Whoever Relieves a Believer of a Worry

How so? There is a particular hadith, narrated by Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace be upon him), that explains it. If a Muslim comes and helps and aids his Muslim brother, and removes one of his worries, one of the anxieties of this world — some trouble he is going through: financial trouble, physical trouble, mental trouble, emotional trouble, whatever trouble it may be — if he comes to the help of that brother of his, then Allah (swt) will most certainly remove from him one of his major anxieties and worries of the hereafter, in the hereafter. Allah (swt) will take care of him, because he came to the help of a Muslim.

And if one does not come to the help of a Muslim? There is a hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) about that, and it is very frightening. A Muslim — a good Muslim, or one who thinks himself a good Muslim — dies. He prayed all his life; he read the Qur'an every day; he made dhikr every day; he was at the masjid all the time; he was at the forefront of serving the Muslims and rendering khidmah to the Ummah. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) says that as soon as this person enters the grave, even before the angels put their questions — who is your Lord, what is your religion, what is your book — before he is so much as welcomed and asked how he is, he receives a great blow on the head from the angels, and they begin to punish him. They torment him in the grave. He protests: what are they doing? This is a case of mistaken identity. He is a Muslim; he believes in Allah; he is a follower of Muhammad (peace be upon him); he read the Qur'an; he is a Muslim, not a kāfir; they are making a great mistake. The angels reply that they do not make mistakes: it is he. What did he do to deserve this, he asks — he was a practising Muslim his whole life. The answer of the angels is that this is merely the punishment for one incident, in which a Muslim was being insulted or assaulted, or was suffering at the hands of a ẓālim, an oppressor — a kāfir attacking a sister in ḥijāb, for example, an obvious example — and although he had the power and the strength to stop it, he ignored it and simply walked away. He did not come to the help and aid of a fellow Muslim. This is the punishment for it. This is the punishment for it.

But whoever removes the anxiety, the distress call, of a Muslim, Allah (swt) will likewise remove his distress on the Day of Judgement — one of his major anxieties. The hadith continues: whoever comes to the help of a Muslim and makes things easy for him, in any of his concerns of this dunyā — teaching him, helping him — Allah (swt) will make things easy for him in this world and the hereafter, and will come to his help on the Day of Judgement. And Allah (swt) shall continue to help a servant so long as that servant is helping his brother, his Muslim brother.