The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, responded, "Never seek others' help in your affairs, do not lean on others, even if it is a small piece of Miswaak (tooth stick)." But did the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, not have a shirt with stripes or something and asked someone to get another shirt. He also said to take what is given freely. These statements seemingly contradict, but I know that that is not so. So what do I take from all of these together?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

There is no contradiction between the Mutawaatir reports (i.e. that are narrated by an amount of people that it is impossible that they all agreed to lie) about the forbiddance of asking people and the permissibility of accepting what is offered by others without asking for it. This is clear and does not need clarification. Rather, there is one hadeeth where both cases are mentioned:

Ibn ‘Umar narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, used to give 'Umar ibn Al-Khattaab monetary gifts. ‘Umar would say to him, "O Messenger of Allah, give it to one who needs it more than I." The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said to him, "Take it and either keep it (for yourself) or spend it in charity, and whatever comes to you of this money without you aspiring to it or asking for it, then accept it, but if it is otherwise, then do not let your heart hanker after it." Saalim commented, "And it was on account of this that Ibn ‘Umar never asked anything from anyone nor refused anything given to him." [Muslim]

As for the reconciliation between the forbiddance of asking people and the fact that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, asked one of the Companions for a garment, ‘Aa'ishah narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, once prayed wearing a Khameesah (a fine striped Syrian cloak) that had marks on it. During the prayer, he looked at its marks. So when he finished the prayer he said, "Take this Khameesah of mine to Abu Jahm and get me his Inbijaaniyyah (a woolen garment without marks) as it (the Khameesah) has diverted my attention from the prayer." [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

Scholars underlined two possible justifications for the Prophet's request: firstly, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, may have asked Abu Jahm for another garment because he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, gave him back his garment, which Abu Jahm had given him as a gift earlier so that he would not be saddened by returning the gift.

Ibn Rajab wrote, "He asked for a garment from Abu Jahm in particular because it was him who had given it to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, as a gift, so he returned it to him so that Abu Jahm would not be saddened by him returning his gift. This is also why the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, informed him of the reason for returning it." [Fat-h Al-Bari]

Secondly, such a request is lawful when one has a special relationship with the person whom he is asking and he knows that that person would be happy with his request and it would not cause him any inconvenience. An-Nawawi said, "The fact that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, sent the Khameesah back to Abu Jahm and asked him for another garment of his instead was done given the close relationship between them because the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, knew that Abu Jahm would be happy with this."

Ibn Daqeeq said, "This hadeeth is evidence that it is allowable for the Muslim to accept gifts from friends and even ask them for gifts as long as he knows that those friends would willingly offer them and would be happy about it." [Al-Ihkaam]

Allah knows best.