Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 13660

Abd al-Rahman bin Ziyad bin An'um narrates: I heard my father say: "Once, during a sea expedition, they gathered their companions and invited Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) as well. The narrator says: When the food was ready, we sent word to Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) came and said: When you invited me, I was (voluntarily) fasting, but it was binding upon me to accept your invitation, for I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "A Muslim owes his Muslim brother six binding rights; whoever abandons any one of them has abandoned a binding right: when he invites him, he should go; when he meets him, he should greet him with salam; when he sneezes, he should respond to his sneeze; when he is ill, he should visit him; when he dies, he should follow his funeral; and when he seeks his sincere counsel, he should counsel him sincerely." The narrator says: Among us there was a man who had a humorous nature, and there was a man who was in charge of our expenses. The humorous man said to the one who prepared the food: "May Allah Almighty reward you with good and grant you goodness." When he said this to the other man many times, the other man became angry and began to abuse him. The humorous man said: "O Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub, what is your view about this: I said to a man, 'May Allah Almighty reward you with good,' and he became angry and began to abuse me?" Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "We used to say: whoever is not suited by good is suited by evil; so try the opposite with him." Then when the other man came, the humorous man said to him: "May Allah Almighty repay you with evil and give you hardship." The man laughed, was pleased and said: "You never give up your joking in any situation." The humorous man said: "May Allah Almighty reward Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) with good; he told me to say this."
Al-Tabarani recorded it. The narrator Abd al-Rahman was declared thiqah (trustworthy) by Yahya al-Qattan and others, while a group declared him da'if (weak); its remaining narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).