Riyad as-Salihin

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was asked: "At what time does the supplication find the greatest response?" He (ﷺ) replied, "A supplication made during the middle of the last part of the night and after the conclusion of the obligatory prayers.".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Whenever a Muslim supplicates Allah, He accepts his supplication or averts any similar kind of trouble from him until he prays for something sinful or something that may break the ties of kinship." Upon this someone of the Companions said: "Then we shall supplicate plenty." The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Allah is more plentiful (in responding).".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to say when he was in distress: "La ilaha illallahul-Azimul-Halim. La ilaha illallahu Rabbul-'Arshil-'Azim. La ilaha illallahu Rabbus-samawati, wa Rabbul-ardi, wa Rabbul-'Arshil- Karim. (None has the right to be worshipped but Allah the Incomparably Great, the Compassionate. None has the right to be worshipped but Allah the Rubb of the Mighty Throne. None has the right to be worshipped but Allah the Rubb of the heavens, the Rubb of the earth, and the Rubb of the Honourable Throne).".

The Companions of As-Suffah were poor people. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Whoever has food enough for two people, should take a third one (from among them), and whoever has food enough for four persons, should take a fifth or sixth (or said something similar)." Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) took three people with him while Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) took ten. Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) took his supper with the Prophet (ﷺ) and stayed there till he offered the 'Isha' prayers. After a part of the night had passed, he returned to his house. His wife said to him: "What has detained you from your guests?" He said: "Have you not served supper to them?" She said: "They refused to take supper until you come." .There are some more narrations in both Al-Bukhari and Muslim with very minor differences in wordings and in details.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "There were Muhaddithun (the recipients of Divine inspiration) among the nations before you. If there is any of such Muhaddith among my followers, he must be 'Umar.".In Muslim, this Hadith is narrated by 'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her), and in both these narrations Ibn Wahb has said that the meaning of Muhaddithun is recipients of Divine inspiration.

The inhabitants of Kufah complained to 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) against Sa'd bin Abu Waqqas (May Allah be pleased with him) and 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) appointed 'Ammar (May Allah be pleased with him) as Governor of Kufah in his place. Their complaint was that he did not even conduct As-Salat (the prayers) properly. 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) sent for Sa'd and said to him: "O Abu Ishaq, the people claim that you do not offer the Salat properly." Sa'd replied: "By Allah! I observe Salat according to the Salat of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and I make no decrease in it. I prolong Qiyam (standing) in the first two Rak'ah in Maghrib and 'Isha' prayers and shorten in the last ones." 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) said: "This is what I thought of you, O Abu Ishaq!" Then he sent with him a man (or some men) to Kufah to investigate the matter about him (from the people of Kufah). The inquiry was conducted in every mosque and all the people in these mosques praised him; but in the mosque of the Banu 'Abs, a man, with the name of Usamah bin Qatadah and surname Abu Sa'dah, stood up and said, "Sa'd bin Abu Waqqas did not participate in Jihad and he did not distribute the spoils equitably and did not judge justly." On this Sa'd said: "I shall make three supplications in respect of him: O Allah! If this slave of Yours is a liar and seeker of notoriety, please prolong his life and lengthen his period of adversity and afflict him with trials." (And so did it happen.) Thereafter, when the man was asked about his condition he would say, "I am an old man afflicted with trials and overtaken by the curses of Sa'd."'Abdul-Malik bin 'Umair (a subnarrator) said: I saw this man with eyebrows hung over his eyes as a result of his old age and he walked aimlessly, following young girls and winking at them..

Arwa bint Aus brought a suit against Sa'id bin Zaid bin 'Amr bin Nufail (May Allah be pleased with him). She complained to Marwan bin Al-Hakam that he had wrongfully taken possession of a portion of her land. Sa'id said: "How can I take a portion out of her land while I have heard a denunciation from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)." Marwan asked him: "What did you hear from the Messenger of Allah?" He said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, 'He who takes a span of land unjustly will be made to wear seven earths round his neck on the Day of Ressurection'." Marwan said to him: "I don't seek proof from you after this." Sa'id supplicated: "O Allah! If she is a liar, deprive her of her eye sight and cause her to die in her land." 'Urwah said: "She did not die till she became blind. While she was walking in her land (concerning which the dispute arose) she fell down into a pit and died.".In another narration of Muslim, Muhammad bin Zaid bin 'Abdullah bin 'Umar said that he had seen Arwa blind, feeling for on the walls with her hand and saying: "I am ruined by the curse of Sa'id." Later she fell in a well in the same disputed land and died.

My father called me on the evening before (the battle of) Uhud and said: "I perceive that I shall be among the first from among the Companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) to be martyred, and after him you are the dearest to me. I am under the burden of debt. Pay it and treat your sisters well." Next morning he was among the first to be killed, so I buried him along with another in the same grave. Thereafter, I did not like that I should leave him with another in the grave. So I dug up his corpse after six months and he was in the same condition in which he was on the day when I buried him, except that there was a scratch on his ear. Then I buried him in a separate grave..

Two Companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) left his home in a very dark night with something like lights in front of them; when they separated, each of them had one light in front of him till they arrived home..Other narrations reported in Al-Bukhari say that the two men were Usaid bin Hudhair and 'Abbad bin Bishr (May Allah be pleased with them).

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent an espionage mission of ten men under the leadership of 'Asim bin Thabit Al-Ansari (May Allah be pleased with him). They proceeded till they reached Al-Had'ah, a place between 'Usfan and Makkah and the news of their arrival reached a section of the tribe of Hudhail, called Banu Lihyan. About one hundred men, who were all archers, hurried to follow their tracks. When 'A sim and his companions came to know of their pursuers, they took refuge in a safe place. The infidels encircled them and said to them: "Come down and surrender, and we promise and guarantee you that we will not kill anyone of you." 'Asim bin Thabit (May Allah be pleased with him) said: "By Allah! I will not come down to be under the protection of disbelievers. O Allah! convey this news to our Prophet (ﷺ)." Then the infidels shot arrows at them till they killed 'Asim. Three men came down relying on their promise and covenant. They were Khubaib, Zaid bin Ad-Dathinah and another man. When the disbelievers captured them, they tied them up with the strings of their bows. The third of the captives said: "This is the beginning of first betrayal. By Allah! I will not go with you. I have a good example in these (martyrs)." So they dragged him and tried to compel him to accompany them, but he refused. At last they killed him. They took Khubaib and Zaid bin Ad- Dathina with them and sold them as slaves in Makkah. This incident took place after the battle of Badr.Khubaib was bought by the sons of Al-Harith bin 'Amir bin Naufal bin 'Abd Manaf. It was Khubaib who had killed Al-Harith in the battle of Badr. Khubaib remained a prisoner with those people for a few days till the sons of Al-Harith resolved to kill him.When Khubaib (May Allah be pleased with him) got wind of this plot, he borrowed a razor from one of Al- Harith's daughters in order to remove his pubic hair. Her little son crawled towards Khubaib because of her carelessness. Later on, she saw her son on his thigh and the razor was in his hand. She got scared so much that Khubaib noticed the agitation on her face and said: "Are you afraid that I will kill him? No, I will never do that." She later remarked (after Al-Khubaib got martyred): "By Allah! I never saw a prisoner better than Khubaib." She added: "By Allah! I saw him once eating of a bunch of grapes in his hand while he was chained and there was no such fruit at that time in Makkah. Probably it was a boon which Allah bestowed upon Khubaib."When they took him out of the Haram of Makkah to kill him outside its boundaries, Khubaib requested them to let him offer two Rak'ah of voluntary prayer. They allowed him and he offered two Rak'ah prayer. Then he said: "Had I not apprehended that you would think that I was afraid of death, I would have prolonged the prayer. O Allah! Count their number; slay them one by one and spare not one of them." He then recited these poetic verses:'I do not care how they kill me as long as I get martyred in the Cause of Allah as a Muslim. I received my death for Allah's sake. If Allah so desires, He will bless, the amputated limbs of the torn body.'Then the son of Al-Harith killed him. It was Khubaib who set the tradition for any Muslim sentenced to death in captivity to offer two Rak'ah of voluntary prayer. On that day the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) informed his Companions of the martyrdom of Khubaib. Later on, when some disbelievers from Quraish were informed that 'Asim had been martyred, they sent some people to fetch a significant part of his body to ascertain his death. (This was because) 'Asim had killed one of their chiefs. So Allah sent a swarm of wasps, resembling a shady cloud, to hover over the body of 'Asim and to shield him from their messengers, and thus they could not cut off anything from his body..

I never heard 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) relating anything that he conceived it to be so-and-so, but that it proved to be as he had conceived it.".

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "He who believes in Allah and the Last Day must either speak good or remain silent.".

I asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): "Who is the most excellent among the Muslims?" He said, "One from whose tongue and hands the other Muslims are secure.".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Whosoever gives me a guarantee to safeguard what is between his jaws and what is between his legs, I shall guarantee him Jannah.".

I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "A person utters a word thoughtlessly (i.e., without thinking about its being good or not) and, as a result of this, he will fall down into the fire of Hell deeper than the distance between the east and the west.".

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "A man utters a word pleasing to Allah without considering it of any significance for which Allah exalts his ranks (in Jannah); another one speaks a word displeasing to Allah without considering it of any importance, and for this reason he will sink down into Hell.".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "A man speaks a good word without knowing its worth, Allah records for him His Good Pleasure till the day he will meet Him; and a man utters an evil word without realizing its importance, Allah records for him His displeasure till the day he will meet Him.".

I asked: "O Messenger of Allah! Tell me, of something to which I may remain steadfast." He (ﷺ) said, "Say: My Rubb is Allah and then remain steadfast." Then I said: "O Messenger of Allah! What do you fear most about me?" He took hold of his own tongue and said: "This.".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Do not indulge in excessive talk except when remembering Allah. Excessive talking without the Remembrance of Allah hardens the heart; and those who are the farthest from Allah are those whose hearts are hard."

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "He whom Allah saves from the evil of that which is between his jaws and the evil of that which is between his legs will enter Jannah.".