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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

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Mawaddah Association is pleased

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to present to you snapshots from the lives of the Companions

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by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,

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may Allah have mercy on him.

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Jabir ibn 'Abdillah al-Ansari,

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may Allah be pleased with him.

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The caravan pressed forward, hastening its steps from Yathrib to Makkah,

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driven by longing and impelled by yearning,

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for an appointment had been set with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

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Everyone in the caravan was eagerly anticipating that moment

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when they would be blessed to meet the Prophet, peace be upon him,

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place their hand in his hand to pledge allegiance to him in hearing and obedience,

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and covenant to support and champion him.

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Among the caravan was an elder from the notables of his people,

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who had seated his small, only son behind him on his mount,

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leaving behind in Yathrib nine daughters,

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as he had no son other than him.

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The elder was intensely eager for his young boy to witness the pledge of allegiance

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and not miss that momentous day among the days of Allah.

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As for that elder, he was 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr al-Khazraji al-Ansari,

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and as for his young boy, he was Jabir ibn 'Abdillah al-Ansari.

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Faith shone in the heart of Jabir ibn 'Abdillah when he was still a tender child,

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illuminating every corner of his soul;

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Islam touched his young heart

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just as dewdrops touch the petals of flowers, causing them to bloom

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and filling them with sweet scent and fragrance.

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His bond with the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, grew strong from his earliest childhood.

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When the supreme Messenger migrated to Al-Madinah,

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the young believer learned directly at the hands of the Prophet of guidance and mercy,

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becoming one of the most distinguished individuals produced by the Muhammadan school in memorizing the Book of Allah,

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understanding the religion of Allah,

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and narrating the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

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It suffices you to know that the Musnad of Jabir ibn 'Abdillah contains between its covers 1,540 hadiths,

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memorized by the gifted student

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and narrated to the Muslims from their supreme Prophet, peace be upon him.

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Al-Bukhari and Muslim recorded over two hundred of those hadiths in their Sahih collections,

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and he remained a beacon of light and guidance for the Muslims for a long time,

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as Allah granted him a long life until he nearly reached a century of age.

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Jabir ibn 'Abdillah did not witness Badr or Uhud with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

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because he was young, on one hand,

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and because his father commanded him to stay with his nine sisters, on the other hand,

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since they had no one else to take care of them.

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Jabir narrated, saying:

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"On the night preceding Uhud, my father called me and said,

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'I expect to be among the very first killed among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.

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By Allah, I leave behind no one dearer to me than you, after the Messenger of Allah.

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I have a debt, so settle my debt, and treat your sisters with compassion and kindly care.'

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So make sure to treat them well.

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When morning came, my father was the first person killed at Uhud.

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After I buried him, I came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, and said,

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'O Messenger of Allah, my father left behind a debt,

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and I have nothing with which to settle it except the yield of his date palms.

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Even if I devoted all that produce to paying off his debt, I could not fulfill it for years,

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and my sisters have no other wealth for their upkeep besides this.'

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So the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, stood up,

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walked with me to our heap of harvested dates—

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a heap being the place where dates are piled and gathered—

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and said to me, 'Summon your father's creditors.' So I called them.

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He kept measuring out dates for them until Allah discharged my father's debt in full from that year's harvest.

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Then I looked at the date heap and found it just as it was,

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as if not a single date had been taken from it."

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Ever since the death of Jabir's father,

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he never missed a single battle with the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

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In every battle, he had a memorable story told and cherished.

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Let us yield the floor to him

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to relate to us one of his experiences with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

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Jabir said:

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"On the Day of the Trench, while we were digging,

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we came upon a rock so hard that we were unable to break it.

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So we came to the Messenger, peace be upon him, and said,

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'O Prophet of Allah,

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a solid rock has obstructed our path,

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and our pickaxes have accomplished nothing against it.'

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He, peace be upon him, said,

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'Leave it, for I will go down to it.'

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Then he stood up,

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with a stone bound over his stomach due to severe hunger,

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because three days had passed

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during which we had not tasted any food.

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The Prophet, peace be upon him, took the pickaxe,

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struck the rock,

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and it crumbled into a mound of soft sand.

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At that moment,

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my grief deepened over the hunger afflicting the supreme Messenger, peace be upon him.

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I turned to him and said,

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'Will you grant me permission, O Messenger of Allah, to go to my house?'

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He said, 'Go.'

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When I reached home, I said to my wife,

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'I have seen such bitter hunger in the Messenger of Allah

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as no human being could bear.

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Do you have anything?'

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She said,

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'I have a little barley

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and a small young goat.'

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So I went to the goat, slaughtered it, dressed it,

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and placed it in the cooking pot.

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Then I took the barley, ground it, and handed it to my wife,

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and she kneaded the dough.

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When I saw that the meat was nearly cooked,

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and the dough had softened

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and was about to rise,

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I went to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and said to him,

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'A little food we have prepared for you, O Prophet of Allah,

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so please come, you and one or two men with you.'

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He asked, 'How much is it?'

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So I described it to him.

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When the Prophet, peace be upon him, realized the amount of food, he called out,

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'O people of the Trench!

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Jabir has prepared a feast for you, so come along!'

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Then he turned to me and said,

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'Go to your wife and tell her:

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"Do not remove your pot from the fire, nor bake your dough, until I arrive."'

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So I went home,

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overwhelmed by such anxiety and embarrassment

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as only Allah knows.

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I kept saying to myself,

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'Are the people of the Trench coming to us for a single measure of barley and a small young goat?'

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Then I entered upon my wife and said,

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'Woe to you, I am ruined!

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The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

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is bringing the entire army of the Trench to us!'

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She asked,

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'Did he ask you how much food you had?'

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I said, 'Yes.'

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She said,

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'Relieve your mind;

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Allah and His Messenger know best.'

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Her words lifted that immense worry from me.

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It was only a short while

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before the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, arrived,

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accompanied by the Ansar and the Muhajirun.

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He said to them,

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'Enter, but do not crowd.'

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Then he said to my wife,

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'Bring a baker to bake alongside you,

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ladle out from your pot, and do not remove it from the stove.'

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Then he began breaking the bread,

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topping it with meat,

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and serving it to his Companions while they ate,

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until everyone was fully satisfied.

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Jabir added, saying:

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'I swear by Allah,

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they departed after eating their fill,

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while our pot was still boiling, as full as it had been,

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and our dough was still being baked just as before.'

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Then the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

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said to my wife,

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'Eat from it, and send gifts of it.'

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So she ate

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and kept sending gifts of food for the rest of that day."

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Indeed,

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Jabir ibn 'Abdillah al-Ansari remained

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a beacon of light and guidance for Muslims for a long time,

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as Allah granted him long life

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until he nearly reached a century of age.

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One year, he went out to the land of the Byzantines to fight in the cause of Allah.

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The army was under the command of Malik ibn 'Abdillah al-Khath'ami.

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Malik was inspecting his troops as they marched,

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checking on their condition,

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boosting their morale,

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and giving the elders among them the honor and care they deserved.

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He passed by Jabir ibn 'Abdillah

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and found him walking,

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leading his mule by its reins.

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He said to him,

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"What is the matter, O Abu 'Abdillah?

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Why do you not ride,

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when Allah has made available to you a mount to carry you?"

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Jabir replied,

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"I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say:

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'Whosoever's feet become dusty in the cause of Allah, Allah will forbid him from the Fire.'"

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So Malik left him and rode ahead to the front of the army.

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Then he turned toward him and called out at the top of his voice,

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saying,

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"O Abu 'Abdillah!

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Why do you not ride your mule when it is in your possession?"

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Jabir understood his intention

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and answered him in a loud voice, saying,

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"I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say:

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'Whosoever's feet become dusty in the cause of Allah, Allah will forbid him from the Fire.'"

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Upon hearing this, the men leaped down from their mounts,

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each wanting to earn this reward,

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such that no army was ever seen with more foot soldiers than that army.

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Glad tidings to Jabir ibn 'Abdillah al-Ansari!

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He pledged allegiance to the supreme Messenger, peace be upon him,

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as a young child who had not yet reached puberty,

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learned directly at his hands from his earliest childhood,

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narrated his hadiths, which narrators transmitted from him,

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strove in jihad alongside the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

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as a young man in the prime of his youth,

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and got his feet dusty in the cause of Allah

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as an old man of advanced age,

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narrating to the Muslims from their supreme Prophet,

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peace be upon him,

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1,540 hadiths.

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[Music]