Two men reported that they came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ asking him for charity. He looked them over carefully and saw that they were strong and able-bodied, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "If you wish, I will give you something, but there is no share in this charity for a wealthy person, nor for one who is strong and capable of earning."
أن رجلين حدثاه أنهما أنيا رسول الله ﷺ يسألانه من الصدقة فقلب فيهما البصر، فرآهما جلدين فقال رسول الله ﷺ: إن شئتما أعطيتكما ولا حظ فيها لغني ولا لقوي مكتسب.
Abu Dawud (1633) and Nasai (2599) both narrated it from the hadith of Hisham bin Urwa, from his father, from Ubaydullah bin Adi, and he mentioned it. Its isnad is sahih. Imam Ahmad (17972) also narrated it through this same route. Abu Dawud added, "That was during the Farewell Pilgrimage, while he was distributing the charity." Hafiz Haythami mentioned it in Majma (923), though it does not meet his stated criteria.Baghawi said in Sharh al-Sunnah (6/81–82), "This contains evidence that a strong person capable of earning, whose earning is sufficient for him, is not permitted to take zakat. The Prophet ﷺ did not consider mere appearances of strength alone without combining it with the ability to earn, because a man might appear strong yet be inept, unable to earn, in which case zakat would be permissible for him. So if the leader sees a beggar who is physically strong and healthy, he should be suspicious of his case, warn him, and inform him of the matter, just as the Prophet ﷺ did. If the man then claims that he has no means of earning, or that he has dependents whose needs his earning cannot cover, his claim should be accepted and he should be given zakat." End of quote.Baghawi's word "akhraq" (inept) comes from the root "kharaqa bish-shay yakhruqu," meaning he was ignorant of something and did not do it well, as stated in Lisan.