Question Summary:
Would a person(who does a good deed without knowing its virtues) get less reward than those who not only does the good deed but also knows its virtues?

Question Detail:

My question is regarding the ihtisaab(knowing the virtue of doing good deed). Would a person(who does a good deed without knowing its virtues) get less reward than those who not only does the good deed but also knows its virtues. For example, a person might pray 5 times salat as an order of Allah S.W.T but not necessarily know the virtues of praying 5 times will get less reward than a person who prays 5 times and knows about its virtues. Is it correct to say that the virtues(Fazail) are only for the motivation purposes? jazakallah khair!

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu `alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh

In principle a person is rewarded according to his level of sincerity (ikhlass) and devotion in performance of a deed. That reward is best known by Allah Suhana WaTa’ala. However, if a person knows the reward of doing certain deed, that knowledge would further motivates him in doing the deed with more sincerity and thereby increase his reward. [i]
And Allah knows best.
 
Mawlana Saeed Ahmed Golaub
Westmoreland, Jamaica, West Indies
Student Darul Iftaa
 
Checked and Approved
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
daruliftaa.net