keep company with anyone but a believer, and let none eat your food except one who is God-fearing.” (1) The Prophet ﷺ likened the righteous companion to a seller of musk, and the bad companion to a blacksmith’s bellows. (2)
9 – It is recommended for the traveler to bid farewell to his family, relatives, and the people of knowledge among his neighbors and friends. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever intends to embark on a journey should say to those he leaves behind, ‘I entrust you to Allah, in whose trust nothing is ever lost.’” (3) When the Prophet ﷺ took leave of any Companion setting out on a journey, he would say, “I entrust to Allah your religion, your trustworthiness, and the conclusion of your deeds.” (4) He ﷺ would also say to anyone who asked him for counsel from
(1) Abu Dawud, Book of Manners, chapter “Whom One Is Commanded to Sit With,” no. 4832; al-Tirmidhi, Book of Zuhd (asceticism), chapter “Keeping Company with the Believer,” no. 2395; graded hasan by al-Albani in Sahih Abi Dawud, no. 4832, and in Sahih al-Tirmidhi, no. 2519.
(2) Agreed-upon hadith narrated by Abu Musa: al-Bukhari, Book of Slaughtered Animals and Hunting, chapter “Musk,” no. 5534; Muslim, Book of Birr wa-Sila (righteousness and kinship), chapter “Recommendation to Sit with the Righteous and to Avoid Evil Companions,” no. 2628.
(3) Ahmad, 2/403; Ibn Majah, Book of Jihad, chapter “Seeing Off and Bidding Farewell to the Warriors,” no. 2825; authenticated by al-Albani in Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah, nos. 16 and 2547, and in Sahih Sunan Ibn Majah, 2/133.
(4) Abu Dawud, Book of Jihad, chapter “Supplication at Farewell,” no. 2600; al-Tirmidhi, Book of Supplications, chapter “What One Says When Bidding Farewell to Someone,” no. 3442; graded sahih by al-Albani in Sahih al-Tirmidhi, 3/155.