Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (8/79)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

It was in his house that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ took up residence when he arrived in Madinah as an emigrant from Mecca. The Prophet stayed with him for a month, until the Mosque and the apartments surrounding it were built; only then did he move to them. At first Abu Ayyub had lodged the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the lower floor of his two-storey home, but he soon felt uneasy about living above him. He therefore asked the Prophet to go up to the upper storey while he and Umm Ayyub would remain below, and the Prophet ﷺ agreed.

We have also transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās that when Abu Ayyub came to Basra—while Ibn ʿAbbās was the city’s acting governor—he vacated his own house for him and lodged him there. When Abu Ayyub was about to depart, Ibn ʿAbbās ceded to him everything the house contained and increased the gift with many valuables and attendants, giving him forty thousand and forty slaves in honour of him and in gratitude for the favour he had shown the Messenger of Allah ﷺ by hosting him in his house. That act was one of the greatest distinctions ever attained by Abu Ayyub.

He is the very one who said to his wife, Umm Ayyub, when she asked, “Do you not hear what the people are saying about ʿĀʾishah?” He replied, “Would you have done such a thing, Umm Ayyub?” She answered, “By Allah, no.” He said, “Then, by Allah, she is better than you.” Thereupon Allah revealed: “Why, when you heard it, did not the believing men and believing women think well of their own people….” (Surah al-Nūr, 24:12).

His death occurred in Byzantine territory, near the walls of Constantinople, in this same year—though some say the year before, and others the year after. He was serving in the army of Yazid ibn Muʿāwiyah, to whom he made his final bequest, and Yazid was the one who led the funeral prayer over him.

Imam Ahmad (1) said: “ʿAffān (2) related to us, Hammām related to us, ʿĀṣim (3) related to us, from a man of Mecca, that Yazid ibn Muʿāwiyah was commander of the army in which Abu Ayyub fought. Yazid entered upon him as he lay dying, and Abu Ayyub said to him, ‘When I die, convey my greetings to the people and tell them that I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

‘Whoever dies without associating anything with Allah, Allah will surely admit him into Paradise.’

Carry my bier as far as you can into the land of the Byzantines.’ The narrator continues: When Abu Ayyub died, the people relayed this ḥadīth; the soldiers put on their armour (4) and set out with his funeral procession.”

Imam Ahmad (5) also said: “Aswad ibn ʿĀmir related to us, Abū Bakr related to us, al-Aʿmash related to us, from Abū Ẓabiyān, who said: Abu Ayyub campaigned with Yazid ibn Muʿāwiyah. Abu Ayyub said, ‘When I die, carry me into enemy territory and bury me beneath your feet at the spot where you meet the enemy.’ He then added: ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

‘Whoever dies without associating anything with Allah will enter Paradise.’”

(1) In his Musnad (vol. 5, p. 416), the isnad is weak due to the obscurity of a Meccan transmitter; however, it has other chains that strengthen it. (2) In manuscript T the reading is altered to “ʿUthmān.” (3) In manuscript T it appears as “Abū ʿĀṣim,” which is incorrect. (4) This term does not occur in manuscript A, and in T it is altered to “fa-aslama.” His phrase istalaʾama al-nās means “they donned their battle equipment.” (5) In his Musnad (vol. 5, p. 423), and it is a ṣaḥīḥ hadith.

وفي داره كان نزول رسول اللّه ﷺ حيث قدم المدينة مهاجرًا من مكة، فأقام عنده شهرًا حتى بنى المسجد ومساكنه حوله، ثم تحوَّل إليها، وقد كان أبو أيوب أنزل رسول الله ﷺ في أسفل داره، ثم تحرَّج من أن يعلو فوقه، فسأل رسول الله أن يصعد إلى أعلى الدار، وأن يكون هو وأم أيوب في السُّفل، فأجابه إلى ذلك. وقد روينا عن ابن عباس أنَّ أبا أيوب لما قدم عليه البصرة - وكان ابن عباس نائبها - خرج له عن داره وأنزله بها، فلمّا أراد الانصراف خرج له عن كل شيء بها، وزاده تُحفًا وخدمًا كثيرًا: أعطاه أربعين ألفًا وأربعين عبدًا إكرامًا له ومجازاة له عمّا فعل مع رسول اللّه ﷺ من إنزاله له في داره، وما فعلَه معه هو من أعظم الشرف لأبي أيوب. وهو القائل لزوجته أمِّ أيوب حين قالت له: أما تسمع ما يقول الناس في عائشة؟ فقال لها: أكنتِ فاعلة ذلك يا أمَّ أيوب؟ فقالت: لا والله، فقال: واللّه لَهي خيرٌ منكِ، فأنزل اللّه ﴿لَوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ خَيْرًا﴾ [النور: ١٢] الآية. وكانت وفاته ببلاد الروم قريبًا من سور القُسْطنطينية من هذه السنة، وقيل: في التي قبلها، وقيل: في التي بعدها. وكان في جيش يزيد بن معاوية، وإليه أوصى، وهو الذي صلَّى عليه. وقد قال الإمام أحمد (١) : حَدَّثَنَا عفّان (٢) ، حدّثنا همام، حَدَّثَنَا عاصم (٣) ، عن رجل من أهل مكة: أن يزيدَ بن معاوية كان أميرًا على الجيش الذي غزا فيه أبو أيوب، فدخل عليه عند الموت، فقال له: إذا أنا متُّ فاقرؤوا على الناس مني السلام، وأخبروهم أنِّي سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول: "مَنْ ماتَ لا يُشْركُ باللّه شيئًا جعلَه اللّهُ في الجنَّة" ولْينطلِقوا بجنازتي ولْيبعدُوا في أرض الروم ما استطاعوا. قال: فحدَّث الناس لما مات أبو أيوب بهذا الحديث، فاستلأم (٤) الناس وانطلقوا بجنازته. وقال الإمام أحمد (٥) : حَدَّثَنَا أسود بن عامر، حدّثنا أبو بكر، عن الأعمش، عن أبي ظَبْيان قال: غزا أبو أيوب مع يزيد بن معاوية، فقال أبو أيوب: إذا متُّ فأدْخلوني في أرض العدو، فادْفِنوني تحتَ أقدامكم حيث تلقَوْن العدو. قال: ثم قال: سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول: "مَنْ ماتَ لا يُشركُ باللّهِ شَيْئًا دخلَ الجنَّة" .

(١) في مسنده (٥/ ٤١٦) وإسناده ضعيف، لجهالة الرجل من أهل مكة، ولكن له طرق يقوى بها. (٢) تحرفت في ط إلى: عثمان. (٣) وقعت في ط: أبو عاصم، وهو خطأ. (٤) لم ترد هذه اللفظة في أ، وتحرفت في ط إلى: فاسلم. وقوله: استلأم الناس، يعني: لبسوا عدة القتال. (٥) في مسنده (٥/ ٤٢٣) وهو حديث صحيح.