Chapter on the Recommendation of Giving Good News and Congratulating on Good: Allah the Exalted said: “So give good news to My servants who listen to the statement and then follow the best of it.”

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Chapter on the Recommendation of Giving Good News and Congratulating on Good. Allah the Exalted said:

So give good tidings to My servants ⁽¹⁸⁾ Who listen to speech and follow the best of it

فبشر عباد الذين يستمعون القول فيتبعون أحسنه

[Az-Zumar 39:17-18]

And He the Exalted said:

Their Lord gives them good tidings of mercy from Him and approval and of gardens for them wherein is enduring pleasure.

يبشرهم ربهم برحمة منه ورضوان وجنات لهم فيها نعيم مقيم

[At-Tawbah 9:21]

And He the Exalted said:

but receive good tidings of Paradise, which you were promised.

وأبشروا بالجنة التي كنتم توعدون

[Fussilat 41:30]

And He the Exalted said:

So We gave him good tidings of a forbearing boy.

فبشرناه بغلام حليم

[As-Saffat 37:101]

And He the Exalted said:

And certainly did Our messengers come to Abraham with good tidings

ولقد جاءت رسلنا إبراهيم بالبشرى

[Hud 11:69]

And He the Exalted said:

And his Wife was standing, and she smiled. Then We gave her good tidings of Isaac and after Isaac, Jacob.

وامرأته قائمة فضحكت فبشرناها بإسحاق ومن وراء إسحاق يعقوب

[Hud 11:71]

And He the Exalted said:

So the angels called him while he was standing in prayer in the chamber, "Indeed, Allah gives you good tidings of John

فنادته الملائكة وهو قائم يصلي في المحراب أن الله يبشرك بيحيى

[Ali 'Imran 3:39]

And He the Exalted said:

when the angels said, "O Mary, indeed Allah gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary

إذ قالت الملائكة يا مريم إن الله يبشرك بكلمة منه اسم المسيح عيسى ابن مريم

[Ali 'Imran 3:45]

And the verses in this chapter are numerous and known.”

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book *Riyad al-Saliheen*: “Chapter on Giving Good News of Good and Congratulating on It”. Good news is given in matters that bring joy, and it is called that because when a person is given news of what brings him joy, the effect of that appears on his face in his complexion. Good news may also be given in matters that are distressing, such as the saying of Allah the Exalted: . Good news in what brings joy is good news in what brings joy in the Hereafter and in what brings joy in this world. As for good news in what brings joy in the Hereafter, it is abundant; Allah mentioned it in the Qur'an in many places, such as His saying the Exalted: and His saying: and His saying: . And He the Exalted said: . And Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said: . All of this is related to matters of the Hereafter. Among the matters in which good news is given regarding the Hereafter is a righteous vision that a man sees or that is shown to him. For example, a person sees a vision and is told, for instance, in a dream, “Give so-and-so good news that he is among the people of Paradise,” so he gives him this good news. Likewise, if a person sees in himself that he submits to good and righteous deeds, desires them, loves them, and that he hates evil, this is also good news, because Allah said: . As for good news related to matters of this world, it is like the saying of Allah the Exalted about Abraham the Intimate Friend: . And in another verse: . The one given good news in the first verse is not the one given good news in the second verse. The one with is this is Isaac, and the one with is this is Ishmael. Isaac is the father of the Children of Israel, because his son is Jacob, and Jacob is Israel, from whose descendants are Moses and Jesus (peace and blessings be upon them). Most of the prophets mentioned in the Qur'an are all from the descendants of Israel. As for the one about whom Allah mentioned , which is in Surat al-Saffat, this is Ishmael, the father of the Arabs. No messenger came from his descendants except one messenger, but he concluded all the messengerships and was sent to all people from his mission until the Day of Resurrection. The other prophets were sent to their specific communities. This messenger from the descendants of Ishmael is Muhammad (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him). So Allah gave Abraham good news of two boys: one patient and one knowledgeable. Who is the patient one?
The student: Ishaq.

The Shaykh : No, the patient one is Ishmael and the knowledgeable one is Isaac. And likewise, Allah the Exalted said about the wife of Abraham: . This is also good news for a female. So the result is that good news is given in matters of the Hereafter and in matters of this world. It is recommended for a person to be optimistic and look forward to good, and not to see the world before him as gloomy and dark, so that he regrets and despairs. It is also recommended for a person, when good happens to him, to be pleased with it and to give good news of it if it is in the future. He is pleased with the good when it is present and gives good news of the good in the future. Give your brother good news and bring joy to him. For example, if you see a person distressed, with the world narrowed for him and matters piling up on him, say to him: “Give good news.” Give him good news, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . This is the speech of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), who does not speak from desire. So if you see your brother in distress, say to him, “Give good news, relief is near.” If you see him in difficulty, say, “Give good news, ease is near.” And as Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said: “No hardship will overcome two eases”. Where are the hardship and the two eases? In . The hardship is mentioned twice and the ease is mentioned twice, but the reality of the matter is that the hardship is not mentioned except once and the ease is mentioned twice. Why? The scholars said: If a word is repeated with the definite article (al), it is one, and if it comes without the definite article, it is two. The hardship was repeated how many times? But with the definite article, so the second hardship is the first one. The ease was repeated twice, but without the definite article, so the second ease is not the first ease. For this reason, Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said: “No hardship will overcome two eases”. Bring joy to your distressed brother. Say to him, “Wait for relief.” Whenever matters become severe, wait for relief. Perhaps souls dislike a matter, but for it is a release like the untying of a headband. It is said that al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi was a known man, may Allah forgive him, a tyrant who killed people without right. One of the people spoke to him and said a word that al-Hajjaj disliked. Al-Hajjaj was good in the Arabic language; he was the one who arranged the Qur'an, he was the one who arranged the Qur'an, and this is among his good deeds, even though he had many bad deeds, but we hope that Allah will forgive him. Al-Hajjaj said to him: “This is not in the Arabic language, so why do you come with the Arabic language?” He said: “I heard it this way from the Bedouins.” And they used to take the language from the Bedouins at first, because the Bedouins in the desert are not in the cities, and the cities were entered by the Persians who became Muslims and the Romans, and the tongue changed. He said to him: “Go and look among the Bedouins for a witness from the speech of the Arabs that indicates that this word exists in the Arabic language, and you have a period of so much and so much. If you do not bring it to me, I will cut off your neck.” The man went distressed, and al-Hajjaj carried out what he said. And he went seeking, seeking from the Bedouins, and he heard a Bedouin saying: “Perhaps souls dislike a matter, but for it is a release like the untying of a headband”. He rejoiced with it greatly and brought it to al-Hajjaj. And while he was on the way, he was told that al-Hajjaj had died. He said, “By Allah, I do not know whether I am more joyful with this word that I found from the Bedouin or with the death of this man.” So the result was that he had a release. This man said: “Perhaps souls dislike a matter, but for it is a release like the untying of a headband”. The important thing is that a person should bring good news and joy to his brothers so that they rejoice, become active, hope, and wait for relief. We ask Allah to make us and you among those who have good news in this worldly life and in the Hereafter.