Merits of the Helpers in Madinah (Ansaar)

Muhammad narrated to me: ʿAbda informed us, from Hisham ibn ʿUrwa, from his father, who said: I heard ʿAbdullah ibn Jaʿfar say: I heard ʿAli, may Allah be pleased with him, say: I heard the Messenger of Allah say—[another chain:] Sadaqa narrated to me: ʿAbda informed us, from Hisham, from his father, who said: I heard ʿAbdullah ibn Jaʿfar narrate from ʿAli, may Allah be pleased with them, from the Prophet, who said: “The best of its women is Maryam, and the best of its women is Khadija.”

Saʿid ibn ʿUfair narrated to us: al-Layth narrated to us. He said: Hisham wrote to me, from his father, from ʿAʾisha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: “I was never as jealous of any wife of the Prophet as I was of Khadija. She had died before he married me, because I would hear him mention her. Allah had commanded him to give her the glad tidings of a house of reeds. He would slaughter a sheep and send from it to her close female friends as much as would suffice them.”

Qutayba ibn Saʿid narrated to us: Humayd ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman narrated to us, from Hisham ibn ʿUrwa, from his father, from ʿAʾisha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: “I was never as jealous of any woman as I was of Khadija, because the Messenger of Allah mentioned her so often. He married me three years after her. His Lord— or Gabriel—commanded him to give her the glad tidings of a house in Paradise made of reeds.”

ʿUmar ibn Muhammad ibn Hasan narrated to me: My father narrated to us: Hafs narrated to us, from Hisham, from his father, from ʿAʾisha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: “I was never jealous of any of the Prophet’s wives as I was of Khadija, though I had never seen her. The Prophet spoke of her often. Sometimes he would slaughter a sheep, cut it into pieces, and send them to Khadija’s close female friends. Sometimes I would say to him, ‘It is as though there had never been any woman in the world except Khadija.’ He would say, ‘She was such-and-such, and such-and-such; and I had a child with her.’”

Musaddad narrated to us: Yahya narrated to us, from Ismaʿil, who said: I asked ʿAbdullah ibn Abi Awfa, may Allah be pleased with them both, “Did the Prophet give Khadija glad tidings?” He said, “Yes: of a house made of reeds, with no clamour and no weariness.”

Qutayba ibn Saʿid narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Fudayl narrated to us, from ʿUmara, from Abu Zurʿa, from Abu Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: Gabriel came to the Prophet and said, “Messenger of Allah, Khadija is coming with a vessel containing relish—or food or drink. When she comes to you, convey to her greetings of peace from her Lord and from me, and give her glad tidings of a house in Paradise made of reeds, with no clamour and no weariness.”

Ismaʿil ibn Khalil said: ʿAli ibn Mushir informed us, from Hisham, from his father, from ʿAʾisha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: Hala bint Khuwaylid, Khadija’s sister, asked permission to enter upon the Messenger of Allah. He recognized Khadija’s way of asking permission and was startled by that. He said, “O Allah, it is Hala!” ʿAʾisha said: I became jealous and said, “What do you remember of an old woman from Quraysh, red at the corners of her mouth, who died long ago? Allah has given you someone better than her.”

Ishaq al-Wasiti narrated to us: Khalid narrated to us, from Bayan, from Qays, who said: I heard Jarir ibn ʿAbdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, say: “Since I embraced Islam, the Messenger of Allah never kept me from him, and whenever he saw me, he smiled.”

And from Qays, from Jarir ibn ʿAbdullah, who said: In pre-Islamic times there was a shrine called Dhu al-Khalasa, also known as the Yemeni Kaaba or the Syrian Kaaba. The Messenger of Allah said to me, “Will you relieve me of Dhu al-Khalasa?” I set out against it with one hundred and fifty horsemen from Ahmas. We demolished it and killed those we found there. Then we came to him and told him, and he supplicated for us and for Ahmas.

Ismaʿil ibn Khalil narrated to me: Salama ibn Rajaʾ informed us, from Hisham ibn ʿUrwa, from his father, from ʿAʾisha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: On the day of Uhud, the polytheists were decisively routed. Iblis cried out, “O servants of Allah, watch out behind you!” The front ranks turned back against the rear ranks, and the rear ranks began fighting. Hudhayfa looked and saw his father, and cried, “O servants of Allah, my father! My father!” By Allah, they did not stop until they had killed him. Hudhayfa said, “May Allah forgive you.” My father said: By Allah, a trace of goodness from that remained with Hudhayfa until he met Allah, Mighty and Majestic.

ʿAbdan said: ʿAbdullah informed us: Yunus informed us, from al-Zuhri. ʿUrwa narrated to me that ʿAʾisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: Hind bint ʿUtba came and said, “Messenger of Allah, there was no household on earth whose people I wanted humiliated more than the people of your household. But today there is no household on earth whose people I want honored more than the people of your household.” He said, “And likewise, by Him in Whose hand is my soul.” She said, “Messenger of Allah, Abu Sufyan is a miserly man. Is it sinful for me to feed our children from what belongs to him?” He said, “I think it is allowed for you only in a fair and proper manner.”

Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr narrated to me: Fudayl ibn Sulayman narrated to us: Musa narrated to us: Salim ibn ʿAbdullah narrated to us, from ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them both: Before revelation came to the Prophet, he met Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl at the lower part of Baldah. A meal was brought before the Prophet, but he refused to eat from it. Zayd said, “I do not eat what you slaughter at your stone altars; I eat only what has had Allah’s name mentioned over it.” Zayd ibn ʿAmr used to criticize Quraysh for their sacrifices, saying, “Allah created the sheep, sent down water for it from the sky, and brought forth vegetation for it from the earth; then you slaughter it without invoking Allah’s name”—rejecting that practice and honoring Allah.

Musa said: Salim ibn ʿAbdullah narrated to me—I only know that he related it from Ibn ʿUmar—that Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl went to Syria, seeking a religion and following its path. He met a Jewish scholar and asked him about their religion. He said, “Perhaps I will adopt your religion, so tell me about it.” The scholar said, “You cannot be of our religion unless you take your share of Allah’s wrath.” Zayd said, “I flee only from Allah’s wrath; I will never take on any of Allah’s wrath. How could I bear it? Can you direct me to another way?” He said, “I know of none except that one be a ḥanif.” Zayd asked, “What is a ḥanif?” He said, “The religion of Abraham: he was neither a Jew nor a Christian and worshipped none but Allah.” Zayd left and met a Christian scholar, and asked him the same. He said, “You cannot be of our religion unless you take your share of Allah’s curse.” Zayd said, “I flee only from Allah’s curse; I will never take on any of Allah’s curse or wrath. How could I bear it? Can you direct me to another way?” He said, “I know of none except that one be a ḥanif.” Zayd asked, “What is a ḥanif?” He said, “The religion of Abraham: he was neither a Jew nor a Christian and worshipped none but Allah.” When Zayd saw what they claimed about Abraham, peace be upon him, he left. When he came out into the open, he raised his hands and said, “O Allah, I bear witness that I follow the religion of Abraham.”

Al-Layth said: Hisham wrote to me, from his father, from Asmaʾ bint Abi Bakr, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said: I saw Zayd ibn ʿAmr ibn Nufayl standing with his back against the Kaaba, saying, “O Quraysh, by Allah, none of you follows the religion of Abraham but me.” He used to save girls who were to be buried alive. When a man intended to kill his daughter, he would say to him, “Do not kill her. I will take care of her expenses for you.” He would take her in, and when she had grown up, he would say to her father, “If you wish, I will return her to you; or, if you wish, I will continue to take care of her expenses.”

Mahmud narrated to me: ʿAbd al-Razzaq narrated to us. He said: Ibn Jurayj informed me. He said: ʿAmr ibn Dinar informed me: He heard Jabir ibn ʿAbdullah, may Allah be pleased with them both, say: When the Kaaba was being built, the Prophet and al-ʿAbbas went to carry stones. Al-ʿAbbas said to the Prophet, “Put your waist-wrapper around your neck to protect you from the stones.” The Prophet fell to the ground, his eyes turning toward the sky. When he came to, he said, “My waist-wrapper, my waist-wrapper.” So they fastened his waist-wrapper around him.

Abu al-Nuʿman narrated to us: Hammad ibn Zayd narrated to us, from ʿAmr ibn Dinar and ʿUbaydullah ibn Abi Yazid, who both said: In the Prophet’s time, there was no wall around the House; people prayed around it. That continued until ʿUmar built a wall around it. ʿUbaydullah said it was a low wall; Ibn al-Zubayr then built it.

Musaddad narrated to us: Yahya narrated to us. Hisham said: My father narrated to me, from ʿAʾisha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: “ʿAshuraʾ was a day that Quraysh used to fast in pre-Islamic times, and the Prophet used to fast it. When he came to Medina, he fasted it and commanded that it be fasted. When Ramadan was prescribed, whoever wished fasted it, and whoever wished did not fast it.”

Muslim narrated to us: Wuhaib narrated to us: Ibn Tawus narrated to us, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said: They used to regard performing ʿumra during the months of Hajj as wickedness in the land. They called Muharram Safar and used to say, “When the camels’ saddle sores have healed and their tracks have disappeared, ʿumra is permitted for whoever wishes to perform it.” The Messenger of Allah and his Companions arrived on the fourth, entering ihram for Hajj, and the Prophet ordered them to make it an ʿumra. They said, “Messenger of Allah, how much may we come out of consecration?” He said, “All of it.”

ʿAli ibn ʿAbdullah narrated to us: Sufyan narrated to us. He said: ʿAmr used to say: Saʿid ibn al-Musayyab narrated to us, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: “A flood came in pre-Islamic times and covered everything between the two mountains.” Sufyan said: He used to say, “This is a report of significance.”

Abu al-Nuʿman narrated to us: Abu ʿAwana narrated to us, from Bayan Abu Bishr, from Qays ibn Abi Hazim, who said: Abu Bakr entered upon a woman from Ahmas named Zaynab and saw that she was not speaking. He asked, “Why is she not speaking?” They said, “She performed Hajj in silence.” He said to her, “Speak, for this is not permissible; this is a practice from pre-Islamic times.” So she spoke and asked, “Who are you?” He said, “A man from the Emigrants.” She asked, “Which Emigrants?” He said, “From Quraysh.” She asked, “Which Quraysh?” He said, “You ask many questions! I am Abu Bakr.” She asked, “How long will we remain upon this good way that Allah brought after pre-Islamic times?” He said, “You will remain upon it as long as your leaders remain upright for you.” She asked, “Who are the leaders?” He said, “Did your people not have chiefs and nobles who would command them, and they would obey?” She said, “Yes.” He said, “Those are the leaders over the people.”