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Life of the Prophet (seerah)

Abu Dharr Al Ghifari (ra): Living and Dying Alone

November 5, 2020Dr. Omar Suleiman

Abu Dharr Al Ghifari (ra) was an ascetic that would always live as a stranger. He was regarded as the first to use the greeting of "asalaamu 'alaikum" and the most truthful of earth’s inhabitants.

Transcript

This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh everyone. I would like to ask the meaning of the shaytan. In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most compassionate. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Wa la ilaha illa ala al-dhalimeen. Wa ala aqiba tul al-muttaqeen. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barak ala abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin salallahu alayhi wa salam wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa salam tasliman kathira. So as we go through the examples of those that are embracing Islam early on, one of the things that becomes just such an added layer of beauty is how you actually are able to see the way that these people who entered into Islam around the same time, that first batch of Muslims, also seem to have found themselves around one another at the time of death. So if you don't want to watch the rest of this, then you can just fast forward to the end inshallah ta'ala when you can. But I was just reflecting on the beauty of the relationship that we'll find, for example, between Abu Dhar and Abdullah bin Mas'ud and so on and so forth. So you'll start to see the way that some of these companions actually maintained a lifelong connection with one another. And it's just beautiful when you see the way that they came in, especially considering that the original class of Muslims for the most part felt or they fit a certain type of profile. And so tonight, we're going with Abu Dharr al-Ghifari radiallahu ta'ala anhu, who is really, you know, and sometimes it feels strange to say one of my favorite companions, but in terms of his story, there is such a powerful beauty to his story like the other sahaba. But Abu Dharr radiallahu ta'ala anhu is one of those that's not very appreciated, though a lot of the religion as we have it today, we have through his questions to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam that would fit us as well. You know, with Abdullah bin Mas'ud radiallahu ta'ala anhu, we mentioned that so much of
the religion as we have it came through Ibn Mas'ud, whether it's Quran or Hadith or Fiqh or whatever it is. With Abu Dharr, it's his curiosity that makes its way into Hadith literature that sometimes gets to us as well and gives us hope in some of our moments. So I'm going to go through insha'Allah ta'ala his life and his entrance into Islam. But to introduce him first, his name was actually Jundub ibn Janada, Jundub ibn Janada or Jundub al-Ghifari. Abu Dharr, of course, is his nickname and what he's famous for and how he is referenced in the books of Hadith. He is described as someone who has very dark skin, but he was a black Arab, so he was not from those of Abyssinia, but he was a black Arab. And he comes from this tribe of Ghifar, which is particularly known as a tribe of bandits. So it's really interesting. His tribe is a scary tribe, a tribe that everyone feared because they were known to be highway robbers. They dwelled on the outskirts of the cities and they would attack the caravans as they came through. And Abu Dharr happens to belong to one of those tribes, to a very prominent tribe in regards to its theft, which is the Ghifar tribe, which are found to the south of Al-Madinah. Now Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, however, and as we see the Prophet ﷺ teaches us that some of those that had good qualities before Islam, maintain those good qualities. Khyarukum fil jahiliya, khyarukum fil Islam. One element of that, that the best of you in the days of ignorance are the best of you in Islam is that those that had good qualities would only further polish them in Islam. So Abu Dharr is someone that is known to have shunned the way of his people. He was not someone that would partake in the highway robbery or the theft. He's someone that was known to be a very, a very serious and a very detached young man.
And that's actually very important because the Sahaba have different personalities and it fit them well in regards to their journey in Islam and then their contribution to Islam. Okay, so Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu is not Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Abu Dharr is very different. He is someone who is detached from this world at a very young age. He's someone that did not really care for the ways of his people. He was not very social at all. He didn't have many friends. You can start to see that very early on in his formation that Abu Dharr was someone that was a loner. He kept to himself even before Islam and that personality of being introverted and keeping to himself would continue within Islam as well. So he was someone that kept to himself. He also seems to have been someone that was, you know, in rejection of the idols to an extent he didn't really believe in the idols. He didn't believe in the ways of the people of Mecca. So he leaned towards monotheism already. And he's considered from the du'afa. He's considered from the weak and the marginalized. And of course that fits again the profile as Imam Zuhri rahimahullah says of those that were embracing Islam very early on for the most part. Weak, young, marginalized, not very interested or disillusioned with some of the predominant ways of their people. And so Tawheed and some of the implications of Tawheed resonate with them right away. He's from, as we said, the Ghifar tribe and Ghifar is from Banu Kinana. And Banu Kinana is the overarching tribe from which Quraysh also comes. So there is a relationship, a distant relationship between Ghifar and Quraysh as well. So Abu Dharr is, you know, someone that tends to the outskirts of the city. He shepherds sheep just like Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, shuns the ways of his people.
And while he was in the Waddan desert, he hears about a prophet that arose in Mecca. Now SubhanAllah, it didn't take him much time to start to inquire about who this person was that was claiming to be a prophet. And here's one of my favorite things about the story of Abu Dharr is that it's narrated by Abdullah ibn Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala anhuma. And you'll see that the story of some of the early companions conversions are narrated by Ibn Abbas, even though he wasn't even born when Abu Dharr became Muslim. How is that? Abdullah ibn Abbas would go to the companions and he would ask them their stories. He was a student of knowledge and became the scholar of this ummah. He would go and he would sleep at the doorsteps of the companions and ask them questions, ask them about their time with the Prophet SallAllahu alayhi wa sallam and ask them their stories. So the famous long hadith about Salman al-Farsi radiAllahu ta'ala anhu is narrated by Abdullah ibn Abbas radiAllahu anhuma. Likewise when it comes to Abu Dharr, his story, his most detailed description of how he embraced Islam does not come through some of the broader chains of narration that we find in books of seerah typically, but actually through a hadith in Bukhari narrated from Ibn Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala anhuma. So Ibn Abbas radiAllahu anhuma in this hadith by Abu Jamrah, and I'll mention some of the other narrations within as well to give the full story of Abu Dharr. He actually asked the companions, he says to them, his companions meaning later on, shall I tell you the story of how Abu Dharr became Muslim? So they said yes. So he starts to say that Abu Dharr said that I was a man from the tribe of Ghaffar and we heard that a man had appeared in Mecca, Yaz'umu anahu nabi, that was claiming to be a prophet. So I said to my brother, and in some of the other narrations his brother's name is Anis, I said to my brother, go to Mecca and talk to this man and see if you can bring me some
news. Tell me about what's happening in Mecca with this man that's claiming to be a prophet and come back and let me know. So Abu Dharr's brother goes out to Mecca. He inquires a bit, gets a feel for what's happening in Mecca and understands that there is a man that's claiming prophethood and he starts to get a feel for who Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wa sallam is and what his role in society is and how he was recognized before Islam for his good qualities and what the nature of his call is. And he comes back to Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu and Abu Dharr said I asked him, so what news do you have with you? So listen to what he says, he says, wallahi I saw a man, bimakarimal akhlaq, who has such a noble set of qualities. He has a noble character and ya'muru bilkhair wa yanha anish sharr, he enjoins what is good and he forbids what is evil. So the description that he comes away with from the prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam is noble character, makarimal akhlaq. And the prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam said innama bu'ithtu li utammima makarimal akhlaq, that I was only sent to perfect good character. So he said I saw him, a man with noble character, who commands good, who enjoins good and who forbids evil. And so Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu said is that all you have? He said that's all I have. He said that's not enough for me. So Abu Dharr says I took my water skin and my stick and I proceeded towards Mecca. He said neither did I know him, meaning the prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, nor did I want to ask anyone about him because maybe I'd get in trouble then. So he said I wanted to just go sort of feel things out myself. So he said I went to the haram. So imagine now we've sort of told the story of Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu anhu and some of the early people around the Kaaba. He said I went to the haram and I kept on drinking zamzam. So I kept on drinking from the well of zamzam and sitting in the haram until eventually Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu noticed me. So I didn't know Ali nor did he know me.
Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu comes up to me and he says ka'anna rajulu ghareeb, it seems like you're from out of town, it seems like you're a stranger. So Abu Dharr says yes. So he told me to come on and I proceeded with him to his house and he did not ask me anything nor did I tell him anything. So Ali is of course a young man, you know, who's taking me and I'm just walking with him. He's preparing for me, showing me hospitality but he's not asking me any information about myself nor am I volunteering any information about myself. So I went with Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu and then in the morning I went to the masjid again to the haram. I sat around there and I tried to collect some information without being obvious about the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam again. So Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu passed me by again and he says to me amma naala lilrajuli ya'rifu manzilahu ba'd. Hasn't the man at this point recognized his dwelling place? Meaning, you know, if you came here from out of town and you were waiting for someone or you were looking to meet someone or you were supposed to go somewhere, you would have figured it out by now, right? So you know, shouldn't you have recognized your dwelling place, your location at this point? So Abu Dharr is still being very secretive. He just said I said to him no. So Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu said okay fine, come with me again. So Ali is wondering who he is, Abu Dharr does not know who Ali is nor does he know anything about the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam or Ali's relationship to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. So while Ali and Abu Dharr are walking, Ali says to me, you know, so what are you here for? You know, what's your business here? What's brought you here? What is it that you're looking for? So I said to Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, I said listen, if you keep my secrets, I will tell you. So will you keep my secret? If I tell you I'm here, will you not tell anyone else?
So Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu said fine, I won't tell anyone what your secret is. So Abu Dharr said, so I told Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, balaghana anahu qad kharaja ha huna rajulun yaz'umu anahu nabi. He said it reached us that there is a man that's come out in this area that claims to be a prophet. So he said I sent my brother to come get some information out here, but what he came back with was too little and I wasn't satisfied. So I wanted to come here and meet him myself. So Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu smiled and Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu says, amma innaka qad rashatta. He said, verily you have, you know, you have been guided to the right way. You've been, you've reached your goal. So he says, hadha wajhi ilay, I was actually just on my way to go see him. He says, fattabi'ni, so come with me to meet the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam. So he did not know and Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, you know, of course is who he is. So Ali radiAllahu anhu says, just come on with me to meet him. But this was a clear sign of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala guiding Abu Dharr that of all people that would catch him in Mecca and start to talk to him, it was Ali radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Imagine if it was one of the enemies of the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam. So in any case, Ali says, come with me. I was going towards him now anyway. And Ali radiAllahu anhu says, listen, when I enter or wherever I go, follow me. He said, but if I see someone who is suspicious, then I'm just going to stand near a wall and I'm going to pretend to work on my shoes to mend my shoes. And you should go away from me at that point. So if we're walking and it gets suspicious, because everyone knows who Ali is, right? So if it's clear that you're following me and someone starts to pick up on that, then I'm just going to take to the wall and start playing with my shoes a bit. And you go ahead and you disappear, right? Or you distance yourself until that person's gone and then we can rejoin. So Abu Dharr said, I've got it. He said Ali went forward and I followed him until we entered a place and I entered with
him to meet the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam. And at that point, what is Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu say? As-salamu alayka ya Rasool Allah. Peace be on to you, O Messenger of Allah. And the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam says, wa alayka salam or wa alayka salamullah wa rahmatuhu wa barakatuh. And upon you the peace of Allah, his mercy and his blessings. Very simple, right? It's just salam. Except here's the thing. Abu Dharr was the very first person to use as-salamu alayka. Okay. So subhanAllah, the first person, when you talk about first, the first to greet the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam with salam and to be greeted by the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam with the greeting of al-Islam was Abu Dharr al-Ghifari radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And this was the context of that incident. SubhanAllah. So just as he was guided to meet Ali ibn Abi Talib radiAllahu ta'ala anhu in the proximity of the Kaaba, he was guided to greet the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam with as-salam, salAllahu alaihi wa sallam. So if you want to know where salam comes from now, then it gives a new special layer to it. So this is the conversation between Abu Dharr and the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam. So he said, after I said salam to him and he responded with salam, I asked the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam, can you present Islam to me? So he said, the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam presented Islam to me. He said, I accepted Islam right away, right in that spot. I did not move. I didn't take time to think about it. Right away I accepted Islam. And the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam said to me, ya Abu Dharr, conceal this affair. He said salAllahu alaihi wa sallam, keep your conversion secret, return to your place, return to your people.
And when you hear of our victory, then you can return to us at that point. So the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam is giving him instructions here to be careful, right? How early was the conversion of Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu? It is around the same time as Sa'd ibn Abi Waqas radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. So we're talking about very, very early on. Again, it's always, you know, when we're talking about these early people embracing Islam, some people put him before Ibn Mas'ud, some people put him after Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with them all. So the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam told them that. Now, Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu is a man who does not have any fear. And he tells the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam, by the one who has sent you with the truth, he said, I will announce my conversion to Islam publicly to them. I'm going to tell them, Ya Rasulullah, why would I keep it secret? Ya Rasulullah, this is beautiful. I'm going to go ahead and tell them all that I became Muslim. Abu Dharr comes from a tribe of people that don't fear anything, right? So Abu Dharr says, I'm going to go ahead and announce my conversion to Islam publicly. Now, Ibn Mas'ud was the first to recite the Quran publicly. The first to announce his Islam publicly around the Kaaba is Abu Dharr in this situation. He goes out to the Kaaba and he says, Ya ma'ashara Quraysh, inni ashhadu an la ilaha illallah wa ashhadu anna muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh. Oh Quraysh, I testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad salAllahu alaihi wa sallam is his messenger. He said, as soon as I said that, the Quraysh got up and they said, get this Sabi, this Muslim and they got up and they nearly, they almost beat me to death. So Abu Dharr is recounting the experience that they stepped on him, they beat him, they almost beat me to death. Now, Al-Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala anhu saw me and he threw himself over me to protect me. So Al-Abbas once again playing an integral role.
And Al-Abbas of course was a noble man and someone that was respected. He turned around to the people to then shoo them away. Now is he going to say, Ataqtuluna rajulun an yaqoola rabbi Allah, are you going to kill a man for saying my Lord is Allah? Or is he going to say something that works with these people? What does he say? He says, you people want to kill a man from Ghaffar and your trade goes through the territory of Ghaffar? Are you thinking about the implications if you hurt or if you kill a man from Ghaffar, what Ghaffar is going to do to Quraysh because they're a tribe of bandits and highway robbers? So the reputation of Ghaffar saved Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu in this situation. So the people, you know, they thought about it and they said, you know, he has a point and they left him alone. The next morning Abu Dharr said, I went back. He's still telling his story. And I said again, Ya ma'shar Quraish, inni ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu. He did it again. They beat me again and then Abbas came to me and he did the same thing again and he stopped me once again. So Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu said, I went back to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam and he saw my condition and the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam said, didn't I tell you to keep your Islam secret and go back to your people? He said, Ya Rasulullah, it was a need within me and I fulfilled that need. I felt the need to do so. So the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam said, go back to your people and tell them what you have seen and heard. Tell them to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and it may be that Allah will bring them good through you and reward you through them. And when you hear that I have come out in the open, then come back to me. So the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam says, go back to your people and do them da'wah and wait until you hear instructions from me about the next step. So Abu Dharr returns to his people and as soon as he gets back to his people, who comes up to him first? His brother. This is the brother who he sent. So his brother asked him, he said, what is it that happened? What did you do? And he said that I told my brother that I became Muslim and that I believe in the truth
of this man that you had went and inquired about, meaning Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. So his brother responded and he said, you know, I feel the same way. I'm not, I don't, I felt a connection to this deen. So he said, I believe in what you believe in too. So his brother immediately accepted Islam. So then Abu Dharr and his brother go to their mother and they say, let's invite her to Islam. They invite her to Islam. She said, you know, and these were simple people. She said, it makes sense. I see no reason why you shouldn't go. Reason not to accept Islam. So I accept Islam as well. These people don't have the tribal restrictions, right? They're simple. They just need to hear, you know, what makes sense and what resonates with their fitrah. Everything is already out of the way. Their natural disposition towards monotheism already kicks in. So Abu Dharr right away, his brother accepts Islam. His mother accepts Islam. Then they go out and they start to tell the rest of Ghifar about Islam. And eventually so many people from Ghifar became Muslim that Abu Dharr radiallahu ta'ala anhu started to lead them in some form of congregational prayer. Now remember, the five prayers were not yet instituted until Medina. But at least Abu Dharr radiallahu ta'ala anhu was leading them in qiyam, was leading them in whatever form of salah was coming. And his people were embracing Islam in large numbers. So what happens, subhanAllah, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam makes hijrah. Abu Dharr radiallahu ta'ala anhu now has a way to come to meet the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam to bring his tribes. And this was the man alayhi salatu wasalam who used to say, Oh Allah, guide them and bring them to me. When they got to Medina, Abu Dharr radiallahu ta'ala anhu comes with the tribe of Ghifar and another tribe, Banu Aslam, which is a similar tribe. And they are so many people that, you know, it seemed like they were even an attacking army. Abu Dharr had so many people that embraced Islam on his hand
that it seemed like it was an army that was attacking. And so the people saw it and they were amazed by this large number of people. They came to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And they were, you know, men, women, children, all of them as Muslims. And Abu Dharr radiallahu ta'ala anhu said, Ya Rasulullah, I brought you my people as Muslims. SubhanAllah. Imagine how much joy the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam felt when he saw all of these people had embraced Islam. So Abu Dharr did, as he was told, brought all of these people to Islam and they respected him and they held him in high esteem. And subhanAllah, the large number amazed the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. You know, I was thinking about this, subhanAllah, I remember I was once, you know, in a conversation with an imam who works in the inner cities. And while we were texting, he said, he said, you know, I just gave shahada to 55 people. I said, what? What do you mean you just gave shahada to 55 people just like that? He said, yeah, it was a gang of 55 people. I just gave shahada to a whole gang. And I was like, subhanAllah, are you serious? And he took a picture of them all praying salatul jama'a for the first time. Literally a gang that had accepted Islam all at the same time, all at his hands, subhanAllah. And so I was thinking about this hadith of ghafar, which was known to be, you know, the highway robbers of the time. And they all come to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam as Muslims at that time. So do not withhold Islam from anybody. You never know, subhanAllah, you never know who's going to embrace Islam. And you never know at what point things are going to to come to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, come to the way of Muhammad salallahu alayhi wasalam in a way that would be pleasing to Allah and his messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam. So do not discount anybody. Do not find anyone unworthy of da'wah. And this is one of the lessons that we take from here as well, that, you know, everyone deserves this beautiful message and you never know who's going to come forward.
So this was the tribe of Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, they came forth. Now, possibly the most famous incident about Abu Dharr is this incident of him using language that hurts the feelings of who is reported to be Bilal radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Right, that incident of Abu Dharr and Bilal radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And I want to talk about this incident because it doesn't take away from Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu in any way, especially the way that it unfolded. This happened on the way to Hijrah. OK, this narration is on the way to Hijrah that Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu got into an argument with a black man. And some of the narration suggests that it was Bilal radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, though that's not definitive. Right. But in any case, that he says to Bilal radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, he says to this man, Yabna as-sawda, you son of a black woman. Now, again, Abu Dharr was a black Arab. So the indication here is that son of a black woman here is referring to Habasha, Ard al-Habasha from Abyssinia, not necessarily the skin color. But he gets into this argument with the man. He says this term, Yabna as-sawda, and he goes to the Prophet radiAllahu ta'ala anhu and the Prophet radiAllahu ta'ala anhu says, did you call his mother bad names? Did you really insult him with his mother? And he said that you are a man that still has some of the traits of Jahiliyyah. Abu Dharr missed the Tarbiyah. He did not have the mentorship and the culture of the Prophet radiAllahu ta'ala anhu and his companions in Mecca and Dar al-Arqam and some of the other ways that they were being trained. And that made Abu Dharr feel so bad, subhanAllah, to hear that admonishment from the Prophet radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And of course, we know that he makes tawbah and and his tawbah is beautiful. Right. I mean, it's complete humility,
you know, asking for retribution, asking for anything to be taken upon him and learning a beautiful lesson from that. So much so that we find that Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu later on, there's a narration, in fact, the narration which Abu Dharr narrates that this happened with him is he was walking and there was, you know, there was a freed slave that was wearing a burd that was wearing a garment just like Abu Dharr. And it was a really nice garment. And he was feeding him the same way. He was treating him the same way. He was giving him all of the exact same things that he was given. So it was a mawla, someone that was under his care. So Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, when he did that, someone said to him, you know, it's amazing that, you know, he's dressed in the exact same way as you. And Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu mentioned this incident that took place with the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam. And he said that the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam said that they are your brothers that Allah has put under your command. So the one under whose hand Allah has put his brother should feed him of what he eats, dress him of what he wears and should not ask him to do anything beyond his capacity. And if at all he asks him to do a hard task, then he should help him in that task. And Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu became known for freeing slaves. So this became an actual habit of Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And by the way, you know, there is even a famous slave, Christian slave by the name of John Ibn Huwayt, who he had freed that fought alongside Hussain radiAllahu ta'ala anhu on the day of his massacre. So freeing those that were enslaved became a habit of Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And this famous hadith where the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam said that there is no virtue over one with white skin or black skin, or there is no virtue for one with white skin or black skin except by taqwa. Taqwa, this is narrated by Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu.
So he's the one that narrates that there is no virtue. Of course, the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam said this on multiple occasions. But here that there is no virtue of one with white skin over one with black skin except by righteousness, except by piety and taqwa. And it's a hadith in Musnad al-Imam Ahmed rahim Allah ta'ala. So this does not take from the status of Abu Dharr because it was part of his learning and his part of coming to Allah and his messenger salAllahu alayhi wasalam. And how do we know that this does not take away from the status of Abu Dharr? And this is, you know, a lesson for for those of us in redemption as well. Right. You know, imagine how demoralizing it could be for the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam to say to you that you still have traits of the days of ignorance, traits of jahiliyyah. You might think you'll never get ahead because of that. Right. But what did the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam say about Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu? He said, maa athallatil khatra'u wala aqallatil ghadra'u asdaqa min Abu Dharr. That the earth has there is no one more truthful that the sky has shaded or that the earth has carried than Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. There is no person more truthful that the sky has shaded and that the earth has ever carried than Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And so that shows us that, you know, there's hope subhanAllah, even for a person that fell into that level of being admonished by the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam that he was able to rise to be spoken about in such a praiseworthy way by the Messenger of Allah salAllahu alayhi wasalam. And some of the scholars, they mentioned that one of the reasons why the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam mentioned as-sidq here is because Abu Dharr is someone who is never afraid to speak the truth. He's someone that holds himself most accountable to the truth and he fears not the repercussions of the truth. And so Abu Dharr as harsh as he will be with everyone else, as we'll see that he had a harsh personality. And that's why the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam says to Abu Dharr that he doesn't recommend him. He tells him that you shouldn't take a position of leadership because, you know, there were certain signs of weakness
that would not fit him as a leader radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And this was from the place of nasihah, the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam said, because I love for you what I love for myself. Ya Abu Dharr, innaka dha'eef, you're weak and it is an amana. wa innaha yawm al qiyamati khizyun wa nadama. It's a trust and on the day of judgment, it will be a source of regret and remorse if you don't do right by it. So I don't recommend you. You should not take a position of leadership, Abu Dharr. So he is someone radiAllahu ta'ala anhu that has a particular personality, a particular stern nature that he holds himself accountable to first. So he's not arrogant or rough with others and not rough with himself. He's rougher with himself than everybody else radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. But, you know, he's not suited to be a leader for certain reasons because of perhaps some of the scholars say that dha'eef here is referring to temperament or maybe he'll be rough, not necessarily status or things of that sort. He might be rough with the people. So he is the most truthful man, as the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam said, that ever walked the face of the earth. And of course, this excludes the prophets of Allah. And this was a form of praise and thanah for Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And we take it at what it means, at its value that the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam was, you know, was emphasizing the sidq, the truthfulness of Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. So what are some other things to pay attention to with this man? With Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, who now came to Medina, he establishes himself as a very unique personality, someone who is very dedicated to the truth, someone that does not shy away from the implications of the truth. How do we how do we deal with this? Well, we start to see that there are so many ahadith, so many ahadith of Abu Dharr asking the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam some questions, keeping his company, asking him questions.
And as a result of that, subhanAllah, we have so many things that not only Abu Dharr applied as virtues for us to try to apply as well, but but things that give us hope as people that are that are disconnected from the era of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam. So I'll go through some of these narrations. One of them is narrated by Anas radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, that the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam met Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, and he said, Ya Abu Dharr, O Abu Dharr, shall I not show you two qualities that are light as a burden, but heavy on your scale than others, heavier on your scale than others? Let me tell you of two things that are not too hard, but at the same time, they're heavy on the measan. And Abu Dharr said, of course, Ya Rasulullah, of course, O Messenger of Allah. So the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam said, alayka bi husni alkhuluk wa tul al-samt. He said, salAllahu alayhi wasalam, that you should observe husni alkhuluk, good character, wa tul al-samt, and long periods of silence. And he said, by the one in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wasalam, this is the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam speaking. He said, no one will behave with two deeds more beloved to Allah than these two. So silence is important, long periods of silence and good character are heavy in the sight of Allah. You find a hadith of Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, which is so relevant to us now. Abu Dharr was the one who said to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam, Ya Rasulullah, a man loves a people, but he cannot keep up with them in regards to their good deeds. He loves the people, but his good deeds are not like their good deeds. And the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam said to Abu Dharr, O Abu Dharr, anta ma' man ahbabt, you will be with the one that you love. And Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu was so pleased. He said, I love Allah and his messenger salAllahu alayhi wasalam. And the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam, you know, repeated,
fa innaka ma' man ahbabt, then you will be with the one that you love. SubhanAllah. So the idea of you are with those that you love, we get this from Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu as well. The famous hadith where Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, where some of the companions are complaining that the rich sahaba have taken all of the good deeds because they have money to give charity and we don't. This hadith is narrated in one narration from Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu personally, asking the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam, Ya Rasulullah, the rich are running away with all the hasanat. We don't have the wealth that they have to spend, to give in charity. And the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam responds and he gives Abu Dharr the prescription of sadaqa that we have as well to say subhanAllah 33 times, alhamdulillah 33 times, allahu akbar 33 times, followed by la ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul mulk wa la alhamdulillah wa huwa ala kulli shay'in qadeer. After every prayer. So this hadith we also take from the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam through Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. So that's the nature of the questioning of Abu Dharr radiAllahu anhu is how do I keep up? How do I keep up, Ya Rasulullah? Because Abu Dharr in his sadaq, in his truthfulness, always felt like he was deficient with his good deeds. And that's a sign of truthfulness, that a person is truthful with themselves. So they're always aspiring for more. They never are complacent. And that was, of course, as-Siddiq Abu Bakr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu more than anyone else. Never complacent with his situation. So so many of these hadith that come through Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu of asking how to stay at pace with those companions that Abu Dharr did not imagine himself out of his humility to be in the same class as, though he was radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, with his righteousness. And subhanAllah that brings us to, you know, to a very particular incidence of Tabuk.
Now in Tabuk, the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam was going to tell Abu Dharr something that would stick with him until his death. And that would prophesize his death. Which is similar to what the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam did, for example, with Uthman ibn Affan radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. This narration from Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala anhu describes the scene of Tabuk. Now, Tabuk was, of course, a difficult expedition in which the hypocrites were exposed. They gave all sorts of excuses. They tried to demoralize the entire Muslim army. It's what we find the harsh admonition from Allah in regards to in the Quran. Okay, the hypocrites that try to give excuses and actually demoralize the rest of the army as well to not go along with the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam. So what's happening here? Obviously Abu Dharr is no hypocrite. Ibn Mas'ud says that there were a group of Muslims, there were some that held back and they started to give all sorts of different excuses to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam. And the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam, he accepted their excuses and he went forth with those sahaba that stuck with him in Tabuk. He said that the further that they got into the expedition, the more exhausted the army became. And so at that point you started to have people falling off from the army of Tabuk. Why? Because it was hot. It was in the peak of the summer. And so people were exhausted and so as they're going along in this journey, another group of people fall behind and they give excuses and the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam continues to march forward as his army is getting smaller and smaller and smaller. RadiAllahu ta'ala anhu, and listen to what the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam said. He said salAllahu alayhi wasalam, as they were going and some people would be left behind, the sahaba that were with the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam would say, Ya Rasulullah, we still have these people that are left behind.
The Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam said, it's okay, let's keep going. And if there's any khair in him, if Allah knows of any good in him, then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will cause him to reach you. And if he is, if it's other than that, meaning if he doesn't have any good in him, then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has relieved us of him. So if people are getting left behind and they're making their excuses and they're dropping off, let's not hold up the whole army, continue to march forward. If Allah sees good in them, Allah will cause them to catch up. And if they are of the other group of the hypocrites, then we're relieved of them anyway. They're a burden upon us anyway, and we don't need them. So at some point as they're on this expedition, the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam takes note and the people take note that Abu Dharr is missing. Abu Dharr is not a hypocrite. Abu Dharr is not one to make excuses. This is the man who first went out and took beatings for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and for the Messenger salAllahu alayhi wasalam. He's not one that's going to hold back. So it was a little surprising to those that were around the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam and to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam as well that Abu Dharr was not with them. So they told the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam that Abu Dharr stayed behind. And they said that it might be that his camel had slowed down because even the camels were getting exhausted in this expedition. So the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam repeated, let's just continue to go forward. Now what was happening with Abu Dharr? Abu Dharr, his camel indeed had become weak and because his camel gave out in the hot weather due to thirst and Abu Dharr was not able to care for his camel, it started to stumble due to its fatigue. And so Abu Dharr, he keeps on trying to move the camel forward and the camel slows down and slows down and slows down. So Abu Dharr gets left behind.
Now Abu Dharr at this point, because he realized that the army with the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam had gotten so far ahead, he gets off of his camel, he grabs his belongings, he leaves his camel behind and he runs as fast as he can by foot to join the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam and the companions. So the next day, I mean this is how far behind he'd fallen. The next day, the Muslims were together around the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam and they see a man running in a cloud of dust behind him. And look at what the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam says. The Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam says, كن أبذر Let it be Abu Dharr. This is his love for Abu Dharr. Let it be Abu Dharr. I hope it's Abu Dharr. So the sahaba, when they heard the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam say that, they went to see who it was and they saw him. They shouted out to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam, يا رسول الله, it's Abu Dharr. It's Abu Dharr. And the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam was so happy that it was Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And then the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam, he said, يرحم الله May Allah have mercy on Abu Dharr. يعيش وحده ويموت وحده ويبعث وحده He said, may Allah have mercy on you O Abu Dharr. He walks alone, he dies alone and he will be resurrected alone. He lives alone, he dies alone and he'll be resurrected alone. SubhanAllah, that's an amazing prophecy, right? But that Abu Dharr has always been a loner. He's always been by himself and he will die alone as well and he will be resurrected on the day of judgment alone. And of course, this was a sense of praise for Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, not a sense of belittling him or putting him down. But that Abu Dharr always, he's defined by being alone. And SubhanAllah, years go by, the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam passes away and Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu lives to see the era of Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu
and he lives to see, you know, Islam spreading through the world and he lives to see a Sham, greater Syria coming into Islam and he sees the wealth that comes into the ummah. And Abu Dharr remembered the hard days with the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam. And Abu Dharr, who was a zahid, who was an asarik, he didn't like this. So he would constantly argue with the people over the wealth that was coming into the ummah. And because he was, you know, he found it too difficult. I mean, imagine, SubhanAllah, he could not take seeing the goodness that came into the ummah in terms of the wealth. He found it too difficult to understand and to connect with the people as the wealth was coming into the ummah. And I'm paraphrasing, obviously, you know, for the sake of this lecture. But eventually, you know, what he sees as this pursuit of pleasure or this pursuit of riches and wealth, eventually he asks Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu to live in a place known as al-Rabatha. So al-Rabatha would be on the outskirts of the city. It's to the east of Medina on the way to Iraq. He said, you know, I want to live by myself. Do I have permission to go live by myself away from the people? Because he could not, he just could not, you know, connect with the new status of so many people of the wealth that was coming into the ummah. And so Uthman radiAllahu ta'ala anhu approved his request. So he goes and he lives by himself with his wife and with one young boy. He lives by himself in the middle of nowhere. No one else lived in Rabatha. And the only time that you would see Abu Dharr is if you were on your way from Medina to Iraq or back. OK, which is very important. And there's some, you know, there's a narration that a man passed by and he found Abu Dharr's house all by himself. And he says to him, you know, where are your possessions?
And he said, we have a house in the hereafter to which we send the best of our possessions. We don't have our possessions here. We send our possessions to the hereafter. So his zuhid, his asceticism was very different, was very unique in that sense. And he stays away from the people and he lives in this situation where he's not around the community anymore. And he's living as the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, alone. Now, subhanAllah, in Rabatha, his death starts to come. And as he's dying, as he's starting to feel the hardships of death, his wife is weeping. Why? Because, you know, obviously she doesn't know what to do. We live in the middle of nowhere. So he's going to die here. You know, there's not going to be a janazah for him. Who's going to take care of him? Right? He's just he's not in the same situation as the other sahaba. This is a great sahabi of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And what does Abu Dharr say? He comforts his wife by saying that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam told a group of us that a group of believers will find you and pray upon you. So he told me that a group of believers will find you, will find me and they will pray upon me. And you know, I know that as-sadiq, I know that the truthful one, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam would not tell me except for the truth. So don't worry. Allah will send some believers and they will take care of me. They'll prepare me for death and they'll pray janazah on me as the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam has said, because that is a prophecy that is yet to happen. So Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu lays down and he dies in the middle of nowhere. And his wife and this young boy, they wash him and they put the kafan around Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu. And I want you to imagine the scene. SubhanAllah, in the middle of nowhere, his wife then goes out and she holds his body and she just leaves his body.
She sits with his body stretched out, laying down in his kafan on the route and keeping to what Abu Dharr said that a group of believers would come and they would find Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu and they would take care of him. And SubhanAllah, at that moment, a group of believers comes through. And again, this is the route of Madinah to Iraq. And who is leading this group of people? Who is this group of people? It's none other than Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu and some of his students. SubhanAllah, these first two companions that entered into Islam together and had very similar statuses, ibn Mas'ud who remembered the incident of Tabuk and it just so happened that Allah sent none other than that great scholar, that great companion at that moment with his students, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, walking, traveling by the house of Abu Dharr and he sees the body of Abu Dharr stretched out and ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu comes and he brings his students with him and he sees Abu Dharr and he starts to weep. He starts to weep. He sees Abu Dharr and SubhanAllah, he starts to weep and he goes down and he kisses the forehead of Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu and he says, recalling, he repeats what the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam said to Abu Dharr, he said, رحمك الله يا أبذر May Allah have mercy on you, O Abu Dharr. تعيش وحدك وتموت وحدك وتبعث وحدك You will live alone, you will die alone, and you will be raised alone. SubhanAllah, think about that incident. It's, you know, you can't make a movie, you know, where things would be put so perfectly in place. Abu Dharr and ibn Mas'ud came into Islam together. And here ibn Mas'ud, who remembered that incident of Tabuk and who is now, you know, not not only not away from the people, but recognized as this Qur'an, this legacy of Qur'an amongst
the people, a governor and someone that is transforming the Ummah with the Qur'an and he sees his friend outstretched in the middle of nowhere, two different journeys, but they end up at the same point together. And ibn Mas'ud kissing him and honoring him. And then who prays janazah on him, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, and that group of students of ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And truly, Abu Dharr lives alone, he dies alone, and he will be raised up on the Day of Judgment alone, meaning with a special status. SubhanAllah, there's so many different things that we could take from this. But I think it's important for us to just acknowledge and to appreciate different personalities. Yet their different personalities did not stop them from reaching that elite status that the Prophet sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam had spoken about. And so Abu Dharr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu was a unique ascetic, he was a unique zahid. But at the same time, look at what happens with him and look at the position that he has in Islam. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala be pleased with him, have mercy upon him, and gather us with him and all of the companions and the prophets and the martyrs and the righteous ones with our Prophet sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam in Jannatul Firdaus. Allahuma ameen. JazakumAllahu khayran, wasalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
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