Giving charity

Shaikh Ahmad Kabir al-Rifa’i (Allah have mercy on him) said,

‘Giving money in charity is superior to physical worship and other supererogatory acts of devotion.’

Hakim al-Umma Shaikh Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) commented that this superiority is because charity benefits many individuals (whereas physical worship is beneficial to the doer alone) and also giving money is vexatious for nafs.

Aqwal e Sufiya, page 83