Fine Qualities

Abd ar-Rahman b. Abu Nu`m told that he heard `Abdallah b. `Umar say when a man asked him about [a pilgrim] wearing the ihram (Shu'ba remarking that he thought it concerned killing flies), "The people of al-`Iraq ask me about flies when they have killed the son of God's messenger's daughter, two people of whom God's messenger has said they[1] are his offspring[2] in the world! " Meaning al-Hasan and al-Husain. The word is raihan, used in the dual. One of the meanings of the word is a bounty or blessing from God. It is usually explained in connection with this tradition as meaning descendants.Bukhari transmitted it.

Anas said no one more closely resembled the Prophet than al-Hasan b. `Ali, and he said of al-Husain also that he was the one who bore the closest resemblance to God's messenger. Bukhari transmitted it.

The Prophet caught me to his breast and said, "O God, teach him the wisdom." A version has "Teach him the Book." Bukhari transmitted it.

The Prophet entered the privy and I placed water for him. On coming out he asked who had placed it, and when he was told he said, "0 God, give him insight regarding the religion." Bukhari and Muslim.

Usama b. Zaid told that the Prophet used to take al-Hasan and him and say, "0 God, I beseech Thee to love them, for I love them." In a version he told that God's messenger used to take him and put him on his knee, then put al-Hasan on the other knee, and after embracing them say, "0 God, I beseech Thee to have compassion on them, for I have compassion on them." Bukhari transmitted it.

`Abdallah b. `Umar told that when God's messenger sent out a force in charge of which he appointed Usama b. Zaid and some people criticised his appointment, he said, "If you criticise his appointment you have done the same before about his father's appointment[*]. I swear by God that he was worthy of the office of commander, that he was one of those who were dearest to me, and that this man is one of those who are dearest to me after his time." *The reference is to Zaid b. Haritha who was killed when leading the troops at Mu'ta. (Bukhari and Muslim.) In a version by Muslim there is something to the same effect at the end of which come the words "I commend him to you, for he is one of your upright ones."

He told that they used to call Zaid b. Haritha, God's messenger's client, simply Zaid b. Muhammad till the verse in the Quran came down, "Call them after their fathers[*]." *Quran, 33:5. (Bukhari and Muslim.)The tradition of al-Bara' in which he said to `Ali, "You pertain to me," has been mentioned in the chapter on young people attaining puberty, and their guardianship in childhood[*].

Jabir told that he saw God's messenger when performing the hajj seated on his she-camel al-Qaswa' on the day of `Arafa giving an address, and he heard him saying, "0 you people, I have left among you something of such a nature that if you adhere to it you will not go astray, God's Book and my close relatives who belong to my household." Tirmidhi transmitted it.

God's Book, a rope stretched from heaven to earth, and my close relatives who belong to my household. These two will not separate from one another till they come down to the Pond, so consider how you act regarding them after my departure." Tirmidhi transmitted it.

He told that God's messenger said of `Ali, Fatima, al-Hasan and al-Husain, "I am war to him who makes war on them and peace to him who makes peace with them." Tirmidhi transmitted it.

I went in with my paternal aunt to visit `A'isha and asked[*] who was dearest to God's messenger. When she replied that it was Fatima, she was asked who was dearest among men and replied that it was her husband. *It is not clear from the text in Mirqat whether Jumai' or his paternal aunt asked the question. The word is not pointed, and the third singular feminine and the first singular have the same consonants. Cf. Mirqat, 5:601. Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Once when I was with God's messenger, al-`Abbas came in angrily, and when he asked him what was making him angry he said, "What is wrong between us and Quraish? When they meet one another, they do so with cheerful faces, but when they met us they act differently." God's messenger became so angry that he was red in the face, and he then said, "By Him in whose hand my soul is, faith will not enter a man's heart till be loves you[*] for God's sake and His messenger's." He then said, "O you people, he who injures my paternal uncle has injured me, for a man's paternal uncle is the same as his father." *The pronoun is plural. Tirmidhi transmitted it. In al-Masabih it is given on the authority of al-Muttalib (There was a man al-Muttalib b. Rabi'a as well as 'Abd al-Muttalib b. Rabi'a, both of whom were companions of the Prophet, but it seems that a mistake has been made in Masabih as-sunna through the omission of `Abd, probably inadvertently.)

Ibn `Abbas reported God's messenger as saying, "Al-`Abbas pertains to me and I to him." Tirmidhi transmitted it.

He reported God's messenger as saying to al-`Abbas, "When Monday morning comes come to me with your children so that I may make for you a supplication by which God may benefit you and your children." He and they came in the morning, and when he had put his cloak over them he said, "O God, grant al-`Abbas and his children such forgiveness without and within as will not leave a sin. O God, guard him in his children." Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Razin added, "And cause the Caliphate to remain among his descendants." Tirmidhi said this is a gharib tradition.

He told that he had seen Gabriel twice and that God's messenger invoked a blessing on him twice. Tirmidhi transmitted it.

God's messenger made supplication for me twice that God might give me wisdom. Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Abu Huraira told that Ja'far used to love the poor. He would sit with them and talk to them and they would talk to him. God's messenger used to address him by the kunya Abul Masakin (father of the poor). Tirmidhi transmitted it.

He reported God's messenger as saying, "I saw Ja'far flying in paradise along with the angels."Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a gharib tradition.

Abu Sa'id reported God's messenger as saying, "Al-Hasan and al-Husain will be the chief ones among the youths[*] who go to paradise."*Mirqat, 5:604, indicates that the meaning is not easy to decide. One suggestion is that shabab (plural of shabb) which means "youths" is used in the same sense as fatan (young man) when it means a brave warrior without any particular indication of age. A less likely suggestion is that the words refer to all those who go to paradise, apart from prophets and the four rightly-guided Caliphs, because all the inhabitants of paradise will be young. Another suggestion is that the words refer to those who were young when the Prophet spoke them.Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Ibn `Umar reported God's messenger as saying, "Al-Hasan and al-Husain are my offspring in the world." Tirmidhi transmitted it. It has occurred already in the first section.