حَدَّثَنَا
عَبْدُ الصَّمَدِ ، قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا
مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ أَبِي الْمَلِيحِ الْهُذَلِيُّ ، قَالَ : حَدَّثَنِي
زِيَادُ بْنُ أَبِي الْمَلِيحِ ، عَنْ
أَبِيهِ ، عَنْ
أَبِي بُرْدَةَ ، عَنْ
عَوْفِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ الْأَشْجَعِيِّ ، أَنَّهُ كَانَ مَعَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي سَفَرٍ ، فَسَارَ بِهِمْ يَوْمَهُمْ أَجْمَعَ ، لَا يَحُلُّ لَهُمْ عُقْدَةً ، وَلَيْلَتَهُ جَمْعَاءَ لَا يَحُلُّ عُقْدَةً ، إِلَّا لِصَلَاةٍ ، حَتَّى نَزَلُوا أَوْسَطَ اللَّيْلِ ، قَالَ : فَرَقَبَ رَجُلٌ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ حِينَ وَضَعَ رَحْلَهُ ، قَالَ : فَانْتَهَيْتُ إِلَيْهِ فَنَظَرْتُ ، فَلَمْ أَرَ أَحَدًا إِلَّا نَائِمًا ، وَلَا بَعِيرًا إِلَّا وَاضِعًا جِرَانَهُ نَائِمًا ، قَالَ : فَتَطَاوَلْتُ فَنَظَرْتُ حَيْثُ وَضَعَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ رَحْلَهُ ، فَلَمْ أَرَهُ فِي مَكَانِهِ ، فَخَرَجْتُ أَتَخَطَّى الرِّحَالَ حَتَّى خَرَجْتُ إِلَى النَّاسِ ، ثُمَّ مَضَيْتُ عَلَى وَجْهِي فِي سَوَادِ اللَّيْلِ ، فَسَمِعْتُ جَرَسًا فَانْتَهَيْتُ إِلَيْهِ ، فَإِذَا أَنَا بِمُعَاذِ بْنِ جَبَلٍ وَالْأَشْعَرِيِّ ، فَانْتَهَيْتُ إِلَيْهِمَا ، فَقُلْتُ : أَيْنَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ؟ فَإِذَا هَزِيزٌ كَهَزِيزِ الرَّحَا ، فَقُلْتُ : كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عِنْدَ هَذَا الصَّوْتِ ، قَالَا : اقْعُدْ اسْكُتْ فَمَضَى قَلِيلًا فَأَقْبَلَ حَتَّى انْتَهَى إِلَيْنَا ، فَقُمْنَا إِلَيْهِ ، فَقُلْنَا : يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ، فَزِعْنَا إِذْ لَمْ نَرَكَ ، وَاتَّبَعْنَا أَثَرَكَ ، فَقَالَ :
" إِنَّهُ أَتَانِي آتٍ مِنْ رَبِّي عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فَخَيَّرَنِي بَيْنَ أَنْ يَدْخُلَ نِصْفُ أُمَّتِي الْجَنَّةَ وَبَيْنَ الشَّفَاعَةِ ، فَاخْتَرْتُ الشَّفَاعَةَ " ، فَقُلْنَا : نُذَكِّرُكَ اللَّهَ وَالصُّحْبَةَ إِلَّا جَعَلْتَنَا مِنْ أَهْلِ شَفَاعَتِكَ ، قَالَ : " أَنْتُمْ مِنْهُمْ " ، ثُمَّ مَضَيْنَا فَيَجِيءُ الرَّجُلُ وَالرَّجُلَانِ ، فَيُخْبِرُهُمْ بِالَّذِي أَخْبَرَنَا بِهِ فَيُذَكِّرُونَهُ اللَّهَ وَالصُّحْبَةَ إِلَّا جَعَلَهُمْ مِنْ أَهْلِ شَفَاعَتِهِ ، فَيَقُولُ : " فَإِنَّكُمْ مِنْهُمْ " حَتَّى انْتَهَى النَّاسُ فَأَضَبُّوا عَلَيْهِ ، وَقَالُوا : اجْعَلْنَا مِنْهُمْ ، قَالَ : " فَإِنِّي أُشْهِدُكُمْ أَنَّهَا لِمَنْ مَاتَ مِنْ أُمَّتِي لَا يُشْرِكُ بِاللَّهِ شَيْئًا " .
It is narrated from Hazrat Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would camp at any place, his Muhajir companions (may Allah be pleased with them) would be close to him. Once, we camped at a place and the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up for the night prayer while we were sleeping around. Suddenly, I woke up at night and did not find the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his sleeping place. I went out in search of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and saw Hazrat Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) and Abu Musa Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him). I reached them and asked about the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Suddenly, we heard a sound like that produced by a millstone, and we stopped in our tracks. The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was coming from the direction of that sound. When he came near, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "What happened to you?" We replied, "When we woke up and did not find you in your place, we feared that some harm might have come to you, so we set out to search for you." The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "A messenger from my Lord came to me and gave me the choice between two things: that half of my Ummah would enter Paradise, or that I would be granted the right of intercession. So I preferred the aspect of intercession." We both said, "O Messenger of Allah! We ask you, by Islam and the right of your companionship, to pray to Allah that He includes us in your intercession." Other people also arrived and began making the same request, and their number increased. The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Every person who dies in such a state that he does not associate anyone with Allah will be included in my intercession."