Musnad Ahmad

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that some companions (may Allah be pleased with them) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) were on a journey. During the journey, they passed by an Arab tribe. The companions (may Allah be pleased with them) requested hospitality from the people of the tribe, but they refused to offer hospitality. Coincidentally, one of their men lost his senses or was bitten by something poisonous. Those people came to the companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and said, "Is there anyone among you who knows how to perform ruqyah (spiritual healing)?" One of them replied, "Yes." He went to the man and recited Surah Al-Fatiha over him and performed ruqyah. The man became healthy. Those people presented them with a flock of sheep, but they refused to accept it. They then went to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and mentioned the whole incident, and said, "O Messenger of Allah! By the One Who sent you with the truth, I only recited Surah Al-Fatiha for ruqyah." Upon this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled and said, "How did you know that it is a ruqyah (incantation)?" Then he said, "Take the flock of sheep and include my share with yours."

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that we used to estimate the standing (qiyam) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the Zuhr and Asr prayers. Our estimation was that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would stand in the first two rak'ahs of Zuhr for the duration it takes to recite thirty verses, "which is about the length of Surah As-Sajdah," and in the last two rak'ahs, he would stand for half of that. In the first two rak'ahs of Asr prayer, he would stand for half of that, and in the last two rak'ahs, he would stand for half of that as well.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: On the Day of Resurrection, I will be the leader of all the children of Adam, and I am not saying this out of pride. I will be the first person whose earth (grave) will be opened on the Day of Resurrection, and this too is not out of pride. And I will be the first to intercede on the Day of Resurrection, and I am not saying this out of pride either.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that Hazrat Ma'iz bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and informed him that he had committed a sin. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), after turning him back several times, finally ordered him to be stoned. We took him and stoned him, then returned to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and informed him of this. When evening came, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) stood up, praised and glorified Allah, and said, "What is the matter with the people?" (Imam Ahmad's son, Abdullah, says that after this, my father missed the last words of the hadith.)

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man from the Ansar was overcome by need. His family said to him, "Go and request help from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)." So he went to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who at that time was delivering a sermon and was saying: "Whoever seeks chastity, Allah grants him chastity; whoever seeks sufficiency from Allah, Allah grants him sufficiency; and whoever asks us for something and we have it, we will give it to him." Hearing this, the man returned and did not ask the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for anything.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that a person asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about which things a Muhrim (one in the state of Ihram) is allowed to kill. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He may strike with a stone a snake, a scorpion, a mouse, and a crow, but should not kill them; a rabid dog, a kite, and a predatory enemy beast.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade making and using nabidh in earthen pots, and also forbade making nabidh by mixing unripe and ripe dates, or by mixing dates and raisins.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that a date seller brought some dates to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) found something unusual about the transaction, so he asked him, "Where did you get these from?" He said, "We gave two sa’ of our dates and took one sa’ of these superior dates." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "You have engaged in an usurious transaction."

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Instruct your dying ones to say "La ilaha illallah".

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Shall I not tell you something by which Allah forgives sins and increases good deeds? The companions (may Allah be pleased with them) said: Why not, O Messenger of Allah! He said: Completing ablution despite difficulty, taking many steps towards the mosques, and waiting for one prayer after another. Whoever among you leaves his house after performing ablution and offers prayer with the Muslims, then sits in the mosque waiting for the next prayer, the angels pray for him: O Allah! Forgive him, O Allah! Have mercy on him. When you stand for prayer, straighten the rows and fill the gaps, for I see you from behind as well. And when your imam says Allahu Akbar, you also say Allahu Akbar; when he bows, you also bow; when he says Sami Allahu liman Hamidah, you say Allahumma Rabbana lakal hamd. And the best row among the men's rows is the first, and the least is the last; and among the women's rows, the best is the last and the least is the first. O group of women! When the men prostrate, lower your gaze and do not look at the private parts of men through the openings of the lower garments.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that you commit such deeds which, in your eyes, are of less value than a particle, but we used to count them, in the blessed era of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), among the destructive things.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that on the day of the Battle of the Trench, we submitted in the presence of the Messenger of Allah, "O Messenger of Allah! Our hearts have leapt up to our throats; if there is any supplication to recite, please tell us." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Yes! Recite this supplication: O Allah! Conceal our faults and replace our fear with security." After that, Allah sent a wind upon the enemies and caused them to be defeated.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The deceased recognizes even those who carry him, bathe him, and lower him into the grave.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to recite Surah Al-Fatihah and "whatever Surah is easy for you" in prayer.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Hasan (may Allah be pleased with him) and Husain (may Allah be pleased with him) are the leaders of the youth of Paradise.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that I was present with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at a funeral. There, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O people! This Ummah will also be tested in their graves. So, when a person is buried and his companions leave, an angel comes to him—who has a mace in his hand—makes him sit up and asks him about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "What do you say about this man?" If he is a believer, he says: "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is His servant and Messenger." Upon hearing this, the angel says: "You have spoken the truth." Then a door to Hell is opened and shown to him, and it is said: "If you had disbelieved in your Lord, this would have been your abode. But since you believed, your abode is elsewhere." Then a door to Paradise is opened for him. When he tries to get up and enter Paradise, the angel tells him to remain at ease, and his grave is made spacious for him.

And if he is a disbeliever or a hypocrite, when the angel asks him: "What do you say about this man?" he replies: "I do not know anything; I only heard people saying something." The angel says to him: "You neither understood nor recited nor were guided." Then a door to Paradise is opened and shown to him, and the angel says: "If you had believed in your Lord, this would have been your abode. But since you disbelieved, Allah has changed your abode from here," and a door to Hell is opened for him. Then the angel strikes him with his mace so forcefully that all of Allah's creation, except jinn and humans, hear its sound. Someone asked: "O Messenger of Allah! Will not anyone be terrified when an angel stands before him with a mace in his hand?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah keeps the believers firm on the word of Tawheed."

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Witr should be offered at night only.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked Ibn Sayyad about the soil of Paradise. He replied that it is extremely white and of pure musk. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) affirmed this.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) and Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The space between my house and my pulpit is one of the gardens of Paradise, and my pulpit will be placed over my cistern (Hawd).

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that once Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) submitted in the court of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), "O Messenger of Allah! I have heard so-and-so two men being highly praised and it was mentioned that you gave them two dinars each." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "But by Allah! That man is not like that. I have given him from ten up to a hundred dinars. What does he say? Remember! Whoever among you leaves my presence after fulfilling his request is leaving with fire under his arm." Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "O Messenger of Allah! Then why do you give them?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "What can I do? They do not accept anything else, and Allah does not like miserliness for me."

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever seeks self-sufficiency, Allah will make him self-sufficient, and whoever seeks chastity, Allah will grant him chastity.

Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says that gold for gold and silver for silver should be sold equal for equal; do not make any increase or decrease in them, and do not sell any absent (commodity) for a present one among them, because I fear that you may fall into usury. The narrator of the hadith, Nafi', says that a man narrated this same hadith to Hazrat Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) on the authority of Hazrat Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him). Before he could finish his statement, Hazrat Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) himself arrived, and I was present there. Hazrat Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him, "He has narrated a hadith to me, and according to him, you narrated this hadith to him from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Did you really hear this hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)?" He replied, "I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: Gold for gold and silver for silver should be sold equal for equal; do not make any increase or decrease in them, and do not sell any absent (commodity) for a present one among them."

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whatever worry, hardship, grief, illness, or sorrow, even those thoughts "which trouble him," reach a Muslim, Allah expiates his sins through them.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that once Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) sent a piece of gold from Yemen, wrapped in a tanned hide "whose clay had not been spoiled," to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) distributed it among Zaid al-Khair, Aqra’ bin Habis, Uyaina bin Hisn, and Alqama bin Ulatha or Amir bin Tufail—four men. Some of the companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and the Ansar felt uneasy about this. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to them, "Do you not consider me trustworthy? I am the trustee of the One Who is in the heavens. News from the heavens comes to me morning and evening." Meanwhile, a man with deep-set eyes, red cheeks, a broad forehead, a thick beard, his lower garment raised high, and his head shaved, came and said, "O Messenger of Allah! Fear Allah." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) looked up at him and said, "Wretched one! Am I not the most deserving among the people of the earth to fear Allah?" Then that man turned his back and walked away. Hazrat Khalid bin Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "O Messenger of Allah! Allow me to strike his neck?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Perhaps he prays." He replied, "Many who pray say with their tongues what is not in their hearts." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "I have not been commanded to pierce people's hearts or to split open their bellies." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at him as he was turning away and said, "Remember! From the progeny of this man will come a people who will recite the Qur'an, but it will not go beyond their throats, and they will go out of the religion as an arrow passes through its prey."

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) and Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Allah Almighty has said, "Fasting is especially for Me and I Myself will give its reward. The fasting person experiences two moments of joy: when he breaks his fast, he is happy, and when he meets Allah and Allah grants him his reward, then he will be happy." By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the breath of the fasting person is more pleasant to Allah than the fragrance of musk.

Once a man asked Hazrat Abu Saeed Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) about the lower garment, so he replied, "You have asked a well-informed person. I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say that a Muslim's lower garment should reach to the middle of the shin. There is no harm if it is between the shin and the ankles, but the part of the lower garment that is below the ankles will be in Hell, and Allah will not look with mercy upon the person who drags his lower garment on the ground out of pride."

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered us to build the mosque. We would each carry one brick, while Hazrat Ammar (may Allah be pleased with him) would carry two bricks, and his head was covered in dust. My companions related to me, although I did not hear this directly from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would dust off his head and say: "O son of Sumayyah! Alas, a rebellious group will martyr you."

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: In the last era, there will be a caliph who will give wealth and riches abundantly to the people without counting it.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man submitted in the court of the Prophet, "O Messenger of Allah! There is an abundance of lizards in our area, what do you command us regarding this?" The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "It has been mentioned before me that a group among the Children of Israel was transformed (into another form), (perhaps it is the same)." And the Prophet (peace be upon him) neither commanded to eat it nor forbade it. Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) says that after this, Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say, "Allah benefits many people through it and it is generally the food of shepherds. If it were with me, I would also eat it. The Prophet (peace be upon him) only refrained from eating it out of caution."

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that we set out on the journey of Hajj with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Throughout the journey, we recited the Talbiyah for Hajj aloud, but when we had performed the Tawaf of the House of Allah, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Make it an Umrah, except for the one who has a sacrificial animal with him." So we made it an Umrah and released ourselves from Ihram. Then, when the eighth of Dhul-Hijjah came, we recited the Talbiyah for Hajj and set out towards Mina.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that once we were waiting for the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for the Isha prayer. While waiting, a third of the night passed. Finally, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came and led us in prayer. Then he said, "Remain seated in your places. People have gone to their beds, but as long as you have been waiting for the prayer, you have been counted as being in prayer. If it were not for the weakness of the weak, the illness of the sick, and the need of those with needs, I would have delayed this prayer until a portion of the night."

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Those inhabitants of Hell who will remain in it forever, neither will death come to them nor will they be granted life. However, those people upon whom Allah intends to show mercy, He will cause them to die in Hell. Then the intercessors will intercede for them, and every person will take out his friends. These people will bathe in a special river, whose name will be the River of Life, or Hayawan, or Hayat, or the River of Paradise. They will grow forth just as a seed grows in the flow of a flood. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Just consider, a tree is first green, then it turns yellow, or he said something similar. Upon this, a man said: It seems as if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has also lived in the jungle (for he knows its conditions so well).

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The awe and fear of people should not prevent any of you from speaking the truth when he sees it, witnesses it, or hears it." Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "I wish I had not heard this hadith."

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned a people who will be in your Ummah and will emerge among the people as a separate sect; their distinguishing mark will be shaving their heads. These people will be the worst of creation. One of the two groups—whichever is closer to the truth—will kill them. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave an example of them, saying: Just as a man shoots an arrow, then looks at its tip and finds nothing there, then looks at its blade and finds nothing there, then looks at its shaft and finds nothing there. Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O people of Iraq! It is you who killed these people.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that once the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) led the companions (may Allah be pleased with them) in prayer. After the prayer, a man came. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Who will trade with him? Or who will give charity to him by praying with him?" Upon this, a man went and prayed with him.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: When you hear the call to prayer (Adhan), say the same words as the muezzin says.

The previous hadith is also narrated through this second chain of transmission.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade the sale of Muzabana and Muhaqala. Muzabana refers to making a transaction by measuring the fruits on the trees in exchange for harvested dates, and Muhaqala means giving land on rent.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade two types of clothing and two types of transactions. By transactions is meant mulamasah and munabadah, and by clothing is meant wrapping oneself in only one sheet, or sitting in such a way in one garment with the knees drawn up that the private parts are not covered by any cloth.

It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Saeed (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade wrapping oneself in a single sheet and that a person sits in such a way in one garment with his knees drawn up that there is no cloth covering his private parts.