entertain him. It was said: "If an unbeliever (kafir) is a guest of a man, should he entertain him?" He said: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The night of the guest is a mandatory right upon every Muslim" (33). This hadith is clear, and when he entertained the polytheist, it indicated that both the Muslim and the polytheist are to be entertained, and I consider it the same. Hospitality has the same meaning as voluntary charity (sadaqat al-tatawwu') for both the Muslim and the unbeliever. The day and the night are a mandatory right. Al-Shafi'i said: "That is recommended (mustahabb), not mandatory; because he is not compelled to provide his food, so it is not incumbent upon him to offer it, just as if he did not entertain him." Our evidence is what al-Miqdam Abu Karimah narrated, saying: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "The night of the guest is a mandatory right. If he spends the morning at his courtyard, then it is a debt upon him; if he wishes, he may claim it, and if he wishes, he may forgo it." A sahih hadith (34). In another wording: "Whoever hosts a group of people, and the guest becomes deprived in the morning, then supporting him is a right upon every Muslim, and he may take his due from his crops and wealth." Narrated by Abu Dawud (35). The mandatory [duration] is a day and a night, and the perfection [of hospitality] is three days; because of what Abu Shurayh al-Khuza'i narrated, saying: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Hospitality is for three days, and its prize is a day and a night, and it is not permissible for a Muslim to stay with his brother until he makes him sinful." They said: "O Messenger of Allah, how would he make him sinful?" He said: "He stays with him while he has nothing to entertain him with." Muttafaq 'alayh (36). Ahmad said: "Its prize is a day and a night," as if it is more emphatic than the rest of the three [days], and he did not mean a day and a night apart from the three; because that would become four days, and he had said: "And whatever is beyond three days is charity."