Reports on Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him)

Muhammad bin Ishaq narrates: He is Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) bin Mas'ud bin al-Harith bin Shamkh bin Makhzum bin Sahilah bin al-Harith bin Tamim bin Hudhayl bin Mudrikah bin Ilyas bin Mudar bin Nizar bin Ma'add bin Adnan. He was an ally of Banu Zuhrah, and he had the honour of taking part in the Battle of Badr.

In one narration the words are: He is (Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) bin Mas'ud bin al-Harith bin Shamkh) bin Makhzum bin Kahil bin Harith bin Sa'd bin Hudhayl, who were allies of Banu Zuhrah.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration with two chains, and the narrators of the first one are thiqat (trustworthy).

Ahmad bin Rishdin al-Misri narrates: Musa bin Awn dictated to me (this lineage): Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Utbah bin Mas'ud bin Kahil bin Habib bin Thabit bin Makhzum bin Sahilah bin Kahil bin al-Harith bin Tamim bin Sa'd bin Hudhayl bin Mudrikah bin Ilyas bin Mudar bin Nizar.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration, and I do not know the narrator Musa bin Awn.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I remember about myself that I was the sixth person (to accept Islam); there was no Muslim on the face of the earth other than us.
Imam al-Tabarani and Imam al-Bazzar recorded this narration, and the narrators of both are the narrators of the Sahih.

Qays bin Marwan narrates: A man came to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) while he was at Arafah and said: O Commander of the Faithful, I have come from Kufah, and I left there a man who dictates the Qur'an from memory. The narrator says: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) became angry, intensely angry. He asked: Woe to you, who is that man? The man replied: He is Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him). The narrator says: Then the anger of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) began to cool, and when he had returned to the state he was in before, he said: Woe to you! By Allah, as far as I know, there is no one left among the people who has more right to this than he does, and I will tell you about that. It was the practice of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to sit with Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and talk at night about some matter of the Muslims. One night he (peace and blessings be upon him) was talking with Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and I was there with him too. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out of the house, and we came walking with him, and there was a man standing in the mosque praying. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood listening to his recitation, and just as we were about to recognize the man, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever wishes to recite the Qur'an exactly as it was revealed should recite it according to the recitation of Ibn Umm Abd (that is, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud)." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Then the man sat down and began to supplicate, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sat down and began saying: Ask, and you will be given! Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I thought: By Allah, tomorrow I will certainly go to this man and give him the glad tidings. He says: When I went to him the next morning to give him the glad tidings, I found that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) had already given him the glad tidings before me. By Allah, whatever good deed I tried to compete with Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) in, he had always got ahead of me in it.

In one narration the words are: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) to give him the glad tidings, and he found Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) coming out from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: If you have done this, it is because you are one who races far ahead towards good.
Imam Abu Ya'la recorded this narration with two chains; the narrators of one of them are the narrators of the Sahih, except for Qays bin Marwan, and he is thiqah (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) gave him the glad tidings: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever wishes to recite the Qur'an exactly as it was revealed should recite it according to the recitation of Ibn Umm Abd."
Imam Ahmad, Imam al-Bazzar and Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration. Its chain contains Asim bin Abi al-Nujud, who, despite his weakness, is hasan al-hadith (sound in hadith). The rest of the narrators of Imam Ahmad are the narrators of the Sahih, and the narrators of Imam al-Tabarani are also the narrators of the Sahih, except for Furat bin Mahbub, and he is thiqah (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) has narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the two of them gave him the glad tidings and told him: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him (that is, about Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him)): "Ask, and it will be given to you."
Imam al-Bazzar recorded this narration, and its chain is hasan (good).

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever would like to recite the Qur'an exactly as it was revealed should recite it (the Qur'an) according to the recitation of Ibn Umm Abd."
Imam Ahmad, Imam Abu Ya'la and Imam al-Bazzar recorded this narration, except that the two of them narrated the word "ghaddan" in place of "gharidan". Its chain contains Jarir bin Ayyub al-Bajali, who is matruk (abandoned).

Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever would like to recite the Qur'an exactly as it was revealed should recite it (the Qur'an) according to the recitation of Ibn Umm Abd."
Imam al-Bazzar recorded this narration, and Imam al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir and al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and the narrators of Imam al-Bazzar are thiqat (trustworthy).

Abdullah bin Utbah narrates: Once Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was in the mosque supplicating, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) passed by. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came near him, he heard his supplication; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not recognize him. He asked: Who is this? Ask, and you will be given! Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: What was that supplication you were making? He replied: I praised Allah Almighty and glorified Him, then I said: "O Allah, there is no god but You. Your promise is true, the meeting with You is true, Your Book is true, the Prophets are true, Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is true, Paradise is true, Hell is true, and Your Messengers are true."
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that once he was in the mosque when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by; Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) was supplicating at the time. With the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) were Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by him, he heard the supplication of Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him), and he did not recognize him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Ask, and it will be given to you! Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) went back to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked: What was the supplication you were making? Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: I praised Allah Almighty and glorified Him, then I said: "O Allah, there is no god but You. Your promise is true, the meeting with You is true, Paradise is true, Hell is true, Your Messengers are true, the Prophets are true, and Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is true."
(Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Imam al-Tirmidhi and others recorded this narration in abridged form. Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except for Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal and Sa'id bin al-Rabi' al-Samman, and both of them are thiqat (trustworthy).

Mujahid narrates: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: Which of the two recitations is the later one, the recitation of Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) or the recitation of Sayyiduna Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him)? The narrator says: We replied: The recitation of Sayyiduna Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: No! The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to review the Qur'an with Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) once every year. When the year came in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was to pass away, Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) reviewed it with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) twice, and the last recitation is the recitation of Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him).
(Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Part of this narration is mentioned in the Sahih. Imam Ahmad and Imam al-Bazzar recorded this narration, and the narrators of Imam Ahmad are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: I recited seventy surahs before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and I recited the entire Qur'an before the best of people, Sayyiduna Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him).
(Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: This narration is mentioned in the Sahih, but without the part about completing the Qur'an. Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration; its chain contains Yahya bin Salim, who is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave an order to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and he climbed a tree; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had instructed him to bring something down from that tree. The Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at the shins of Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) as he climbed up, and they laughed at how thin his shins were. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What are you laughing at? On the Day of Resurrection, the leg of Abdullah will be heavier in the Scale than Mount Uhud."
Imam Ahmad, Imam Abu Ya'la and Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except for Umm Musa, and she is thiqah (trustworthy).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that he was picking a tooth-stick (miswak) from an arak tree; his shins were thin, and the wind began to make him sway, so the people laughed at him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: What are you laughing at? The people said: O Messenger of Allah, at how thin his shins are. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By the One in whose hand is my soul, in the Scale these two (shins) will be heavier than Mount Uhud."
Imam Ahmad, Imam Abu Ya'la, Imam al-Bazzar and Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration through various chains. In some narrations the words are: "The two shins of Ibn Mas'ud will, on the Day of Resurrection, be stronger and greater than Mount Uhud." In one narration the words are: "Once he was walking behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when some of his Companions made remarks about him." Of all the chains of this narration, the best one contains Asim bin Abi al-Nujud, who, despite his weakness, is hasan al-hadith (sound in hadith), and the rest of the narrators of Imam Ahmad and Imam Abu Ya'la are the narrators of the Sahih.

Qurrah bin Iyas narrates: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud climbed a tree to take down a tooth-stick (miswak) from it. He placed his feet on it, and the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) laughed at how thin his shins were. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "These two will be heavier in the Scale than Mount Uhud."
Imam al-Bazzar and Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration, and the narrators of both are the narrators of the Sahih.

Abu al-Tufayl narrates: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) went, and some people were with him; they went to an arak tree. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) climbed the tree to take down a tooth-stick or to pick fruit from it. The people looked at his shins and laughed at how thin they were. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: What are you laughing at? The people said: At how thin the shins of Ibn Mas'ud are. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By Allah, in the Scale these two will be heavier than Mount Uhud." Then everyone went off and began picking fruit and eating it. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) came carrying in his lap the fruit he had picked, placed it before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and recited this verse: "This is my picking, and the best of it is in it, while every picker's hand goes to his own mouth." The narrator says: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ate from that fruit.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration; its chain contains Muhammad bin Ubaydullah al-Arzami, who is matruk (abandoned).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went out to relieve himself, and I followed him with water. He asked: Who told you to do this? I said: No one instructed me about it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You have done well; receive the glad tidings of Paradise! Then Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) came, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him the glad tidings of Paradise as well.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat and al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; its chain contains Abd al-Ghaffar bin al-Qasim, who used to fabricate hadith.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Since I accepted Islam I have never told a lie, except for one instance of misstatement. I used to saddle the camel for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). A man from Ta'if came and asked me: Which way of saddling does the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) like? I replied: al-Ta'ifiyyah al-munkabbah, although the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) disliked it. When it was brought to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: Who saddled this? The people said: The one who saddles for you. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Tell Ibn Umm Abd to do the saddling. So the duty of saddling was given back to me.
Imam al-Tabarani and Imam Abu Ya'la recorded this narration, and its chain is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a short sermon. When he had finished the sermon, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Abu Bakr, stand up and deliver a sermon. He delivered a sermon that was shorter than the sermon of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). When he had finished, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Umar, stand up and deliver a sermon. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and delivered a sermon shorter than those of both the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). When he had finished, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O so-and-so, stand up and deliver a sermon! That man began speaking in an embellished, affected manner, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: Be silent! (The narrator is unsure, or perhaps the words are:) Sit down! For speaking in such an affected manner is from Satan, and some eloquence is magic. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Ibn Umm Abd, stand up and deliver a sermon. So Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up, and after praising and extolling Allah Almighty he said: "O people, indeed Allah Almighty is our Lord, Islam is our religion, the Qur'an is our guide, the Ka'bah is our qiblah, and indeed 'this' is our Prophet." He said this pointing with his hand towards the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). "So we are pleased with what Allah Almighty and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) are pleased with for us, and we dislike what Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) have disliked for us." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Ibn Umm Abd has spoken rightly, Ibn Umm Abd has spoken rightly, and he has spoken the truth. I am pleased with what Allah Almighty is pleased with for me, for my Ummah and for Ibn Umm Abd, and I dislike what Allah Almighty dislikes for me, for my Ummah and for Ibn Umm Abd."
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy), except that Ubaydullah bin Uthman bin Khuthaym did not hear from Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him). And Allah knows best.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I am pleased for my Ummah with what Ibn Umm Abd is pleased with for them, and I dislike for my Ummah what Ibn Umm Abd dislikes for them."
Imam al-Bazzar recorded this narration, and Imam al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat with the part about dislike abridged; Imam al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir with a munqati' (broken) chain. The chain of Imam al-Bazzar contains Muhammad bin Humayd al-Razi, who is thiqah (trustworthy), though there is disagreement about him, and the narrators of this report have been declared trustworthy.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates: On the day of the Battle of Uhud only four people remained with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), one of whom was Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him).
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains Yahya bin Abd al-Hamid al-Himmani, who is da'if (weak).

Al-Hasan narrates: A man said to Sayyiduna Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him): What is your view of a man whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) loved at the time of his passing; would he not be a righteous man? Sayyiduna Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: Yes indeed! The man said: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) loved you, for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had appointed you as a governor. Sayyiduna Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did appoint me as a governor, but by Allah, I do not know whether that was because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) loved me or because he wanted to make use of my services in that work. However, I will tell you of two men whom he (peace and blessings be upon him) loved when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away: they are Abdullah bin Mas'ud and Ammar bin Yasir.
Imam Ahmad and Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration, except that he narrated these words: "When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away, he (peace and blessings be upon him) was pleased with the two of them." The narrators of Imam Ahmad are the narrators of the Sahih. (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Some chains of this narration will come in the chapter on the life of Sayyiduna Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him).

Zayd bin Wahb narrates: We were sitting with Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) when Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) arrived; he was so short that those who were sitting were almost level with him. When Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) saw him, he laughed. He began talking with Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and laughing with him while standing over him. Then, when he went away, Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) kept watching him until he disappeared from sight, and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: This is a small vessel (that is, a person) filled with understanding (here understanding means understanding of the religion, that is, knowledge of the religion).
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Harithah bin Mudarrib narrates: Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to the people of Kufah: I have sent Ammar (may Allah be pleased with him) as governor and Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) as minister. Both of them are among the select Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who had the honour of taking part in the Battle of Badr. So follow the two of them and act upon what they say. With regard to Abdullah, I have preferred you over myself.
Imam al-Tabarani recorded this narration, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except for Harithah, and he is thiqah (trustworthy).

Qays bin Abi Hazim said: I saw Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him); he was a clean and tidy person.
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Yahya bin Bukayr said: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) passed away. His kunyah was Abu Abd al-Rahman, and at the time of his death he was a little over 60 years old. He died in 32 AH in Madinah. He had appointed Sayyiduna al-Zubayr bin al-Awwam (may Allah be pleased with him) as the executor of his will. Sayyiduna al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) led his funeral prayer, and he was buried in al-Baqi'.
Al-Tabarani recorded it.