The Virtue of Feeding a Hungry Person

فَضلُ إطعامِ الجائِعِ

ـ الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): قوتُ الأجسادِ الطَّعامُ ، وقوتُ الأرواح

Imam Ali (a.s.) said, ‘The nourishment of the body is food whilst the nourishment of the soul is feeding others.’[Mishkat al-Anwar, no. 325]

ـ الإمامُ عليٌّ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): ما أكَلتَهُ راحَ، وما أطعَمتَهُ فاحَ.

Imam Ali (a.s.) said, ‘That which you yourself eat gets consumed whereas that which you feed others diffuses [i.e. the benediction in that sustenance].’[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 9634]

ـ الإمامُ الباقرُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): إنّ اللّه‏َ يُحِبُّ إطعامَ الطَّعامِ وهِراقَةَ الدِّماءِ .

Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) said, ‘One of the things which gives one obligatory entrance into Paradise and forgiveness is feeding a starving person’, then he went on to recite the verse of Allah in the Qur’an: “or feeding [the needy] on a day of starvation.”[al-Mahasin, v. 2, p. 145, no. 1381]

ـ الإمامُ الصّادقُ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ): إنَّ أميرَ المؤمنينَ (عَلَيهِ الّسَلامُ) أشبَهُ الناسِ طُعمَةً برسولِ اللّه‏ِ (صَلَّيَ اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَ آلِهِ) ، كانَ يَأكُلُ الخُبزَ والخَلَّ والزَّيتَ، ويُطعِمُ الناسَ الخُبزَ واللَّحمَ.

Imam al-Sadiq (a.s.) narrated, ‘Verily the Commander of the Faithful resembled the Prophet (S) the most in the way that he ate. He used to eat bread, vinegar and (olive) oil, and feed others bread and meat.’[al-Mahasin, v. 2, p. 279, no. 1901]