If a Muslim plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a bird, or a person or an animal eats from it, it is regarded as a charitable gift (ṣadaqah) for him. ~ Imam Bukhari
This statement of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, recorded by Imam Bukhari, suggests that an action’s merit is not confined to the actor’s intent or the immediate result, but extends through the entire ecological and social cycle of the deed.
The planter does not need to witness the benefit, nor does the beneficiary need to express gratitude, for the ṣadaqah to be registered.
In the Islamic concept of tawakkul, one must tie the camel (do the work) while trusting the outcome to God.
The Islamic ethic centres on the circulation of benefit. The tree is not an end in itself, but a vessel of ongoing mercy (ṣadaqah jāriyah), to be nurtured and sustained with care.
This teaching does not merely ask who benefits, but affirms that the benefit itself counts. In this sense, the hadith is biocentric, expanding beyond anthropocentric values. The benefit enjoyed by a bird or a wild animal is counted in the divine ledger, alongside that enjoyed by a human.
Scholars like Al-Ghazali argue that the physical world (mulk) is a veil for the spiritual realm (malakūt).
In this metaphysical view, the effect in the chain of cause and consequence is twofold: a horizontal effect, in which the bird is nourished (biologically and materially), and a vertical effect, in which the planter’s soul is purified and rewarded (metaphysically).
Because God is the One who decrees all matters, the planter is merely a means. The true Producer of the fruit is the Divine. Therefore, when an animal eats from the tree, it is not stealing from the planter; it is receiving its rizq (provision) through a means the planter provided.
By aligning one’s labour with the sustenance of other creatures, the individual enters a state of muwāfaqa: harmony with the Divine will.