THE REWARD OF SERVING THE FAMILY

Amir al-Momineen, Imam Ali (as), said: One day, while Fatima (as) was
sitting near me and I was cleaning lentils, the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny) entered and said: O Aba
al-Hasan! I said: Labbaik O Messenger of Allah! He said: Hear what I say
because I do not say anything unless it is the command of Allah:
• A man who helps his wife at home, for every hair on his body Allah
will grant him the reward of one year of worship, in which he fasted
during the days and stood up and prayed at nights.
• Allah will grant him the reward of the steadfast and the reward of
Jacob, David and Jesus (peace be upon them).
• O Ali, whoever serves his family at home and does not despise it,
God will write his name among the martyrs and for every day and
night writes the reward of a thousand martyrs for him.
• For every step he takes, Allah writes the reward of a Hajj and Umrah,
and provides him for every vein in his body a city in paradise.
• O Ali, one hour of service at home is better than a thousand years
of worship and a thousand Hajj and a thousand Umrah.
• O Ali, serving the family is better than freeing a thousand slaves and
a thousand jihads and visiting a thousand sick people and
participating in a thousand Friday prayers and participating in a
thousand funerals and feeding a thousand hungry people and
clothing a thousand naked people and taking a thousand captives
in the way of God.
• The reward of serving the family is better than giving alms of a
thousand dinars to the poor.
• Serving the family is better than reading the Torah, the Bible, the
Psalms and the Qur'an, and it is better than a thousand captives
bought and set free in the way of Allah.
• It is better for him than giving alms of a thousand camels to the
needy.
• He will not leave the world unless he sees his place in heaven.
 • O Ali, whoever does not despise serving his family, Allah will enter
him into paradise without any reckoning.
• O Ali, serving the family is an atonement for the greater sins and it
quenches the wrath of Allah and it is the dowry of big-eyed houris.
• It increases virtues and elevates ranks.
• O Ali, no one serves his family except the one who is an honest or
a martyr or a man who wants Allah to provide him the good of this
world and the hereafter.9

9
Jame al-Akhbar, page 102, 103