Hayatus Sahabah - The Lives of the Sahabah - Part 3

THE LIVES OF THE SAFIABAH @,G;W>j (VOI-3) 227
his legs stretched out. As he approached the gathering, the people made way for
him, saying, 'Sit here, 0 Ashaj.' Rasulullaah @$$ was now sitting up, holding his
legs up. Rasulullaah @& said, 'Sit here, 0 Ashaj.' He sat on Rasulullaah W ' s
right hand side and, sitting up straight, Rasulullaah @& welcomed him and
treated him warmly. Rasulullaah then asked him about his land, taking the
names of various places in the territory of Hajar, such as Safa and Mushaqar.
'May my parents be sacrificed for you, 0 Rasulullaah w!' Mundhir !SGw said
in astonishment, 'You know the names of our towns better than us.' Rasulullaah
i%@ said, 'I have travelled extensively through your land.'
Rasulullaah a then turned to the Ansaar saying, '0 assembly of Ansaar! Treat
your brothers well because together with being Muslims like you, they also
resemble you most closely in hair and complexion. (Like you) They have accepted
Islaam willingly and have neither been forced to accept nor was there any need to
attack and fight them for refusing to accept.' (The Ansaar then hosted the delegation).
Some time later, Rasulullaah k$?!$ asked the delegation, 'How did you find the
hospitality that your brothers gave you?' They replied, They are the best of
brothers. They gave us soft beds to sleep in, superb food to eat and they spent
their days and nights teaching us the Book of our Rabb and the Sunnah of our
Nabi m.' This impressed Rasulullaah 8@ and made him very happy.
Rasulullaah @% then turned to each one of us to assess what we had learnt and
what we had been taught. While some of us had learnt the Tashahhud, some had
learnt Surah Faatiha, others had learnt a Surah, others two Surahs and there
were also others who had learnt one or two Sunnah practices." The narration still
continues further in great detail. ('1
Hadhrat Abu Sa'eed Khudri 9,G% reports, "We were sitting with Rasulullaah
&%% when he said, 'A delegation from the Abdul Qais have come.' We could see
no one, but after a short while, we saw that they had arrived. After they had
greeted Rasulullaah m, he said to them, 'Have you any dates or any provisions
left over?' When they said that they had, Rasulullaah @& had a leather spread
laid out. They then poured out the dates they had left over and Rasulullaah &&%
gathered the Sahabah @ , ~ around. ~ ~ Rasulullaah j &@$! then said to them, 'This
date is called Barni.' He then proceeded to name all the different varieties of
dates and the delegation confirmed all the names as correct.
Thereafter, Rasulullaah k%'@ gave instructions for every man of the delegation to
be hosted by one of the Muslims, who would teach him the Qur'aan and salaah.
They stayed a week, after which Rasulullaah @$ summoned them and assessed
that they had not yet learnt well enough and had not yet developed a keen
understanding (of Islaam). Rasulullaah @@ then handed them over to another
group of Muslims, with whom they stayed for another week. When Rasulullaah
@& again summoned them (and assessed them), he discovered that they had
learnt well and developed a sound understanding. '0 Rasulullaah m!' they
submitted, 'Allaah has taught us tremendous good and granted us
(1) Ahmad (Vo1.4 Pg.206), reporting from reliable sources as confirmed by - Haythami - (Vo1.8 Pg.178)
and by ~undhirrin his ~c&heeb wal Tarheeb (Vol.4 Pg. 152).