Follow up question on the topic of requesting donations:

One of our beloved brothers - may Allah preserve him and bless him with a loving & righteous wife - said: “There was a time where the Prophet ﷺ asked to give charity, Umar gave half of his wealth, Abubakar gave all of his wealth and told the Prophet ﷺ that he left his family to Allah and his Messenger. The Prophet didn’t put a limit. Similarly, another time the Prophet ﷺ asked to fund jihaad and the companions gave camels. Again the Prophet ﷺ didn’t put a limit...” Response: There's a difference between encouraging people to give charity generally (like in the hadeeths you mentioned) and requesting direct donations from them. For example, if someone gives a reminder encouraging people to give charity and some of the listeners take this advice and give charity, that is good. They can give as much charity as they want, and the one who encouraged them will also share in the reward. Abu Bakr and 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) brought their charity to the Prophet ﷺ because he was the best person to distribute it. He was in charge of the Muslims after all, so he knew who and which causes would most be deserving. It could also be said that the aforementioned hadeeths (the hadeeth of Umar and the one on Jihad) and their like are from the angle of interceding for a good and noble cause, as Allah said: { مَّن یَشۡفَعۡ شَفَـٰعَةً حَسَنَةࣰ یَكُن لَّهُۥ نَصِیبࣱ مِّنۡهَاۖ وَمَن یَشۡفَعۡ شَفَـٰعَةࣰ سَیِّئَةࣰ یَكُن لَّهُۥ كِفۡلࣱ مِّنۡهَاۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَیۡءࣲ مُّقِیتࣰا } “Whoever intercedes for a good cause will have a share in the reward, and whoever intercedes for an evil cause will have a share in the burden. And Allah is Watchful over all things.” [Surah An-Nisâ': 85] However, this (intercession on behalf of a good cause) is also restricted; as and when needed. If someone requests donations directly it has to be out of necessity (dharoorah) as the scholars have mentioned. And the word dharoorah is very restricted in the Sharee'ah, but some people have extended it to include things which doesn't fall into it. For example, some people say it's allowed to take student loans (which involve riba) because going to Uni is a dharoorah. Others say getting a mortgage is allowed because owning a house is a dharoorah. But in reality, a dharoorah refers mainly to a life and death situation where someone has no other option. An example of a dharoorah in the case of a masjid is if the roof is about to collapse, or more realistically, maybe at the end of the month there's a shortfall in the amount needed to cover the monthly rent & bills, otherwise the masjid is going to be shut down and there's no individuals who can cover this shortfall, here you can ask for help, but only enough to cover the cost; let's say for example the deficit is £1000, we are allowed to request donations upto this amount - nothing more as per the hadeeth of Qabeesah. But if anyone wishes to donate to the masjid at any point without being requested they can do so, and that is highly commendable. والله أعلم