Exemplary Generosity
Hazrat Hassan (ra) relates that Hazrat Talha (ra) bin Ubaidullah sold a piece of his land to Hazrat Uthman (ra) bin Affan for 700,000 dirhams. When Hazrat Uthman (ra) paid the amount, Hazrat Talha (ra) took the money home. He thought to himself that if one has this amount of money at home, no one knows what God Almighty has decreed with regards to life and death. Thus, throughout the night, with the help of others, they went around the streets of Medina and gave money to those in need. When day broke, Hazrat Talha (ra) did not have even one dirham left from this amount.
(al-Tabaqaat-ul-Kubra li ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, pp. 164-165, Talha bin Ubaidillah, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1990) (al-bidayatu wa al-Nihayah li Ibn Atheer, Vol. 4, Ch. 7, p. 208, 35A.H., Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2001)
Ibn Jarir narrates that Hazrat Talha (ra) once met Hazrat Uthman (ra) when he was leaving the mosque. Hazrat Talha (ra) said, “I have 50,000 dirhams that I owe to you, kindly send someone to collect it” (he may have borrowed the amount off him in the past, and now had the money to pay him back). Hazrat Uthman (ra) replied, “I gave that to you as a gift owing to your kindness.”
(al-Tabaqaat-ul-Kubra li ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, pp. 167-168, Talha bin Ubaidillah, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1990)