Supplicating for those who treat one well, or for all people or some people, and praise and encouragement for doing so

WE RELATE IN the Ṣaḥīḥs of al-Bukhārī and Muslim that ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Abbās narrated: “The Messenger went to relieve himself and I put out his wuḍū’ water for him. When he came out he asked: ‘Who put this [there]?’ He was told who. He said: ‘May Allah give him understanding.’” Al-Bukhārī adds: “Give him understanding of the religion.” ^[1].

We relate in the Ṣaḥīḥ of Muslim that Abū Qatādah related, in his long hadith which contains [an account of] a number of the manifest miracles of the Messenger of Allah : “The Messenger of Allah was travelling until the night was halfway through, and I was at his side. The Messenger of Allah dozed off and he leaned over the side of his riding animal. I came to him and propped him up, without waking him, so that he was upright on his animal. Then he travelled until most of the night had passed, and he leaned over the side of his riding animal. I came to him and propped him up again, without waking him, so that he was upright on his animal. Then he travelled until the last part of the night had passed, and leaned over the side of his riding animal. He leaned over more than the other two times, until he almost fell off. I came to him and propped him up, without waking him, so that he was upright on his animal. He raised his head and asked: ‘Who is this?’ ‘Abū Qatādah,’ I replied. ‘How long has this journey of yours been with me?’ he asked. I said: ‘My journey has been for the whole night.’ He said: ‘May Allah protect you as you have protected His Messenger. . .’” ^[2].and he recounted the entire hadith. I say that ibhārra is written with an elided hamzah, a sukūn on the bā’, and a shaddah on the rā’, and it means ‘to be halfway through’. Tahawarra means ‘the greater part of it had passed’; injafala, written with a jīm, means ‘he fell’; and da‘amtuhu, ‘I propped him up,’ means ‘I supported him’.

We relate in the book of at-Tirmidhī from Usāmah ibn Zayd that the Messenger of Allah said: “Whoever is treated well and says ‘May Allah reward you with goodness’ has expressed praise to the fullest.” ^[3].According to at-Tirmidhī this is a ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ hadith.

We relate in the Ṣaḥīḥs of al-Bukhārī and Muslim that Jarīr ibn ‘Abdullāh al-Bajalī narrated: “During the days before Islam there was a building belonging to Khath‘am that was known as the Yemeni Ka‘bah and was also called Dhū al-Khalaṣah. The Messenger of Allah asked me: ‘Will you relieve me of Dhū al-Khalaṣah?’ So I set off with one hundred and fifty riders from Aḥmas, and we broke it down and killed all those we found in it. We came and informed him, and he prayed for us and for Aḥmas.” According to another report he said: “Then the Messenger of Allah blessed the horses and the men of Aḥmas five times.” ^[5].

We relate in the Ṣaḥīḥ of al-Bukhārī that ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Abbās reported that the Messenger of Allah came to Zamzam while they were working hard at giving people the water to drink. He said: “Work on, for you are doing a good deed.” ^[6].