Rare reports from the Musnad of Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him)

Abdullah bin al-Samit narrates: Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The prayer is broken by a black dog (I think he said) and by a menstruating woman." I asked Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him): What is special about the black dog? He said: I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about that, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is a devil."

Abdullah bin al-Samit narrates that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abu Dharr, soon there will be rulers (imams) over you who will kill the prayer (by delaying it from its time). If you find them, pray the prayer at its proper time, and make the prayer you offer with them (again) a voluntary prayer."

Abdullah bin al-Samit narrates that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: My intimate friend (peace and blessings be upon him) enjoined upon me: "Any gold or silver that is tied up and stored away will become a live coal upon its owner until he spends it in the way of Allah."

Abdullah bin al-Samit narrates that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The prayer is broken by a black dog and a woman." I said: O Messenger of Allah, what is special about the black dog as compared to the white and the red? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The black dog is a devil."

Something similar is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Mutarrif (may Allah have mercy on him) says: A hadith of Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) kept reaching me, so I longed to meet him. Then I met him and said: O Abu Dharr! A hadith from you used to reach me, so I longed to meet you. He said: May Allah have mercy on your father, you have met me, so now ask. I said: A hadith has reached me that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) narrated to you, that "Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, loves three (kinds of people) and hates three." He said: I do not consider myself one who would lie against the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). I said: Who are the three whom Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, loves? He said: "A man who fights in the way of Allah with patience, seeking reward, and fights until he is martyred; and you find him in the Book of Allah." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) recited this verse: "Indeed, Allah loves those who fight in His way in ranks, as though they were a structure joined firmly with lead" [Surah al-Saff: 4]. I said: And who else? He said: "A man who has a bad neighbour who harms him, and he bears his harm patiently until Allah relieves him of him, through life or through death." I said: And who else? He said: "A man who travels with some people; they journey on until, in the last part of the night, sleep or drowsiness overcomes them, so they dismount and lay down their heads; then he gets up, performs ablution and prays out of longing for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and seeking what is with Him." I said: And who are the three whom Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, hates? He said: "The miser, the boastful; and this is in the Book of Allah: Indeed, Allah does not love any arrogant, boastful one" [Surah Luqman: 18]. I said: What is the arrogant, boastful one (mukhtal fakhur)? He said: "You find him in the Book of Allah: the arrogant miser." I said: And who else? He said: "The trader who swears many oaths, or the seller who swears many oaths." The narrator says: I do not know which of the two words Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said. I said: O Abu Dharr, what is (your) wealth? He said: A flock of sheep for us and a small herd of camels. I said: O Abu Dharr, I am not asking you about this; I am asking you about gold and silver (cash wealth). He said: Whatever comes in the morning does not last until the evening, and whatever comes in the evening does not last until the morning. I said: What is the matter between you and your brothers from Quraysh? He said: By Allah, I neither ask them about any matter of religion nor ask them for anything of this world until I meet Allah and His Messenger. He said this three times.

Abu al-Aswad narrates that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The best thing with which to change this (white) hair is henna and katam."

Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal says: Ali bin Aththam bin Ali mentioned (Abdullah bin Ahmad says: and I have seen Ali bin Aththam) that his father narrated to him from al-A'mash, from Amr bin Murrah, from Abu Nasr, that is Humayd bin Hilal, from Abdullah bin al-Samit, from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), a hadith about Abu Dharr's (may Allah be pleased with him) acceptance of Islam; then the narrator mentioned that hadith.

Abdullah bin al-Samit narrates that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned Zamzam and said: "It is blessed; it is a food that satisfies."

Abdullah bin al-Samit narrates that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whoever ties up and stores gold or silver and does not spend it in the way of Allah, it will become a live coal on the Day of Resurrection with which he will be branded."

Abu Zaynab narrates: I heard Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "O Abu Dharr, shall I not tell you of a word from the treasures of Paradise?" I said: Yes, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you. He said: "Say: La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah (There is no might and no power except with Allah)."

Abu Zaynab narrates: I heard Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) say that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abu Dharr, do you consider abundance of wealth to be richness?" I said: Yes. He said: "Do you consider scarcity of wealth to be poverty?" I said: Yes. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said this three times. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Richness is in the heart and poverty is in the heart. Whoever has richness in his heart, no hardship of this world harms him; and whoever has poverty in his heart, however much wealth he has in this world does not benefit him at all. What truly harms a person is the stinginess of his own soul."

Sa'sa'ah bin Mu'awiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates that he met Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) at al-Rabadhah. He was driving his camel, which carried two large water-skins, with a small water-skin on the camel's neck as well. He asked: O Abu Dharr, how are you? He said: I have nothing but my deeds. I said: May Allah have mercy on you, narrate a hadith to me. He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "There are no two Muslims (parents) who lose three children who had not reached puberty except that Allah forgives them both, by the bounty of His mercy towards those children." I said: May Allah have mercy on you, tell me more. He said: Yes, I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whoever spends a pair of anything from his wealth in the way of Allah, the gatekeepers of Paradise will come to receive him, each of them calling him to what he has." I said: What is meant by a pair? He said: "If he owns horses, then two horses; if he owns camels, then two camels; if he owns cattle, then two cows," until he (peace and blessings be upon him) enumerated further kinds of this sort.

Sa'sa'ah bin Mu'awiyah narrates that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever spends a pair of anything from his wealth in the way of Allah, the gatekeepers of Paradise rush towards him: whether two camels or two horses, two goats or two dirhams, two leather socks or two sandals."

Ziyad bin Nu'aym narrates: I heard Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) say on the pulpit: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whoever draws closer to Allah by a handspan, Allah draws closer to him by a forearm's length; and whoever draws closer to Him by a forearm's length, Allah draws closer to him by an arm's span; and whoever comes towards Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, walking, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, comes towards him running. And Allah is the Most High and Most Majestic, Allah is the Most High and Most Majestic, Allah is the Most High and Most Majestic."

Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We left the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in such a state that there was no bird flapping its wings in the air except that he (peace and blessings be upon him) had told us some knowledge about it. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Nothing remains that brings one closer to Paradise or takes one further from the Fire except that it has been made clear to you."

Abdullah bin al-Samit narrates that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered me to maintain ties with my relatives even if they turn away from me; to speak the truth even if it is bitter; not to let the blame of any blamer affect me in the matter of Allah; to love the poor and sit with them; to look at those beneath me and not to look at those above me; and to say La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah (There is no might and no power except with Allah) abundantly."

Amir narrates (or Isma'il would sometimes say: one of our companions narrated) from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "My intimate friend (peace and blessings be upon him) enjoined seven things upon me: that I love the poor and stay close to them; that I look at those beneath me and do not look at those above me; that I maintain ties with my relatives even if they treat me coldly; that I say La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah (There is no might and no power except with Allah) abundantly; that I speak the bitter truth and that the blame of no blamer hold me back in the matter of Allah; and that I ask people for nothing."

Malik bin Marthad narrates from his father that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, what saves the servant from the Fire? He said: "Faith in Allah." I said: O Prophet of Allah, is there some deed along with faith? He said: "He should spend from what Allah has provided him." I said: O Messenger of Allah, what if he is poor and finds nothing to spend? He said: "He should enjoin good and forbid evil." I said: O Messenger of Allah, what if he is so weak in speech that he is unable to enjoin good and forbid evil? He said: "He should help someone who is unskilled." I said: What if he himself is so unskilled that he is unable to do anything? He said: "He should help someone who is oppressed." I said: What if he himself is so weak that he cannot help someone oppressed? He said: "What good do you want to leave in your companion? He should refrain from harming people." I said: O Messenger of Allah, if he does that, will he enter Paradise? He said: "There is no Muslim who adopts any one of these traits except that it will take him by the hand until it admits him into Paradise."

Abu Idris al-Khawlani narrates that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, advise me. He said: "I advise you to have taqwa (fear) of Allah, for it is the root of your every affair." I said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me more. He said: "Hold fast to reciting the Qur'an and remembering Allah, for that is a light for you in the heavens and a light on earth." I said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me more. He said: "Avoid laughing much, for it deadens the heart and removes the light of the face." I said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me more. He said: "Hold fast to jihad, for it is the monasticism of my Ummah." I said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me more. He said: "Keep silent except for what is good, for it keeps Satan away from you and is a help to you in the affair of your religion." I said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me more. He said: "Look at the one who is beneath you and do not look at the one who is above you, for that is more likely to keep you from belittling the blessing of Allah that you have." I said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me more. He said: "Maintain ties with your relatives even if they cut you off." I said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me more. He said: "Do not fear the blame of any blamer in the matter of Allah." I said: O Messenger of Allah, tell me more. He said: "Love for people what you love for yourself." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) struck my chest with his hand and said: "O Abu Dharr, there is no intelligence like sound planning, no piety like restraint, and no noble standing like good character."