Wishes

Abū Hurayra reported that he heard the Messenger of God say: “By the One in whose hand is my soul, were it not that there are men who dislike staying behind after me, and that I have no mounts to carry them, I would not stay behind. I would love to be killed in the path of God, then brought back to life, then killed, then brought back to life, then killed.”

Abū Hurayra reported that the Messenger of God said: “By the One in whose hand is my soul, I would love to fight in the path of God and be killed, then be brought back to life, then be killed, then brought back to life, then be killed, then brought back to life, then be killed, then be brought back to life.”

Abū Hurayra used to repeat these words three times, saying, “I swear by God.”

Abū Hurayra reported that the Prophet said: “If I had as much gold as Mount Uḥud, I would love for three days not to pass while I still had a single dinar of it—except what I set aside to pay a debt I owe, if I could find someone to accept repayment.”

ʿĀʾisha reported that the Messenger of God said: “If I could go back and face this matter again, I would not have brought sacrificial animals, and I would have left the state of consecration along with the people when they left it.”

Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh said: We were with the Messenger of God, reciting the talbiya for Hajj, and we arrived in Mecca with four nights of Dhū al-Ḥijja having passed. The Prophet ordered us to circumambulate the House and go between al-Ṣafā and al-Marwa, to make it an ʿUmra, and then to leave the state of consecration—except those who had sacrificial animals with them. None of us had sacrificial animals except the Prophet and Ṭalḥa. ʿAlī came from Yemen with sacrificial animals and said, “I entered the state of consecration in the same way as the Messenger of God.”

They said, “Are we to set out for Minā with semen still dripping from one of us?” The Messenger of God said, “If I could go back and face this matter again, I would not have brought sacrificial animals; and were it not that I have sacrificial animals with me, I would have left the state of consecration.”

Surāqa met him while he was throwing the pebbles at Jamrat al-ʿAqaba and asked, “Messenger of God, is this something specific to us?” He said, “No, it is for all time.”

Jābir said: ʿĀʾisha had arrived in Mecca while menstruating. The Prophet ordered her to perform all the rites, except that she was not to circumambulate or pray until she became pure. When they camped at al-Baṭḥāʾ, ʿĀʾisha said, “Messenger of God, you are going with both Hajj and ʿUmra, while I am going with Hajj alone.” The Prophet then ordered ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr al-Ṣiddīq to go with her to al-Tanʿīm. She performed an ʿUmra in Dhū al-Ḥijja, after the days of Hajj.

ʿĀʾisha said: The Prophet was unable to sleep one night and said, “If only a righteous man from among my Companions would guard me tonight.” Then we heard the sound of weapons. He said, “Who is that?” Someone said, “It is Saʿd, Messenger of God. I have come to guard you.” The Prophet slept until we heard him snoring.

Abū ʿAbd Allāh added: ʿĀʾisha said that Bilāl recited, “Would that I knew: will I spend a night in a valley with idhkhir and jalīl around me?” I told the Prophet about it.

Abū Hurayra reported that the Messenger of God said: “There is no envy except in two cases: a man whom God has given the Qurʾān, and he recites it throughout the night and day, saying, ‘If I had been given what this man has been given, I would do what he does’; and a man whom God has given wealth, which he spends in the right way, and he says, ‘If I had been given what this man has been given, I would do what he does.’”

Qutayba told us this same report through Jarīr.

Al-Naḍr ibn Anas reported that Anas said: “If I had not heard the Prophet say, ‘Do not wish for death,’ I would have wished for it.”

Qays said: We went to visit Khabbāb ibn al-Aratt, who had undergone cauterization seven times. He said, “If the Messenger of God had not forbidden us to pray for death, I would have prayed for it.”

Abū Hurayra reported that the Messenger of God said: “None of you should wish for death. If he is doing good, perhaps he will increase in good; and if he is doing wrong, perhaps he will seek to make amends.”

Al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib said: On the day of al-Aḥzāb, the Prophet carried earth along with us. I saw that the dust had covered the whiteness of his belly. He was saying:

“Were it not for You, we would not have been guided, nor given charity, nor prayed. So send down tranquility upon us. The people—or perhaps he said, the multitude—have indeed transgressed against us. Whenever they intend discord, we refuse.”

He repeated “We refuse,” raising his voice as he said it.

Sālim Abū al-Naḍr, the client and scribe of ʿUmar ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Awfā wrote to him. I read the letter, and it said that the Messenger of God had said: “Do not wish to meet the enemy. Ask God for well-being.”

Al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad said: Ibn ʿAbbās mentioned the couple who had invoked mutual imprecation. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaddād said, “Is she the woman about whom the Messenger of God said, ‘If I were to stone a woman without evidence’?” Ibn ʿAbbās said, “No. That was a woman who had openly declared her misconduct.”

ʿAṭāʾ reported: The Prophet delayed the night prayer until late. ʿUmar came out and said, “The prayer, Messenger of God! The women and children have fallen asleep.” The Prophet came out with water dripping from his head and said, “Were it not that I would burden my community—or the people”—Sufyān also said, “my community”—“I would order them to pray at this hour.”

Ibn Jurayj reported from ʿAṭāʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbās: The Prophet delayed this prayer. ʿUmar came and said, “Messenger of God, the women and children have fallen asleep.” The Prophet came out wiping water from his side and said, “This is indeed its time; were it not that I would burden my community.”

ʿAmr reported it from ʿAṭāʾ without Ibn ʿAbbās. ʿAmr said, “His head was dripping.” Ibn Jurayj said, “He was wiping water from his side.” ʿAmr’s wording was, “Were it not that I would burden my community”; Ibn Jurayj’s was, “This is indeed its time; were it not that I would burden my community.”

Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mundhir said: Maʿn told me, from Muḥammad ibn Muslim, from ʿAmr, from ʿAṭāʾ, from Ibn ʿAbbās, from the Prophet.

Abū Hurayra reported that the Messenger of God said: “Were it not that I would burden my community, I would order them to use the tooth-stick.”

Anas reported: The Prophet fasted continuously at the end of the month, and some people did the same. This reached the Prophet, and he said, “If the month were extended for me, I would continue fasting in a way that would let the overzealous persist in their excess. I am not like you: my Lord feeds me and gives me drink.”

Sulaymān ibn Mughīra transmitted a supporting version from Thābit, from Anas, from the Prophet.

Abū Hurayra reported: The Messenger of God forbade continuous fasting. They said, “But you fast continuously.” He said, “Which of you is like me? I spend the night with my Lord feeding me and giving me drink.”

When they refused to stop, he fasted continuously with them for one day, then another, until they saw the new moon. He said, “If it had been delayed, I would have made you continue longer”—as a deterrent to them.

ʿĀʾisha said: I asked the Prophet about the enclosure wall: “Is it part of the House?” He said, “Yes.” I asked, “Then why did they not include it inside the House?” He said, “Your people did not have enough funds.”

I asked, “Why is its door elevated?” He said, “Your people did that so they could let in whomever they wished and keep out whomever they wished. Were it not that your people are so recently removed from the pre-Islamic era, I would fear that their hearts would object to my bringing the enclosure inside the House and lowering its door to the ground.”

Abū Hurayra reported that the Messenger of God said: “Were it not for the emigration, I would have been a man from among the Helpers. If the people followed one valley and the Helpers followed another valley—or mountain pass—I would follow the valley—or mountain pass—of the Helpers.”