I’m trying to find out if the performance of what is Mubah/Halal is rewarded or not; Dr. Zeidan says no. The Hadith of the Prophet–Salla Allahu `Alaihe Wa-Sallam–seems to indicate that such deeds are rewarded. (My personal observation was: “If that which is ‘Mustahab’ is rewarded, why not that which is Halal?”) Also, Dr. Zeidan mentioned that it is “moharram” to pray in lands that are taken away by force [ his expression was "al-ard al-mughtasabah"]; could you please also clarify this for me. Jazakum Allah Khair for helping me out with this.

All praise be to Allah, and may his peace and blessings be on the last and best prophet and messenger, Muhammad. As for the reward for halal actions, you will be rewarded for them with the right intention. For example, if you sleep to wake up early for salat al-fajr or some other good reason, you will be rewarded for that sleep. In general sleep is not reward worthy nor is it blameworthy. The same applies to eating…etc. As for the hadeeth about having marital relations with the wife, it is reward worthy because it keeps the couple chaste and protects them from evil. But if the man has sex with his wife and others, and didn’t intend by that to protect himself or her or any good intentions such as promoting the compassion between them…etc, then his mere having sex with the wife is not reward worthy. So, by having a good intention, you transform the halal action which is neutral on the scale of reward and punishment to one that is reward worthy. As for praying in the land wrongfully seized by force, it is haram but does it invalidate the prayer? The hanbalis: yes. The rest: no. The debate has to do with what is called infekaak al-jihah. According to the hanbalis the very prayer that he prayed can not be separated from the haram, which is the use of land wrongfully seized by power. According to the others, the prayer is one thing and the use of the land is a separate thing. Allah knows best.