One day, Imam Sadiq (a) handed over a bag containing fifty dinars to Abu Ja’far Khath’ami and said:
“Go and deliver this bag to certain Sayyid from Bani Hashem in certain region, and do not tell him who sent it. (meaning that it should be secret, because the reward of almsgiving in secret, which is not considered hypocrisy is higher before God)
Khath’ami came to the poor man and handed over the bag of money to him.
The man asked:
Who sent this money to me?!
Khath’ami, according to the order of Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a), did not mention his name.
The man said:
Whoever sent it, may God reward him. The owner of this bag every once a while sends us some money and we make our living with it, but Ja’far al-Sadiq (a), with all his wealth, does not care about us and send nothing to us; for he never sympathizes us poor people. (1)(2)
It shows that the poor man did not know who was helping him financially was Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (a), and mistakenly thought that Imam Sadiq (a) did not care about him and helping him!
This was one of the manners of the Ahl al-Bayt (a), the family of the Prophet (s), which shows that those noble ones sympathized the individuals who thought their Imam was not caring about them.
Source :
(1) Amali, Shaykh Tusi, vol. 2, p. 290.
(2) Manaqib Al Abi Talib, vol. 4, p. 273.
