Studying the Qur'an and Hadith independently
Q: Some time ago I asked about a hadith with the words whoever leaves something for the sake of Allah, Allah will grant him something better in return. My curiosity got the better of me and I managed to find the following on a google search. I would like you to please check its authenticity.
It was reported from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he said: "Anyone leaves something for the sake of Allah, Allah shall compensate him a better one for that."
This Hadith is Da`if (a Hadith that fails to reach the status of Hasan, due to a weakness in the chain of narration or one of the narrators) and was not authentically reported from the Prophet (peace be upon him) by these wordings even if it is well known to many people.
The Hadith was authentically reported by another wording from the Hadith of Abu Qatadah and Abu Ad-Dahma' who said: We came to a man from the people of the desert and asked him: Did you hear a Hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)? He said: I heard him saying: “You will never leave something for the sake of Allah, but Allah will give you something better in return.”
Musnad Al Imam Ahmad (5 / 363). Al Haythamy said in Majma` Az-Zawa’id (10/296) “The Hadith is narrated by Ahmad with different chain of narrations and its narrators are the narrators of the Hadiths that were reported in the two books of authentic Hadiths.