It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Tufail ‘Amir bin Wathilah (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man passed by some people, he greeted them with salam and they replied to his salam. When he had gone ahead, one man said: By Allah! I bear enmity towards this man for the sake of Allah Almighty. The people of the gathering said: By Allah! You have said a bad thing. By Allah! We will certainly inform him. O so-and-so! Stand up and go inform him. So their messenger caught up with that person and told him the whole matter. That man turned back and went straight to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah! I passed by a gathering of Muslims, so-and-so was also sitting among them. I greeted them with salam and they replied to my salam. When I had passed them, one of them came up behind me and said that so-and-so is saying, by Allah, he bears enmity towards you for the sake of Allah Almighty. O Messenger of Allah! Now you call him and ask him for what reason he bears enmity towards me? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called him and asked about what the man had reported. He admitted and said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah! I said this. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Well, tell me, why do you bear enmity towards him? He said: Yes, I am his neighbor and I am well aware of him. By Allah! I have seen him, he only performs the obligatory prayers, which every good and bad person performs. But that man said: O Messenger of Allah! Ask him also whether I have ever delayed these prayers from their times, or ever been deficient in ablution, or performed bowing and prostration incompletely? When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him these questions, he replied in the negative (i.e., it is true that he performs the prayers on time and with complete ablution). Then the objector said: By Allah! I have seen him that he only fasts in the month of Ramadan, which every good and bad person fasts. But that man said: O Messenger of Allah! Ask him also whether I have ever missed a fast in Ramadan, or been deficient in fulfilling the rights of fasting? When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him about this, he replied in the negative (i.e., it is true that this man fasts properly). The objector then said: By Allah! I have not seen him ever give anything to a beggar, or spend any wealth in the way of Allah, except for the zakat which every good and bad person pays. But that man said: O Messenger of Allah! Ask him also whether I have ever concealed anything from zakat, or caused any deficiency for the zakat recipient. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him about this, he replied in the negative. Now the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Stand up, I do not know, perhaps he is better than you.
Hadith Takhrij«حديث حسن بشواھده، أخرجه ابن ابي شيبة: 11/ 41، والبيھقي في الشعب : 13 ، (انظر مسند أحمد ترقيم الرسالة: 18524 ترقیم بيت الأفكار الدولية: 24213»
Brief Explanation
Benefits: … That is, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam expressed hope for the betterment of the person who was diligent in performing the obligatory prayers, fasting, and zakat in the best manner, and he discouraged the one who objected. However, it is a separate matter that one should also be attentive to voluntary (nafl) prayers, voluntary charity, and voluntary fasting.