people to idle amusement, falsehood, music, usury, or any other forbidden act, then every person who is influenced by his invitation will have a sin recorded against him equal to theirs, because he was the one who called them to that sin—may Allah protect us.

Know that calling others either to guidance or to sin can be done by word—as when someone says, “Do such-and-such”—and it can also be done by deed, especially when the doer is someone whom people look up to. If such a person whom others follow performs an action, it is as though he has invited them to do it; for they will cite his behavior as proof, saying, “So-and-so did this, therefore it is permissible,” or, “He left that, therefore it is permissible to leave it.”

The crucial point is that whoever calls to guidance will receive a reward equal to the reward of everyone who follows him, and whoever calls to misguidance will bear a burden equal to the sin of everyone who follows him.

This hadith is evidence that the one who sets a cause in motion is treated like the one who carries it out directly: the person who called to guidance became the cause and thus receives a reward equal to that of the doer, while the person who called to evil or sin became the cause and thus bears a sin equal to that of those who followed him.

From this the jurist-scholars—may Allah have mercy on them—derived the legal maxim that the indirect cause is treated like the direct agent. However, when both a cause and a direct agent are present, they assign liability to the direct agent, because he is more immediately connected to the act of destruction. Allah knows best.

175- Abu al-ʿAbbās Sahl b. Saʿd al-Sāʿidī (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said on the day of Khaybar, “Tomorrow I will give the banner to a man through whose hands Allah will grant victory. He loves Allah and His Messenger, and Allah and His Messenger love him.” The people spent the night discussing who would receive it, and when