The virtue of the Arabs

Khulayd al-Asri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: When Sayyiduna Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) came to us, we went to him so that we could read the Qur'an from him. He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Indeed, the Qur'an is Arabic, so read it from an Arab." So Zayd bin Suhan (may Allah have mercy on him) used to teach us to read. When he made a mistake, Sayyiduna Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) would catch him on the mistake, and when he got it right, he (may Allah be pleased with him) would say: "By Allah! That is how it is."

Mughirah said that Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: On the day of the Battle of Badr, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) set the ransom of an Arab at forty uqiyahs, and set the ransom of a freed slave (mawla) at twenty uqiyahs. One uqiyah is forty dirhams.

Kharashah (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The ruin of the Arabs will come when the children of the daughters of Persia reach maturity."

Sayyiduna Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever deceives the Arabs will not enter into my intercession, nor will he attain my love."

Al-Mustazill bin Husayn (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) was addressing us, and he (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "By the Lord of the Ka'bah! I certainly know when the Arabs will perish." A man from among the Muslims stood up and asked: "O Commander of the Faithful! When will they perish?" He (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When their affairs are managed by one who has neither faced the Jahiliyyah nor kept the company of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)."

Husayn al-Muzani (may Allah have mercy on him) said that Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The likeness of the Arabs is only that of a gentle camel that follows the one who leads it. So their leader should look to where he is guiding them. As for me, by the Lord of the Ka'bah! I will most certainly put them upon the straight path."

Qays (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sayyiduna Amr bin Ma'dikarib (may Allah be pleased with him) passed by us on the day of al-Qadisiyyah while we were in rows, and he (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O company of Arabs! Be lions that attack fiercely. Indeed, the lion is unconcerned about its state. The Persian is nothing but a billy-goat once he has thrown his spear."

Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Kathir bin al-Salt (may Allah have mercy on him) said: A freed slave of ours married an Arab woman. So he was brought to Umar bin Abd al-Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) and help was sought against him. He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "By Allah! The freed slave of the family of Kathir has certainly gone beyond his rank and his limit."

Sa'id bin al-Musayyib said that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) forbade an Arab from marrying a slave woman. And he ruled, concerning Arabs who marry slave women and their children, that there is a ransom: six qala'is (young she-camels), men and women being equal in this, and the same is the ruling for the mawali (clients) if it was not known.

Al-Zuhri said: "An Arab and a mawla (client) are not equal in lineage."

Muhammad bin Abi Razin (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated from his mother: It would weigh very heavily on Umm al-Harir when a man of the Arabs died. She was asked about this: "O Umm al-Harir! We have seen that when a man of the Arabs dies, it weighs very heavily on you." She said: "I heard my master say that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Indeed, the destruction of the Arabs is a sign of the nearness of the Hour.'" And her master was Sayyiduna Talhah bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him).