Question

There is a Hadith wherein Muhammad (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) mentions one who keeps dog as a pet loses either one or two qirat reward per day. What exactly does a qirat translate to?

Answer

Literally a qirat means: one twelfth of a dirham.

This was the minimum wage in those days, and was therefore used as an example without its literal meaning actually being intended.

However in the context of the Hadith it generally refers to a “known amount of reward in the court of Allah.”

A qirat can therefore be translated as “a portion”, with its exact extent being known only to Allah Ta’ala. In the Hadith of the virtue of following the bier, one qirat was explained as a portion of reward equal in size to mount Uhud!

(Refer: Fathul Bari, hadith:1323)

And Allah Ta’ala Knows best.

Answered by: Mawlana Muhammad Abasoomar

Checked by: Mawlana Haroon Abasoomar