Fine Qualities

He reported God's messenger as saying, "0 God, answer Sa`d when he supplicates Thee." Tirmidhi transmitted it.

`Ali said Sa`d was the only one for whom God's messenger named his parents together. At the battle of Uhud he said to him, "Shoot, my father and my mother be your ransom!" He also said to him, "Shoot, strong young man." Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Jabir told that Sa'd came forward and the Prophet said, "This is my maternal uncle; now let any man show me his maternal uncle." Tirmidhi transmitted it, explaining that Sa'd belonged to the B. Zuhra, the tribe to which the Prophet's mother belonged, and that on that account the Prophet said, "This is my maternal uncle." Al masabih has "let him honour" instead of "let him show me."

Qais b. Abu Hazim told that he heard Sa'd b. Aba Waqqas say, "I was the first man among the Arabs to shoot an arrow in God's path. I saw once when we were on an expedition with God's messenger and had no food but the fruit and leaves of the mimosa that our stools were dry and in small pieces like a sheep's. The B. Asad were reproving me about [my unsatisfactory observance of] Islam, in which case I would be the loser and lack the benefit of what I had done." They had given information against him to 'Umar, saying he did not perform the prayer properly[*]. *The occasion was when Sa'd was in charge in Iraq. The point of the tradition is that examples of his early faithfulness are given to show what he endured on the Prophet's behalf, but now that he is being accused of laxity there is a danger that he may lose the reward for his earlier good deeds supposing the charge could be substantiated.(Bukhari and Muslim.)

I have seen myself as. the third member of Islam, no one having accepted it except on the day I did, and during the space of seven days I constituted a third of Islam[*].*The claim is that after Abu Bakr and Khadija no one accepted Islam before he did, and that no one else accepted it for a week after he did.Bukhari transmitted it, and Baghawi rendered it in his Mu'jam.

`A'isha told that God's messenger used to say to his wives, "I am concerned about what will happen to you after I am gone, when only the self-sacrificing and truly generous will continue to care for you." `A'isha said his meaning was those who give sadaqa. Then `A'isha said to Abu Salama b. `Abd ar-Rahman, "May God give your father drink from Salsabil[1] in paradise!" Ibn `Auf[2] had given as sadaqa for the mothers of the faithful a garden which had been sold for forty thousand. A fountain in paradise. Cf. Quran, 76:18. i.e., 'Abd ar-Rahman b. `Auf, Abu Salama's father. Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Umm Salama told that she heard God's messenger say to his wives, "Ale who treats you generously after I am gone is the sincere and kindly one. O God, give `Abd ar-Rahman b. `Auf drink from Salsabil in paradise." Ahmad transmitted it.

Hudhaifa told that the people of Najran came to God's messenger and said, "Messenger of God, send us a trustworthy man." When he replied, "I shall certainly send you a trustworthy man who is genuinely trustworthy," the people[*] were looking to see if they would be appointed. He then sent Abu `Ubaida b. al-Jarrah. *i.e., the Prophet's companions.(Bukhari and Muslim.)

`Ali told that when God's messenger was asked whom they should appoint commander after he had gone, he replied, "If you appoint Abu Bakr as commander you will find him trustworthy, with little desire for worldly goods but eager for the next world; if you appoint `Umar as commander you will find him trustworthy and strong, fearing for God's sake no one's blame; and if you appoint `Ali as commander, but I cannot see you doing so, you will find him a guide who is rightly guided who will lead you in the straight way." Ahmad transmitted it.

He reported God's messenger as saying, "God show mercy to Aba Bakr! He gave me his daughter as wife, he conveyed me to the abode of the emigration, he accompanied me in the cave, and he manumitted Bilal out of his property. God show mercy to `Umar! He speaks the truth even if it is bitter, and the truth has left him without a friend. God show mercy to `Uthman! The angels display bashfulness before him. God show mercy to 'Ali! 0 God, cause the truth to accompany him wherever he goes!'' Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a gharib tradition.

Sa'd b. Abu Waqqas told that when this verse came down, "Let us call our sons and your sons[*]..." God's messenger called `Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain and said, "0 God, these are the members of my family." *Quran, 3:61.Muslim transmitted it.

`A'isha told that the Prophet went out one morning wearing a striped[1] cloak of black goat's hair. Al-Hasan b. `Ali came and he took him under it, then al-Husain came and went under it along with him, then Fatima came and he took her under it, then `Ali came and he took him under it. He then said, "God only desires to remove abomination from you, members of the family, and purify you[2]." It literally means one decorated with representations of camels' saddles. Quran, 33:33. Muslim transmitted it.

Al-Bara' told that when Ibrahim* died God's messenger said, "He has a nursing-mother in paradise." *The Prophet's son.Bukhari transmitted it.

We, the Prophet's wives, were once with him when Fatima came along, her style of walking being indistinguishable from that of God's messenger. When he saw her, he said, "Welcome, my daughter," and made her sit down. He then said something privately to her and she wept bitterly, so when he saw her grief, he said something else privately to her and she began to laugh. When God's messenger got up and left, I asked her what he had said to her privately, but she replied, "I am not one to publish God's messenger's secrets." After his death I said, "I adjure you by my right over you to tell me," And she replied, "Now I am agreeable. When he spoke privately to me about the first matter, he informed me that Gabriel was in the habit of going over the Quran with him once annually but that he had done it twice that year, so he felt his appointed time was near. He then told me to fear God and show endurance, for he was a good forerunner for me. I wept, and when he saw my distress, he spoke to me privately a second time saying, `Are you not pleased, Fatima, that you will be the chief lady among the female inhabitants of paradise (or, of the women of the believers)'?" A version has, "He spoke to me privately informing me that he would die of his pain, so I wept. He then spoke to me privately informing me that I would be the first member of his family to follow him, so I laughed." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Al-Miswar b. Makhrama reported God's messenger as saying, "Fatima is a piece of me, so he who angers her angers me." A version has "What disturbs her disturbs me and what injures her injures me." (Bukhari and Muslim.)

You people must understand that I am just human. My Lord's messenger will soon come for me and I shall answer his summons, but I am leaving among you the two important things, the first of which is God's Book which contains guidance and light, so study it and follow its commands closely." Then when he had urged attention to God's Book and commended it, he said, "Also my family. I remind you of your duty to God to care for my family; I remind you of your duty to God to care for my family." A version has "God's Book is God's rope; he who follows it has guidance and he who abandons it is in error." Muslim transmitted it.

Ibn `Umar told that when he gave a salutation to Ja'far's son[1] he said, "Peace be upon you, son of the possessor of the wings[2]." i.e., 'Abdallah. When Ja'far was killed at the battle of Mu'ta the Prophet said that though he had lost his limbs he had been provided with wings with which he was flying in paradise.Bukhari transmitted it.

Al-Bara' told that he saw the Prophet with al-Hasan b. `Ali on his shoulder saying, "O God, I love him, so I beseech Thee to love him." Bukhari and Muslim.

Abu Huraira told that at a certain time one day he went out with God's messenger who, when he came to Fatima's tent, said, "Is a little chap[*] there? Is a little chap there?" meaning Hasan. In a moment he came running and when they had embraced one another God's messenger said, "O God, I love him, so I beseech Thee to love him and to love those who love him." *The word is luka'. It is used of one who is contemptible, or of little worth, and is figuratively used of a young child. Perhaps one might compare the use of 'rascal' in English, where it is used of a child with obviously no suggestion of the normal meaning. It is used playfully.(Bukhari and Muslim.)

Abu Bakra told that he saw God's messenger on the pulpit with al-Hasan b. `Ali at his side. He was looking towards the people at one moment and towards him at another and saying, "This son of mine is a sayyid, and perhaps God m ay reconcile two large parties of Muslims by means of him." Bukhari transmitted it.