Full Translation
On the authority of Abu Abdullah Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with both of them) who said:
We were with the Prophet ﷺ on a military expedition. He said: “Indeed in Madinah there are men — you did not cover any distance, and you did not cross any valley, except that they were with you. Illness held them back.”
And in another narration: “…except that they shared with you in the reward.”
Narrated by Muslim.
Meanings of Key Words
- Ghazah (غَزَاةٍ) — a military expedition; leaving home, crossing terrain, facing hardship and danger in the way of Allah
- Ma sirtum maseeran (مَا سِرْتُمْ مَسِيراً) — you did not cover any distance; every single step of the journey, however small
- Qata’tum wadiyan (قَطَعْتُمْ وَادِياً) — you crossed a valley; every difficult stretch of terrain, every hard passage
- Illa kaanoo ma’akum (إِلاَّ كَانُوا مَعَكُمْ) — except that they were with you; present alongside you in full — not symbolically, but in the sight of Allah
- Habasahum al-marad (حَبَسَهُمُ الْمَرَضُ) — illness held them back; they did not choose to stay — they were prevented by something beyond their control
- Sharakookum fi al-ajr (شَرَكُوكُمْ فِي الأَجْرِ) — they shared with you in the reward; equal partners in what was earned, despite being absent from what was done
Hadith Lessons
This hadith is three sentences long. And it quietly dismantles one of the most painful feelings a sincere person can carry: the feeling that life has sidelined them from the good they genuinely wanted to do.
The Men Left Behind in Madinah
The companions on this expedition were the ones who showed up. They left their families, endured the road, crossed valleys, faced whatever the journey brought. They were present — visibly, physically, undeniably.
And the Prophet ﷺ tells them: there are men back in Madinah who are with you in every step. Not watching from a distance. Not receiving a reduced portion. With you — step for step, valley for valley.
What separated those men from the expedition? Not unwillingness. Not laziness. Not preference for comfort. Illness held them back (habasahum al-marad / حَبَسَهُمُ الْمَرَضُ). The barrier was real and it was beyond their control. Their hearts were on the road. Their bodies could not follow.
And Allah — who sees the heart before He sees the foot — counted them as present.
The Principle That Changes Everything
The second narration makes it explicit: they shared in the reward (sharakookum fi al-ajr / شَرَكُوكُمْ فِي الأَجْرِ). Not a lesser reward for trying. Not a consolation for being sick. The same reward — as partners, as equals in what was earned.
This is the logical extension of everything this chapter has been building. Hadith 1 said deeds are by intentions. Hadith 3 said the door of jihad and intention never closes. Now Hadith 4 shows it in the most human, most tender way possible: when a sincere intention is genuinely blocked — by something the person did not choose and cannot remove — Allah honours the intention as if it became action.
The condition is everything: the barrier must be real, and the intention must have been genuine. A person who never intended to go cannot claim the reward of those who were stopped from going. But the person whose heart was fully committed, who prepared, who would have gone if they could — that person’s sincerity is not wasted by circumstance.
What This Means for Us Today
Think of the father who wanted to give more to his family but lost his income. The student who intended to seek knowledge but fell ill. The person who wanted to serve their community but was trapped by caregiving, by debt, by circumstances entirely outside their making. The one who planned to pray qiyam but their body failed them at 2am after an exhausting day.
The question this hadith asks is not: did you do it? The question is: did you truly intend it, and was something real holding you back?
If the answer is yes — you were in Madinah, but you were also on the road. You were in your bed, but you were also crossing the valley. Allah was counting your steps.
This is not a license for passivity. It is a mercy for the sincere. There is a profound difference between the person who avoids difficulty and invents excuses, and the person who genuinely wants to do good and finds life — illness, poverty, responsibility, limitation — standing in the way. Allah knows the difference. And He rewards accordingly.
Three Questions to Close With
- Is there a good I genuinely intended but was prevented from — that I have been grieving as “lost”? Does this hadith change how I see that?
- When I am the one who did show up — do I carry any quiet pride about it, forgetting that some who couldn’t come may be receiving the same reward?
- What is preventing me right now from something I sincerely want to do for Allah — and is that barrier real, or is it one I am allowing to stay?