Fath al-Rabbani

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Only three children have spoken in the cradle: (1) ‘Isa ibn Maryam, (2) Among the Children of Israel there was a devout worshipper named Jurayj. He built a monastery and worshipped in it. One day, the Children of Israel mentioned Jurayj’s worship, but one of their adulterous women said: If you wish, I can put him to trial? They said: We wish that. So the woman came, tried to seduce him, but when he paid her no attention, she gave herself to a shepherd who used to graze his sheep near Jurayj’s monastery. She became pregnant. When she gave birth to a child and people asked her who the father was, the adulterous woman said: It is Jurayj’s (i.e., Jurayj committed adultery with this woman). So the people came to Jurayj, brought him down, abused him, beat him, and demolished his monastery. He asked: What has happened to you? They said: You committed adultery with such-and-such adulterous woman and now she has given birth to a child. Jurayj said: Where is the child? They said: Here he is. So Jurayj stood up, prayed, and supplicated. Then he came to the child, poked him with his finger, and said: By Allah! O child! Who is your father? The child said: I am the son of the shepherd. Hearing this, the people turned to Jurayj, began kissing him, and said: We will build your monastery from gold. But he said: I have no need for gold; just build it from clay as it was before. (3) A woman was nursing a child in her lap when a handsome and beautiful rider passed by. The woman said: O Allah! Make my son like him. The child left his mother’s breast, turned towards the rider, and said: O Allah! Do not make me like him. Then he began to suckle again. Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: It is as if I am seeing the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when he described the child’s action and put his finger in his mouth and sucked it. Meanwhile, a slave girl was being led past that woman, and she was being beaten. The woman said: O Allah! Do not make my son like her. The child left the breast and turned towards the slave girl and said: O Allah! Make me like her. When they repeated the matter, the woman said to her son: A handsome and beautiful rider passed by and I said: O Allah! Make my son like him, but you said: O Allah! Do not make me like him. Then when this slave girl was led past and I said: O Allah! Do not make my son like her, you said: O Allah! Make me like her. This time the child said: O my mother! That handsome and beautiful rider was one of the tyrants, and this slave girl—people were saying she committed adultery, but she did not; people were saying she stole, but she did not; and she was saying: Allah is sufficient for me.

(Second chain) The Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, said: Only three children have spoken in the cradle: (1) Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon him, (2) a child from the time of Jurayj, and (3) another child, ... ... , then the rest of the hadith was mentioned, with some details as follows: He, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, said: Jurayj was a devout worshipper among the Children of Israel, and his mother was also alive. One day he was praying, while on the other side, his mother longed for her son and called out: O Jurayj! He said within his prayer: O my Lord! Is prayer better now or should I go to my mother? Then he continued his prayer. The mother called out again, and he did the same. The mother called out a third time, and he did the same and continued his prayer. This was very hard on the mother, so she said: O Allah! Let Jurayj be tested by immoral women. Then he went up to his monastery, and a woman from the Children of Israel who was immoral, ... ... . Then a narration similar to the above-mentioned hadith was mentioned.

(Second chain) The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: There was a man among the Children of Israel who was a merchant; sometimes his wealth would decrease and sometimes increase. Eventually, he said: There is no good in this trade; I will seek some other trade better than this. So he built a church and adopted monasticism, sitting in it. He was called Jurayj, … … .