and chooses, for He has named it His elect among deeds and His elect (1) among servants—the best of discourse and of everything people have been given, whether lawful or unlawful. Therefore worship Allah and associate nothing with Him; fear Him as He should be feared; be truthful with Allah in the righteous words you utter, and love one another through the Spirit of Allah that is among you. Truly, Allah is angered when His covenant is broken. Peace be upon you, and the mercy and blessings of Allah.”
This transmission, too, is mursal, yet it corroborates the one that preceded it, even though the wording differs.
Section: On the construction of his noble mosque during the time he—peace and blessings be upon him—stayed in the house of Abū Ayyūb, may Allah be pleased with him
There is a difference of opinion regarding the length of that stay. Al-Wāqidī said: seven months; others said: less than one month—and Allah knows best.
Al-Bukhārī (2) said: Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Ṣamad informed us, saying: I heard my father relate: Abū al-Tayyāḥ Yazīd ibn Ḥumayd al-Ḍubāʿī (3) narrated to us, from Anas ibn Mālik, who said:
When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Madinah he stayed in the upper part of the city, in the quarter known as Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, where he remained for fourteen nights. He then sent for the notables of Banū al-Najjār, and they came with their swords slung over their shoulders. Anas continued: It is as though I can still see the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on his she-camel with Abū Bakr riding behind him and the chiefs of Banū al-Najjār surrounding him, until he made the camel kneel in the courtyard of Abū Ayyūb.
Wherever the time for prayer overtook him he would pray, even in sheepfolds. Then he ordered that a mosque be built. He sent for the elders of Banū al-Najjār; they came and he said, “O Banū al-Najjār, sell me this garden of yours (5).” They replied, “By Allah, we ask no price for it but that which is with Allah.”
Anas said: It was exactly as I am telling you. In it were graves of idolaters, ruins, and date palms. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered that the graves of the idolaters be exhumed, the ruins leveled, and the palms cut down. They lined up the trunks of the palms facing the qiblah of the mosque and set stones for its doorposts. They began carrying the stones while chanting verses, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was with them, saying (6):
“O Allah, there is no good except the good of the Hereafter; so grant victory to the Anṣār and the Muhājirīn.”