The Right of the Guest

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Whosoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should entertain his guest generously. The guest’s reward is to provide him with a superior type of food for a night and a day, and a guest is to be entertained for three days, and whatever is offered beyond that, is regarded as something given in Sadaqa. And it is not lawful for a guest to stay with his host for such a long period so as to put him in a critical position.” [Sahih Bukhari]

This hadith tells us that it is the right of any guest to be cheerfully and decently fed for three days. The first day the host should trouble himself to provide his guest with food of a better quality than what he eats himself. The next two days he may be provided with the same type of food that the host eats. The host is highly rewarded for doing this if he does so with the intention of fulfilling Allah’s commands.

After the three days are over, whatever the host provides to his guest is written down as Sadaqa for the host. It is a part of the culture of Islam that guests be hosted generously and hospitably. They should be made to feel welcome and not a burden. On the other hand, it is incumbent on the guest that he does not become a burden on his host. Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said that a guest must avoid putting his host in a critical position