What does Allah give a person if He wants to do good for him?

- I know that Allah will give a person a deep understanding in religion and misfortunes when He wants to do good for him. I want to learn what else Lord will give him?

Dear Brother / Sister,

In fact, if Allah wants to do good for a person and makes him a faqih in religion, He grants him His greatest boon. Thus, a person has a deep understanding in every issue of the religion.

The full text of the hadith mentioned in the question is as follows:

“If Allah wants to do good for somebody, he makes him comprehend the religion. I am only the distributor; Allah is the Giver. This ummah will remain on the true path until Allah's order comes and those who oppose them will not be able to harm them.” (Bukhari, Fardul-Khumus 7, Ilm 13, I'tisam 10; Muslim, Imarah 98, Zakah 98.100)

This hadith contains three decrees:

1. The virtue of “tafaqquh in religion”, that is, having a deep understanding in the fiqh of the religion.

2. It is Allah who actually gives goods and property.

3. One part of this ummah will be on the right path up to the Day of Judgment.

The first decree is related to the issue of ilm, the second one the issue of sadaqat (zakah, etc) and the third one the issue of the signs of Doomsday.

All of those three decrees are directly related to ilm from another viewpoint. For, this hadith states that good is in question for the people who have a deep understanding in the religion of Allah, that it cannot be attained through personal efforts only but those whom Allah grants it will attain it and that those who have it will exist on the earth up to the Day of Judgment.

Bukhari says what is meant by them are hadith scholars.

Ahmad b. Hanbal said, "If those mentioned in this hadith are not hadith scholars, I do not know who they can be."

Qadi Iyad said, "Ahmad b. Hanbal meant the believers like Ahl as-Sunnah and hadith scholars."

Nawawi said. "It is probable that they are a group from mujahids, fiqh scholars, hadith scholars, ascetics, the believers who enjoin what is good, who do charitable deeds and who fulfill Allah’s orders. They do not have to be in the same place. It is possible for them to be in different places."

The following issues are understood from this hadith:

It shows that those who do not have a deep understanding in religion, that is, those who do not learn basic rules of Islam and the details about fiqh and belief are deprived of goodness. 

Besides, it also shows that scholars have obvious superiority over other people and that a deep fiqh understanding in religion has superiority over other sciences. 

Some other hadith narrations regarding the issue and the degree of soundness of them are as follows:

“When Allah wants to do good for a person, He makes him a faqih in religion and an ascetic person in the world, giving him a foresight to see his own mistakes.” (Daylami, 1/242; Bayhaqi, Shuab, 7/347)

This narration is weak. (see al-Laali, 5/248)

“When Allah wants to do good for a person, He makes qualified and reliable people carry out his good deeds. If Allah wants bad things for a person, He makes unqualified and unreliable people carry out his good deeds.” (Daylami, 1/242)

It is stated that this narration is fabricated. (Ghimari, 1/277)

“When Allah wants to do good for a person, He places his richness in his soul and taqwa in his heart. If Allah wants bad things for a person, He places his poverty in front of his eyes.” (Hakim, 2/214; Daylami, 1/243)

It is said that one of the people mentioned in the chain of narrators of this hadith is said to be weak. (Minawi, 1/255)

“When Allah wants to do good for a person, He makes him show consent to the share He allocates to him and makes it blessed for him.” (Daylami, 1/244)

“When Allah wants to do good for a person, He enables him to do good deeds until his neighbors become pleased with him before his death.” (Ahmad, Musnad, 5/224; Tabarani, Awsat, 3/325)

This narration is sound. (Haythami, 7/214) 

Note: For the narrations and evaluations regarding the issue, see Suyuti, Jam’ul-Jawami, -Shamila- 1/1588-1616, hadith no, 1252-1279.

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