Fath al-Rabbani

It is narrated from Abu Ubaidah, who reports from a man, who said: I mentioned to Sayyiduna ‘Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) that a statement has reached me from you, and I wish to hear it directly from you. He said: Yes, that is fine. When I received news of the appearance of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), I did not like his emergence; I felt intense aversion to it. I fled from here and reached the territory of Rome. The narrator of the hadith, Yazid, narrated in Baghdad: I fled from here and went to Caesar of Rome, but I became even more troubled than before. So I thought, why not go to this man? If he is a liar, he will not harm me, and if he is truthful, I will come to know. Thus, I returned and presented myself before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). When I arrived, the people said: ‘Adi bin Hatim, ‘Adi bin Hatim! I went to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He said to me three times: ‘Adi bin Hatim! Enter the fold of Islam, you will be safe. ‘Adi (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I said: I am upon a religion. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I know better about your religion than you. I said: Do you know better about my religion than me? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes. Are you not from the Rukusiyyah group? (This is a group between the Christians and the Sabeans) And do you not take a fourth of the wealth from your people and eat from it? I said: Yes. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Even though this is not lawful for you in your religion. Sayyiduna ‘Adi (may Allah be pleased with him) says: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned these two things, I accepted them. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I also know what is preventing you from accepting Islam. You think that those who have followed Islam are people of weak social standing, and those who have accepted Islam are people who do not possess worldly power or prestige, and the Arabs have driven these Muslims away. Do you know of Hira (a city near Kufa)? I said: I have not seen that city, but I have certainly heard about it. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: By the One in Whose hand is my soul! Allah will surely make this religion prevail to such an extent that a lone woman will travel from the city of Hira, without anyone’s protection or security, and will perform Tawaf of the House of Allah (the Ka‘bah) without fear, and the treasures of Kisra bin Hurmuz will surely be conquered by the Muslims. I, ‘Adi, asked in astonishment: The treasures of Kisra bin Hurmuz? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes, yes, the treasures of Kisra bin Hurmuz, and wealth will become so abundant that no one will be willing to accept it. ‘Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) said: (According to the prophecy of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, I saw such a time of peace that) a lone woman travels from Hira without anyone’s protection or security and performs Tawaf of the House of Allah without fear, and I myself was among those who conquered the treasures of Kisra bin Hurmuz. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, the third matter will surely also be fulfilled, because this was said by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna ‘Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: A cavalry detachment or a messenger of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came and they captured my paternal aunt and some people of the tribe. At that time, I was in ‘Aqrab (the name of a place). They took those captives to the service of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). When they stood in lines before him, my aunt said: My supporter is very far away, I have no children nearby, and I am an elderly woman, I have no servant either. Please do me a favor, Allah will do you a favor. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Who is your supporter? She said: ‘Adi bin Hatim. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The same ‘Adi who fled out of fear of Allah and His Messenger? She said: Then you did me a favor. My aunt narrated that after this, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came, and with him was another man; my aunt thinks that he was Sayyiduna ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). He said to her (i.e., my aunt): Ask the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for a mount. She requested a mount from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so he ordered that a mount be provided for her. Sayyiduna ‘Adi (may Allah be pleased with him) says: My aunt came and said to me: You have done such a thing that your father would never have done (such cowardly) a thing; you should have gone to them, i.e., to the service of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), in every situation, whether with desire or fear. So-and-so went to his service, and so-and-so also presented himself to him, and he treated each one with kindness. ‘Adi (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I came to your service. At that time, there was a woman and one or two children with you. The noble Companions were sitting very close to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with freedom. I realized that you (peace and blessings be upon him) are not a king like Caesar or Chosroes. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to ‘Adi (may Allah be pleased with him): ‘Adi! Did you flee merely so that the word of Tawheed, La ilaha illallah, would not be recited? Is there any deity besides Allah? Is there anyone greater than Allah Almighty? ‘Adi (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Thus, I entered the fold of Islam, and I saw signs of happiness on your (peace and blessings be upon him) face. Also, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: In the Noble Qur’an, by “al-maghdubi ‘alayhim” (those upon whom is Allah’s wrath) is meant the Jews. And by “ad-dallin” (the misguided) is meant the Christians. After that, the poor present there asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for something, so he praised and glorified Allah Almighty and said: O people! Whatever blessings Allah has given you, give to the needy in the way of Allah from them. So someone gave a sa‘ (a measure), and someone gave less than that, someone gave a handful, and someone gave even less, i.e., each according to his ability, gave charity. The narrator of the hadith, Shu‘bah, said: To my knowledge, Simak also said that someone gave a date, and someone gave even less than that in charity. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) further said: Each of you will go and meet Allah Almighty. Allah will say to His servant who meets Him: Did I not make you hearing and seeing? Did I not grant you wealth and children? So tell Me, what deeds have you brought? He will look before him, behind him, to his right and to his left, and he will find nothing that can benefit him. He will try to save himself from Hell with his own face. So, protect yourselves from Hell, even if it be with half a date. If you do not find even a piece of date to give, then save yourself from Hell with gentle speech. I do not fear poverty for you; Allah Almighty will surely help you and will surely give you much, and He will grant you such a victory that a woman will travel between Hira and Yathrib, or even more than that, without fear or danger; at most, she will only fear the theft of her mount.

Sayyiduna ‘Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I, along with some members of my tribe, presented myself before Sayyiduna ‘Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). He gave two thousand to each individual of Banu Tay’ and turned away from me. Then I came before him, but he showed indifference. Then I came right in front of his face, yet he still turned away from me. Finally, I said: O Commander of the Faithful! Do you recognize me? Upon hearing this, Sayyiduna ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) laughed so much that he leaned back on his cushion and then said: Yes, by Allah! I recognize you. You accepted faith when these people were persistent in disbelief. You turned towards Islam when these people had turned their backs, and you showed loyalty when these people were being treacherous. And I know that the very first charity, which brightened the faces of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Companions, was the charity of ‘Adi, which you brought to the Messenger of Allah. Afterwards, Sayyiduna ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) apologized to Sayyiduna ‘Adi and said: I have given to these people because these days they are facing hunger, and they are also the chiefs of their respective tribes and have many responsibilities upon them.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna ‘Adi bin Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: I said, “O Messenger of Allah! We hunt with dogs and falcons, what is lawful for us from their catch?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Of the hunting dogs you have trained, with the training Allah has given you, you may eat what they catch for you, and you have mentioned the name of Allah over it. And whatever dog or falcon you release, and you have mentioned the name of Allah, then whatever they catch and hold for you, eat it.” I said, “Even if they kill the prey?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Even if they kill it, as long as they have not eaten from it themselves, then they have caught it for you.” I said, “Now tell me, if at the time of releasing, other dogs join with our dog, then what is the ruling?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Do not eat the prey until you know that your dog alone caught it.” I said, “O Messenger of Allah! We hunt with the middle thick part of the arrow, what is lawful for us from it?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whatever prey dies from that part of the arrow, do not eat it, unless you slaughter it yourself.”