A woman serves her husband's father, but she backbites him! Does this invalidate her reward?
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Question:
May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good. Our sister says: My husband's father lives with us, and he is ill and cannot move except with a cane. Sometimes I get angry and speak about him in his absence. Allah knows that I regret it afterwards, and whatever I say, I do not mean it, and I do not fall short in his rights or in fulfilling his requests. What is the ruling on this? What is required of me? Will I have a reward if I intend my work in my husband's house to be for the sake of Allah? Will I have a reward in that? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
If you serve your husband, you have a reward for that, because you have fulfilled an obligation upon you. However, you must guard your tongue from hurtful speech regarding him, whether he is present or absent, for it is feared that this speech may contain sin, and it may invalidate your reward, because if a person shows off with his deed, showing off invalidates the reward. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Baqarah 2:264] And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Three people [Ali 'Imran 3:77]" and he mentioned among them the one who shows off, meaning the one who shows off with his deed. Yes.
May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good. Our sister says: My husband's father lives with us, and he is ill and cannot move except with a cane. Sometimes I get angry and speak about him in his absence. Allah knows that I regret it afterwards, and whatever I say, I do not mean it, and I do not fall short in his rights or in fulfilling his requests. What is the ruling on this? What is required of me? Will I have a reward if I intend my work in my husband's house to be for the sake of Allah? Will I have a reward in that? May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
If you serve your husband, you have a reward for that, because you have fulfilled an obligation upon you. However, you must guard your tongue from hurtful speech regarding him, whether he is present or absent, for it is feared that this speech may contain sin, and it may invalidate your reward, because if a person shows off with his deed, showing off invalidates the reward. Allah the Exalted said:
O you who have believed, do not invalidate your charities with reminders or injury
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُبْطِلُوا صَدَقَاتِكُم بِالْمَنِّ وَالْأَذَىٰwill have no share in the Hereafter, and Allah will not speak to them or look at them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them; and they will have a painful punishment.
لَا خَلَاقَ لَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ وَلَا يُكَلِّمُهُمُ اللَّهُ وَلَا يَنظُرُ إِلَيْهِمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَلَا يُزَكِّيهِمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 4021- امرأة تخدم والد زوجها، ولكنها تغتابه! هل يبطل أجرها؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.