Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said:” Whosoever relieves a believer of some grief about this world, Allah will relieve him of some grief of the hereafter. Whosoever alleviates the difficulties of a needy person who cannot pay his debt, Allah will alleviate his difficulties in this world and the hereafter. Whosoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults in this world and the hereafter…………. (Muslim)
1. The above hadith tells us that the reward of an act is similar to the act itself or of the same type. Many hadiths emphasize this principle. Grief or distress in this hadith means a great difficulty or hardship a Muslim is facing. In one version of the hadith, it is stated as “whosoever relieves” and in another version, “whosoever removes”. There is a difference between the two versions because ‘to relieve’ means to minimize the difficulty or distress, whereas ‘to remove’ means to eradicate the difficulty or hardship.
Ibn Rajab says the one who successfully removes a grief or distress that a Muslim is encountering will be rewarded more than the one who helps and tries his best to minimize the consequences of a certain difficulty. This is natural because there are two different situations: The first one is related to the capacity of the person who is able only to minimize the distress. The other situation is not just a matter of capacity but also a willingness to do more to remove the distress. Ibn Rajab emphasizes that we have to motivate Muslims to help others and to remove the distress of difficulties of one another.
The Prophet (SAW) said that the reward for the removal or relief of the distress of a Muslim will be rewarded by a removal of a similar distress or difficulty in the hereafter. Ibn Rajab questions the difference between the two situations, where in the first one, the hadith mentioned only the relief or removal of the distressful aspect of the hereafter, and not in this world. He says that not everyone is subject to such distress in this world – this is contrasted to ale’sar (unable to repay). He explains that since the difficulties of this life are incomparable to the distress aspects of the hereafter (which nobody can endure as it is beyond human capacity), Allah reserves the rewards for removing the distress of a distressful aspect of this life until the Day of Judgment.
2. The Prophet (SAW) said:” Whosoever alleviates the difficulties of a needy person who cannot pay his debt, Allah will alleviate his difficulties in both this world and the hereafter.” Here, it is not wise or appropriate for a Muslim to demand his money back from a poor or needy Muslim who honestly cannot afford to pay him. He should either give him a chance until he can repay his money or forgive him. The first choice is an obligation because Allah commands us to do so in Surah Al-Baqarah, ayah 280. The second way of alleviation is that the person who is owed the money might forgive the borrower and try to help him by giving him more time and reducing the amount of money owed, or forgiving him.
In one of his great hadith, the Prophet (SAW) said:” A man of the previous nations was very rich and people used to borrow money from him. Not only did he lend them money, which is indeed a good deed, but he also asked his sons to alleviate and forgive those who could not repay the money.” The Prophet (SAW) said that in the hereafter, Allah will reward him and forgive his sins because of his generosity. Allah said in the Surah Al-Furqan,” It will be a very hard day for the disbelievers.” This means that there is a situation where a person who is kind to those in need and Allah will reward that person by rewarding him a great reward from Allah’s mercy and help.
3. The Prophet (SAW) said:” Whosoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults in this world and the hereafter.” Ibn Rajab said that people can fall into two categories:
First, those who are not known for transgression or committing bad deeds. For these people, if by any chance they commit a mistake, it should be revealed. On the contrary, it should be concealed and not even talked about.
Second, those who are very well-known as transgressors or wrongdoers, and who even speak proudly about their shameful and sinful acts. Ibn Rajab mentions that if there is a need to mention the qualities of these people, we should do so for the benefit of the Muslim community.
This hadith statement does not apply to the second category of people. The general rule we derive from the hadith is that Muslims should not reveal the mistakes of their Muslim brothers to others. Some Muslims today take it as a topic for fun and entertainment to reveal the errors of others, even on very minor issues. As Muslims, we should refrain from such acts. Consequently, the reward will be that Allah will conceal our faults from others. In this life, we are subject to faults. If we do not conceal the faults of others, Allah will put us in a situation where our faults will be exposed to other people, and everyone will be talking about them. So the punishment is relevant or of the same nature as the act if it is a bad act.
Another thing that is also worth mentioning is the faults of the ulama or scholars. Nowadays, we can notice a very strange attitude coming from some seekers of knowledge who try to find out and reveal the mistakes of very well-known scholars. This sort of situation is even worse because they are revealing the mistakes of not just regular people. If it is a matter of academic discussion or research, we should handle it in an appropriate way that upholds the status of our scholars.
Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi
