Musnad Aḥmad Ḥadīth [17419] – Being hospitable with the guests

Islām emphasizes in the honoring and compassion of humanity. Based on this statement, a guest should be respected, welcomed with a cheerful countenance, hosted to the best of one’s ability and with a willing heart, and that their comfort and ease be taken care of. Islām has not only emphasized hospitality, but it has also established all of its etiquettes. Where it declared hospitality to be a requirement of faith in Allāh – the Almighty – and the Last Day, it also warned the guest not to overstay with their host to the point of making them uncomfortable.

In any case, shying away from hospitality leads to being deprived of goodness and blessings. A guest brings goodness and blessings. When Sayyidunā Abū Ṭalḥah and his wife [i.e., Umm Sulaym Rumayṣā’] (may Allāh be pleased with them both) fulfilled the duty of hosting the guest of the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) by keeping themselves and their children hungry, Allāh – the Almighty – smiled at their manner of hosting and revealed these āyāt: “And they give them preference over themselves, even though they are in privation. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul – it is those who will be the successful.” ^{[Sūrah al-Ḥashr 59: 9]} [See, Silsilah Aḥādīth aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥah (3272 (7/806-808))]

What greater good fortune can there be than Allāh – the Almighty – expressing wonder and smiling at a servant’s deed, and mentioning it in His Speech until the end of time? Therefore, to seek the pleasure of Allāh, we should serve guests with open-hearted generosity without fear of poverty or starvation; Allāh – the Almighty – will open the doors of goodness and blessings. Consider that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) declared a person lacking the quality of hospitality as someone who lacks blessings and is deprived of goodness.

Respected readers! It should be kept in mind that we often make vast distinctions in hosting guests based on familiarity and lack of familiarity. For example, offering lavish service to one guest, brushing off another with a casual ‘make yourself at home/peaceful greeting,’ considering another so low that even offering a cup of tea is deemed unwanted, and for yet another, not even bothering to step out of the house and deeming it sufficient to send a message through a child or a servant.

Friends! Why is there this difference? Is it not because there was a prior friendship with the first, just an acquaintance with the second, and the third was a stranger?

Do Allāh – the Almighty – and the Messenger of Allāh (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) appear anywhere in such hospitality? Was Islām kept in view in any of this? Are these services to the guest rendered purely because they are a guest, or on the basis of a personal relationship? We must refrain from such a manner of hosting. This is merely an exchange of pleasantries and worldliness.

• Reference: [9087 (8/610-611), Fatḥur Rabbānī, Ansarus Sunnah Publications, Lahore (Ur)]

Translated by Umm Rumayṣā’

• Ḍa’īf at-Targhīb (1543 (2/167))
• Shu’ab al-Īmān (9142 (12/120-121))
• Kanzul ‘Ummāl (25854 (9/245))
• Majma’ al-Zawā’id (13633 (16/606-607))
• Al-Musnad al-Jāmi’ (9878 (13/51-52))
• Al-Jāmi’ aṣ-Ṣaghīr [Suyūṭī] (9883 (1/584))
• Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmi’ (7492 (2/1247))
• Silsilah Aḥādīth aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥah (2434 (5/561))
• Talkhīṣ al-Jāmi’ al-Kāmil (14431 (5/770))

Grade:

• Ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh al-Albānī (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmi’)
• Ḥasan by Imām as-Suyūṭī (Al-Jāmi’ aṣ-Ṣaghīr)
• Ḥasan by Imām al-Haythamī (Majma’ al-Zawā’id)
• Ḥasan by Shaykh Dr. Ḍiyā’-ur-Raḥmān al-‘Aẓamī (Talkhīṣ al-Jāmi’ al-Kāmil)
• Ḥasan isnād by Shaykh Dr. Ḥamzah Aḥmad Zayn (Musnad Aḥmad)
• Ḥadīth is ḥasan (but this isnād is ḍa’īf) by Shaykh Shu’ayb al-Arna’ūṭ (Musnad Aḥmad)
• Ḍa’īf by Shaykh al-Albānī (Ḍa’īf at-Targhīb)