How to thank another Muslim correctly

بسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله

There are different ways of thanking another Muslim and people use different forms. The purpose of this article is to explore which is the correct form and the one that should be adopted by all Muslims.

Why is this even important?

If someone does a good to us, we are taught in Islâm to return the favour:

عن أبي سعيد الخدري رضي الله عنه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: من لم يشكر الناس لم يشكر الله

"Whoever does not thank the people has not thanked Allâh" [1]

If we are not able to return the favour physically or financially then we are taught to pray for the benefactor until we feel we have fulfilled their due:

عن عبد الله بن عمر رضي الله عنهما قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: من صنع إليكم معروفا فكافئوه، فإن لم تجدوا ما تكافئونه، فادعوا له حتى تروا أنكم قد كافأتموه.

"If anyone does to you a kindness, recompense him; but if you have not the means to do so, pray for him until you feel that you have compensated him." [2]

The purpose of this article is to explain how we should thank each other, the common mistakes Muslims - especially those not well-versed in Arabic - make when it comes to thanking others and why this is something that warrants discussion.

Okay, so what should we say to thank another Muslim?

The best du'â a person can give the benefactor, through which he will be said to have fulfilled his due, is جزاك الله خيرا as taught to us by the Messenger of Allâh صلى الله عليه وسلم in the Hadîth:

عن أسامة بن زيد رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: من صنع إليه معروف فقال لفاعله جزاك الله خيرا فقد أبلغ في الثناء

"If someone is done a kindness to and he says [in expressing his gratitude] to his benefactor, 'May Allâh give you a good reward', he has fully expressed his appreciation." [3]

But I hear so many Muslims thank others with simply "JazâkAllâh"?

This is the commonest mistake when thanking another Muslim.

We find from the Hadîth that this du'â - in the form given in the above Hadîth i.e. جزاك الله خيرا - is what our pious predecessors used to thank others with.

Why would a Muslim want to shorten this to a form that's not been adopted by the Sahâbah and the scholars of Hadîth? What we find is that in every Hadîth where these words are mentioned, the du'â is mentioned in full. Some of the Hadîth [4, 5, 6, 7, 8] are reproduced here:

... فقال أسيد بن حضير لعائشة جزاك الله خيرا ...

... عن ابن عمر، قال: حضرت أبي حين أصيب، فأثنوا عليه، وقالوا جزاك الله خيرا فقال: راغب وراهب ...

... فقام أبو بكر، فقال جزاكم الله خيرا من حي يا معشر الأنصار ...

عن عائشة، قالت: رأيت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم واضعا يديه على معرفة فرس، وهو يكلم رجلا، قلت: رأيتك واضعا يديك على معرفة فرس دحية الكلبي وأنت تكلمه، قال: ورأيتيه؟ قالت: نعم، قال: ذاك جبريل عليه السلام وهو يقرئك السلام، قالت: وعليه السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته، جزاه الله خيرا من صاحب ودخيل، فنعم الصاحب، ونعم الدخيل

... عن عائشة، قالت: كان لنا جيران من الأنصار جزاهم الله خيرا كان لهم شيء من لبن يهدون منه إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ...

There's no doubt that the wording as given in the Sunnah always holds more merit than other versions even if they may have the same meaning.

So is it wrong to miss out the "khayran" at the end?

We won't say it's entirely wrong, simply because the person saying it means good and intends for it to be a du'â. However, it's not quite correct either. Consider the following two Hadîth [9, 10]:

... لما أمر النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يوم بدر بأولئك الرهط، فألقوا في الطوي: عتبة وأبو جهل وأصحابه، وقف عليهم، فقال: جزاكم الله شرا من قوم نبي، ما كان أسوأ الطرد وأشد التكذيب ...

فقلت: يا عبد الله، ما أراك تدري تنصرف على شفع أو على وتر؟ قال: ولكن الله يدري، سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول: من سجد لله سجدة، كتب الله له بها حسنة، وحط بها عنه خطيئة، ورفع له بها درجة. فقلت: من أنت؟ فقال: أبو ذر. فرجعت إلى أصحابي، فقلت: جزاكم الله من جلساء شرا ...

The quoted Hadîth (one a saying of the Messenger of Allâh صلى الله عليه وسلم and the latter (most probably) that of a Tâbi'î) prove that the words "JazâkAllâh" with "sharran" (evil) appended at the end instead of "khayran" (good) were used as a form of curse. Those who are well-versed in Arabic will expect something (a second object, in grammatical terms) to follow "JazâkAllâh" because it is considered incomplete without it, at least in this context. With the sentence left incomplete, it can be ambiguous as to what is intended.

So it's the intention that counts, right?

You're missing the point. Let me explain it another way. We learnt about this du'â from the Hadîth not some local custom or tradition. It, therefore, follows that we need to stick to the version that has been reported and not a shortened one. There's also another issue: we find that the shortening of this du'â is so widespread that many Muslims are not even aware of the full version. Surely, this needs rectifying.

What about adding "khayr" at the end?

Although this is better than not adding anything at the end, it's grammatically incorrect. As Arabic grammar is not the scope of this article, it suffices for us to say that it should be خيرًا (khayran) and not خير (khayr). The grammatically correct form is the one mentioned in the Hadîth and the one we should adopt.

What would you say about shortening the du'â to Jzk, Jk and Jazaks as some do?

To be quite frank, this can be perceived to be laziness and indifference on their part. If a person can't even be bothered replying with a full du'â then they can hardly be said to have returned the favour. Some even reply with "jk" which is a shorthand for "joke"! Courtesy demands that we should reply to someone we're thanking in full. No-one's so busy that they can't do that much...

Okay, so that's all clear now. One more thing: is the du'â one-size-fits-all, in that you say the same words to both males and females and whether there's one or more of them?

This is the another very common mistake that many make when saying this du'â. They say "JazâkAllâhu khayran" to everyone, whether it's to a male or a female or a group of Muslims. Remember: the du'â is based on Arabic grammar and, therefore, needs to follow the rules correctly.

Here's a table to summarise the main forms:

JazâkAllâhu khayran for explaining all that to me. I'm not very good with pronunciation though. Please could you say it all for me?
Yes, sure. Here you go:

I can't be bothered reading all the above. I've just scrolled down to be quite honest. Could you please summarise the article for me?

• جزاك الله خيرا is actually a du'â from the Sunnah so should be said in full and correctly
• The full and correct wording of the du'â is جزاك الله خيرا not simply جزاك الله (dropping the khayran)
• Further to the above, it's جزاك الله خيرًا (khayran) not جزاك الله خير (khayr; dropping the alif at the end)
• To a female, the correct wording is جزاكِ الله خيرا (Jazâkillâhu khayran) not جزاكَ الله خيرا (JazâkAllâhu khayran)
• To a group of Muslims, the correct wording is جزاكم الله خيرا (Jazâkumullâhu khayran) not جزاك الله خيرا (JazâkAllâhu khayran)
• To shorten the du'â to Jazaks or Jzk or Jk and such like in no way constitutes returning of the favour and should be avoided

If someone does not say the du'â correctly to me, should I forward this article to them?

Yes, good idea! Please go forth and spread the message. You can use the following shortened URL: http://bit.ly/jzk_.

جزاك الله خيرا

And Allâh knows best.

[1] Ahmad
[2] Abû Dâwûd
[3] at-Tirmidhî
[4] al-Bukhârî
[5] Muslim
[6] Ahmad
[7] Ahmad
[8] Ahmad
[9] Ahmad
[10] Ahmad