Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
I’ve heard that several scholars strongly discourage giving old clothes to charity. If someone has old clothes which are still in very good condition what should they do with them? Isn’t it better to give it to someone who is in need of them rather than throw them away? Perhaps without really getting much reward for it.
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
I am unaware of the reasoning of those scholars. It may be that their words were misunderstood by the one who heard them. Allah knows best.
Charity (sadaqa) entails giving something of value to someone needy. The only condition regarding that which is given in charity is that it be permitted and lawful.
Imam Nawawi (Allah have mercy on him), the great mountain of baraka and success, explained in his Majmu` that the scholars have explained that,
“It is recommended to give in charity that which is easy for one to give, and one should not consider anything to be paltry nor avoid giving it because it is little or insignificant. It is said that good is great in the sight of Allah, and anything that Allah accepts and blesses is never little.
Allah Most High said, Whoever does even an atom’s weight of good shall see it.’ [Qur’an, 99.7]
And it is narrated in the two Sahih collections [of Bukhari and Muslim] from Adiyy ibn Hatim (Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, Protect yourselves from the Fire, even if one with a piece of date.'” [Nawawi, al-Majmu`, 6.234]
Imam Khadimi mentioned that one chooses the type of charity and where one gives it in terms of where the greatest good lies. [Khadimi, al-Bariqa fi Sharh al-Tariqa, 3.56]
And Allah alone gives success.
Wassalam,
Faraz Rabbani