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Spending generously on one’s family and dependents on the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ is a Prophetic Sunnah of great merit. It has been transmitted through connected chains of narration, received with acceptance by leading ḥadīth scholars, strengthened by a number of major ḥadīth masters, and acted upon by jurists across the Muslim world. Over time, it became one of the recognised features of this blessed day and a common practice in many Muslim lands.

Several ḥadīths have been narrated regarding this Sunnah from a number of noble Companions, including Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, Abū Hurayrah, Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them all.

The soundest and strongest of these narrations is what has been reported from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

“Whoever spends generously upon himself and his family on the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ, Allah will grant him expansion throughout the rest of his year.”

Jābir said: “We tried it and found it to be so.” It was narrated by Imam Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr in al-Istidhkār.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Ḥasan ibn al-Qaṭṭān said in Faḍāʾil ʿArafah (fol. 16): “The chain of this ḥadīth is ḥasan.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Zayn al-Dīn al-ʿIrāqī said in his treatise al-Tawsiʿah ʿalā al-ʿIyāl (p. 11, ed. Subḥat al-ʿAqīq): “It fulfils the condition of Muslim.”

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Mūsā al-Madīnī narrated this ḥadīth in Faḍāʾil al-Ayyām wa al-Shuhūr and then said: “It is a ḥasan ḥadīth,” as cited by al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn al-Mulaqqin in al-Tawḍīḥ li Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaḥīḥ (13/542, Dār al-Falāḥ).

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Suyūṭī said in al-Durar al-Muntathirah fī al-Aḥādīth al-Mushtahirah (p. 186, King Saud University ed.), responding to those who claimed that the ḥadīth is not established: “No; rather, it is established and authentic.”

The scholar Ibn ʿĀbidīn said in Radd al-Muḥtār (2/419, Dār al-Fikr), supporting what al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Suyūṭī stated: “Yes, the ḥadīth of spending generously is established and authentic, as al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Suyūṭī said in al-Durar.”

This Sunnah has also been reported as an athar from the two noble Companions: the Commander of the Believers, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, and Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh, may Allah be pleased with them both, as well as from Muḥammad ibn al-Muntashir and others.

Imam Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr narrated in al-Istidhkār from the Commander of the Believers, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said:

“Whoever spends generously on his family on the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ, Allah will grant him expansion throughout the rest of his year.”

He also narrated from Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Muntashir, who said:

“Whoever spends generously on his family on ʿĀshūrāʾ, Allah will grant him expansion throughout the rest of the year.”

Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd said: “We tried this and found it to be true.” Sufyān said: “We tried this and found it to be so.”

A number of great ḥadīth masters authored works collecting the routes of these narrations, strengthening them, and responding to those who rejected them. Among them were al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Faḍl al-ʿIrāqī in his treatise al-Tawsiʿah ʿalā al-ʿIyāl, Imam al-Suyūṭī in his treatise Faḍl al-Tawsiʿah fī Yawm ʿĀshūrāʾ, and al-Ḥāfiẓ Aḥmad ibn al-Ṣiddīq al-Ghumārī in his book Hadiyyat al-Ṣugharā bi Taṣḥīḥ Ḥadīth al-Tawsiʿah ʿalā al-ʿIyāl Yawm ʿĀshūrāʾ.

The Reason for Singling Out the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ for Spending Generously on One’s Family

The scholar al-Munāwī explained the reason for singling out the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ for spending generously on one’s dependents. He said in Fayḍ al-Qadīr (6/235, al-Maktabah al-Tijāriyyah al-Kubrā):

“This is because Allah, Glorified is He, flooded the world with the deluge, and nothing remained except the Ark of Nūḥ and those within it. He then restored their worldly life to them on the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ, and they were commanded to descend in order to prepare for their families in matters of livelihood, with peace and blessings upon them and upon those from the believers who would come from their descendants. Thus, it became a day of expansion and increase in the means of livelihood, so it is recommended to renew this practice every year.”

The Views of the Four Madhhabs on the Recommendation of Spending Generously

The jurists of the four madhhabs — the Ḥanafīs, Mālikīs, Shāfiʿīs, and Ḥanbalīs — have stated that spending generously on one’s family on the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ is recommended.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿAynī al-Ḥanafī said in Nukhab al-Afkār (8/388, Qatar Awqāf ed.):

“In general, it is a great day whose status was known among the prophets, peace be upon them, and spending on it is compensated.”

Imam Ibn al-ʿArabī al-Mālikī said in al-Masālik fī Sharḥ Muwaṭṭaʾ Mālik (4/205–206, Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī):

“As for spending on it and giving generously, it is compensated by agreement, when the Face of Allah Most High is intended thereby, and Allah replaces one dirham with ten.”

The Mālikī scholar al-Ṣāwī said in his marginal commentary on al-Sharḥ al-Ṣaghīr (1/691, Dār al-Maʿārif):

“It is recommended on ʿĀshūrāʾ to spend generously on one’s family and relatives.”

The Shāfiʿī scholar Sulaymān al-Jamal said in his marginal commentary on Fatḥ al-Wahhāb (2/347, Dār al-Fikr), while explaining what is recommended to do on ʿĀshūrāʾ:

“It is recommended on it to spend generously on one’s dependents and relatives, and to give charity to the poor and needy without burdening oneself. If one does not find anything, then let him expand his character and restrain himself from wrongdoing.”

Imam Burhān al-Dīn ibn Mufliḥ al-Ḥanbalī said in al-Mubdiʿ (3/49, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah), while discussing the virtue of ʿĀshūrāʾ:

“Benefit: It is appropriate on it to spend generously on one’s dependents. Ibn Manṣūr asked Aḥmad about it, and he said: ‘Yes.’”

Conclusion

Based on the above, spending generously on one’s family on the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ is a Sunnah established in the Sharīʿah. It is narrated from the Prophet ﷺ, preserved from his noble Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and the Tābiʿīn, and acted upon by the majority of scholars.

It is a blessed practice through which one hopes for divine favour, seeks blessing, and asks Allah for expansion of provision throughout the year.  

This answer is translated and adapted from Dār al-Iftāʾ al-Miṣriyyah’s fatwa, “Ḥukm al-Tawsiʿah ʿalā al-Ahl Yawm ʿĀshūrāʾ,” [The Ruling on Spending Generously on One’s Family on the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ]. Fatwa no. 8670, issued by Prof. Dr. Naẓīr Muḥammad ʿAyyād, Grand Mufti of Egypt, 30 June 2025. It can be accessed here