Is the similarity in the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “The one who guides to good is like the one who does it,” a complete similarity in every respect?

The Shaykh: And here is a question: Is this similarity a complete similarity in every respect, meaning that the man who carried the innovator and whose journey was cut off on the road, if we suppose that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) wrote for him a thousand good deeds, would the one who guided him also be written a thousand good deeds? Is this the meaning of his saying (peace be upon him) in this hadith, “he has a reward like that of the doer”? The answer is: No, because similarity does not imply resemblance in every aspect. When someone says “so-and-so is like so-and-so,” it does not mean in every direction, but only in the aspect about which he is speaking. This is a perfect example in the science of rhetoric: when it is said “so-and-so is like a mountain,” it is not intended that he is a deaf stone that hears nothing, but rather that he is like a mountain in stability, steadfastness, and not being shaken by the various waves and currents. The most famous of these examples is when it is said “Zayd is a lion”; everyone understands that the one describing Zayd as a lion does not mean he is like a lion in all respects. For example, a lion has a tail, so it does not mean that Zayd has a tail. So what does it mean? It is in the context of the simile, meaning an exaggeration in bravery. “Like a lion” or “a lion” means in bravery. And so, when it comes in a hadith that “whoever does such-and-such has a reward like so-and-so,” the similarity here is not in every respect. A hadith like this comes in many hadiths, for example, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): But if a thousand good deeds are written for this fasting person, do I have a thousand good deeds just because I broke his fast? The answer is that this simile does not imply similarity in all respects. Whoever breaks the fast of a fasting person has a reward like his, meaning close to his reward. And also the other hadith in which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) says: , these are the ones who prayed in congregation for those who were late and missed the congregational prayer, having a reward like theirs. Do you see the one who caught the congregational prayer from the beginning with the imam, saying the takbir of intention, and he is with him, is this like the reward of the one who missed the prayer from the beginning and caught the imam, for example, in the second rak'ah, and a third person caught him in the third rak'ah, and a fourth person caught him in the fourth rak'ah, and the fifth person came and they had all finished the prayer? Are all these people in the same rank? The answer is: No, they are not, because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: “Indeed, Allah does not waste the weight of an atom.” So what is the meaning of the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him) in the hadith of congregational prayer, “he has a reward like their prayer”? And what is the meaning of the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him) regarding the one who breaks the fast of a fasting person, “he has a reward like his”? And what is the meaning of the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him) finally in this hadith: ? The answer is: The similarity here is without considering the multiplication. For a person, if he does a deed, ten good deeds or more are written for him, as evidenced by the hadith of Ibn Abbas, which al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated in their “Sahihayn.” He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . And in a narration: , Why? He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: ; meaning: This servant who intended to do an evil deed and then left it. If he left it because of what came in the old proverbs, “And among safety is that you do not find,” meaning, for example, a man thought to himself that he would go tonight to see it in the cinema. He came to cut the ticket, reached his hand into his pocket, and found his pocket empty, he did not find the money to cut the ticket, so he returned to his house. Here it is said: “And among safety is that you do not find.” Or he was stopped on the road, or some people occupied him, or other reasons. So he did not enter the cinema. This is not written as if he had entered the cinema. This is from the mercy of Allah to His servants. , this is if he did not do it because the way to it was not made easy for him. The second case: He intended to enter the cinema, then he remembered its ruling and its prohibition in Islam, so he turned away from entering. So he left this evil out of fear of Allah and to avoid the punishment of Allah. Here Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) says: meaning for the sake of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So whoever intended an evil deed and did not do it is in one of two states: either he did not do it because it was not made easy for him, so it is neither for him nor against him; or he did not do it because he remembered the ruling of Allah and feared Allah, so he left it, and his intention to do the evil deed turns into a good deed that is written for him. If we know this hadith, we know from the beginning that a good deed is usually and always and forever written at the minimum rank of ten good deeds, then it is multiplied to a hundred, to seven hundred, to many times, and Allah multiplies for whom He wills. So this one who carried the one whose journey was cut off on the road, do you see what was written for him? The reward of the good deed by one good deed, or by a hundred, or by seven hundred, or by many times? We do not know, of course. This one who broke the fast of the fasting person, do you see how much was written for this fasting person? How much was written for his fasting? Is it in the range of ten good deeds, or a hundred, or seven hundred, or many times? And so is the one who went to the mosque to pray with the congregation, and the people were coming out of the mosque. He went to pray with the congregation, but he missed the congregation. The Messenger (peace be upon him) said in the hadith: “He has the reward of their prayer.” Do you see this prayer with multiplication or without multiplication? This similarity—here is the crux of the matter—always means he has the reward of the deed without considering the multiplication, because the multiplication is connected to the deed, and it is supposed in all these cases that there is no deed. So here, he guided to one who gives charity to him and rewards him, so he did not do any deed, meaning he did not ride that person, but he guided, so he has a reward like that of the doer, meaning he has ten good deeds as if he had ridden him, but without multiplication of the reward. As for the one who rode him, it is possible that his good deeds are multiplied to a hundred, to seven hundred, to many times. This is how we must understand this similarity in this hadith and its like, and it is his saying (peace be upon him): .