عن عبد الله بن مغفل المزني قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم
الله الله في أصحابي لا تتخذوهم غرضا بعدي فمن أحبهم فبحبي أحبهم ومن أبغضهم فببغضي
أبغضهم ومن آذاهم فقد آذاني ومن آذاني فقد آذى الله عز وجل ومن آذى الله يوشك أن
يأخذه
ʿAbdullāh
bin Mughaffal ʾal-Muzanī
narrates that Allāh’s
Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ
عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said, “[Fear Allāh! [Fear] Allāh in regards my Companions!
Do not make them a target after me. He who loves them, loves them due to loving
me. He who hates them, hates them due to hating me. He who harms them has harmed
me. He who harms me [aims] harm at Allāh, Most Mighty and Majestic. And Allāh will soon seize he who
[intends to] harm Him. [ʾAḥmad]
Another reminder that I have not written in a while, and
this reminder specifically mentioning Syria. Yesterday I met someone who
returned from his third welfare trip to Syria. He told me that each trip only
adds to his confusion on the situation there, rather than clear up the facts.
How then do I comment at this stage on Syria? As for other matters requiring
exercise of the intellect, my mind does not focus on any topic right now. So
perhaps if for nobody’s benefit other than my own, I shall put pen to paper on
matters of the heart, not the mind.
I know that on the Day of Reckoning I do not have any deed
worthy of presentation. I do not recall observing even a single prayer in my
entire life, with my thoughts solely focussed on my Creator. My only hope lies
in the intercession of Allāh’s Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ and Allāh forgiving
me without taking me to account for my deeds. Yet both these are dependent on the
recipient having faith. Am I truly a believer? Faith lies between hope and fear.
What gives me hope, that I do indeed have faith, is the love for the Companions
of Allāh’s Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
which overcomes me. I thank Allāh
for granting me such joy when thinking of them, which no soccer, cricket, Hollywood
or Bollywood fanatic can match in his/her love of those idols. I just cannot
get my mind across why a Muslim would adore such people, when a single Ḥadith or story of the
Companions should be enough to make one an ardent admirer of that Companion and
all Companions in general. I am especially irked when these fanatics include
scholars and people otherwise ostensibly linked to religion. I may even be
accused of being too informal when speaking of the Companions, but I am
convinced that if I do have the honour of meeting them, they will fully understand
that I was motivated by love, unlike the judgemental Muslim ʾUmmah who will not
understand anything out of the straight and narrow.
I spend days pondering over a particular Companion.
Currently it is Jābir
bin ʿAbdillāh ʾal-ʾAnṣārī (may Allāh be pleased with him) who fills my thoughts. As a
student of Ḥadīth, it struck me how often Jābir (may Allāh be pleased with him)
was associated with miracles. It would be bold of me to say that most miracles
of the Prophetic era were associated with him. It may even be possible.
However, such a statement cannot be made, even if I had the capacity to
actually research and record each such event, for there may be miracles which
have not been recorded. However, what I can confidently state, is that the number
of miracles mentioned in the Ḥadīth, are out of proportion associated with Jābir
(may Allāh be pleased with him) as compared to the general body of the Companions.
Of these, I shall mention two:
1. The Continuously Increasing Dates
عَنْ الشَّعْبِيِّ ، قَالَ : حَدَّثَنِي جَابِرُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ، أَنَّ أَبَاهُ اسْتُشْهِدَ يَوْمَ أُحُدٍ ، وَتَرَكَ سِتَّ بَنَاتٍ
، وَتَرَكَ عَلَيْهِ دَيْنًا ، فَلَمَّا حَضَرَ جِدَادُ النَّخْلِ ، أَتَيْتُ رَسُولَ
اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ، فَقُلْتُ : " قَدْ عَلِمْتَ
أَنَّ وَالِدِي اسْتُشْهِدَ يَوْمَ أُحُدٍ ، وَتَرَكَ دَيْنًا كَثِيرًا ، وَإِنِّي
أُحِبُّ أَنْ يَرَاكَ الْغُرَمَاءُ ، قَالَ : "
اذْهَبْ ، فَبَيْدِرْ
كُلَّ تَمْرٍ عَلَى نَاحِيَةٍ ، فَفَعَلْتُ ، ثُمَّ دَعَوْتُهُ ، فَلَمَّا
نَظَرُوا إِلَيْهِ كَأَنَّمَا أُغْرُوا بِي تِلْكَ السَّاعَةَ ، فَلَمَّا رَأَى
مَا يَصْنَعُونَ أَطَافَ حَوْلَ أَعْظَمِهَا بَيْدَرًا ثَلَاثَ مَرَّاتٍ ، ثُمَّ
جَلَسَ عَلَيْهِ ، ثُمَّ قَالَ : ادْعُ أَصْحَابَكَ ، فَمَا زَالَ يَكِيلُ لَهُمْ
حَتَّى أَدَّى اللَّهُ أَمَانَةَ وَالِدِي ، وَأَنَا رَاضٍ أَنْ يُؤَدِّيَ اللَّهُ
أَمَانَةَ وَالِدِي لَمْ تَنْقُصْ تَمْرَةً وَاحِدَةً
"
Jābir bin ʿAbdillāh ʾal-ʾAnṣārī narrated that his
father was martyred at the Battle of Uḥud. He left behind 6 daughters and
debts. When the season for harvesting the date-trees arrived I went to Allah's Messenger
and said, "O Allah's Messenger! You know that my father was martyred on the
Day of Uhud and owed much debt, and I wish that the creditors would see you.” [and
thus accept the small harvest as full payment, as per Bukhārī]. He said,
"Go and collect the various kinds of dates and place them separately in
heaps." I did that and called him. On seeing him, the creditors started demanding
[full payment] against me immediately. When he saw how they behaved, he went
round the biggest heap three times and sat over it. He then said, "Call
your companions [i.e. the creditors]." Then he kept on measuring and
giving them, till Allah fulfilled my father's obligations. It would have
pleased me if Allah had only cleared the debts of my father but in fact [the
harvest] had not decreased by a single date [after the full payment]. [ʾAbū Dāwūd]
2. Ever Increasing Mutton and Bread
فقد جاء في الحديث المتفق عليه أن جابر بن عبد
الله رضي الله عنهما رأى جوعاً شديداً بالنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، فانطلق إلى بيته،
وأخرج جراباً فيه صاع من شعير، وذبح شاة، وجهز هو وزوجته طعاماً، ثم دعا رسولَ
الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - إليه، فلما رأى جابرٌ النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم –
وبصحبته أهل الخندق فزع من ذلك المشهد ، وذهبت به الظنون كل مذهب ، وقال في نفسه :
كيف يمكن لهذا الطعام أن يكفي كل هذا الحشد ، فعلم النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم –
ما يدور في نفس جابر رضي الله عنه فأخبره بألا ينزل القدر، وألا يخبز الخبز، حتى
يأتيه ويبارك فيه، ثم أكلوا جميعاً وشبعوا، والطعام كما هو.
Jābir bin ʿAbdillāh (may Allāh be pleaded with
father and son) saw the Prophet Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, suffering from
intense hunger. He went home and took out a jar of containing a Ṣāʿ measure of barley
and slaughtered an ewe. He and his wife prepared food. He then invited Allāh’s Messenger
صَلَّى اللَّهُ
عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. When Jābir saw the Prophet bringing the army of the Trench
with him, the scenario made him anxious and various thoughts played out in his
mind. He said to himself, “How can this food suffice this mass of people?” The
Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ knew what was going
through Jābir’s
mind and commanded him not to bring down the pot, nor finish bake the bread
until he arrived and blessed it. The army ate to its fill, yet the food
remained to the amount it originally was. [Meaning found in Muslim and Bukhārī]
The Supplication of Allāh’s Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
I would ask, “Why so many miraculous events and blessings in
the life of Jābir (may
Allāh be pleased with
him)?” I would venture that it is the result of the following incident, wherein
the teenaged boy, Jābir,
sacrifices his personal desires for the sake of others and thereby gains the
Duʿāʿ of Allāh’s Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ,
which surely profited him for the rest of his life. May Allāh imbue us with such
qualities and fill our hearts and lives with love for Allāh, His Messenger صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
and the pious.
فقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم تزوجت يا جابر قلت نعم قال
بكرا أم ثيبا قلت ثيبا قال هلا جارية تلاعبها وتلاعبك أو تضاحكها وتضاحكك قلت
هلك أبي فترك سبع أو تسع بنات فكرهت أن أجيئهن بمثلهن فتزوجت امرأة تقوم عليهن قال
فبارك الله عليك
“O Jābir,”
the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ
عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ asked, “Have you married?”
“Yes,” I replied. “A virgin or not?” he asked.
“An elder woman,” I replied.
He said, “Why not a young girl? You could play with her
and she play with you!”
I said, “My father is dead and left behind seven or nine
daughters [the narrator is in doubt]. I disliked that I bring to them someone
the same like them, so I instead married a woman who can raise them.”
He said, “Then may Allāh bless you!”
[ʾal-Bukhārī]
سليمان الكندي
Twitter: @sulayman_Kindi
Twitter: @sulayman_Kindi
