174- Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever invites to guidance shall receive a reward equal to the rewards of all who follow him, without those rewards being diminished in the least; and whoever invites to misguidance shall bear a sin equal to the sins of all who follow him, without those sins being reduced in the least.” Narrated by Muslim.

Explanation
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) cites this narration of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward like the rewards of those who follow him, without that detracting from their rewards in any way.”

“To call to guidance” means to clarify it for people and invite them to practice it. For example, he might explain that the two units (rak‘ahs) of the Duha prayer are a recommended sunnah and that a person ought to perform two rak‘ahs in the forenoon. Should people act upon that and begin praying Duha, he receives a reward equal to theirs, without their reward being diminished at all—for Allah’s bounty is vast.

Or he may say to the people, for instance: “Let the last of your night prayers be Witr; do not go to sleep without having performed Witr, unless you hope to rise at the end of the night, in which case make your Witr then.” If some follow him in that, he gains a reward equal to theirs—every time someone prays Witr through guidance that came by his hand, he is granted the same reward. The same principle applies to all other righteous deeds.

As for the statement, “Whoever calls to misguidance will bear a sin equal to the sins of those who follow him, without that reducing their sins in the slightest,” this means that if a person invites others to a wrongful act, to something sinful—such as inviting