Part of Pictures from the lives of the Companions (series completed)
· Lesson 42 of 93
Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (57) - Abu Hurairah Al-Dawsi, may God be pleased with him
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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The Mawaddah Association is pleased
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to present to you *Portraits 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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Abu Hurayrah al-Dawsi, may Allah be pleased with him.
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There is no doubt that you know this shining star among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
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For is there anyone in the Ummah of Islam who does not know Abu Hurayrah?
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In the pre-Islamic era of ignorance, people used to call him 'Abd Shams.
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But when Allah honored him with Islam and blessed him with meeting the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,
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he asked him, "What is your name?"
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He replied, "'Abd Shams."
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The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said,
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"Rather, 'Abd al-Rahman."
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He said, "Yes, 'Abd al-Rahman,
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may my father and mother be ransomed for you, O Messenger of Allah."
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As for his kunyah, 'Abu Hurayrah' (Father of the Kitten),
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its origin was that during his childhood he had a small kitten he used to play with,
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so his peers began calling him Abu Hurayrah.
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This nickname spread and became so widespread that it overtook his real name.
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When his life became intertwined with that of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him,
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the Prophet often called him 'Abu Hirr,'
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out of friendliness and affection.
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Consequently, he came to prefer 'Abu Hirr' over 'Abu Hurayrah',
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and he would say:
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"My beloved, the Messenger of Allah, called me by it.
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Besides, a *hirr* is male,
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while a *hurayrah* is female,
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and the male is better than the female."
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Abu Hurayrah embraced Islam at the hands of al-Tufayl ibn 'Amr al-Dawsi,
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and remained in the land of his people, Daws, until six years after the Hijrah,
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when he arrived with a delegation of his people to meet the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, in Madinah.
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The young Dawsi devoted himself entirely to serving the Messenger of Allah and keeping his company.
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He took the mosque as his dwelling,
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and the Prophet as his teacher and leader.
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During the Prophet's lifetime, he had neither a wife nor children;
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he had only an elderly mother who stubbornly clung to polytheism.
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He never ceased calling her to Islam,
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out of compassion and filial devotion toward her,
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but she would turn away from him and rebuff him.
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He would leave her with sorrow tearing at his heart.
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One day, he invited her to believe in Allah and His Messenger,
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but she said something about the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that deeply saddened and distressed him.
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So he went weeping to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.
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The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, asked him,
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"What makes you weep, O Abu Hurayrah?"
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He said, "I have never ceased calling my mother to Islam, but she persistently refuses me.
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Today, I called her again, and she made me hear words concerning you that I abhor.
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Pray to Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, to incline the heart of Abu Hurayrah's mother toward Islam."
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So the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, prayed for her.
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Abu Hurayrah said: "I went back home,
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and found the door closed.
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I heard the splashing of water.
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When I went to enter, my mother said, 'Stay where you are, O Abu Hurayrah!'
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Then she put on her garment and said, 'Enter.'
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I entered, and she said, 'I bear witness that there is no god but Allah,
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and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.'
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I returned to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, weeping with joy,
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just as an hour earlier I had wept with grief, and I said:
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'Rejoice, O Messenger of Allah!
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Allah has answered your supplication
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and guided the mother of Abu Hurayrah to Islam.'"
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Abu Hurayrah loved the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, with a love
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that mingled with his very flesh and blood.
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He could never gaze at him enough, and he would say:
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"I have never seen anything more radiant or handsome than the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him;
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it was as though the sun itself coursed across his face."
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He would constantly praise Allah, Blessed and Exalted,
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for blessing him with the companionship of His Prophet and following his religion,
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saying: "Praise be to Allah Who guided Abu Hurayrah to Islam!
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Praise be to Allah Who taught Abu Hurayrah the Qur'an!
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Praise be to Allah Who blessed Abu Hurayrah with the companionship of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him!"
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Just as Abu Hurayrah was devoted to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him,
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he was equally devoted to sacred knowledge,
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making it his constant pursuit and ultimate aspiration.
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Zayd ibn Thabit related, saying:
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"While Abu Hurayrah, a companion of mine, and I were in the mosque,
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supplicating Allah the Exalted and remembering Him,
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the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, came upon us.
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He approached us and sat down among us,
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so we fell silent.
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He said, 'Resume what you were doing.'
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So my companion and I supplicated Allah before Abu Hurayrah,
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and the Messenger kept saying 'Amin' to our prayers.
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Then Abu Hurayrah supplicated, saying:
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'O Allah, I ask You for all that my two companions have asked of You,
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and I ask You for knowledge that will never be forgotten.'
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The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said,
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'Amin.'
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We then said, 'And we too ask Allah for knowledge that will never be forgotten!'
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But he said,
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'The young Dawsi has beaten you to it.'"
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Just as Abu Hurayrah loved knowledge for himself,
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he loved it for others as well.
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An example of this is when he once passed through the marketplace of Madinah
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and was appalled by people's absorption in worldly pursuits
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and their total immersion in buying, selling, taking, and giving.
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He stood before them and said,
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"How helpless you are, O people of Madinah!"
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They asked, "What helplessness do you see in us, O Abu Hurayrah?"
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He replied, "The inheritance of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him,
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is being distributed, and you are here!
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Why do you not go and take your share?"
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They asked, "And where is it, O Abu Hurayrah?"
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He said, "In the mosque."
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They rushed out quickly,
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and Abu Hurayrah waited for them until they returned.
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When they saw him, they said, "O Abu Hurayrah,
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we went to the mosque and entered it,
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but we did not see anything being distributed!"
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He asked them,
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"Did you not see anyone in the mosque?"
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They said, "Yes,
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we saw people praying,
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people reciting the Qur'an,
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and people discussing the lawful and the unlawful."
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He said, "Woe to you!
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That is the inheritance of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."
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Due to his complete dedication to knowledge
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and his devotion to the gatherings of the Messenger of Allah, Abu Hurayrah endured
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hunger and hardship in living such as no one else experienced.
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Relating about himself, he said:
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"Severe hunger would overtake me,
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to the extent that I would ask a man from among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah about a verse from the Qur'an,
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even though I already knew it,
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merely so that he might take me with him to his home and feed me.
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One day, my hunger grew so intense
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that I bound a stone against my stomach,
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and I sat in the path of the Companions.
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Abu Bakr passed by me,
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so I asked him about a verse from the Book of Allah,
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asking him only so that he might invite me,
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but he did not invite me.
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Then 'Umar ibn al-Khattab passed by me,
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and I asked him about a verse,
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but he did not invite me either.
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Finally, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, passed by me,
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and he recognized the hunger upon me.
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He called, 'Abu Hurayrah!'
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I said, 'At your service, O Messenger of Allah!'
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So I followed him.
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I entered the house with him,
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and he found a bowl containing milk.
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He asked his household, 'Where did you get this from?'
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They said,
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'So-and-so sent it to you as a gift.'
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He said,
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'O Abu Hurayrah,
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go to the people of the Suffah and summon them.'
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It grieved me that he sent me to invite them,
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and I said to myself,
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'What will this milk do for all the people of the Suffah?
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I had hoped to take a drink from it to regain my strength,
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and then go to them.'
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Nevertheless, I went to the people of the Suffah and invited them,
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and they came.
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When they sat before the Messenger of Allah, he said,
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'Take it, O Abu Hurayrah, and give it to them.'
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So I began handing it to each man, and he would drink until he was satisfied,
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until all of them had drunk.
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Then I handed the bowl back to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
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He lifted his head toward me, smiling, and said,
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'Only you and I remain.'
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I said,
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'You have spoken the truth, O Messenger of Allah.'
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He said, 'Drink!' So I drank.
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Then he said, 'Drink!' So I drank again.
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He kept telling me to drink,
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and I kept drinking until I said,
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'By the One Who sent you with the truth,
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I can find no room for any more!'
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He then took the vessel and drank the remainder."
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Not long after that,
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abundant wealth poured in upon the Muslims,
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and the spoils of conquest flowed to them.
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Consequently, Abu Hurayrah acquired wealth, a home, furnishings,
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a wife, and children.
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Yet none of that altered his noble character in the least,
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nor did it make him forget his earlier days.
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He would frequently say:
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"I grew up an orphan,
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emigrated as a pauper,
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and worked as a hired hand for Busrah bint Ghazwan in exchange for my daily food:
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I served the company when they halted,
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and led their camels by chanting when they rode.
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Then Allah married her to me!
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So praise be to Allah Who made the religion a pillar of support,
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and made Abu Hurayrah a leader!"
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Abu Hurayrah was appointed governor of Madinah
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by Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan on more than one occasion,
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yet governance did not diminish his good nature or pleasant humor in the least.
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Once, while governing the city, he passed along one of the roads of Madinah
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carrying firewood on his back for his family.
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He passed by Tha'labah ibn Malik
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and said to him,
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"Make way for the governor, O Ibn Malik!"
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Tha'labah said to him,
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"May Allah have mercy on you!
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"Is all this space not enough for you?"
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So he said to him,
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"Clear the way for the governor and the bundle on his back!"
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Along with his vast knowledge and generous soul, Abu Hurairah combined
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God-fearing piety and scrupulousness.
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He used to fast during the day and pray during a third of the night,
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then awaken his wife to pray for the second third,
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and she would then awaken her daughter to pray for the final third.
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Thus, worship in his house was continuous throughout the entire night.
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Abu Hurairah had a Black servant girl,
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and she offended him and caused distress to his family,
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so he raised his whip to strike her with it.
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Then he stopped and said,
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"Were it not for the retaliation on the Day of Resurrection,
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I would have made you feel pain just as you caused us pain.
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Instead, I will sell you to someone who will pay me your price full and well,
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at a time when I am in the utmost need of it—
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go!
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For you are free for the sake of Allah, Almighty and Glorious."
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His daughter used to say to him,
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"O my father, the girls mock me!"
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And she would say,
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"Why does your father not adorn you with gold?"
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He would reply, "O my daughter,
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say to them,
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'My father fears for me the heat of the blazing Flame.'"
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Abu Hurairah’s refusal to adorn his daughter was not due to
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stinginess with wealth or greed for it,
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for he was magnanimous and open-handed in the cause of Allah.
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Marwan ibn al-Hakam once sent him
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one hundred gold dinars.
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The following day, he sent a message to him, saying:
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"My servant made a mistake and gave you the dinars,
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when I did not intend them for you;
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I intended them for someone else."
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Abu Hurairah was caught off guard and distressed, saying,
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"I have already spent them in the cause of Allah,
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and not a single dinar of them spent the night with me.
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So when my stipend comes out, take them from it."
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Yet Marwan had only done that to test him;
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when he investigated the matter, he found it to be true.
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Throughout his entire life, Abu Hurairah remained
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devoted and dutiful to his mother.
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Whenever he wanted to leave the house,
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he would stand at the door of her room and say,
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"Peace be upon you, mother, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings."
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And she would reply,
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"And upon you be peace, my son, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings."
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Then he would say,
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"May Allah have mercy on you, just as you raised me when I was small."
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And she would say,
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"May Allah have mercy on you, just as you were dutiful to me when I grew old."
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Then when he returned home, he would do the same.
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Abu Hurairah was extremely eager
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to call people to honor their parents
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and maintain their family ties.
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One day, he saw two men
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walking together, one older than the other.
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So he said to the younger of them,
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"What is this man to you?"
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He replied, "My father."
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Abu Hurairah said to him,
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"Do not call him by his name,
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do not walk ahead of him,
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and do not sit down before he does."
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When Abu Hurairah fell ill with the illness that led to his death, he wept.
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It was said to him,
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"What makes you weep, O Abu Hurairah?"
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He replied,
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"As for me, I am not weeping over this world of yours,
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but I am weeping because of the long journey and the scarcity of provisions.
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I stand at the end of a road
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leading me to Paradise or to Hell,
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and I do not know which of them I will be in."
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Marwan ibn al-Hakam visited him in his illness and said to him,
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"May Allah cure you, O Abu Hurairah!"
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Abu Hurairah said,
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"O Allah, I love meeting You,
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so love meeting me and hasten it for me!"
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Marwan had barely left his house
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when Abu Hurairah passed away.
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May Allah show vast mercy to Abu Hurairah!
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For he preserved for the Muslims more than
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1,609 hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
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and may He reward him abundantly on behalf of Islam and the Muslims.
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Abu Hurairah preserved for the Ummah of Islam
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more than 1,600 hadiths
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of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
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Historians,
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by Muhammad and his Companions,
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the firm edifice has been established, O company!
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Inspire me to speak at length in their praise; is there any more?