Hadith 36. Sources of Good Part A

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (RadhiyAllahu ‘anhu) that the Prophet (SallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said:
“Whosoever removes a worldly grief from a believer, Allah will remove from him one of the grievances of the Day of Judgment. Whosoever alleviates the needs a needy person, Allah will alleviate his needs in this world and the next. Whosoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults in this world and the next. Allah will aid a servant [of His] so long as the servant aids his brother. Whosoever follows a path to seek knowledge therein, Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise. No people gather together in one of the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah and studying it among themselves, except tranquillity descends upon them, mercy envelopes them, the angels surround them, and Allah makes mention of them amongst those who are with Him. Whosoever is slowed down by his actions will not be hastened forward by his lineage.”

[Reported by Muslim in these words]

Brief Commentary

• Scholars say this hadith contains  all sources of good as it contains virtues, principle, sciences, rulings, and manners.
• It is connected to the last hadith as it is a manifestation of how we implement brotherhood
• This hadith sets the principle “What goes around comes around” and it is something golden we must remember when interacting with others
• نفس (translated as “to remove” in this hadith) is derived from تنفس (to breathe) as we feel we cannot breathe sometimes when we are faced with an affliction
• فَرّجَ (to remove) is more effective as it means to remove in totality but نفس was used to tell us it is very important to just remove the burden off someone, not even remove it in totality, though the latter is more virtuous
• From Allah’s virtues over us is that He doesn’t just recompense us with equal to the good we have done, rather Allah’s help for us is in the hereafter which is much more greater
• We help to relieve someone from distress by:
  • Knowledge as it guides a person to know what is right
  • Wealth
  • Authority, not necessarily a leader
  • Physical means
  • Alleviating the need of a needy person is usually referred to in financial situations and is normally between the debtor and creditor
• You alleviate the need by:
  • Warning, giving extra time. This is in fact compulsory
  • Dropping the debt
  • Not accepting someone to drop a debt off you
  • If someone refuses to take money for something you requested them to get for you, you make it easier for him by being adamant to pay for it
• Allah says he will make it easier for you in the dunya and the hereafter because financial problems have a severe effect on someone and it is more difficult to help someone financially than give advice, hence the reward is greater
• The believers are the ones who search for excuses and the hypocrites are the ones who search for faults
• The prophet (SallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said, “Oh you who have believed  with their tongues and Iman is yet to enter your hearts, do not backbite the Muslims and do not search for their faults, for whoever searches for their faults, Allah will search for their faults, and whoever Allah searches for their faults will be exposed even in his house” (Reported by Ahmad and Abu Dawud)
• The believer should be primarily concerned with his own faults and not look at others’ faults
• Some of the pious predecessors used to say, “I met a people who had no (apparent) faults, but they mentioned the faults of others so their faults were exposed. And I met people who had many faults but they didn’t speak about the faults of others so their faults were forgotten”
• The believer should be sad when realising others’ faults, and this is a sign of his Iman, as the hypocrites are happy when realising other’s faults as mentioned in Surah Al-Noor [24:19]

Benefits and Action points:

• Try to alleviate afflictions or financial difficulties from your brothers
• Be easy on a person who you have borrowed money
• Never search for the faults of others and conceal the ones you know
• Always search for your own faults and try to fix them
• Feel sad when you see someone doing wrong and never be happy when proving someone wrong
• When it comes to exposing sins:
  • We shouldn’t mention the faults of the righteous who are not known to openly commit sins
  • We can expose the sins of those who sin publicly to warn Muslims about them, not to mock them