Explanation of the author's statement: (… and whoever does good to you, then reward him.
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The Shaykh :, whoever does a general act, Sunan Abi Dawud 1672Sahih (Al-Albani), and the good (ma'ruf) intended here is excellence (ihsan). Whoever does you a favor, you reward him. If he does you a favor with a gift, do you reward him?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : If he does you a favor by rescuing you from destruction, do you reward him? Good. If he does you a favor by completing a transaction… Good. Let us see: if what he did is more than what is obligatory upon him, then he has done you a favor. Suppose an ordinary employee took your transaction and went to settle it with the officials; it is not obligatory upon him to take your transaction and go settle it with the officials. Is this a favor or not? It is a favor, so you reward him. Whoever does you a favor, you reward him. Yes, but if he is not worthy of a reward because he is very high in status and you cannot reward him, such as a king or a minister or a president who gave you a gift, for example, do you reward him, or do we say that one should pray for such a person? One should pray for him. Yes, and because it is customary that if you were to reward him, he would consider it a diminishment of his right. Yes, so in reality you would be doing him more harm than good. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) intended for you to reward him for his kindness.
Rewarding has two benefits:
The first benefit is to encourage those who do good to continue doing good, or not? Yes, because if you reward the one who did good with a reward befitting him, there is no doubt that he will be encouraged. But if he did you a favor and gave you, for example, something you considered meager, and you said, "May Allah not increase your good," this gift, this is given to me?! What will happen? Will he be encouraged in the future to give to people, or will he be done and say, "After this, will they come to us like they did the first time?" But if you reward him, there is no doubt that he will be encouraged. The second benefit of rewarding is that a person breaks the humiliation that occurred due to the favor done to him, because whoever does you a favor, it is necessary that you feel a sense of submissiveness to him, or not? It is necessary that you be soft with him; it is necessary that you see him as higher than you. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,Sahih al-Bukhari 5355, and the upper hand is the hand of the giver. So if you return his favor, then what you feel in your heart of his superiority over you and your lowering yourself below him will disappear, or not? It will disappear. And this is a great benefit for the giver, for the one to whom the favor was done. This is a great benefit so that he does not see that anyone has a favor over him except Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And the noble morals that a person should observe, but some people said, "If I reward him for his favor, he will give me more." And this has happened, for some people are very generous; if they give you something and then you reward him, he gives you more than what he gave you. If you return the second gift, he gives you more, and you and he are always in this cycle. So if such a person returns more to me, I know that he does not want a reward, but even so, I pray for him. So the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), , a poor man was done a favor by a rich man, and he is unable to reward this rich man, so what does he do? He prays for him and says, "May Allah reward you with good and bless you in your wealth," and similar appropriate supplication. And whoever is done a favor and says, "May Allah reward you with good," has reached the peak of praise. And is the praise or supplication immediately after the gift? Yes, immediately after it, because this is from the category of hastening to the command of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), Sunan Abi Dawud 1672Sahih (Al-Albani), but is the supplication restricted or unrestricted? It is not restricted,
So in this hadith there are great benefits, in reality, other than what relates to the oneness of Allah. There are social benefits. First, there is the obligation to give to one who asks by Allah, and we mentioned that this has conditions. What are they? That he does not ask for something forbidden, and that there is no harm to the one asked. What else? And what?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : That it not
The student: That it not be something blameworthy
The Shaykh : Yes, that he does not ask for something forbidden. This is what we said, which is the first: that he does not ask for something forbidden, and that there is no harm to the one asked.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : This is it.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : We have not reached this yet.
a favor, then reward him
معروفا فكافئوهif anyone does you a kindness, recompense him
من صنع إليكم معروفا فكافئوهThe student: Yes.
The Shaykh : If he does you a favor by rescuing you from destruction, do you reward him? Good. If he does you a favor by completing a transaction… Good. Let us see: if what he did is more than what is obligatory upon him, then he has done you a favor. Suppose an ordinary employee took your transaction and went to settle it with the officials; it is not obligatory upon him to take your transaction and go settle it with the officials. Is this a favor or not? It is a favor, so you reward him. Whoever does you a favor, you reward him. Yes, but if he is not worthy of a reward because he is very high in status and you cannot reward him, such as a king or a minister or a president who gave you a gift, for example, do you reward him, or do we say that one should pray for such a person? One should pray for him. Yes, and because it is customary that if you were to reward him, he would consider it a diminishment of his right. Yes, so in reality you would be doing him more harm than good. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) intended for you to reward him for his kindness.
Rewarding has two benefits:
The first benefit is to encourage those who do good to continue doing good, or not? Yes, because if you reward the one who did good with a reward befitting him, there is no doubt that he will be encouraged. But if he did you a favor and gave you, for example, something you considered meager, and you said, "May Allah not increase your good," this gift, this is given to me?! What will happen? Will he be encouraged in the future to give to people, or will he be done and say, "After this, will they come to us like they did the first time?" But if you reward him, there is no doubt that he will be encouraged. The second benefit of rewarding is that a person breaks the humiliation that occurred due to the favor done to him, because whoever does you a favor, it is necessary that you feel a sense of submissiveness to him, or not? It is necessary that you be soft with him; it is necessary that you see him as higher than you. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,
a giving hand is better than a taking one
اليد العليا خير من اليد السفلىIf you do not find with which to reward him, if you do not find with which to reward him, then pray for him
فإن لم تجدوا ما تكافئوه ما تكافئونه فإن لم تجدوا ما تكافئونه فادعوا لهbut if you have not the means to do so, pray for him
فإن لم تجدوا ما تكافئونه فادعوا لهuntil you see or think that you have rewarded him
حتى تروا اوتروا أنكم قد كافأتموهSo in this hadith there are great benefits, in reality, other than what relates to the oneness of Allah. There are social benefits. First, there is the obligation to give to one who asks by Allah, and we mentioned that this has conditions. What are they? That he does not ask for something forbidden, and that there is no harm to the one asked. What else? And what?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : That it not
The student: That it not be something blameworthy
The Shaykh : Yes, that he does not ask for something forbidden. This is what we said, which is the first: that he does not ask for something forbidden, and that there is no harm to the one asked.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : This is it.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : We have not reached this yet.