In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
My longing to meet them ever grows,
And to their sanctuary, my heart journeys from afar.
O generation that followed true guidance,
Shine upon us anew.
My longing to meet them—
The Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you:
"Portraits from the Lives of the Companions"
by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy on him.
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari,
may Allah be pleased with him.
This illustrious Companion
was named Khalid ibn Zayd ibn Kulayb,
of the Banu al-Najjar clan.
His kunyah was Abu Ayyub,
and his lineage belonged to the Ansar.
And who among us, the community of Muslims,
does not know Abu Ayyub al-Ansari?
For Allah exalted his renown across the two horizons,
and elevated his stature among all mankind,
when He chose his home out of all the Muslims' homes
to host the Noble Prophet,
when he arrived in Medina as an emigrant—
and that alone is honor enough for him.
The lodging of the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
in the house of Abu Ayyub
is a story sweet to recount
and delightful to repeat.
For when the Prophet, peace be upon him,
reached Medina,
the hearts of its people met him
with the most generous welcome ever accorded a newcomer.
Their eyes gazed eagerly toward him,
expressing the longing of a lover for his beloved;
they opened their hearts to him,
that he might dwell in their very core,
and flung wide the doors of their houses to him,
that he might abide in the most cherished of dwellings.
But the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
stayed in Quba, on the outskirts of Medina,
for four days,
during which he built his mosque—the very first mosque
founded upon piety.
Then he set out from it, mounted upon his she-camel.
The chieftains of Yathrib stood in her path,
each yearning to win
the honor of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, staying
in his home.
They would intercept the she-camel,
chieftain after chieftain,
saying:
"Dwell with us, O Messenger of Allah,
in numbers, wealth, and fortified protection!"
But he would say to them: "Let her go,
for she is under divine command."
And the she-camel continued toward her destination,
followed by all eyes,
encircled by all hearts.
Whenever she passed a house,
its people were grieved
and overcome with despair,
while hope shone bright in the souls of those ahead.
The she-camel went on in this manner,
with the people trailing behind her,
burning with eager anticipation
to learn who the blessed, fortunate host would be,
until she reached an open
lot in front of the house of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari,
where she knelt down.
Yet the Messenger, peace be upon him,
did not dismount.
Soon she sprang up
and began walking again,
while the Messenger gave her slack reins.
Then, before long,
she turned back in her tracks
and knelt down once more in her first resting place.
Thereupon,
boundless joy overwhelmed the heart of Abu Ayyub
al-Ansari.
He hastened toward the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
welcoming him warmly,
and carried his luggage in his arms
as though he were carrying
all the treasures of the world,
proceeding with it toward his home.
The house of Abu Ayyub
consisted of a lower floor
with an upper room above it.
So he cleared the upper room of his belongings
and those of his family,
that the Messenger of Allah might stay in it.
However, the Prophet, peace be upon him,
preferred
the lower floor over it.
Abu Ayyub complied with his wish
and accommodated him wherever he pleased.
When night fell
and the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah
be upon him, retired to his bed,
Abu Ayyub
and his wife climbed up to the upper room.
No sooner had they shut
its door upon themselves than
Abu Ayyub turned to his wife
and said, "Woe to you!
What have we done?
Can the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, be
below,
while we are above him?
Shall I walk above the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him?
Shall we come between the Prophet
and revelation?
We would surely then
be ruined!"
The couple was seized with distress and bewilderment,
not knowing what to do.
Their souls found
no measure of peace
until they retreated
to the side of the upper room
that was not directly above the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
They kept strictly to it, never leaving it
except by tiptoeing along the edges,
keeping well away
from the center.
In the morning, Abu Ayyub
said to the Prophet, peace be upon him:
"By Allah, not an eyelid
of ours closed this
night—neither mine
nor Umm Ayyub's."
So he, peace be upon him, asked:
"And why was that, O Abu
Ayyub?" He replied:
"I remembered that I was on the roof of a house
beneath which you were,
and that if I moved,
dust would fall upon you and cause you discomfort.
Moreover,
I would be coming between you and revelation."
Thereupon the Messenger, peace and blessings
be upon him, said to him:
"Take it easy, O Abu Ayyub;
it is indeed more convenient for us
to be on the ground floor,
on account of the many people who visit us."
Abu Ayyub said:
"So I complied with the order of the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
until a cold night came
when a clay jar of ours broke,
and its water spilled out
in the upper room.
Umm Ayyub and I rushed to the water,
having nothing
but a single velvet garment that we
used as a blanket.
We began soaking up the water with it,
for fear that any of it might seep through
to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
When morning came,
I went down to the Messenger, peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him,
and said: 'May my father and mother be ransomed for you!
I cannot bear to be
above you,
while you are below me.'
Then I told him the incident of the jar,
so he consented to my plea
and moved up to the upper room,
while Umm Ayyub and I moved down
to the ground floor."
The Prophet, peace be upon him, stayed
in the house of Abu Ayyub
for about seven months,
until the construction
of his mosque was completed upon the vacant land
where the she-camel had knelt down.
He then moved into the apartments
that were built around the mosque
for himself and his wives,
thereby becoming a neighbor to Abu Ayyub—
and how noble
were those two neighbors!
Abu Ayyub loved
the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah
be upon him, with a love
that captured his heart and soul,
and the Noble Messenger loved
Abu Ayyub with a love
that removed all formality between them,
leading him to regard
the house of Abu Ayyub
as though it were his own home.
Ibn 'Abbas narrated, saying:
Abu Bakr
(may Allah be pleased with him) went out in the midday heat
to the mosque,
and 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) saw him
and said, "O Abu Bakr,
what brought you out at this hour?"
He replied,
"Nothing brought me out except what I feel
of severe hunger."
Thereupon 'Umar said,
"By Allah, nothing brought me out
other than that either."
While they were conversing like that,
the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came out to them
and said,
"What brought the two of you out at this hour?"
They said, "By Allah,
nothing brought us out except what we feel
in our bellies from severe hunger."
He (peace be upon him) said,
"And by the One in Whose
Hand is my soul,
nothing brought me out other than that.
Stand up and come with me."
So they set off
and came to the door of Abu Ayyub
(may Allah be pleased with him).
Now Abu Ayyub used to keep aside
for the Messenger of Allah every day
some food;
then, if he was delayed and did not come
to him at his usual time,
he would feed it to his family.
When they reached the door,
Umm Ayyub came out to them
and said, "Welcome!"
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked her,
"Where is Abu Ayyub?"
Abu Ayyub heard
the voice of the Prophet,
as he was working in a nearby palm grove of his.
So he came rushing,
saying, "Welcome
to the Messenger of Allah and to those with him!"
Then he followed up by saying,
"O Prophet of Allah,
this is not the time at which
you usually come."
The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied,
"You have spoken the truth."
Abu Ayyub went to his palm trees
and cut down a cluster
containing dried dates, ripe dates, and unripe dates.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
"I did not want you
to cut this down!
Why did you not just pick some of its dried dates for us?"
He said, "O Messenger of Allah,
I wanted you to eat
from its dried dates, its ripe dates, and its unripe dates;
and I will surely slaughter
for you as well."
The Prophet said, "If you slaughter, do not slaughter
a milch animal."
Abu Ayyub took a young goat
and slaughtered it; then he said
to his wife, "Knead the dough
and bake bread for us, for you
know best how to bake." Then
he took half the goat and stewed it,
and turned to the other half
and roasted it. When
the food was cooked and placed
before the Prophet and his two companions,
the Messenger took a piece
of the goat and placed it
in a loaf of bread and said,
"O Abu Ayyub,
hasten with this piece
to Fatimah, for she
has not tasted the like of this for
days." When
they had eaten and were full,
the Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
"Bread,
meat, dried dates,
unripe dates, and ripe dates!"
His eyes welled with tears, and then
he said, "By the One in Whose
Hand is my soul,
this is indeed the blessing about which
you will be questioned on the Day of Resurrection.
So when you partake of such food
and reach out your hands to it,
say:
'In the name of Allah';
and when you are satisfied, say:
'Praise be to Allah Who
has satisfied us and bestowed favor
upon us and excelled in generosity.'"
Then the Messenger (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) stood up
and said to Abu Ayyub,
"Come to us tomorrow."
The Prophet (peace be upon him) never had someone
do him a favor
without wishing to reward him
for it.
But Abu Ayyub did not hear
that,
so 'Umar (may Allah be pleased
with him) said to him, "The Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) is bidding you
to come to him tomorrow, O Abu
Ayyub!" Abu
Ayyub replied, "Hearing and obeying
to the Messenger of Allah."
When the next day came,
Abu Ayyub went to the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him),
who gave him a young female servant who used to serve him,
and said to him,
"Treat her well, O Abu
Ayyub, for we have seen nothing from her
but good as long as she has been
with us." Abu
Ayyub returned to his home, bringing with him
the young woman. When
Umm Ayyub saw her, she asked,
"Whose is this, O Abu
Ayyub?" He replied, "Ours;
the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) gifted her to us."
She said,
"How magnificent a giver,
and how noble a gift!"
He added,
"And he instructed us to treat her well."
She asked,
"And what shall we do with her so that
we fulfill the instruction of the Messenger of Allah
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)?"
He said, "By Allah, I do not
find any way to fulfill the counsel of the Messenger of Allah
toward her that is better
than freeing her."
She said, "You have been guided to
what is right, and you are truly granted success!"
So he emancipated her.
These are but a few glimpses into the life
of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari
in times of peace.
Yet if you were granted the opportunity to examine
some aspects of his life in wartime,
you would witness something truly wondrous!
For Abu Ayyub
(may Allah be pleased with him) lived his entire life
as a warrior, to the point that
it was said he never stayed behind
from any military expedition the Muslims undertook
from the time of the Messenger
until the era of Mu'awiyah,
unless he was occupied
away from it by another campaign.
His final expedition was
when Mu'awiyah prepared an army
under the command of his son Yazid
to conquer Constantinople.
At that time, Abu Ayyub
was an elderly man,
advanced in years,
approaching eighty years of age.
Yet that did not prevent him
from enlisting under the banner of
Yazid and cleaving
the waves of the sea as a warrior
in the cause of Allah.
However, only a short time passed
after engaging the enemy
before Abu Ayyub fell ill—
an illness that immobilized him from
continuing to fight.
So Yazid came to visit him
and asked him, "Do you have any final request,
O Abu Ayyub?"
He said, "Convey my greetings
of peace to the Muslim soldiers,
and say to them:
'Abu Ayyub urges you
to penetrate deep into the land
to the farthest possible reach,
to carry him along with you,
and to bury him beneath
your feet by
the walls of Constantinople.'"
And breathed his pure last breath.
The Muslim soldiers
responded to the wish
of the Companion of the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
and launched attack after attack
against the enemy ranks,
until they reached the walls
of Constantinople, carrying
Abu Ayyub with them.
And there,
they dug a grave for him
and laid him to rest in it.
May Allah have mercy on Abu Ayyub
al-Ansari,
for he insisted on dying nowhere else
but upon the backs of noble steeds,
striving as a warrior in the cause
of Allah, even though his age
was nearing eighty.
Abu Ayyub
al-Ansari, may Allah be pleased
with him,
was buried beneath the walls of Constantinople.