The Anṣār Who Would Not Take Half the Reward

The Anṣār were very cooperative and sacrificing toward the Muhājirūn. The Anṣār went to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said: iqsim baynanā wa-bayna ikhwāninā al-nakhīl — O Messenger of Allah, split the palm groves between us and our brothers — offering the Muhājirūn half of their wealth. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said no. So the Anṣār said: takfūnanā al-muʾnata wa-nushrikukum fī al-thamar — then you take care of the work in the farms, and we will split the harvest between us and you. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) agreed, and that was the deal: the Muhājirūn would serve in the farms, and the harvest would be split in half. But even that did not happen — the Anṣār, even though they said the Muhājirūn would do the work, ended up doing most of the work themselves.

So the Muhājirūn said: O Messenger of Allah — mā raʾaynā mithla qawmin qadimnā ʿalayhim, aḥsana muwāsātan fī qalīlin wa-lā aḥsana badhlan fī kathīrin, wa-la-qad kafawnā al-muʾnata wa-ashrakūnā fī al-mahnati ḥattā laqad khashīnā an yadhhabū bi-l-ajri kullihi — we have never seen a people like this: they comfort us when they are poor, and they are generous when they are well off; they work in their farms and then split the harvest with us; we fear they will take all of the reward on the Day of Judgment and leave us with nothing. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: no, so long as you are grateful toward them and make duʿāʾ for them — as long as you are grateful, and this shows the value of being grateful, to Allah and to His creation. Anybody who does one good should be met with gratitude, or they will end up taking all of the reward and leaving the other with nothing. And one should make duʿāʾ for them — this is a habit that should be developed: if someone has done a favour, make duʿāʾ for them, asking Allah (swt) with sincerity, not merely saying jazāka Allāhu khayran with the tongue while not truly meaning it, but saying it sincerely — may Allah reward you, may Allah (swt) bless you, may Allah (swt) give you good in this world and give you good in the next. This is part of becoming Muslim: the one who is not grateful toward people will not be grateful toward Allah (swt).