Question:
She asks about the well-known statement in Islam that whoever encourages a good deed receives a reward equal to the one who performs it. But she wonders how this can be fair. Imagine someone spending fifty lakh rupees to build a mosque, while another person merely says, “Build a mosque.” Can both receive the same reward?
Answer:
Here the key is to understand the context of the hadith. The Prophetﷺ ﷺ was speaking about calling people to guidance, what we call da‘wah. The narration in Sahih Muslim states that whoever calls others to guidance receives a reward similar to those who follow that guidance, without their reward being reduced.
This is not about casual reminders. Suppose someone already believes in prayer and regularly prays, and you say to him, “Go pray.” That is merely a reminder. But imagine a different situation. A person rejects prayer entirely, or denies fasting, or even denies faith altogether. You spend months or perhaps years discussing with him. He asks questions; you respond. He raises doubts; you address them. You study, research, and patiently clarify misconceptions. Gradually, step by step, he comes to understand. Finally, he begins to pray or even accepts Islam itself.
In such a case, your effort was the means by which he reached that action. Without your persistence he might never have taken that step. That is why the reward becomes shared. True da‘wah is not simply uttering a few words. It involves knowledge, patience, dialogue, research, and perseverance. When someone dedicates himself to guiding another soul toward truth, the magnitude of that effort is immense. That is why the reward can equal the reward of those who follow that guidance.