عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال‏:‏‏ لقد رأيت رجلا يتقلب في الجنة في شجرة قطعها من ظهر الطريق كانت تؤذى المسلمين‏

وفي رواية‏:‏ ‏ ‏ مر رجل بغصن شجرة على ظهر طريق فقال‏:‏ والله لأنحين هذا عن المسلمين لا يؤذيهم، فأدخل الجنة‏ ‏‏.‏

وفي رواية لهما‏:‏ ‏ ‏ بينما رجل يمشى بطريق وجد غصن شوك على الطريق، فأخره فشكره الله له، فغفر له‏ .‏

The Prophet ﷺ said, “I saw a man going about in Jannah (and enjoying himself) as a reward for cutting from the middle of the road, a tree which was causing inconvenience to the Muslims”. [Muslim].

Another narration says: “A man who passed by a branch of a tree leaning over a road and decided to remove it, saying to himself, ‘By Allah! I will remove from the way of Muslims so that it would not harm them.’ On account of this he was admitted to Jannah”.

According to the narration in Bukhari and Muslim: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “While a man was walking, he saw a thorny branch on the road, so he removed it and Allah appreciated his action and forgave him”.

This Hadith explains the tremendous virtue of any deed that benefits the Muslims or removes harm from them. Islam advocates cleanliness and orderliness in every aspect of life and this is of particular importance with regard to public amenities such as roads, gardens and other communal facilities. A Muslim should therefore be considerate and contribute to the overall comfort and general well-being of others.

EASY GOOD DEED – Spending on Family

Barring a few insensitive and selfish persons, there is none in this world who does not spend money on his family; the only purpose of the struggle for earning a living is to provide one’s family with their needs and to make their life easy and comfortable.

Few know, however, that this effort too is an act of great merit in the eyes of Allah.

According to Abu Hurairah RA, our Holy Prophet ﷺ said:

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ دِينَارٌ أَنْفَقْتَهُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَدِينَارٌ أَنْفَقْتَهُ فِي رَقَبَةٍ وَدِينَارٌ تَصَدَّقْتَ بِهِ عَلَى مِسْكِينٍ وَدِينَارٌ أَنْفَقْتَهُ عَلَى أَهْلِكَ أَعْظَمُهَا أَجْرًا الَّذِي أَنْفَقْتَهُ عَلَى أَهْلِكَ

Of the dinar you spend as a contribution in Allah’s path, or to set free a slave, or as a sadaqa given to a needy, or to support your family, the one yielding the greatest reward is that which you spent on your family. [Muslim]

The reason why spending on one’s own family is superior to other spending’s is that providing for one’s family is a duty (fardh), while others are by way of charity and are therefore nafl; obviously fardh earns more merit than nafl.

It also makes the point that spending on one’s family has more merit when the family is needy, but when their needs are fulfilled in the proper way, then it is more meritorious to spend on others.

Umme Salmah once asked our blessed Prophet ﷺ:

‘0 Messenger of Allah! Do I earn merit even when I spend on my sons from my previous husband, Abu Salmah’! They are after all my sons and I cannot abandon them”. The Holy Prophet ﷺ replied, “Yes you shall get merit for it”.

Saad ibn Waqqas RA relates, that the Prophet ﷺ said:

عَنْ سَعْدِ بْنِ أَبِي وَقَّاصٍ أَنَّهُ أَخْبَرَهُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ إِنَّكَ لَنْ تُنْفِقَ نَفَقَةً تَبْتَغِي بِهَا وَجْهَ اللَّهِ إِلَّا أُجِرْتَ عَلَيْهَا حَتَّى مَا تَجْعَلُ فِي فَمِ امْرَأَتِكَ

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “You will be rewarded for whatever you spend for Allah’s sake even if it were a morsel which you put in your wife’s mouth.” [Bukhari]

All these Ahadith clearly prove that if one spends money to fulfil the lawful needs of his family with the intent of giving them their Divinely ordained rights as commanded by Allah and of pleasing Allah, then every expenditure earns him the same merit as sadaqah.

Behold how infinitely kind and-gracious is Allah that what one does solely to satisfy his own inner urges has been changed by a slight change of intent into an act of such merit that it has become superior to all other sadaqah and expenditures. Hence, to please Allah, one should openly spend to fulfil the lawful needs of one’s family and should never regret it.