Abū Umāmah was granted a striking karāma (miraculous favor)—one that actually alarmed him—and it is recorded in Karāmāt al-Dākālī. The report states that he gave three dinars in charity and afterward found three hundred dinars beneath his saddlebag. (1)
Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh narrated: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad told us, from Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr, from Saʿīd al-Azdī, who said:
“I was present when Abū Umāmah was in the throes of death, and he said to me, ‘O Saʿīd! When I die, treat me as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed us: When one of you passes away and you have poured earth over him, let a man stand at his head and say, “O so-and-so, son of so-and-so.” He hears, though he does not answer. Then let him say, “O so-and-so, son of so-and-so,” and he will sit up. Then let him say, “O so-and-so, son of so-and-so,” and he will reply, “Guide me; may Allah have mercy on you.” Then let him say, “Remember the state in which you left this world: the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, and that you were pleased with Allah as Lord, with Muhammad as Prophet, and with Islam as religion.” When that is said, Munkar and Nakīr will say, “Leave us; what do we need with someone who has already been taught his proof?”’ ”
Someone asked, “O Messenger of Allah, what if I do not know his mother’s name?”
He replied, “Then attribute him to Eve.” (2)
(1) The author reproduces the complete report in his History, 3/315, through the chain of transmission: al-Walid ibn Muslim – Ibn Jabir – a female servant of Abu Umamah. She relates: “Abu Umamah was fond of giving charity; no petitioner ever came to him without receiving something. One morning he had only three dinars left. A beggar appeared and he gave him one dinar; a second came and he did the same; a third came and he again gave one dinar. I said, ‘We have nothing left.’ He then went to his mosque fasting. Feeling sorry for him, I borrowed the price of his supper and prepared his bedding. Under the cushion I suddenly discovered three hundred dinars. When he entered and saw what I had arranged, he praised Allah and smiled, saying, ‘This is better than the other.’ After he had eaten I said, ‘May Allah forgive you! You brought this money and then left it where it could be lost?’ He asked, ‘What money?’ I said, ‘The gold,’ and lifted the cushion. Alarmed at what he saw, he exclaimed, ‘What is this, woe to you?’ I replied, ‘I have no idea,’ and his anxiety only increased.” Ibn Jabir is Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid al-Shami al-Darani, a trustworthy transmitter. The identity of Abu Umamah’s female servant is unknown.
(2) Reported by al-Tabarani (no. 7979). Al-Haythami cites it in Majmaʿ, 3/45, attributing it to al-Tabarani, and notes that its chain contains narrators he does not know. It also appears in Ibn Asakir, 8/151 b.