then he should give it to him, because it is his right. Even if he asks for more, he should give it to him, for giving it to him in this world is easier than giving it to him in the Hereafter.

His statement, “and abandon mutual rancour,” means that the imam instructs the people to abandon mutual rancour among themselves—that is, spite, enmity, and hatred—because mutual rancour is a cause for the removal of goodness.

The evidence for this is that the Prophet ﷺ “went out one day to inform his Companions of Laylat al-Qadr, but two Muslim men quarrelled, so it was taken away” (1)—that is, knowledge of it was taken away; in other words, the Messenger ﷺ was caused to forget it because of their mutual rancour.

The scholars said: From this we learn that, if we seek goodness from Allah, we must abandon mutual rancour among ourselves.

If someone were to ask, “How can a person remove from his heart the resentment or rancour he feels toward his brother?”

The answer is that a person can rid himself of this in the following ways:

First: he should remember the sins involved in allowing this enmity to remain, and the goodness that is lost because of it. Indeed, deeds are presented to Allah on Monday and Thursday; and when there is rancour between two people, He says: “Defer these two until they reconcile” (2). That is, the Lord, exalted is He, does not look at your deed on Monday and Thursday if there is rancour between you and your brother.