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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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Chapter: "The Chapter on the Woman as a Guardian." Explanation of the hadith of Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with both of them), who said:

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Then he says: "The Chapter on Whoever Is Done a Favor, Let Him Reward It"
He narrated with his chain of narration from Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ansari, who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Whoever has a favour done for him should repay it. If he cannot find anything he can use to repay it, he should praise the one who did it. When he praises him, he thanks him. If he is silent, he is ungrateful to him. If someone adorns himself with something he has not been given, it is as if he was wearing a false garment. من صنع إليه معروف فليجزه فإن لم يجد ما يجزه فليثن عليه فإنه من أثنى عليه فقد شكره وإن كتمه فقد كفره ومن تحلى بما لم يعط فكأنما لبس ثوبي زور
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 215

In this hadith is one of the Islamic etiquettes that every Muslim must adopt, where the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) says:
Whoever some good was done to him من صنع إليه معروف فليجزه
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2035Hasan (Darussalam)
This means that if a Muslim is treated well by a benefactor, he should reward him with some form of reward. The one who is rewarded must reciprocate the reward with a similar reward. If he is rewarded with money, he rewards him with money; if he is rewarded with service, he rewards him with service. That is, he reciprocates good with good and does not become selfish, demanding that people serve him and reward him with good, while he does not reciprocate their kindness with similar kindness. This is not part of the etiquette of Islam. Rather, Islam says, as you heard in the hadith of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):
Whoever some good was done to him من صنع إليه معروف فليجزه
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2035Hasan (Darussalam)
As he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in another hadith:
Whoever is done a favor to you, reward him. من صنع إليكم فمعروفاً فكافئوه
Then the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) speaks about the situation where the one who is rewarded does not find what to reward the one who was kind to him with, and he says:
Let him reward it. If he finds nothing to reward it with, let him praise it. فليجزه فإن لم يجد ما يجزه فليثن عليه
This is the way to reciprocate the reward with a similar reward in the case where the one who is rewarded was unable to reciprocate the reward with a similar reward. In that case, he must praise him with good. That is, if a man gives a person a material gift, whatever it may be, and the recipient is unable to reciprocate the gift with a similar gift, at least the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) says:
Let him praise with good. فليثن خيراً
That is, let him mention the one who was kind to him and gave him the gift with good, and let him praise him with good. The explanation of this praise that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded, and how it is to be done, came in another hadith, where he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
If one is done a kindness and [expresses his gratitude] to his benefactor by saying 'May Allah give you a good reward', he has fully expressed his appreciation. من صنع إليه معروف فقال جزاك الله خيراً فقد أبلغ الثناء
Bulugh al-Maram 1383
In this hadith narrated by the author (may Allah have mercy on him), the command to praise is for whom? For the one who was kind to you or gave you a gift. And this command comes in the second stage, as per the text of the hadith. The first stage is to reciprocate the reward with a reward. If you are unable to do so, reciprocate the reward with praise, with beautiful and good words. The best thing in this reward, which is praise, is what was explained in the other hadith, namely his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying:
If one is done a kindness and [expresses his gratitude] to his benefactor by saying 'May Allah give you a good reward', he has fully expressed his appreciation. من صنع إليه معروف فقال : جزاك الله خيرا فقد أبلغ الثناء
Bulugh al-Maram 1383
So here there are two stages, one better than the other. The first is to reciprocate the reward with a similar reward, whether it is spiritual or material. If you are unable to reciprocate the reward with a reward, then praise the one who presented that reward to you. Any good word that makes the one who rewarded you feel that you accepted this reward with a good and satisfied heart, and you reciprocate that by praising the one who rewarded you. But the best thing for the one who praises the benefactor with good is the phrase "May Allah reward you with good." And it is necessary that we mention on this occasion that a custom has recently emerged, which is considered one of the social etiquettes, where the one who is treated well reciprocates the benefactor with the word "Thank you." The least thing a person does with another is that the other says "Thank you" to the one who was kind to him. What I want to point out is that there is nothing wrong with this word, because shortly, from the hadiths of the book, will come his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying:
He who does not thank the people is not thankful to Allah. لا يشكر الله من لا يشكر الناس
Sunan Abi Dawud 4811Sahih (Al-Albani)
So if someone does you a favor and you say "Thank you" to him, you have applied this coming hadith, which is his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying:
He who does not thank the people is not thankful to Allah. لا يشكر الله من لا يشكر الناس
Sunan Abi Dawud 4811Sahih (Al-Albani)
But it must be known that using this word, "Thank you," is a substitute for what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us of supplicating for good, which was mentioned previously, namely our saying: "May Allah reward you with good." This word is better than the word "Thank you" in two ways. The first way is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned that the saying of the one who says: "May Allah reward you with good" is the most eloquent praise
If one is done a kindness and [expresses his gratitude] to his benefactor by saying 'May Allah give you a good reward', he has fully expressed his appreciation. من صنع إليه معروفاً فقال جزاك الله خيراً فقد أبلغ الثناء
Bulugh al-Maram 1383
So if the one says "Thank you," he has not delivered the most eloquent praise. It is true that he thanked the one who was kind to him and acted in accordance with his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying:
He who does not thank the people is not thankful to Allah. لا يشرك الله من لا يشكر الناس
Sunan Abi Dawud 4811Sahih (Al-Albani)
But he did not act in accordance with the other hadith, which is his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying:
If one is done a kindness and [expresses his gratitude] to his benefactor by saying 'May Allah give you a good reward', he has fully expressed his appreciation. من صنع إليه معروف فقال جزاك الله خيراً فقد أبلغ الثناء
Bulugh al-Maram 1383
So it is necessary that we use this word, "May Allah reward you with good," as a substitute for "Thank you," as long as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned it and described it as the most eloquent praise.
Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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