The Book of Miscellany

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would place his hands upon our shoulders when we would form rows for As-Salat (the prayer) and say, "Stand in straight rows and do not differ among yourselves, or else your hearts will differ due to disaccord. Let those be nearest to me who are mature and endowed with understanding (of the religion), then those who are nearest to them in these respects and then those who are nearest to them".[Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Let those be nearest to me in Salat (prayer) who are mature and possess (religious) knowledge, then those who are nearest to them in these respects". He repeated this three times and then added, "Beware of indulging in the loose talks of the markets (when you are in the mosque)".[Muslim].

'Abdullah bin Sahl and Muhaiyisah bin Mas'ud (May Allah be pleased with them) went to Khaibar during the period of the truce (after its conquest) and they separated to perform their duties. When Muhaiyisah returned to `Abdullah bin Sahl, he found him murdered, drenched in his blood. So he buried him and returned to Al-Madinah. Then `Abdur-Rahman bin Sahl, Huwaiyisah and Muhaiyisah, the two sons of Mas`ud went to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and spoke about the case of their (murdered) friend. `Abdur-Rahman, who was the youngest of them all, started talking. Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Let those older than you speak first." So he stopped talking and the (other two) spoke about the case of their (murdered) friend. Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Will you take an oath whereby you will have the right to receive the blood money of your murdered man?" And mentioned the rest of the Hadith. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

After the battle of Uhud, the Prophet (ﷺ) arranged the burial of two of the martyrs in one grave. In each case he would ask, "Which one of them had learnt more Qur'an by heart?" Whichever was thus pointed out to him, was placed by him first in the Lahd.[Al- Bukhari].

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "It was shown to me in my dream that I was cleaning my teeth with a Miswak and two men came to me, one being older than the other. I gave the Miswak to the younger one, but I was asked to give it to the older, which I did".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "It is out of reverence to Allah in respecting an aged Muslim, and the one who commits the Qur'an to memory and does not exaggerate pronouncing its letters nor forgets it after memorizing, and to respect the just ruler".[Abu Dawud, who classified it as Hadith Hasan].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "He is not one of us who shows no mercy to younger ones and does not acknowledge the honour due to our elders".[At- Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud, who both classified it as Hadith Sahih].

A begger asked 'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) for charity and she gave him a piece of bread. Thereafter, one well-dressed person asked her for charity and she invited him to sit down and served him food. When she was asked about the reason for the difference in treatment, she said: "Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) instructed us: 'Treat people according to their status".[Abu Dawud].

'Uyainah bin Hisn came to Al-Madinah and stayed with his nephew Al-Hurr bin Qais who was among those who were close to 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) and had access to his council. The scholarly persons, whether they were old or young, had the privilege of joining his council and he used to consult them. 'Uyainah said to Al-Hurr: "My dear nephew, you have an access to the Leader of the Believers. Will you obtain permission for me to sit with him?" Al-Hurr asked 'Umar and he accorded permission. When 'Uyainah came into the presence of 'Umar, he addressed him thus: "O son of Al-Khattab, you neither bestow much on us nor deal with us justly." 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) got angry and was about to beat him when Al-Hurr said: "O Leader of the Believers, Allah has said to his Prophet (ﷺ): 'Show forgiveness, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the foolish (i.e., don't punish them), [i.e., 'Uyainah] (7:199). This is one of the ignorant ones." By Allah! When al-Hurr recited this, 'Umar became quite motionless in his seat. He always adhered strictly to the Book of Allah.[Al-Bukhari]

I was a boy during the lifetime of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and used to commit to my memory what he said, but I do not narrate what I preserved because there were among us people who were older than me.[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "If a young man honours an older person on account of his age, Allah appoints someone to show reverence to him in his old age"[At-Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Gharib].

After the death of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) said to 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) : "Let us visit Umm Aiman (May Allah be pleased with her) as Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to visit her". As we came to her, she wept. They (Abu Bakr and 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) said to her, "What makes you weep? Do you not know that what Allah has in store for His Messenger (ﷺ) is better than (this worldly life)?" She said, "I weep not because I am ignorant of the fact that what is in store for Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) (in the Hereafter) is better than this world, but I weep because the Revelation has ceased to come". This moved both of them to tears and they began to weep along with her.[Muslim].

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "A man set out to visit a brother (in Faith) in another town and Allah sent an angel on his way. When the man met the angel, the latter asked him, "Where do you intend to go?" He said, "I intend to visit my brother in this town." The angel said, "Have you done any favour to him?" He said, "No, I have no desire except to visit him because I love him for the sake of Allah, the Exalted, and Glorious." Thereupon the angel said, "I am a messenger to you from Allah (to inform you) that Allah loves you as you love him (for His sake)"[Muslim].

I heard Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, "Whosoever visits an ailing person or a brother of his to seek the Pleasure of Allah, an announcer (angel) calls out: 'May you be happy, may your walking be blessed, and may you be awarded a dignified position in Jannah".[At- Tirmidhi, who categorized it as Hadith Hasan].

I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "The similitude of good company and that of bad company is that of the owner of musk and of the one blowing the bellows. The owner of musk would either offer you some free of charge, or you would buy it from him, or you smell its pleasant fragrance; and as for the one who blows the bellows (i.e., the blacksmith), he either burns your clothes or you smell a repugnant smell".[Al- Bukhari and Muslim].

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "A woman is married for four things: for her wealth, for her lineage, for her beauty or for her piety. Select the pious, may you be blessed!".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

The Prophet (ﷺ) said to Jibril (Gabriel), "What prevents you from visiting us more frequently?" Thereupon was revealed the Ayah: "(The angels say:) 'And we (angels) descend not except by the Command of your Rubb. To Him belongs what is before us and what is behind us, and what is between those two". (19:64)[Al- Bukhari].

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Keep only a believer for a companion and let only a pious eat your food".[At-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud].

I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "Man follows his friend's religion, you should be careful who you take for friends".[Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Hasan].

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "A person will be summoned with the one whom he loves".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].Another narration is: The Prophet (ﷺ) was asked; "What about a person who loves a people but cannot be with them?" (i.e., either he cannot attain their lofty position of righteousness or that he has not met with them in this life). He (ﷺ) replied, "A person will be in the company of those whom he loves".