the like and neglects the obligation to his family. He gives charity to a poor person or the like and neglects the obligation to himself, such as paying off a debt, for example. You find him in debt, the creditor demanding his debt from him, and he does not pay it, and he goes to give charity to the poor. Perhaps he goes for 'Umrah or voluntary Hajj or the like and neglects the obligatory. This is contrary to the Shari'ah and contrary to wisdom; it is foolishness in reason and misguidance in the Shari'ah.
The obligatory is that you begin with the obligatory, the obligation that is incumbent upon you. You must begin with it, and then after that, with whatever voluntary acts you wish, on the condition that you do not be extravagant or stingy, so that you deviate from the path of moderation. Due to the saying of Allah the Exalted in describing the servants of the Most Merciful:[Al-Furqan 25:67]: meaning no stinginess and no extravagance, but a moderate course. And He did not say only “between that,” but “a moderate course between that.”
These hadiths that the author mentioned in the chapter on spending on the family all indicate the virtue of spending on the family, and that it is better than spending in the cause of Allah, better than spending on freeing slaves, and better than spending on the poor. This is because the family are those whom Allah has obligated you to be responsible for, and He has made their maintenance obligatory upon you. Therefore, spending on them is an individual obligation, and spending on others is a collective obligation, and an individual obligation is better than a collective obligation.
And spending on others may be done on a voluntary basis, and the obligatory is better than the voluntary, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted in the Holy Hadith:
And the most beloved things with which My slave comes nearer to Me, is what I have enjoined upon him
ما تقرب إليّ عبدي بشيء أحب إليّ مما افترضته عليهBut Satan encourages the person to do voluntary acts and diminishes his desire for the obligatory. So you find him, for example, eager to give charity but neglecting the obligatory. He gives charity to a poor person or the like and neglects the obligation to his family. He gives charity to a poor person or the like and neglects the obligation to himself, such as paying off a debt, for example. You find him in debt, the creditor demanding his debt from him, and he does not pay it, and he goes to give charity to the poor. Perhaps he goes for 'Umrah or voluntary Hajj or the like and neglects the obligatory. This is contrary to the Shari'ah and contrary to wisdom; it is foolishness in reason and misguidance in the Shari'ah.
The obligatory is that you begin with the obligatory, the obligation that is incumbent upon you. You must begin with it, and then after that, with whatever voluntary acts you wish, on the condition that you do not be extravagant or stingy, so that you deviate from the path of moderation. Due to the saying of Allah the Exalted in describing the servants of the Most Merciful: