Sayyidina Uways bin Amir al-Qarni (d. 37 AH) was born and raised in Yemen, and belonged to the Qarn tribe. He lived during the time of the Prophet ﷺ but could not meet him in person. He is the leader of the Tabi’in, and the Prophet ﷺ gave glad tidings about him, saying:
(( إِنَّ خَيْرَ التَّابِعِينَ رَجُلٌ يُقَالُ لَهُ أُوَيْسُ ، وَلَهُ وَالِدَةٌ وَكَانَ بِهِ بياضُ فَمُرُوهُ فَلْيَسْتَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ . ))
“Indeed, the best of the Tabi’in is a man called Uways. He has a mother (who is alive), and he has vitiligo (bars, white patches). (If you meet him,) tell him to ask forgiveness for you.”
Another narration of Sahih Muslim (2/311) shows that he could not come to the Prophet ﷺ because of his service to his mother. This act was, in the light of the Prophet ﷺ’s teachings, part of his obedience and submission to him.
واللہ اعلم
Allah removed this disease from Uways’s body except for a spot the size of one dirham. Details: Sayyidina Uways (may Allah have mercy on him) asked Allah, and Allah removed the disease of vitiligo (white patches on the body), leaving only a spot the size of a dirham on his navel. Explaining the reason for this, Sayyidina Uways (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
((لأذكر به ربي . ))
“So that I may remember my Lord when I see it.”
During the caliphate of Sayyidina Umar, when Uways al-Qarni came to Madinah, Sayyidina Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) requested that he make supplication for his forgiveness, and Uways (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
”أنت أحق أن تستغفر لي، أنت صاحب رسول الله ﷺ.”
“You are a companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; you have more right that you make supplication for my forgiveness.”
Then Sayyidina Umar narrated to him the saying of the Messenger ﷺ and had him make supplication for forgiveness.
Uways’s humility was such that a man from Kufa returned from Hajj, and at that time he (Uways) was residing in Kufa. The man requested him to make supplication for his forgiveness, and he said:
“أنت أحدث عهداً بسفر صالح، فاستغفر لي .”
”You have just come from a good journey, so make supplication for me.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
((يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ بِشَفَاعَةِ رَجُلٍ مِنْ أُمَّتِي أَكْثَرُ مِنْ بَنِي تَمِيمٍ . ))
“There will be a man from my Ummah whose intercession will cause more people than the tribe of Banu Tamim to enter Paradise.”
The trustworthy Tabi’i Hasan al-Basri (d. 110 AH) said in explanation of this hadith:
“إنه أويس القرني .”
”Indeed, that man is Uways al-Qarni.”
Abu Abd Allah Muhammad bin Abd Allah al-Hakim (d. 405 AH) writes:
”اويس راهب هذه الأمة، ولم يصحب رسول الله ﷺ إنما ذکره رسول الله ﷺ ودلّ على فضله، فذكرته في جملة من استشهد بصفين بين يدي أمير المؤمنين علي بن أبي طالبؓ۔
”Uways al-Qarni was a dervish of this Ummah. He did not attain the companionship of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ mentioned him with his blessed tongue, and this indicates his virtue. I have mentioned him among those who were martyred in the Battle of Siffin in the company of Sayyidina Ali.”
Hafiz Shams al-Din Muhammad bin Ahmad al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) writes:
’’أويس القرني هو القدوة الزاهد سيد التابعين في زمانه .“
”Uways al-Qarni was a leader and an ascetic, and in his time he was the chief of the Tabi’in.”
The Story of Breaking the Teeth and Its Reality:
This story is very famous: “When Uways al-Qarni learned that the tooth of the Prophet ﷺ had been broken in the Battle of Uhud, he broke one of his own teeth. Then it occurred to him that perhaps another tooth had been broken, so he broke a second tooth. In this way, he broke all his teeth one by one, and then he found peace.”
A similar story has been found in the book “Tadhkirat al-Awliya” (p. 44), attributed to the well-known Sufi Farid al-Din Muhammad bin Abu Bakr Attar Nishapuri (d. 627 AH according to one opinion), but it is without a chain. After searching and investigation, the conclusion that has emerged is that this story is baseless and fabricated, and it has no existence in the books of the muhaddithun. The details are as follows:
Abu al-Hasan Ali bin Sultan Muhammad, known as Mulla Ali al-Qari al-Hanafi (d. 1014 AH), writes:
ثم اعلم أن ما اشتهر على السنة العامة من: أن أويسا قلع أسنانه لشدة أحزانه حين سمع أن سن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أصيب يوم أحد، ولم يعرف خصوص أي سن كان بوجه معتمد ، فلا أصل له عند العلماء مع أنه مخالف للشريعة الغراء، ولذا لم يفعله أحد من الصحابة الكبراء على أن فعله هذا عبث لا يصدر إلا عن السفهاء .”
”Then know that what is widely known among the common people, that Uways broke his teeth out of intense grief when he heard that a tooth of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had been broken on the day of Uhud, but he did not know by any reliable means exactly which tooth had been broken, has no basis according to the scholars, and it is contrary to the radiant Shariah. For this reason, none of the great Companions did such a thing. Moreover, this is a futile act that can only come from ignorant people.”
The research scholar of the age, Hafiz Zubair Ali Zai (d. 2013 CE), writes:
”The narration that Sayyidina Uways bin Amir al-Qarni broke all his teeth is baseless and fabricated, and it became well known among ignorant common people. There is no trace of this narration in the books of the muhaddithun.”
The Story of Breaking the Teeth and the Barelvi Scholars:
❀ Mufti Muhammad Yunus Raza Uwaisi writes:
”And news of it reached Hadrat Uways, and he broke his teeth. This narration has not come to my attention, and it is probably not a narration at all, although this is what is commonly known.
واللہ تعالیٰ اعلم ۔
❀ Qazi Muhammad Abd al-Rahim Bastawi, in endorsing and confirming this fatwa, writes:
“الجواب صحيح والمجيب مصيب والله تعالىٰ أعلم .
❀ Hazrat Muhammad Sharif al-Haq Amjadi Sahib (former head of the Iftaa department, Jamia Ashrafia, Mubarakpur) writes:
“This narration is a complete lie and a fabrication: that when Hazrat Uways al-Qarni heard that the blessed teeth of the Holy Prophet ﷺ had been martyred in the Battle of Uhud, he broke all his teeth, and that someone offered him halwa to eat.”
واللہ تعالیٰ اعلم ۔
❀ Mr. Muhammad Ali Naqshbandi Sahib writes:
Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah consider the narration about Hazrat Uways al-Qarni pulling out his teeth to be munkar (rejected) and unacceptable. Our claim is that if any of the greatest Shia can prove from an authentic, unimpeached chain the narration about Hazrat Uways al-Qarni pulling out his teeth, he will receive a cash reward of twenty thousand rupees.
❀ Mr. Fazl Ahmad Chishti Sahib writes:
“What is well known among the common people about Sayyidna Khayr al-Tabi’in al-Qarni, that he broke his own teeth out of love for the Messenger, is sheer lies and a fabrication of the ignorant. Although the mention of it is found in some books of biographies, that is an adulteration by the heretics, and its proof is not found in any authentic and preserved book.”
Benefit:
Muhammad al-Husayn al-Husayni al-Tihrani, a scholar of the Shia, has recorded this baseless and fabricated story in another manner. He writes:
“فهذا أويس يكسر له ضرس في اليمن، في نفس اليوم وفي نفس الساعة التي كسر فيها ضرس النبي في يوم أحد .”
“That is, on the same day and at the same hour in which the molar (tooth) of the Prophet ﷺ was broken in the Battle of Uhud, the molar of Uways al-Qarni broke in Yemen.”
In summary:
This story is baseless and fabricated.
