This chapter encourages earning your own living through honest work and keeping yourself from the habit of begging. It treats labour, even hard or humble labour, as more dignified than asking others for help.
The hadith hold up a clear standard: gathering and selling firewood, or any work of your own hands, is better than stretching out your hand to people. They also point to prophets who lived from what they made themselves, showing that working for your provision is a noble path, not a lowly one.
Hadith 538
Zubair bin 'Awwam (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
عن أبي عبد الله الزبير بن العوام رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : “لأن يأخذ أحدكم أحبله ثم يأتى الجبل فيأتي بحزمة من حطب على ظهره فيبيعها، فيكف الله بها وجهه، خير له من أن يسأل الناس أعطوه أومنعوه" ((رواه البخاري)).
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "It is far better for you to take your rope, go to the mountain, (cut some firewood) carry it on your back, and sell it and thereby save your face than begging from people whether they give you or refuse." [Al-Bukhari].
In plain words
Earning your bread through hard, honest effort, even gathering firewood, protects your dignity far more than begging, whether people give to you or turn you away.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 538 In-book reference : Introduction, Hadith 538
Hadith 539
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
وعن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : "لأن يحتطب أحدكم حزمة على ظهره، خير له من أن يسأل أحداً فيعطيه أو يمنعه" ((متفق عليه)).
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "It is better for anyone of you to carry a bundle of wood on his back and sell it than to beg of someone whether he gives him or refuses." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
In plain words
Carrying and selling a load of wood by your own effort is better than asking others for help, regardless of whether they give to you or refuse.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 539 In-book reference : Introduction, Hadith 539
Hadith 540
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
وعنه عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: "كان داود عليه السلام لا يأكل إلا من عمل يده" . ((رواه البخاري)).
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "(Prophet) Dawud (ﷺ) ate only out of that which he earned through his manual work." [Al-Bukhari].
In plain words
The Prophet points to Dawud, who lived only from what his own hands produced, as a model of earning one's living honestly.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 540 In-book reference : Introduction, Hadith 540
Hadith 541
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
وعنه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: “كان زكريا عليه السلام نجاراً” ((رواه مسلم)).
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "(Prophet) Zakariyya (ﷺ) was a carpenter." [Muslim].
In plain words
Mentioning that the Prophet Zakariyya worked as a carpenter shows that working with one's hands is honourable, not beneath even a prophet.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 541 In-book reference : Introduction, Hadith 541
Hadith 542
Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
وعن المقدام بن معد يكرب رضي الله عنه، عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: " ما أكل أحد طعاماً قط خيراً من أن يأكل من عمل يده، وإن نبى الله دواد صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يأكل من عمل يده" . ((رواه البخاري)).
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "No food is better to man than that which he earns through his manual work. Dawud (ﷺ), the Prophet of Allah, ate only out of his earnings from his manual work." [Al- Bukhari].
In plain words
Nothing a person eats is better than food earned by their own labour, and the Prophet Dawud is given as the example of living from one's own work.
Reference : Riyad as-Salihin 542 In-book reference : Introduction, Hadith 542