Someone asked, "Messenger of Allah, which charity is best?"He replied, "The effort of one who has little, and begin with those you support."
يا رسول الله، أي الصدقة أفضل؟ قال: جهد المقل، وابدأ بمن تعول.
Abu Dawud (1677) narrated it through several routes from Layth, from Abu Zubayr, from Yahya bin Jadah, from Abu Hurairah, and he related it.This hadith is found in Musnad Imam Ahmad (8702) by this same route. Ibn Khuzayma (2444, 2451), Ibn Hibban (3346), and Hakim (1/414) graded it sahih, narrating it through several routes from Layth bin Saad, with his chain of transmission.Hakim said, "Sahih according to the criteria of Muslim." This is a mistake on his part, for Muslim did not narrate from Yahya bin Jadah.As for the phrase "the utmost effort of one with little means," juhd (with the letter dammah) means capacity and ability, that is, whatever a person of scant wealth is able to bear. It has also been said that it means his utmost exertion given the smallness of his wealth, and that spending in this way is only permissible for him if he can bear patiently and has no dependents. Otherwise, the better course is to give from a position of sufficiency. So said Sindi.