REWARD FOR IHSAAN (KINDNESS)
Be kind to others even if one is deceived into Ihsaan (kindness). Even such Ihsaan is readily accepted by Allah Ta’ala. The money which was acquired from one by deception would anyhow have been spent in some other way. However, having given it as Ihsaan (regardless of the false pretence and deception of the person to whom it was given), it (the money) has reached such an abode where it will not be lost. The value of this Ihsaan will be seen and appreciated in the Aakhirat.
It is mentioned in the Hadith that a man desired to give Sadqah in secrecy so that his Ikhlaas (sincerity) would not be contaminated. At night he went into the street with a large sum of money. It was intensely dark. He saw a man whom he understood to be a miskeen (poor person). He handed the whole amount to this person.
In reality that person was a notorious thief. Since it was a very large amount, the news spread that someone gave the thief a very large sum of money. (The thief himself leaked out this information). When the donor heard this, he was much grieved thinking that his Sadqah had gone to waste.
However, he resolved to again give a large sum as Sadqah. In the same way during the darkness of the night he gave all the money to a woman whom he believed to be poor. In the morning the news spread that some unknown man gave a large sum of money to a prostitute. Again this donor grieved much at what he believed was the loss and waste of his money.
He once again resolved to give Sadqah. A similar incident happened. Now this person was extremely grieved. In his dream he saw an Angel who said: “Do not grieve. Be happy. Perhaps by virtue of your profound sincerity and the barkat of your wealth those sinners will reform. Perhaps they will now repent.
The one who deceives will be a sinner, but the donor will nevertheless be rewarded. Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Umar (Radhiyallahu anhu) is a Sahaabi of exceptionally high rank. His slaves observed his profound love for Salaat. Whenever he would appear, his slave quickly commence Salaat and display immense humility and concentration in his Salaat. Seeing the beautiful manner of Salaat performance, Hadhrat Abdullah Ibn Umar (Radhiyallahu anhu) set the slave free.
We may gain the idea that Hadhrat Ibn Umar (Radhiyallahu anhu) must have been a simpleton for being so easily deceived. However, it is not so. In fact, someone drew his attention to the deception of slaves. They pretended to be engrossed in Salaat with humility while their motive was to deceive and be emancipated. Hadhrat Abullah (Radhiyallahu anhu) said: “I will be deceived by those who commit deception for the Sake of Allah Ta’ala.” He meant that despite their deception, he will be rewarded for freeing them on the pretext of their beautiful Salaat. He did not abandon this attitude despite being forewarned of the deception of the slaves. As far as his intelligence was concerned, he was just as intelligent as his father, Hadhrat Umar Bin Khattaab (Radhiyallahu anhu).
Malfoozaat of Hadhrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thaanwi Rahmatullahi Alaihi, Part 6
