Musnad of Abdullah bin Mas'ud

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him): "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered the Sacred Mosque, and around the House of Allah there were three hundred and sixty idols (set up). He (peace and blessings be upon him) began striking them down with a stick that was in his blessed hand, saying: 'The truth has come and falsehood has vanished; indeed falsehood is bound to vanish.' [Surah al-Isra: 81]"

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "In the blessed time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) the moon split into two pieces, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Bear witness, all of you.'"

Abdullah bin Ma'qil (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates: I went with my father to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and my father asked him: "Did you hear the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'Remorse is repentance'?" He replied: "Yes."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him): "We were with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in a cave when the surah 'By those sent forth in succession' [Surah al-Mursalat: 1] was revealed to him (peace and blessings be upon him). I received this surah directly from his (peace and blessings be upon him) blessed mouth (by hearing it), and at that time his (peace and blessings be upon him) blessed tongue was moist (with reciting the revelation). (Because of the abundance of recitation) I do not remember with which verse he (peace and blessings be upon him) ended the surah: with 'So in what statement after it will they believe?' [Surah al-Mursalat: 50], or with the verse before it, 'And when it is said to them: Bow down, they do not bow down' [Surah al-Mursalat: 48]. Meanwhile a snake passed quickly in front of us and disappeared into a hole, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'You have been protected from its harm, and it has been protected from your harm.'"

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "We used to greet the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with salam (while he was in prayer), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) would return our greeting. Then when we came back from the land of Abyssinia, I greeted him (peace and blessings be upon him), but he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not return my greeting. At this, such states of grief, worry and misgiving came over me as Allah alone knows best. Then I sat down until, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) had finished the prayer, I said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): You used to return our greeting? At this he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Indeed, Allah Almighty brings about whatever new command He wills in His commands, and He has now issued this decree in His command: that you must not talk during the prayer.'"

Abd al-Rahman bin Yazid (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates: I saw Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) stone Jamrat al-Aqabah from the bottom of the valley, and he said: "By the One besides whom there is no true god, this is the standing place of that person (peace and blessings be upon him) upon whom Surah al-Baqarah was revealed."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "In the manner and method of killing, the people of faith are the most restrained and well-mannered of all people."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "In the manner of killing and in its affairs, the people of faith are more restrained and well-mannered than all other people."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, Islam began as something strange, in a state of helplessness, and soon it will become strange again just as it began; so glad tidings to the strangers." The narrator says: It was asked: O Messenger of Allah, who are those strangers? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Those individuals who have come out, one by one, from different tribes."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Perform Hajj and Umrah one after the other, for these two (sacred acts of worship) remove poverty and sins just as the (fire of the) furnace removes the impurities of iron, gold and silver; and an accepted Hajj (Hajj mabrur, an accepted Hajj full of righteousness) has no reward except Paradise."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, when the sun rises, it rises between the two horns of Satan." Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "For this reason we used to be forbidden to pray at the time of sunrise, at the time of sunset, and at exact midday."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "I went out with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when he went to relieve himself, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Bring me something with which I can clean myself (istinja'), and do not bring me (for istinja') any decayed bone or dung.'"

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Some people will remain in Hell for as long as Allah wills; then Allah Almighty will have mercy on them and bring them out of it. They will be in the lowest level of Paradise and will bathe there in the River of Life. The people of Paradise will call them 'al-Jahannamiyyun' (those brought out of Hell). (One of them will be given such abundance in Paradise that) if he were to host all the people of the world, he could feed them all, give them all to drink, and provide them with coverings and bedding." The narrator says: I think he (peace and blessings be upon him) also said: "And he could marry them all off, and this (generosity and hospitality) would not diminish anything at all of the blessings he has."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The last person to enter Paradise will be a man who will sometimes walk on the Sirat, sometimes stumble, and sometimes the Fire will scorch him. Then, when he has crossed it and turns to look back at it, he will say: 'All praise is for Allah, who has saved me from you. Allah has given me a blessing that He has not given to anyone among the first or the last.' Then a tree will be shown to him, and he will say: 'O my Lord, bring me near this tree so that I may rest in its shade and drink of its water.' Allah Almighty will say: 'O son of Adam, if I bring you near it, perhaps you will ask Me for something else besides it?' He will promise that he will not ask for anything besides it, while his Lord knows that he will soon ask for something else, because he is seeing things over which he will not be able to restrain himself. So Allah will bring him near that tree, and he will sit in its shade and drink of its water. Then another tree will be raised up for him, more beautiful than the first, and he will say: 'O my Lord, bring me near this tree so that I may stay in its shade and drink of its water.' Allah Almighty will say: 'O son of Adam, did you not promise Me that you would not ask for anything besides it?' He will say: 'Yes, O my Lord, but now I will not ask for anything besides this one.' He will promise again that he will not ask for anything besides it, while his Lord knows that he will soon ask for something else, and his Lord will excuse him, because he is seeing blessings over which he cannot restrain himself. So Allah will bring him near it, and he will enjoy its shade and its water. Then another tree will appear at the gate of Paradise, far more beautiful than the first two, and he will say: 'O my Lord, bring me near this tree so that I may sit in its shade and drink of its water.' Allah Almighty will say: 'O son of Adam, did you not promise that you would not ask for anything besides it?' He will say: 'O my Lord, just bring me near it.' Allah Almighty will say: 'If I bring you near it, perhaps you will ask for something else?' He will promise again that he will not ask for anything besides it, while his Lord knows that he will soon ask for something else, and his Lord will excuse him, because he is seeing something over which he cannot restrain himself. Allah will bring him near it, and from there he will hear the voices of the people of Paradise, and he will say: 'O my Lord, admit me into Paradise.' Allah Almighty will say: 'Would it please you if I gave you the whole world and another world like it along with it?' He will say: 'O my Lord, are You mocking me, while You are the Lord of the worlds?'" The narrator says: Allah Almighty will say: "I am not mocking you; rather, I have power over whatever I will."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The one who consumes usury (riba), the one who pays it, its two witnesses and its scribe (the one who writes the document) have been cursed." He (peace and blessings be upon him) also said: "When fornication and usury appear openly among a people, they have surely made themselves deserving of the punishment of Allah."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, on the Day of Resurrection the sweat will bridle the disbeliever (that is, it will reach his mouth), so that he will say: (O my Lord,) give me relief (from this distress), even if it be (by sending me) to the Fire."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah Almighty spoke to Musa (peace be upon him) while he was dressed in a woollen cloak, a woollen wrap, woollen trousers and a woollen cap, and his sandals were made from the skin of a donkey that had not been slaughtered."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna al-Ash'ath bin Qays (may Allah be pleased with him) bought some slaves from among the slaves of the public treasury, and then the two of them differed over the price. Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I sold them to you for twenty thousand." Sayyiduna al-Ash'ath (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I bought them from you for only ten thousand." At this Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "If you wish, shall I tell you a hadith that I myself heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" He said: "Yes, certainly, tell it." Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "When the seller and the buyer differ, and there is no clear proof or witness between them, then the word of the seller is to be accepted, or else the two of them cancel the sale." Sayyiduna al-Ash'ath (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Then I cancel this sale."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "I was a young boy grazing the goats of Uqbah bin Abi Mu'ayt when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) came to me, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: 'O boy, do you have any milk?' I said: 'Yes, but I am (their) trustee.' He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Bring me a goat that no male has yet mounted.' I brought him (peace and blessings be upon him) a young kid or a yearling goat. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) held it, then began to stroke its udder and supplicate until the udder let down milk. Then Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) brought a (bowl-like) stone, into which he (peace and blessings be upon him) milked it. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him): 'Drink.' So Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) drank, and after him the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drank. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the udder: 'Shrink back,' and it shrank and became as it had been before." Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "After this incident I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, teach me some of this speech, that is, of this Qur'an.' He (peace and blessings be upon him) passed his hand affectionately over my head and said: 'Indeed, you are a boy who is taught (and gifted).'" Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "So I learned seventy surahs directly from his (peace and blessings be upon him) blessed mouth, concerning which (their soundness and recitation) no human being can dispute with me."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the verse "Who is it that will lend Allah a goodly loan" was revealed, Sayyiduna Abu al-Dahdah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), does Allah Almighty really ask a loan of us?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, O Abu al-Dahdah." He said: "Give me your (peace and blessings be upon him) blessed hand." The narrator says: He (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him his hand, and he said: "I have lent my garden to my Lord." In that garden of his there were six hundred date palms. Then he walked until he came to that garden of his, where Sayyidah Umm al-Dahdah (may Allah be pleased with her) was with her children. He called out: "O Umm al-Dahdah!" She replied: "Here I am." Sayyiduna Abu al-Dahdah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Come out of here, for I have lent this garden to my Lord."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, Allah is Witr (One and odd) and He loves the witr, so, O people of the Qur'an, perform the witr prayer." At this a Bedouin asked: O Messenger of Allah, what are you saying? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This (statement or emphasis) is not for you or for your (Bedouin) companions."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Fighting a believer is disbelief, and insulting him is fisq (disobedience)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Your permission (to come to me) is that you lift the curtain and hear my private talk, unless I forbid you (on some particular occasion)." Abd al-Rahman bin Yazid (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It has reached me that by this (sawad) is meant whispering and confidential talk.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade "going out to meet (the caravans bringing trade goods before they reach the market)".

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Insulting a Muslim is fisq (disobedience), and fighting him is disbelief."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed the spoils of Hunayn at al-Ji'ranah, and the people crowded around him (peace and blessings be upon him) (in great numbers). At this he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There was one of the servants of Allah (a prophet) whom Allah sent to a people; they rejected him, beat him and wounded his head." Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: It is as though I am still looking at the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) by the camel saddle (as he described those people), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said like this: "O my Lord, forgive my people, for they do not know." And (one of its narrators) Abu Sa'id al-Qawariri (may Allah have mercy on him), (describing this state,) passed his thumb over his forehead as though he were wiping something away (such as blood).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I saw Jibril (peace be upon him) at the Sidrat al-Muntaha; he had six hundred wings, and from his feathers were scattering many-coloured, captivating wonders, among them pearls and rubies."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to supplicate with this du'a: 'Allahumma inni a'udhu bika min al-shaytan al-rajim: min hamzihi wa nafkhihi wa nafthihi' (O Allah, I seek refuge in You from Satan the accursed: from his prodding, his blowing and his spitting). The narrator, explaining these words, said that Satan's "hamz" means the madness (or fainting) that comes over a person, "nafth" means (obscene) poetry, and "nafkh" means pride and arrogance.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "A man's prayer in congregation surpasses his prayer alone by twenty-odd degrees."

It is narrated from al-Aswad (may Allah have mercy on him) and Alqamah (may Allah have mercy on him) that they both said: "We prayed with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) in his house; one of us stood on his right and the other on his left, and he said: 'This is how we prayed with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).'"

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that a black slave came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and then died. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was informed of it, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Look, did he leave anything (as inheritance)?" The people said that he had left two dinars. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "These are two brands (of the fire of Hell)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The likeness of me and this world is only that of a rider who rested for a while in the shade of a tree on a scorching day, then left it and went on his way."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, there is an influence and suggestion (upon the human heart) from Satan, and a suggestion from the angel. Satan's suggestion consists of threatening with evil and denying the truth, while the angel's suggestion consists of promising good and affirming the truth. So whoever feels this (the good state from the angel) should praise Allah, and whoever is afflicted by the other (Satanic whispering) should seek refuge in Allah from Satan." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) recited this noble verse: "Satan threatens you with poverty (and commands you to immorality)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Prayer offered in congregation exceeds the prayer of a man praying alone in excellence by twenty-odd parts."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that on the night of Arafah, while we were in Masjid al-Khayf, we suddenly heard the sound of a snake, whereupon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered: "Kill it." The snake hid in a crack of a hole. Then a palm branch was brought and fire was lit in it; after that we dug up part of the hole but did not find it. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Leave it; Allah Almighty has protected it from your harm just as He has protected you from its harm."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When one of you is in doubt (about the number of rak'ahs or the like in the prayer), he should reflect and try to determine what is correct, and (then complete his prayer accordingly and at the end) perform the two prostrations of forgetfulness."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that: "Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us the ways of guidance regarding offering the prayer in the mosque in which the call to prayer (adhan) is given."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said three times: "Beware! Those who go to extremes and split hairs are ruined. Beware! Those who transgress the limits are destroyed. Listen! Those who are affected and harsh are lost."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to sleep, he used to recite this du'a: 'Allahumma qini 'adhabaka yawma tajma'u 'ibadak' (O Allah, protect me from Your punishment on the Day You gather Your servants (for the reckoning)), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) used to place his blessed hand under his blessed cheek.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Companions used to recite behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the prayer, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) said (because it disturbed his concentration): "You have confused the Qur'an for me."