Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah

Sayyiduna Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We were on a journey with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you do not find water tomorrow, thirst will overpower you." The hasty people set out with the intention of searching for water. I stayed close to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The mount of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) began to lean to one side and he dozed off, so I supported him and he regained his balance. Then again, due to drowsiness, he began to lean, so I supported him and he regained his balance. Then he leaned so much that he was about to fall from the mount, so I supported him, and at that moment he woke up and asked: "Who is this man?" I said: Abu Qatadah. He asked: "Since when have you been traveling?" I said: Since the night. He said: "May Allah protect you as you have protected His Messenger." Then he said: "If we take some rest (it would be better)." Then he turned towards a tree and dismounted there and said: "See if any man is visible." I said: Here is a rider, here are two riders coming, until a total of seven people gathered. We said: Please keep watch for the Fajr prayer, lest we fall asleep. (But we all fell asleep and) the heat of the sun woke us up, and we awoke. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mounted and set off, and we were with him. After traveling a little, he dismounted and asked: "Do you have any water?" I said: Yes, I have a vessel for ablution with a little water in it. He said: "Bring it." I brought it. Then he said: "Take water, take water." All the people performed ablution and only a single sip of water remained in the vessel. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Abu Qatadah! Preserve this water, soon a great (miracle) will occur because of it." Then Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) gave the call to prayer, the people prayed the two Sunnah units before Fajr, and then performed the Fajr prayer. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mounted and so did we. We began to say to one another that we had missed the prayer. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "What are you saying? If it is a worldly matter, resolve it yourselves, and if it is a religious matter, bring it to me." We said: O Messenger of Allah! We have missed the prayer. He said: "There is no negligence in delay due to sleep; negligence is only when one delays the prayer while awake and alert. If this happens (as it happened today), then pray as soon as you remember, and on the next day, pray at its proper time." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) further said: "Estimate the number of the people." They said: You said yesterday that if we do not find water tomorrow, thirst will overpower us, but we have water. He said: When morning came and the people (the larger group) found their Prophet missing, some said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) must be at the water. Abu Bakr and Umar were also present; they said: O people! It is not possible that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would go to the water before you and leave you behind. If the people follow Abu Bakr and Umar, they will be rightly guided. These words were said three times. When the intense heat of the day began and the people saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), they said: O Messenger of Allah! We are perishing from thirst and our throats have become dry like thorns due to thirst. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "No destruction will befall you today." Then he said: "Abu Qatadah! Bring the ablution vessel (in which there was a sip of water)." I brought it. He said: "Remove the lid of my cup." I removed the lid and brought the cup to him. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kept pouring water into it and kept giving it to the people to drink, and a large number of people gathered. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O people! Fill up in a good manner, everyone will return fully quenched." All the people except me and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) drank the water. Finally, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) poured water for me and said: "Abu Qatadah! Drink." I said: O Messenger of Allah! You drink. He said: "The one who serves the people drinks last." So I drank, and then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) drank, and there was as much water left in the vessel as there was before. On that day, the number of the army was three hundred.