In his biography of `A'ishah given in Siyar a`lam al-nubala', al-Dhahabi states that she gave seventy thousand dirhams in charity, at the time when she was putting patches on her shield.
Mu`awiyah sent `A'ishah a hundred thousand dirhams, and she gave it all away in charity before evening fell. Her servant said to her, "Why did you not buy a dirham's worth of meat with it?" She said, "Why did you not tell me to do so?"
Mu`awiyah also sent`A'ishah bracelets worth a hundred thousand, which she shared out among the other wives of the Prophet (Peace be upon him).
Ibn al-Zubayr sent her money in two containers, to the amount of a hundred thousand. She called for a large tray, and began to share the money among the people. When evening came, she said, "O young girl, bring me my fatur (food with which to break fast)," for she, (May Allah be pleased with her), used to fast all the time. The young girl said to her, "O Mother of the Believers, could you not have bought us a dirham's worth of meat?" She said, "Do not rebuke me; if you had reminded me I would have done so."
`A'ishah's sister Asma' was no less generous. `Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr (RAA) said: "I never saw two women more generous than `A'ishah and Asma', but their ways of being generous were different. `A'ishah would accumulate things and then share them out, whilst Asma' would never keep anything until the next day."
The Prophet's (Peace be upon him) wife Zaynab bint Jahsh used to work with her own hands and give in charity from her earnings. She was the most generous of the Prophet's(Peace be upon him) wives in giving freely and doing good deeds. According to a hadith narrated by Imam Muslim from `A'ishah (May Allah be pleased with her), the Prophet (Peace be upon him) told his wives about Zaynab: "The first of you to join me (after death) will be the one who has the longest hand." `A'ishah said: "They began to measure their hands against one another to see who had the longest hand, and the one who had the longest hands of all of us was Zaynab, because she used to work with her hands and give charity from her earnings."
`Umar ibn al-Khattab (RAA) sent Zaynab her annual salary, and when it was brought to her, she said: "May Allah forgive `Umar! Others of my sisters are more capable of sharing this out than I am." They told her, "This is all for you." She said, "Subhan Allah! Pour it out and cover it with a cloth." Then she told Barzah bint Rafi`, the narrator of this report: "Put your hand in and take a handful of it, and take it to Bani So-and-so and Bani So-and-so" - who were orphans or related to
her. This was repeated until there was only a little left under the cloth. Barzah bint Rafi` said to
Zaynab: "May Allah forgive you, O Mother of the Believers! By Allah (SWT), it is our right to have some." Zaynab said: "What is left under the cloth is for you." (Barzah bint Rafi`) said that they found eighty-five dirhams under the cloth.
Zaynab said, "O Allah, do not let me live to receive another payment like this from `Umar," and she died before the time for the next payment came.
Ibn Sa`d reported that when the money was brought to Zaynab, she started saying, "O Allah, do not let me see this money again next year, for it is a fitnah (temptation)." Then she shared it out among her relatives and those who were in need, until it was all gone. `Umar (RAA) heard about this, and said, "This women is destined for good." He stood at her door and conveyed his salam to her, then said: "I have heard about what you gave out to others. Send her a thousand dirhams to keep for herself." But she did the same thing with that money, and did not even keep a single dirham or dinar for herself.
Umm al-Banin, the sister of `Umar ibn `Abd al-`Aziz, was a marvellous example of generous giving. She said, "Everyone has a passion, and my passion is giving." She used to free slaves every week, and equip horsemen to fight for the sake of Allah (SWT). She would say, "Uff to stinginess! If it were a shirt I would not wear it, and if it were a road I would not follow it."
Zubaydah, the wife of the khalifah Harun al-Rashid, had a channel dug to being water from springs and rain-pools to Makkah, to provide fresh water for the inhabitants of the city and for the pilgrims. This was named `Ayn Zubaydah (the spring of Zubaydah), and was known as one of the wonders of the world at that time. When her treasurer objected to the high cost of this project, she told him: "Do it, even if every single blow of the axe costs a dinar."
Source: Ideal Muslimah
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