What is the reward for being a means for the guidance (becoming a Muslim) of a person?

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A Brief Description of the Question:
What is the reward for being a means for the guidance (becoming a Muslim) of a person?


The Answer:
"By Allah, if Allah gives guidance to somebody through you, it is better for you than possessing red camels."Bukhari 7/3468, Muslim 2406/34Allah will make a person successful in the way of guidance if he tries and acts in accordance with rules. What a person needs regarding the issue is to seek the causes and means. The Quran encourages people to look for causes that will lead them to the truth as follows: "O ye who believe! Do your duty to Allah, seek the means of approach unto Him, and strive (with might and main) in His cause." (al-Maida, 5/35) Our Prophet (pbuh) led his Companions and ummah in the way of guidance until he died. After him, the inheritors of the Prophet (pbuh), that is, Allah's friends, saints and scholars, walked toward their Lord using different ways and methods; they led people to the way to the truth and guidance.

The Messenger of Allah gives the glad tidings that a person who causes something good to be done and calls people to guidance will be given a great reward by Allah: "A person who calls people to guidance will be given the same amount of rewards as the people who follow him are given without their reward being decreased. A person who calls people to the wrong way will be given the same amount of sins as the people who follow him are given without their sins being decreased." (Ibn Majah, Sunnah 14) That is, a person who starts the establishment of a charity, contributes to it and takes part in the campaign to educate the future generations will be rewarded for what he has done and his book of deeds will never be closed.

People who cause others to find the right path will be rewarded both in the world and in the hereafter; this honor they gain will be an unending capital for them. As a matter of fact, the Messenger of Allah summoned Hz. Ali during the most critical points of the battle in Khaybar, gave him the standard (flag) and gave him some very important advice: "O Ali! Proceed and do not hurry. When you enter their territory, call them to embrace Islam and inform them of Allah's Rights which they should observe, for by Allah, even if a single man is led on the right path (of Islam) by Allah through you, that will be better for you than nice red camels." (Bukhari, Maghazi 39) On another occasion, he said, "more valuable and better than everything on which the sun set!" (Khudari, Nuru'l-Yaqin, p. 255) As the Prophet (pbuh) indicates, this shows that a believer who aims to attain the consent of Allah will regard it an indispensible, great virtue and responsibility to work hard not only for his salvation but also for the salvation of the humanity with a devoted spirit. The sacrifices and efforts of the Companions regarding the issue are proverbial.To sum up, the guidance of a person definitely depends on the permission and wish of God Almighty. It is not possible for anybody to give guidance unless He wishes and gives consent. A person can be given guidance only through His mercy and grace. However, Allah gave the glad tidings that He would accept the prophets He sent, divine revelations, the holy things of the religion and His beloved slaves as a means of guidance. Therefore, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) worked very hard and made great efforts throughout his life for the guidance of people because the eternal happiness or grief of a person is dependent on the fulfillment and quality of this duty.

The Prophet (pbuh) worked so hard and ambitiously regarding the guidance of people that he was appreciated by Allah as follows due to his enthusiasm: “Thou wouldst only perchance, fret thyself to death, following after them, in grief, if they believe not in this Message.” For, to give guidance is not within the scope of the authority of the Prophet (pbuh); it is a divine grace and deed depending on the absolute will of Allah. In the eye of the Messenger of Allah, causing the guidance of a person is more valuable than the most valuable thing in the world. The Messenger of Allah educated his Companions with such a spirit of devotedness and consciousness of duty and showed them the duty of conveying the message of Islam to everybody (leading them to guidance) as the highest aim.Prof. Dr. Osman Güner, (Ondokuz Mayıs University, Faculty of Theology) Yeni Ümit Magazine