Virtues of Madinah

Abu al-Numan narrated to us; Thabit ibn Yazid narrated to us; Asim, Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Ahwal, narrated to us, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet, who said: Medina is a sanctuary from this point to that one. Its trees must not be cut, and no offense may be introduced there. Whoever introduces an offense there, upon him is the curse of Allah, the angels, and all people.

Abu Maamar narrated to us; Abd al-Warith narrated to us, from Abu al-Tayyah, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: When the Prophet arrived in Medina, he ordered that a mosque be built. He said: Banu Najjar, set a price for it for me. They replied: We seek its price from Allah alone. He ordered the graves of the polytheists to be dug up, and they were exhumed. Then he ordered the ruins to be leveled and the palm trees to be cut down. The palm trunks were set in rows toward the qibla of the mosque.

Ismail ibn Abdullah said: My brother told me, from Sulayman, from Ubaydullah, from Said al-Maqburi, from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet said: I have declared the area between the two lava plains of Medina sacred. Abu Hurayra said: The Prophet went to Banu Haritha and said: Banu Haritha, I see that you have gone outside the sanctuary. He then turned and said: No, you are within it.

Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to us; Abd al-Rahman narrated to us; Sufyan narrated to us, from al-Amash, from Ibrahim al-Taymi, from his father, from Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: We have nothing except the Book of Allah and this document from the Prophet: Medina is a sanctuary from Aair to such-and-such a place. Whoever commits an offense there or shelters someone who commits an offense will incur the curse of Allah, the angels, and all people; no obligatory or voluntary deed of worship will be accepted from him. The protection granted by Muslims is one and binding on them all. Whoever violates the protection granted to a Muslim will incur the curse of Allah, the angels, and all people; no obligatory or voluntary deed of worship will be accepted from him. Whoever affiliates himself with a people without permission from his patrons will incur the curse of Allah, the angels, and all people; no obligatory or voluntary deed of worship will be accepted from him.

Abdullah ibn Yusuf informed us; Malik informed us, from Yahya ibn Said, who said: I heard Abu al-Hubab Said ibn Yasar say: I heard Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) say that the Messenger of Allah said: I was commanded concerning a town that consumes other towns. They call it Yathrib, but it is Medina. It drives people out just as bellows remove the dross from iron.

Khalid ibn Makhlad narrated to us; Sulayman narrated to us, saying: Amr ibn Yahya told me, from Abbas ibn Sahl ibn Sad, from Abu Humayd (may Allah be pleased with him): We came with the Prophet from Tabuk until we looked out over Medina. He said: This is Taybah.

Abdullah ibn Yusuf informed us; Malik informed us, from Ibn Shihab, from Said ibn al-Musayyab, from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), who used to say: If I saw gazelles grazing in Medina, I would not frighten them. The Messenger of Allah said: What lies between its two lava plains is sacred.

Abu al-Yaman narrated to us; Shuaib informed us, from al-Zuhri, who said: Said ibn al-Musayyab told me that Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah say: People will leave Medina in the best state it will ever be in. None but its roaming wild creatures will frequent it — meaning beasts and birds. The last to be gathered will be two shepherds from Muzayna, heading toward Medina and calling to their sheep. They will find it deserted, and when they reach Thaniyyat al-Wada, they will fall on their faces.

Abdullah ibn Yusuf informed us; Malik informed us, from Hisham ibn Urwa, from his father, from Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, from Sufyan ibn Abi Zuhayr (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah say: Yemen will be conquered, then some people will come hastening and take their families and those who follow them along. Medina would be better for them, if only they knew. Al-Sham will be conquered, then some people will come hastening and take their families and those who follow them along. Medina would be better for them, if only they knew. Iraq will be conquered, then some people will come hastening and take their families and those who follow them along. Medina would be better for them, if only they knew.

Ibrahim ibn al-Mundhir narrated to us; Anas ibn Iyad narrated to us, saying: Ubaydullah told me, from Khubayb ibn Abd al-Rahman, from Hafs ibn Asim, from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah said: Faith will retreat to Medina just as a snake retreats to its hole.

Husayn ibn Hurayth narrated to us; al-Fadl informed us, from Juayd, from Aisha, who said: I heard Sad (may Allah be pleased with him) say: I heard the Prophet say: No one plots against the people of Medina without melting away, just as salt dissolves in water.

Ali narrated to us; Sufyan narrated to us; Ibn Shihab narrated to us, saying: Urwa informed me; I heard Usama (may Allah be pleased with him) say: The Prophet looked out from one of the fortresses of Medina and said: Do you see what I see? I can see the places of tribulation among your homes, like the places where raindrops land. Maamar and Sulayman ibn Kathir also corroborated it, from al-Zuhri.

Abd al-Aziz ibn Abdullah said: Ibrahim ibn Sad told me, from his father, from his grandfather, from Abu Bakra (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet, who said: The terror of al-Masih al-Dajjal will not enter Medina. At that time it will have seven gates, with two angels at each gate.

Ismail said: Malik told me, from Nuaim ibn Abdullah al-Mujmir, from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah said: Angels guard the entrances of Medina; neither plague nor al-Dajjal will enter it.

Ibrahim ibn al-Mundhir narrated to us; al-Walid narrated to us; Abu Amr narrated to us; Ishaq narrated to us; Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) told me, from the Prophet, who said: There is no town that the Dajjal will not enter, except Mecca and Medina. None of their entrances will he approach without finding angels standing in rows to guard them. Then Medina will quake with its inhabitants three times, and Allah will bring out every disbeliever and hypocrite.

Yahya ibn Bukayr narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to us, from Uqayl, from Ibn Shihab, who said: Ubaydullah ibn Abdullah ibn Utba told me that Abu Said al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah told us a lengthy account about the Dajjal. Among what he told us was this: The Dajjal will come — though he is forbidden to enter the passes of Medina — to some of the salt flats in Medina. That day a man will come out to him, the best of people, or one of the best, and say: I testify that you are the Dajjal whose description the Messenger of Allah told us. The Dajjal will say: What do you think? If I kill this man and then bring him back to life, will you doubt my claim? They will say: No. He will kill him and then bring him back to life. When he is revived, the man will say: By Allah, I have never had clearer insight than I do today. The Dajjal will say: I would kill him, but I have no power over him.

Amr ibn Abbas narrated to us; Abd al-Rahman narrated to us; Sufyan narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: A Bedouin came to the Prophet and pledged allegiance to him upon Islam. The next day he came with a fever and said: Release me from my pledge. The Prophet refused three times, then said: Medina is like a furnace: it casts out its dross and refines what is good in it.

Sulayman ibn Harb narrated to us; Shuba narrated to us, from Adi ibn Thabit, from Abdullah ibn Yazid, who said: I heard Zayd ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) say: When the Prophet set out for Uhud, some of his Companions turned back. One party said: We should kill them. Another party said: We should not kill them. Then this was revealed: What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites? The Prophet said: It expels men just as fire expels the impurities from iron.

Abdullah bin Muhammad narrated to us: Wahb bin Jarir narrated to us: my father narrated to us; I heard Yunus, from Ibn Shihab, from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: O Allah, grant Medina twice the blessing You granted Mecca. Uthman bin Umar also related it from Yunus.