Reciting the Last Three Verses of Surah al-Baqarah at Bedtime

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ʿAlī, peace be upon him, said,

“I cannot imagine anyone of sound mind going to sleep before reciting the last three verses of Sūrah al-Baqarah; they are truly a treasure from beneath the Throne.”

Reported by Ibn al-Ḍurays in Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān (176) with a sound chain.

It is also recorded by al-Dārimī (3427) and Ibn Abī Dāwūd in Sharīʿat al-Maghāzī as in Ibn Ḥajar’s Natāʾij al-Afkār (3: 90) with slight differences.

Ibn al-Ḍurays’s particular chain to ʿAlī, may Allāh be pleased with him, is sound. Here is the analysis of the chain along with a key to their biographical sources:

Key: AD = Sunan Abī Dāwūd, B = Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, IḤT = al-Thiqāt of Ibn Ḥibbān, IḤṬM = Ibn Ḥajar’s Ṭabaqāt al-Mudallisīn, IM = Sunan Ibn Mājah, JTIAḤ = al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl of Ibn Abī Ḥātim, M = Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, N = Sunan al-Nasāʾī, Siyar = Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ of al-Dhahabī, TKB = al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr of al-Bukhārī, The Six = Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Sunan al-Nasāʾī, and Sunan Ibn Mājah, TK = Tahdhīb al-Kamāl of al-Mizzī, TQT = Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb of Ibn Ḥajar, TT = Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb of Ibn Ḥajar, TTT = Taḥrīr Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb,

Ibn al-Ḍurays (d. 294): Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Ayyūb b. Yaḥyá b. Ḍurays al-Bajalī, al-Rāzī, memoriser, traditionist, lived a long life (born around 200H), author of Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān wa mā Unzila min al-Qurʾān bi Makkah wa mā Unzila bi al-Madīnah, audited by the ḥadīth master and rijāl critic Ibn Abī Ḥātim who declared him trustworthy and truthful, declared trustworthy by al-Dhahabī as well, and is included in al-Thiqāt by Ibn Ḥibbān, and he narrated from Abū ʿUmar Ḥafṣ b. ʿUmar. See: JTIAḤ (7: 198, no. 1114), IḤT (9: 152), and Siyar (13: 449, no. 222).

Abū ʿUmar (d. 225): Ḥafṣ b. ʿUmar b. al-Ḥārith b. Sakhbarah al-Azdī al-Namarī, Abū ʿUmar al-Ḥawḍī al-Baṣrī, from al-Namir b. Ghaymān or it is said the client of Banū ʿAdī, trustworthy, B-AD-N, audited by Muḥammad b. Ayyūb b. Yaḥyá b. al-Ḍurays al-Rāzī, as well as al-Bukhārī, Abū Dāwūd, Abū Zurʿah al-Rāzī, and Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī, and he narrated from Shuʿbah b. al-Ḥajjāj (B-AD). Aḥmad said about him, “[He is] firm, firm, precise, precise, not a single word is held against him.” Ibn Abī Ḥātim said, “Truthful, precise, and ʿAlī b. al-Madīnī used to put him amongst the companions of Shuʿbah.” See: JTIAH (3: 182, no. 786) and TK (7: 27, no. 1397).

Shuʿbah (d. 160): b. al-Ḥajjāj b. al-Ward al-ʿAtakī al-Azdī, Abū Bisṭām al-Wāsiṭī, client of ʿAbdah b. al-Agharr, the client of Yazīd b. al-Muhallab b. Abī Ṣufrah,  leader of the believers in ḥadīth according to Sufyān al-Thawrī, leading rijāl critic, student of the famous tābiʿī al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110), vessel of knowledge, trustworthy, The Six, audited by Abū ʿUmar Ḥafṣ b. ʿUmar (B-AD), and narrated from Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī. His narrations from al-Sabīʿī – who is a mudallis – are considered connected as he would only narrate from him that which al-Sabīʿī narrated with explicit direct audition. al-Bayhaqī reports in Maʿrifat al-Sunan wa al-Āthār (1: 152, no. 204) that Shuʿbah said, “I have sufficed you from the tadlīs of three: al-Aʿmash, Abū Ishāq, and Qatādah.”  See: JTIAḤ (5: 369, no. 1609), TK (12: 479, no. 2739), Siyar (7: 202, no. 80), TTT (2790).

Abū Isḥāq (d. 127): ʿAmr b. ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUbayd/ʿAlī/Abū Shaʿīrah, al-Kūfī, tābiʿī, trustworthy, The Six, mudallis, Ibn Ḥajar places him in the third level of tadlīs practitioners whose reports are only accepted if he declares explicit direct audition, an exception is made if Shuʿbah narrates from him, as in this case. He narrated from ʿUmayr b. Saʿīd al-Nakhaʿī. See: TKB (4: 244, no. 2678), JTIAḤ (6: 242, no. 1347), TK (22: 102, 4400), and IḤṬM (p. 42, no. 91).

ʿUmayr b. Saʿīd (d. 107/115): al-Nakhaʿī al-Ṣuhbānī, Abū Yaḥyá al-Kūfī, tābiʿī, trustworthy, B-M-AD-IM, audited by Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī, and narrated from ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (B-M-AD-IM). See: JTIAḤ (6: 376, no. 2080), TK (22: 376, no. 4514), and TTT (5182).

ʿAlī (d. 40): b. Abī Ṭālib, Companion, fourth Rightly-Guided Caliph, audited by ʿUmayr b. Saʿīd al-Nakhaʿī (B-M-AD-IM). See: TK (20: 472, no. 4089).

As you can see, all of the transmitters are reliable and the chain is connected. The issue of Abū Isḥāq’s tadlīs is resolved by the fact Shuʿbah would only transmit from him when Abū Isḥāq declared explicit audition of his material.

Lastly: the report is marfūʿ ḥukman (raised to the Prophet ﷺ in ruling) because ʿAlī, may Allāh be pleased with him, mentions that which can only be established via revelation and not personal opinion. Consequently, he must have acquired this knowledge from the Prophet ﷺ himself as none of the Companions would say something like this via their own opinion.

Explicit evidence for it being raised to the Prophet ﷺ in ruling is indicated in a sound report recorded by Ibn Ḥibbān (6400) in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “I have been given superiority over people through three: the whole earth has been made a masjid for us and its dust has been made pure and purifying for us if we do not find water; our rows (in prayer) have been made like the rows of the angels; and I have been given these verses from the end of Sūrah al-Baqarah from a treasure underneath the Throne, the like of which has not been given to anyone before me nor after me.” It is included in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ (4223) by al-Albānī.

And all praise is due to Allāh, and may the praise and protection of Allāh be upon His Messenger, his family, his Companions, and those who follow him until the Last Day.

Written by Salal Ahmed Haque (Abū Ḥayyān al-Atharī) on Yawm al-Arbiʿāʾ, 2nd Muḥarram 1448 or Wednesday, 17th June 2026.

Bibliography

al-Bukhārī, Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl. Kitāb al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr, Supervised by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Muʿīd Khān, eds. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Yaḥyá al-Muʿallimī al-Yamānī, Hāshim al-Nadwī, Muḥammad Ṭāhā al-Nadwī, Muḥammad ʿĀdil al-Quddūsī, Ḥasan Jamāl al-Layl al-Madanī, and Abū al-Wafāʾ al-Afghānī. Hyderabad: Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-ʿUthmāniyyah (1360-1378/1941-1959). 10 vols.

al-Dārimī, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. al-Faḍl b. Harām. Musnad al-Dārimī al-Maʿrūf bi Sunan al-Dārimī, ed. Ḥusayn Ṣalīm Asad al-Dārānī. al-Riyāḍ: Dār al-Mughnī (1420). 4 vols.

al-Dhahabī, Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. ʿUthmān al-Dhahabī. Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ. Eds. Shuʿayb al-Arnāʾūṭ and Ḥusayn al-Asad. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risālah (1417/1996). 28 vols.

Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. Kitāb al-Jarḥ wa al-Taʿdīl, ed. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Yaḥyá al-Muʿallimī al-Yamānī. Hyderabad: Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-ʿUthmāniyyah (1371/1952). 9 vols.

Ibn Balbān, al-Amīr ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn ʿAlī al-Fārisī. Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Ḥibbān bi Tartīb Ibn Balbān, ed. Shuʿayb al-Arnāʾūṭ, 1st edition. Damascus: al-Risālah al-ʿĀlamiyyah (1432/2011). 18 vols.

Ibn al-Ḍurays, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Ayyūb. Faḍāʾil al-Qurʾān wa mā Unzila min al-Qurʾān bi Makkah wa mā Unzila bi al-Madīnah, ed. ʿUrwah Budayr. Damascus: Dār al-Fikar (1408/1987).

Ibn Ḥajar, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad.

  • Natāʾij al-Afkār fī Takhrīj Aḥādīth al-Adhkār, ed. Ḥamdī ʿAbd al-Majīd al-Salafī, 2nd edition. 5 vols.
  • Taʿrīf Ahl al-Taqdīs bi Marātib al-Mawṣūfīn bi al-Tadlīs, ed. ʿĀṣim b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Qaryūtī. ʿAmmān: Maktabat al-Manār (1404). Damascus and Beirut: Dār Ibn Kathīr (1429/2008).

Ibn Ḥibbān, Muḥammad. Kitāb al-Thiqāt, Supervised by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Muʿīd Khān. Hyderabad: Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif al-ʿUthmāniyyah (1393/1973). 9 vols.

Maʿrūf, Bashshār ʿAwwād and al-Arnāʾūṭ, Shuʿayb. Taḥrīr Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb li al-Ḥāfiẓ Aḥmad b. ʿAlī b. Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risālah (1417/1997). 4 vols.

al-Mizzī, Jamāl al-Dīn Abū al-Ḥajjāj Yūsuf. Tahdhīb al-Kamāl fī Asmāʾ al-Rijāl, ed. Bashshār ʿAwwād Maʿrūf. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risālah (1403/1983). 35 vols.

Shkūkānī, Aḥmad Ismāʿīl and al-Laḥḥām, Ṣāliḥ ʿUthmān. Muʿjam Asāmī al-Ruwāh alladhīna Tarjama lahum al-ʿAllāmah Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī Jarḥan wa Taʿdīlan. Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm (1421/2000). 4 vols.

Can the One Going on Hajj Fast the Ten Days of Dhul-Hijjah?

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Sh. Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ was asked about a person who normally fasts the ten days of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, and he wants to do Ḥajj – can he fast those ten days?

The Shaykh رَحِمَهُ اللهُ replied:

“Fasting the ten days of Dhū al-Ḥijjah is not obligatory, so if a person wishes he can fast them, and if he wishes he does not fast them, whether he travels for Ḥajj or remains in his country. This is because every fast that is optional, then the person has a choice about it: thus, if he is in his country and he wishes to fast then let him fast, and if he travels and sees fasting to be difficult then let him not fast, because it is not appropriate for one for whom fasting is difficult during travelling to fast – whether that be an obligatory or optional fast. However, in ʿArafah he is not to fast because the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ did not fast during the day of ʿArafah, and it has been narrated from him ﷺ that he forbade fasting (the day of) ʿArafah at ʿArafah.”

Majmūʿ Fatāwá wa Rasāʾil al-Shaykh Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn, 20: 45, no. 402.

Note: The ḥadīth regarding the Prophet ﷺ forbidding the fasting of ʿArafah at ʿArafah (Abū Dāwūd (2440)) is graded weak by al-Albānī. See: Ḍaʿīf Abī Dāwūd (421) and al-Ḍaʿīfah (404).

How the Salaf Were with Their Families

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Be Easy-Going and Joyful with Your Family

Thābit b. ʿUbayd said, “Zayd b. Thābit used to be the most cheerful person amongst his family.”

Thābit b. ʿUbayd said, “I never saw anyone more dignified when he sat with people, nor more cheerful in his house than Zayd b. Thābit.”

Encourage Your Child to Fast if He’s Capable

Hishām b. ʿUrwah b. al-Zubayr reported from his father that he would command his children to fast if they were capable of it.

Force Your Child to Learn the Obligatory Aspects of the Dīn

Sufyān al-Thawrī said, “It is necessary for a man to force his child to acquire knowledge, for indeed he will be questioned about it.”

Teach Your Child the Qurʾān

ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿĪsá said, “This Ummah will continue to be upon goodness as long as its children learn the Qurʾān.”

Teach Your Child Manners

ʿUthmān al-Ḥāṭibī said, “I heard Ibn ʿUmar say to a man, ‘Teach your son manners, for indeed you will be asked about your son and what manners you taught him, and what (knowledge) you taught him.’”

Muḥammad b. Sīrīn (d. 110) said, “They used to say, “Honour your child, and teach him excellent manners.”

Sufyān said, “It used to be said that from the rights of a child upon his parent is that he teaches him excellent manners.”

It used to be said, “Manners are from fathers, and righteousness is from Allāh.” And it used to be said, “Whoever teaches his son manners when he is young, he will be delighted with him when grows up.”

Exhort Your Family

Zayd b. Aslam reported from his father that ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb used to pray whatever Allāh willed during the night. When the end of the night came, he would wake up his family and say, “The prayer, the prayer” and recite {And command your family with prayer} [Ṭā-Hā (20): 132].

al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110) said, “May Allāh have mercy upon one who exhorts himself and his family, and says, ‘O my family, (take care of) your prayer (take care of) your prayer, (take care of) your zakāh (take care of) your zakāh, (take care of) your neighbours (take care of) your neighbours, (take care of) your poor (take care of) your poor; perhaps Allāh will have mercy upon you on the Day of Resurrection, for indeed Allāh praised the servant who does these deeds. He the Majestic and Most High said, {And he used to command his family with prayer and zakāh, and his Lord was pleased with him} [Maryam (19: 55)].”

Muʿāwiyah b. Murrah said that his father used to say to his children after they had prayed ʿIshāʾ, “O my dear children, go to sleep, for perhaps Allāh will provide you with goodness from the night.”

Ṣāliḥ, the son of Imām Aḥmad said that if an ascetic man came to his father, his father would send him to observe that man in the hope that he would be like him.

Be Beneficial to Your Family

Ḍirār b. Murrah used to milk his sheep for his family and draw water for them. He said, “It used to be said, ‘The best of you is the one who is most beneficial to his family.’”

Mubārak b. Saʿīd said, “Sufyān wrote to me, ‘To proceed: look after your family in the best way, and let death be on your mind – peace (be upon you).’”

Providing for Your Family is Better than Optional Acts of Worship

Muslim said that he met Muʿāwiyah b. Qurrah and asked him where he had just come from. He replied he went out and bought food for his family. Muslim asked him whether he acquired it with ḥalāl wealth. He replied, “Yes.” He then said, “It is more beloved to me that I set out every day for what you set out, than praying the night and fasting the day.”

Source: Min Akhbār al-Salaf by Abū Zakariyā al-Bākistānī, pp. 401-406.

The Salaf and Ḥajj

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Hilāl b. Khabbāb said, “I set out with Saʿīd b. Jubayr (d. 95) when some days had passed in Rajab, so he entered into a state of iḥrām from al-Kūfah for ʿUmrah. He then returned from ʿUmrah. He then entered into a state of iḥrām for Ḥajj during the middle of Dhū al-Qaʿdah; he used to set out twice every year: once for Ḥajj and once for ʿUmrah.”

Mūsá b. Hārūn (d. 294) used to perform Ḥajj frequently; he would reside in Baghdād for a year and perform Ḥajj for a year.

al-Ḥasan b. Aḥmad said that Ibn Abī ʿUmar al-ʿAdanī (d. 243) performed Ḥajj 77 times.

Aḥmad b. Janāb (d. 230) said, “ʿĪsá b. Yūnus (d. 187) performed Ḥajj 45 times.”

Saḥnūn (d. 240) said, “Ibn Wahb (d. 197) used to divide the year into three: a third guarding the border, a third teaching knowledge, and a third in Ḥajj.” He mentioned that he performed Ḥajj 36 times.

Saʿīd b. al-Musayyib (d. 94) said, “I performed 40 pilgrimages.”

ʿAmr b. Maymūn (d. 75) performed a combination of Ḥajj and ʿUmrah 60 times.

Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī (33-127H) said, “al-Aswad al-Nakhaʿī (d. 75) performed a combination of 80 Ḥajj and ʿUmrah.”

Hishām b. Ḥassān (d. 146) stated that Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī (d. 131) performed Ḥajj 40 times.

Ibn Abī Laylá (d. 148) stated that ʿAṭāʾ b. Abī Rabāḥ (d. 114) performed Ḥajj more than 70 times.

Sufyān b. ʿUyaynah (d. 198) said, “I witnessed 80 standings in ʿArafah.” He used to say in every standing, “O Allāh, do not make this the last time with You.” When it came to the year in which he died, he did not say anything and stated, “I felt shy in front of Allāh the Most High.”

Source: Min Akhbār al-Salaf al-Ṣāliḥ by Abū Yaḥyá Zakariyyā b. Ghulām Qādir, pp. 118-119.

The Virtue of Completing the Qur’an During Ramadan

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Sh. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Bāz رَحِمَهُ اللهُ was asked whether it is possible to use the fact that Jibrīl عَلَيْهِ السَّلام studied the Qurʾān with the Prophet ﷺ during Ramaḍān, as evidence of the virtue of completing a recitation of the Qurʾān.

He replied:

“Studying [the Qurʾān] is derived from this and that it is recommended for the believer to study the Qurʾān with one who can benefit him, because the Messenger ﷺ studied it with Jibrāʾīl عَلَيْهِ السَّلام in order to benefit, for Jibrāʾīl is the one who comes from Allāh, the Majestic and Most High, and is the intermediary between Allāh and the Messengers. Jibrāʾīl must have benefitted the Prophet ﷺ with things from Allāh, the Majestic and Most High, in terms of proper recitation of the letters of the Qurʾān, and with respect to its meanings which Allāh intended.

If a person studies with someone who helps him to understand the Qurʾān, and one who helps him to recite its letters properly; this is something desired, just as the Prophet ﷺ studied with Jibrāʾīl. This does not mean Jibrāʾīl is better than the Prophet ﷺ, but rather that Jibrāʾīl is the messenger who came from Allāh and then conveys to the Messenger ﷺ what Allāh has commanded him with in terms of the Qurʾān, its words, and meanings. The Messenger ﷺ benefitted from Jibrāʾīl in this way – not that Jibrāʾīl is better than him, rather he is the best of mankind and better than the angels. However, studying contains much good for the Prophet ﷺ and the Ummah, because it is a study of what he brings from Allāh, and in order to benefit from what he brings from Allāh the Almighty and Majestic.

It contains another benefit: studying at night is better than the day because this studying (of the Qurʾān) occurred during the night, and it is known that the night is more conducive to the focusing of the heart and its presence, and there is more benefit than studying at daytime.

It also contains other benefits: the legality of studying and that it is a righteous deed even in other than Ramaḍān, because it contains benefit for both of them. If they are more than two, there is no harm in all of them benefitting from his brother, and encouraging him to recite, and motivating him, for he may not be motivated when sitting alone. However, if he is with a companion of his with whom he studies, or companions, that would be more encouraging and motivating for him, along with the tremendous benefits that occur between them, in terms of revision and perusal of what is difficult for them – all of that contains abundant goodness.

It is also possible to understand from this that recitation of the complete Qurʾān by the Imām in congregation during Ramaḍān is a type of this study, because in this way he benefits them with the entire Qurʾān. This is why Imām Aḥmad, may Allāh have mercy upon him, liked for the one who leads them in prayer to complete the Qurʾān with them. This is one of the practices of the Salaf in their love of hearing the entire Qurʾān. However, this does not necessitate rushing and not taking time in one’s recitation, nor striving for humility and tranquillity, rather striving for these matters is more deserving than observing the completion of the Qurʾān.”

Source: Majmūʿ Fatāwá wa Maqālāt Mutanawwiʿah (15: 324-326).

The Salaf and Their Parents

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Abū Hurayrah (d. 59) saw two men and said to one of them, “Who is this to you?” He replied, “My father.” He said, “Do not call him by his name, do not walk in front of him, and do not sit before him.”

Abū Ḥāzim al-Ashjaʿī (c. 100) was a close companion of Abū Hurayrah and is said to have spent half a century with him. He said, “Abū Hurayrah did not perform Ḥajj until his mother passed away.”

ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar (d. 74) saw a Yemenī man going around the Kaʿbah while carrying his mother on his back, saying, “I am her humble camel, if her mount is frightened, I am not frightened.” He then said, “O Ibn ʿUmar! Do you think that I have repaid her?” He replied, “No! Not even one groan!”

Ḥafṣah bt. Sīrīn (c. 100), the sister of Muḥammad b. Sīrīn (d. 110) said, “When Muḥammad would enter upon his mother, he would not speak to her with his whole tongue out of shyness towards her.”

Ibn ʿAwn (d. 151) said, “When Muḥammad b. Sīrīn (d. 110) would be in the presence of his mother, he would lower his voice and speak gently.”

Hishām b. Ḥassān said that someone from the family of Sīrīn said, “I never saw Muḥammad b. Sīrīn talking to his mother except while (he seemed) abased.” [Ḥilyah (2: 273)].

A man entered upon Muḥammad b. Sīrīn while he was in the presence of his mother, so he said, “What’s the matter with Muḥammad, is he suffering from something?” They said, “No, this is just how he is when he is in the presence of his mother.” [Ḥilyah (2: 273)].

Bundār (d. 252) said, “I wanted to go travelling (to seek ḥadīth) but my mother prevented me so I obeyed her, and I was blessed due to that.” Allāh blessed him by making him the teacher of the authors of The Six Books: al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasāʾī, and Ibn Mājah.

al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110) was asked about being righteous towards one’s parents and he said, “That you spend on them from what you possess, and you obey them as long as it does not involve sin.”

ʿAṭāʾ was asked about a man whose mother made him swear he would not pray except the obligatory and not fast except the month of Ramaḍān. He replied, “He should obey her.”

Iyās b. Muʿāwiyah (d. 122) cried when his mother passed away. He was asked, “What makes you cry?” He replied, “I used to have two doors to Paradise open for me, but one of them has been shut.”

al-Ashjaʿī (d. 182) said, “We were with Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161) when his son Saʿīd came and said, ‘Do you see him (meaning his father)? I have never been harsh with him; indeed, he would call me whilst I would be praying an optional prayer, and I would cut it for him.’”

A man said to al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110), “Indeed I performed Ḥajj (again) and my mother gave me permission for the pilgrimage.” He said, “Sitting with her at her dinner table is more beloved to me than your Ḥajj.”

A man said to ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn (d. 94), “You are the most righteous of people and yet we do not see you eat with your mother?” He said, “I fear my hand will go first to what her eyes had already reached, and thus I would be disobeying her.”

ʿUrwah b. al-Zubayr (d. 94) said, “He has not been dutiful to his parents the one who looks at them sharply.”

Manṣūr b. al-Muʿtamir (d. 132) said, “It used to be said that the mother is due three-fourths of kind treatment.” [Ḥilyah (5: 42)]

Saʿīd b. Jubayr (d. 95) said, “I was bitten by a scorpion, and my mother made me promise to seek ruqyah, so I gave the rāqī the hand which had not been bitten as I hated to break my promise to her.” He did this so he could be among the 70,000 who will enter Paradise without any account; one of their characteristics is that they do not seek ruqyah.

Ṭalq b. Ḥabīb (c. 100) used to help his mum with her chores.

Kahmas (d. 149) used to work in plastering every day for two small coins. When evening would come, he would buy fruits and take them to his mother.

ʿAwn b. ʿAbd Allāh reported that ʿAbd Allāh said, “Keep ties with those your father used to keep ties with, for indeed keeping ties with the deceased in his grave is that you keep ties with the one your father used to keep ties with.”

ʿAmr b. Maymūn b. Mihrān said, “I went out with my father guiding him through one of the streets of al-Baṣrah. We came across a streamlet and he was not able to cross it so I lay down and he walked over my back.” [ḤA (4: 82)].

ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAwn said that his mother called him once, and he responded but raised his voice; he then freed two slaves. [Ḥilyah (3: 39)].

ʿAbd Allāh b. Yūsuf said that Abū ʿAbd Rabb used to buy slaves and free them. One day he bought an old female Roman slave and freed her. She said, “I don’t know where I’m going to stay.” So, he sent her to his house. When he departed from the masjid, he brought some dinner on the way, invited her to eat, and she ate. He then spoke to her and it turned out she was his mother! He immediately invited her to Islām but she refused. Despite that, from that point onwards, he was kind and dutiful to her to the highest degree. One day, when he returned from the ʿAṣr prayer on the Day of al-Jumuʿah, he was informed that his mother had accepted Islam, he fell down in prostration and stayed there until the sun set. [Ḥilyah (5: 160)].

Sources:

Min Akhbār al-Salaf al-Ṣāliḥ by Abū Yaḥyá Zakariyyā b. Ghulām Qādir, pp. 396-400.

al-Tahdhīb al-Mawḍūʿī li Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ li Abū Nuʿaym Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Aṣbahānī, prepared by Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṣāliḥ al-Habdān, pp. 151-153.

How Are You This Morning?!

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al-Marrūdhī said: “I entered upon Aḥmad one day and said, ‘How are you this morning?’

He replied:

“How am I this morning [other than] one who’s Lord demands the fulfilment of obligations from him, his Prophet demands the fulfilment of his Sunnah from him, the two angels seek from him to correct his actions, his soul demands from him [the fulfilment] of its desires, Iblīs seeks from him to do abominable acts, the angel of death seeks to take his soul, and his family seek from him to spend on them!”

Source: Ibn Mufliḥ in al-Ādāb al-Sharʿiyyah, (2: 354) ed. al-Risālah.

The Salaf and Night Prayer (Qiyam al-Layl)

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al-Fuḍayl b. ʿIyāḍ (d. 187) said, “It was said: from the characteristics of the Prophets, the pure ones, and the chosen ones whose hearts are pure were three qualities: forbearance, deliberateness, and a share of the night prayer.” [Ḥilyah (8: 95)].

Whenever ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar (d. 74) would wake up at night, he would pray [Ḥilyah (1: 304)].

ʿĀṣim b. Bahdalah (d. 127) said, “I reached a people who used to take this night as a provision, from them was Zirr b. Ḥubaysh (d. 83).”

Abū al-Zinād (d. 130) said, “I used to go out from the pre-dawn meal to the masjid of Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ, and I would not pass by a single house except there was someone reciting in it.”

ʿAmr b. Qays said, “I never raised my head up at night except that I saw Mūsá b. Abī ʿĀʾishah standing in prayer.”

Thābit al-Bunānī (d. 127) said, “There is nothing I find in my heart, more delightful to me, than praying at night.”

Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161) said, “Indeed I rejoice at the night when it comes”, and this was because of his great love for the night prayer.

ʿAmr b. Khālid al-Khuzāʿī (d. 229) said, “Hārūn b. Riʾāb al-Usayyidī used to stand the night in tahajjud, and when he would get up for tahajjud he would do so happily.”

al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī (d. 110) was asked why those who prayed tahajjud had the most beautiful of faces. He replied, “Because they secluded themselves with the light of the Most Merciful in the darkness, so He covered them with a light from His light.”

Ibrāhīm, the son of Wakīʿ, said, “My father used to pray (the night prayer), so there would not remain anyone in our house except that he would pray, even a black slave-girl of ours.”

Ṣafwān b. Sulaym (d. 132) used to pray in his house during the summer, and when it would be winter, he would pray on the roof so as not to fall asleep.

ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz b. Abī Rawwād (d. 159) said, “When al-Mughīrah b. Ḥakīm al-Ṣanʿānī (d. 111/120) wanted to pray tahajjud, he would wear his best clothes and apply some perfume of his family – and he was from those who prayed tahajjud.”

The wife of Masrūq used to say, “By Allāh, Masrūq (d. 63) never woke up on a night except that his legs were swollen from standing (in prayer), and I used to sit behind him crying out of mercy for him, and when the night would become long for him and he would tire, he would pray sitting.”

Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī (33-127) said, “Masrūq (d. 63) performed Ḥajj and did not sleep except whilst prostrating.”

ʿAbd Allāh b. Abī Mulaykah (d. 117) said, “I travelled with Ibn ʿAbbās (d. 68) from al-Madīnah to Makkah; he used to pray half of the night.”

Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī (33-127) said, “My health has deteriorated, I have become frail, and my bones have become brittle, and today I stand in prayer and only recite al-Baqarah and Āl ʿImrān.”

ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAlī b. Ḥamshādh said, “I do not know my father to have ever left out the night prayer.”

Qatādah (d. 118) said, “It used to be said, ‘Seldom does the hypocrite spend the night awake (in prayer).’”

al-Ḍaḥḥāk (c. 102) said, “I reached a people who felt ashamed before Allāh, with respect to the night, from sleeping a long time.”

One of the scholars used to pray before dawn but he slept through some nights. He saw a dream in which two men stood over him and one said to the other, “This man used to be amongst those who sought forgiveness before dawn.”

Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī (33-127) used to say, “O gathering of young men, take advantage of your youth, rarely does a night pass me by except that I recite a thousand verses in it.”

Ibrāhīm b. Shammās (d. 220/221) said, “I knew Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal (d. 241) when he was a young boy and he would spend the night awake (in prayer).”

Muʿāwiyah b. Qurrah (d. 113) said, “We were with al-Ḥasan (d. 110) and we were discussing which deed was the best. They all agreed upon night prayer. I said, “Abandoning the prohibited.” al-Ḥasan noticed this and said, “The matter is settled, the matter is settled.” [Ḥilyah (2: 299)].

Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī (d. 131) would pray the whole night and conceal that, and then at dawn he would raise his voice as if he had just woken up at that hour. [Ḥilyah (3: 8)].

Wahb b. Munabbih (d. 110) said, “Through night prayer the lowly are honoured and the contemptible are exalted; and through the fasting of the day, the desires of a person are cut off; and there is no rest for the believer without entry into Paradise.”

Sources:

Min Akhbār al-Salaf al-Ṣāliḥ by Abū Yaḥyá Zakariyyā b. Ghulām Qādir, pp. 92-97.

al-Tahdhīb al-Mawḍūʿī li Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ li Abū Nuʿaym Aḥmad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Aṣbahānī, prepared by Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Ṣāliḥ al-Habdān, pp. 664-669.

A related article: The Salaf and the Qur’an

Is it the Sunnah to Recite Sūrah al-Kawthar at the Time of the Marriage Contract?

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Sh. al-ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ said:

“This is not from the Sunnah, the Sunnah in the sermon of the marriage is to read the Sermon of Ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه, and it is famous and known, and if one left it off there is no harm, but it is better to read it.”

Source: Fatāwá Nūr ʿalá al-Darb (10: 110, no. 5055).

Riyāʾ (Showing-Off) is Minor Polytheism

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al-Bayhaqī reported via Yaʿlá b. Shaddād: from his father that he said, “During the time of the Prophet ﷺ, we used to consider showing-off as minor polytheism.”

Graded ṣaḥīḥ by al-Albānī in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Targhīb (35).

al-Albānī states in the footnote, “And al-Ḥākim also narrated it (4: 329) and said ‘Ṣaḥīḥ’, and al-Dhahabī agreed with him, and it is as they both said. If the author had referenced it to him, it would have been more appropriate.”

I (Salal) say: al-Ḥākim (d. 405) was the teacher of al-Bayhaqī (d. 458), thus the former should have been referenced over the latter.

See: al-Ḥākim (8151) ed. Dār al-Taʾṣīl..