“Bukayr!” (1) The dog’s owner said, “Are you naming my dog after one of the inhabitants of the Fire (2)?” They fought over this until blood was shed between them. Could anyone be more ignorant than these people?
Yet the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—referred to his Companions by names also borne by some of the inhabitants of the Fire whom [Allah] (3) mentioned in the Quran. One example is the man described as “alone,” whom Allah mentioned [in the Quran] (4) in His words:
“Leave Me with the one whom I created alone.”
[Surah al-Muddaththir: 11]
His name was al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—would pray for this man’s son, who was also named al-Walīd, mentioning both son and father by name in his prayer. He would say, “O Allah, save al-Walīd ibn al-Walīd,” as is established in the Sahih (5).
Another indication of their extreme ignorance and partisanship (6) is that when Allah loves a particular day to be observed with fasting, they instead deem that one should break the fast on it—as with the day of Āshūrā.
It is established in the Sahih that Abū Mūsa said:
“The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—entered Medina (7) and found some Jews honoring Āshūrā and fasting on that day. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, ‘We have a greater right to fast on it,’ and he commanded that it be observed with fasting.”
Al-Bukhārī related it (8).
(1) W reads: “called it Abū Bakr”; N and M read: “Kulayb.”
(2) A and B read: “the inhabitants of the Fire.”
(3) The divine name “Allah” is absent from N, M, W, and S.
(4) The phrase “in the Quran” is added in A and B.
(5) This hadith appeared a few pages earlier in this volume, p. 141.
(6) N reads: “and their hatred.”
(7) A and B read: “It is narrated from Abū Mūsā that when the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—entered Medina…”
(8) The hadith narrated by Ibn Abbās—may Allah be pleased with them both—is found in al-Bukhārī, 3/44 (Book of Fasting, chapter “Fasting on the Day of Āshūrā”). Its wording is: “The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—came to Medina and saw the Jews fasting on the day of Āshūrā. He asked, ‘What is this?’ They replied, ‘This is a good day. It is the day on which Allah saved the Children of Israel from their enemy, so Moses fasted on it.’ He said, ‘I have a greater claim to Moses than you do.’ He therefore fasted on that day and commanded that it be observed with fasting.” The hadith is also found in al-Bukhārī, vol. 6 (Book of Exegesis, Surah Yūnus); Muslim, 2/795–796 (Book of Fasting, chapter “Fasting on the Day of Āshūrā”); and Sunan Ibn Mājah, 1/552 (Book of Fasting, chapter “Fasting on the Day of Āshūrā”).
As for the hadith of Abū Mūsā, it is found in the Book of Fasting in both al-Bukhārī and Muslim. Its wording—here according to Muslim, 2/796—is: Abū Mūsā—may Allah be pleased with him—reported: “The day of Āshūrā was a day that the Jews venerated and treated as a festival. The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—therefore said, ‘You should fast on it.’”