who had been killed. One of the Prophet’s Companions said to her, “You have come to ask about your son while your face is veiled.” She replied,⦗1⦘ “If I must suffer the loss of my son, I will not suffer the loss of my modesty.”⦗2⦘ The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, then said, “Your son will have the reward of two martyrs.” She asked, “And why is that?” He said, “Because he was killed by the People of the Scripture.”
The Virtue of Residing in al-Sham
115 – This is one of the reports⦗3⦘ that demonstrate the excellence of living in al-Sham, for its people have been stationed on the frontiers since the very dawn of Islam, being neighbors to the Christians and fighting them. Thus they have always been frontier guards, striving against the People of the Book.
116 – For this reason the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, preferred their army to the armies of Yemen and of Iraq, despite what he also said concerning the merits of the people of Yemen.⦗4⦘
117 – In Sunan Abi Dawud⦗5⦘ and elsewhere it is related that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
(1) The base manuscript reads “fa-qala” (“so he said”); the present wording follows the critical editions.
(2) The base manuscript reads “ikhwani” (“my brothers”); the present wording follows the critical editions.
(3) The words placed between brackets have been supplied to restore the continuity of the text.
(4) This refers to the hadith reported by Abu Hurayra from the Prophet: “There have come to you the people of Yemen; they are the most tender-hearted and the most compassionate. Faith is yamani and wisdom is yamani …” Recorded by al-Bukhari, no. 4388, and Muslim, no. 52.
(5) Musnad Ahmad, 4/110; 5/33–34; Sunan Abi Dawud, no. 2483. Declared authentic by Ibn Hibban, no. 7306, and by al-Hakim, 4/510, 555; the cited wording follows their versions. Abu Dawud’s narration, from Abd Allah b. Hawala, states: “The matter will reach the point where you will be mobilised armies: an army in al-Sham, an army in Yemen, and an army in Iraq … If you must choose, then adhere to Yemen and drink from its cisterns, for God has entrusted al-Sham and its people to my care.” Abu Hatim al-Razi said in al-Illal, 1/337: “This is a sound, good, and unusual hadith.” See also Ibn Rajab, Fada il al-Sham, p. 35, and al-Albani’s edition of Takhrij Ahadith Fada il al-Sham by al-Raba i, pp. 10–11. “Khurr li” means “select for me the army to which I should belong,” and “ghudr” (plural of ghadir) denotes water-pools.