Maneeha is a Good Deed of Charity

‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr (رضي الله عنه) narrated that Allaah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said:

“There are forty good qualities (virtuous deeds) and the best of them is the Maneeha of a she-goat, and anyone who does one of these virtuous deeds hoping for Allah’s reward with firm confidence that he will get it, then Allah will make him enter Paradise because of it.” [Al-Bukhari]

Hassan ibn ‘Atiyyah (the narrator of the Hadeeth from Abu Kabshah) said:

“We counted the matters (good acts) which are less than the Maneeha of a she-goat, such as: answering the greetings, invoking Allah’s mercy for someone who sneezes, removing harmful objects from the road, and the like, but we could not count even fifteen qualities.” [Fath al-Baari]

Maneeha is basically lending something to someone for temporary benefit, without losing the right of its ownership. This is a meritorious act. The Maneeha could be a sort of gift in the form of a she-camel or she-goat which is given to someone temporarily so that he may benefit from its milk. Then the animal is returned to its owner.

An example of Maneeha nowadays could be lending one’s car to someone with a full tank of fuel, or a printer along with hefty ink supply or a computer, etc. All these can be lent with a condition to be returned to its owner after an appointed period.

Another example of Maneeha which is reported by at-Tirmidhi and others: Al-Baraa’ ibn Aazib (رضي الله عنه) narrated that he heard Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) say:

“Whoever gives a Maneeha of milk (i.e. a she-goat or cow and so forth which gives milk), or a Maneeha of silver [i.e. gives silver to make a business with it (to trade in) then returns the bases to the owner after an appointed period decided by the twol, or guides (a person) to the right way, that is equivalent to the manumission of a slave.

And whoever says: ‘La ilaaha illa Allaah, Wahdahu laa Sharika Lahu, Lahul-Mulku wa Lahul-Hamdu, wa Huwa ‘ala Kulli Shay’in Qadeer,’ it will be for him as if he manumitted a slave.” [ Saheeh at-Targheeb no.1535 and graded Saheeh]

Accordingly, the Sunnah of Maneeha is a very high (noble) Sunnah which the religion of Islam exhorts the believers to adopt and spread in their communities.