Seerah and History

Abu ‘Abdullāh Khabbāb ibn al-Aratt (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: We complained to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) while he was lying in the shade of the Ka‘bah, placing his cloak under his head. We said: "Will you not supplicate for our victory (over our opponents)? Will you not invoke Allah for us?" He replied: "Among those who came before you, a man would be seized and held in a pit dug for him in the ground, and he would be sawed into two halves from his head, and his flesh would be torn away from his bones with iron combs, and none of this would turn him away from his religion. By Allah, Allah will bring this matter (Islam) to its completion until the traveler will walk from Sana'a to Hadramaut fearing none except Allah and the wolf for his sheep, but you are rushing things." In another narration: "Having made a pillow from his cloak, and we had faced much persecution from the polytheists."

Abu Qatādah and Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Verily, I would stand up for (congregational) prayer intending to prolong it, but I hear the crying of an infant, so I shorten my prayer lest I make it burdensome for his mother."

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: Some Bedouins visited the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and they said: "Do you kiss your children?" He said: 'Yes.' They said: "By Allah we do not kiss our children." Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then what can I do if Allah has removed mercy from your hearts?"

‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: One early morning, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) went out wearing a garment with a pattern of camel saddles (or a pattern of stripes) on it, made of black hair.

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I saw the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) eating some dates while sitting on his buttocks with his knees bent upwards.

Abu Rimthah At-Taymi (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I saw the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) wearing two green garments.

Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The garment that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) liked most was the Qamīs (long shirt).

Abu Hāzim reported: I accompanied Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) for five years, and I heard him narrate from the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), who said: "The Children of Israel were ruled by the prophets; whenever a prophet passed away, another would succeed him. Verily, there will be no prophet after me, but there will be many caliphs." They said: What do you command us to do? He said: "Fulfill the pledge of allegiance to the first, then the next. Give them their due rights, for Allah will ask them about what He entrusted to them."

‘Abdullāh ibn Busr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) had a large bowl called Al-Gharrā', which needed four men to carry it. One day, when they finished their Duha prayer, that bowl was brought full of bread sopped in broth, and they sat down around it. When their number increased, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) knelt down (sat on his knees, resting on his feet). A Bedouin said: "What sort of sitting is that!" Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Verily, Allah has made me a noble slave, not an obstinate tyrant." Then he said: "Eat from the sides of the bowl and leave the center so that your food would be blessed."

Abu Hurayrah or Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (the narrator was unsure) (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: During the battle of Tabūk, the people suffered famine, so they said: "O Messenger of Allah, grant us permission to slaughter our camels to eat and use their fat." The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You may do that." Then ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came and said: "O Messenger of Allah, if you do that, there will be a shortage in riding animals. Instead of that, let them bring the leftovers of their provisions, then supplicate Allah for them to bless it perhaps Allah will put some blessing therein." The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) agreed to that and asked for a leather mat and spread it out. Then he asked them to bring their leftovers. One man brought a handful of corn; another brought a handful of dates; and another brought a piece of bread until an insignificant amount was collected on the leather mat. So the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) invoked the blessing of Allah then said: "Take and fill your containers." They filled their containers until no container in the army was left unfilled. They ate their fill and there was some food left over. So the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah. No slave will meet Allah believing in these two (testimonies of faith) without having any doubt and be prevented from Paradise."

Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Some people from the Ansār asked the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) for charity and he gave them. They asked him again, and he gave them until there was nothing left. Thereupon, he said to them: "Whatever good I have, I will not withhold from you. Whoever tries to be chaste, Allah will make him chaste; whoever tries to be self-sufficient, Allah will make him self-sufficient; whoever tries to be patient, Allah will make him patient. No one is granted a gift better and ampler than patience."

Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh and Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported that the Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “My example and your example is that of a person who lit a fire, and grasshoppers and moths began to fall in it, while he is attempting to push them away. I am holding you back from the fire, but you are slipping from my hand."

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) prayed over a grave after he had been buried, making four Takbīrs.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to recite two Sūrahs to read in the Fajr prayer on Friday: Sūrat As-Sajdah and Sūrat al-Insān.

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) recited the words of Allah, the Exalted, about Prophet Ibrahīm (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) who said: {My Lord, indeed they have led astray many among the people. So whoever follows me - then he is of me} [Sūrat Ibrahīm :36], and those of Jesus (peace be upon him) who said: {If You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, verily, You, only You, are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise} [Sūrat al-Mā'idah: 118]. Then, he (Prophet Muhammad) raised up his hands and said: "O Allah, my Ummah, my Ummah" and wept; Allah, the Exalted, said: "O Jibrīl, go to Muhammad and ask him: 'What makes you weep?'" So angel Jibrīl went to him and asked him (what made him weeping) and the Messenger of Allah informed him what he had said (though Allah knew it well). Upon this Allah said: "O Jibrīl, go to Muhammad and say: 'Verily, We will please you with regard to your Ummah and will not displease you.'"

‘Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: I heard the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) saying: while reclining on me: "O Allah, forgive me, bestow Your mercy on me, and join me with the exalted companions."

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A slave girl of Madīnah would take hold of the hand of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and would take him wherever she wished.

Jubayr ibn Mut‘im (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: While I was walking with the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) on his return from the battle of Hunayn, a few Bedouins caught hold of him and began to demand their shares. They forced him to a tree, and someone snatched his cloak (which got entangled in that thorny tree). The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Give my cloak back to me. Were I to have camels equal to the number of these trees, I would distribute them all among you, and you would not have found me a miser, a liar, or a coward."

‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) divided some wealth, and I said to him: "O Messenger of Allah, were not other than those people more deserving of it than them?" He replied: "They left me no alternative but that they either beg of me importunately or regard me as a miser, and I am not a miser."

Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: While we were digging the trench, a very hard boulder became exposed. The Companions went to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and told him about it, and he said: "I will go (see it)." He stood up with a stone tied over his abdomen due to intense hunger, for we had not eaten anything for three days. He took up a spade and struck the hard rock with it, and it turned into sand. I sought his permission to go home. (After reaching it) I said to my wife: "I have seen the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) in a state that I can not endure. Have you got anything in the house?" She said: "I have barley and a little goat." I slaughtered the little goat, she ground the barley, and we put the meat in the cooking pot. Then I went to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) while the flour had been kneaded and the meat in the pot was nearly cooked. I said to him: "O Messenger of Allah, I have some food, will you come along with one or two Companions?" He asked: "How much is it?" I told him about the quantity, and he said: "Plenty and good. Tell your wife not to remove the pot from the hearth nor the bread from the oven until I arrive." Then he said to the Muhājirūn and the Ansār: "Let us go (to eat)." They all rose (and went with him). I went to my wife and said: "Take care, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him); the Muhajiroūn; the Ansār; and those with them are coming." She said: "Did he (the Prophet) ask you (about the quantity of food)?" I said: 'Yes.' (When they arrived) the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said to his Companions: "Enter, but do not crowd." Then he started breaking up the bread and putting meat on it. He would take from the pot and the oven, then he would cover them up, and then he would approach his Companions and hand it over to them. He would then go back and uncover the pot and the oven. He continued to break up the bread and put meat on it until all people had eaten their fill, and still some of the food remained. Then he said to my wife: "Eat from this, and gift from it, for people have been afflicted with severe hunger." In another narration, Jābir said: "When the trench was being dug, I noticed signs of hunger on the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). I went to my wife and said to her: 'Do you have anything? I have seen signs of severe hunger on the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him).' She brought out a bag which contained a Sā‘ of barley. We had a goat which was reared at home. I slaughtered the goat, and she ground the flour in order to bake bread. I then cut the meat and put it in the cooking pot. When I was about to go back to Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) my wife said to me: 'Do not dishonor me before the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions (meaning: do not invite too many people as the food is little).' When I reached him, I said to him in a low tone: 'O Messenger of Allah, we have slaughtered a small animal and have ground a Sā‘ of barley. Please accompany me with a few of your Companions.' Thereupon, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) announced in a loud voice: 'O people of the trench, Jābir has arranged a feast for you, so all of you are welcome.' Then he told me: 'Do not take the pot off the fire, nor bake the kneaded flour until I arrive.' So I went home, and the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) came ahead of the people. My wife told me off, but I replied: 'I did exactly what you told me to do.' She brought out the kneaded flour, and Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) spat into it and invoked the blessing of Allah on it, and then he spat into the cooking pot and invoked the blessing of Allah on it. Then he said (to my wife): 'Call another woman to help bake bread with you, and take (meat) out from your cooking pot, but do not take it off the fire.' There were about one thousand guests. By Allah, all of them ate until they left the food and went off while our cooking pot was still full with meat as before and the dough continued to be baked as before."