٤ـ عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ سَهْلِ بْنِ زِيَادٍ عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ عُقْبَةَ بْنِ خَالِدٍ قَالَ دَخَلْتُ أَنَا وَالْمُعَلَّى وَعُثْمَانُ بْنُ عِمْرَانَ عَلَى أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَم) فَلَمَّا رَآنَا قَالَ مَرْحَباً مَرْحَباً بِكُمْ وُجُوهٌ تُحِبُّنَا وَنُحِبُّهَا جَعَلَكُمُ الله مَعَنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ فَقَالَ لَهُ عُثْمَانُ جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ فَقَالَ لَهُ أَبُو عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَم) نَعَمْ مَهْ قَالَ إِنِّي رَجُلٌ مُوسِرٌ فَقَالَ لَهُ بَارَكَ الله لَكَ فِي يَسَارِكَ قَالَ وَيَجِي‏ءُ الرَّجُلُ فَيَسْأَلُنِي الشَّيْ‏ءَ وَلَيْسَ هُوَ إِبَّانُ زَكَاتِي فَقَالَ لَهُ أَبُو عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَم) الْقَرْضُ عِنْدَنَا بِثَمَانِيَةَ عَشَرَ وَالصَّدَقَةُ بِعَشَرَةٍ وَمَا ذَا عَلَيْكَ إِذَا كُنْتَ كَمَا تَقُولُ مُوسِراً أَعْطَيْتَهُ فَإِذَا كَانَ إِبَّانُ زَكَاتِكَ احْتَسَبْتَ بِهَا مِنَ الزَّكَاةِ يَا عُثْمَانُ لا تَرُدَّهُ فَإِنَّ رَدَّهُ عِنْدَ الله عَظِيمٌ يَا عُثْمَانُ إِنَّكَ لَوْ عَلِمْتَ مَا مَنْزِلَةُ الْمُؤْمِنِ مِنْ رَبِّهِ مَا تَوَانَيْتَ فِي حَاجَتِهِ وَمَنْ أَدْخَلَ عَلَى مُؤْمِنٍ سُرُوراً فَقَدْ أَدْخَلَ عَلَى رَسُولِ الله (صلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِه) وَقَضَاءُ حَاجَةِ الْمُؤْمِنِ يَدْفَعُ الْجُنُونَ وَالْجُذَامَ وَالْبَرَصَ.
4. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from Ahmad ibn al-Hassan ibn Ali from his father from ‘Uqbah ibn Khalid who has said the following: “I went to visit abu ‘Abd Allah . Two other people, al-Mu‘alla’ and ‘Uthman ibn ‘Umar, also were present with me. On seeing us, he welcomed us and offered greetings of peace, saying, ‘I welcome the faces that love us and we love them. May Allah keep you with us in this world and in the next life.’ Uthman then said, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause.’ The Imam acknowledged his expression and asked, ‘What can I do for you?’ Uthman then said, ‘I am an affluent man.’ The Imam said, ‘May Allah make your wealth a blessing for you.’ He then said, ‘A man comes to me for (financial) help. Such time is not the time for me to pay zakat.’ Abu ‘Abd Allah , then said, ‘Providing a loan, before us, has eighteen rewards, and for charity it is ten rewards. You have no difficulty, being an affluent man as you just said. You can provide him help and when the time for paying zakat comes, count it as your zakat paid to him. O ‘Uthman, do not turn him away empty-handed; it is a great and serious matter in the sight of Allah. O ‘Uthman, if you had known how important a believer is in the sight of Allah, you would not hesitate to respond positively to his appeal. Whoever provides happiness for a believing person has done so for the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause. Providing help for a believing person repels illnesses like insanity, leprosy and albino (leprosy).”’ 