Hadeeth 26 : The Virtue of Reconciling between People…

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The Virtue of Reconciling between People, and Judging Justly between them, and Helping them

by Imâm an-Nawawî (d. 676 AH / 1299 CE)

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (radiAllaahu anhu), who said : The Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said :

Every joint of a person must perfom a charity each day that the sun rises : to judge justly between two people is a charity. To help a man with his mount, lifting him onto it or hoisting up his belongings onto it, is a charity. And the good word is a charity. And every step that you take towards the Prayer is a charity, and removing a harmful object from the road is a charity.

It was related by al-Bukhaaree and Muslim.

Explanation of Hadeeth Number 26

His (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement “every joint” is in arabic represented by the word “sulaamaa”, and this is explained as referring to the joints and limbs of the body. And it is established from another hadeeth, collected in Saheeh Muslim, that there are three hundred and sixty joints in the body. And Qaadee ‘Iyaad has mentioned that the origin of the word “sulaamaa” referred to the bones of the palm, fingers and feet, but then it came to be used for all the bones of the body and its joints. And some of the ‘ulamaa have explained that the intended meaning here of “charity” is that charity which is encouraged as a means of gaining additional reward, and is not an obligatory charity.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement “to judge justly between two people is a charity” implies that one attains reconciliation between two people in a just manner.

And in another hadeeth narrated by Muslim : “Each morning, upon every joint of a person’s body is due a charity; so every tasbeehah [subhaan Allaah] is a charity, and every tahmeedah [alhamdu lillaah] is a charity, and every tahleelah [laa ilaaha illaa Allaah] is a charity, and every takbeerah [Allaahu akbar] is a charity, and ordering the good is a charity, and forbidding the evil is a charity. These dues are fulfilled by praying two rakaa’s of prayer at the time of duhaa [late morning]”.

So this hadeeth shows that the charity which is due on all the joints each day is accounted for by two raka’as of prayer, for verily the Prayer is an action that involves all of the limbs and joints of the body, so when a person prays every bone performs its part of the whole action, and Allaah knows best.

Summary :

• That it is recommended that an act of charity be done each day for every joint in the body
• That one must do so every day that one lives
• That the hadeeth enumerates some deeds which can be considered as acts of charity
• That one can understand these to apply to acts which are done to mediate between people, helping someone on his travel, walking to the masjid, and making the roads safe for others in any way

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