Companions II

Barīrah

Barīrah, the freed slave (mawlāh) of ^cĀisha, may Allāh be pleased with both of them, came to our mother once and said, “I have made a contract with my people that I would be free if I pay them seven uqiyyah (a unit of weight); one each year. Can you help me?”

Our mother replied, “If your people like I will arrange it and your wilāyah will belong to me.”

Barīrah went and informed her people of this proposition but they refused. When she came back to our mother the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ was present. “I presented that to them,” she said, “but they insisted that the wilāyah should be theirs.”

The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ heard that and made enquires. ^cĀisha told him what was going on, and he ﷺ said, ”Take her, purchase her, and stipulate to them that wilāyah [will be yours] because wilāyah belongs to the one who emancipates.”

Then the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ stood up among the people, praised and lauded Allāh, after which he stated, “Now to our topic, what is the matter with individuals amongst you who stipulate conditions that are not in the book of Allāh. Whatever condition is not in the book of Allāh is null and void, though it be a hundred [of them]. The decree of Allāh is more worthy and the stipulation of Allāh is firmer. Wilāyah is only for the one who emancipates.”

Ibn Hajr, may Allāh have mercy on him, writes in Fatḥ al-Bārī that a group of the a’immah (pl. of imām) have concerned themselves with the story of Barīrah and written compilations on it. Dhahabi mentioned in Siyar ‘A^clām al-Nubalā that Ibn Khuzaimah and others have spoken of numerous benefits [derived from] her narration.Some have derived up to three hundred benefits from it.

^cĀisha, may Allāh be pleased with her, said that there are three legal issues connected to Barīrah: her people wanted to sell her and stipulate that her wilāyah would be theirs, so I mentioned that to the Prophet ﷺ who said, “Purchase her, and free her because wilāyah belongs to the one who emancipates,”; she was freed and the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ gave her a choice, and she chose herself; the people used to give charity to her and she would give us gifts, I mentioned this to the Prophet ﷺ who said, “It is charity for her but a gift for you, so eat it.”

In Ṭabaqāt Ibn Sa^cd it is written that Barīrah had a husband while she was a slave. When she was freed the Messenger of Allāh gave her a choice between being with [her husband] or being free of him, and she chose herself.

^cĀisha, may Allāh be pleased with her, relates that the Prophet ﷺ entered while a pot bubbling with meat (laḥm) was on the fire. He asked for some food, and was brought bread along with something to eat with it. He enquired, “Didn’t I see a pot with meat in it?” They replied, “Indeed, O Messenger of Allāh! That meat was charity given to Barīrah and you don’t eat charity.” The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said, “It is a charity for her and it is a gift from her to us.”

^cAbdul-Khāliq Ibn Ẓayd Ibn Wāqid relates on the authority of his father that ^cAbdul-Mālik Ibn Marwān said, “I used to sit with Barīrah in Madīnah and she would to say to me: O ^cAbdul-Mālik, I find in you certain traits. Indeed, you are qualified to govern, and if you [are put into power] beware of shedding blood because I have heard the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ say, ”A man will be driven away from the doors of Jannah after it is seen that he has a cupping glass full of blood which he shed from a Muslim without any right.”[1]

Mugīth

Ibn ^cAbbās , may Allāh be pleased with him, said, “The husband of Barīrah was a black slave called Mugīth. He belonged to such-and-such tribe.

It is as though I see him going around behind her in the lanes of Madīnah with his tears flowing on to his beard. The Prophet ﷺ said to ^cAbbās,” O ^cAbbās, are you not amazed at the love of Mugīth for Barīrah and the dislike of Barīrah for Mugīth?” Then he ﷺ said, “If only she would go back to him.”

She enquired, “O Messenger of Allāh, are you commanding me?”

He  replied, “ I am only interceding.”

She responded, “Then I have no need for him.”[2]

Yasār

Abū Hurairah, may Allāh be pleased with him,  relates that he went to see the Prophet ﷺ who told him, “O Abū Hurairah, in a moment a man will come through this door who is one of the seven whom Allāh uses to ward off evil from the people of the earth.”

Suddenly a [baldheaded], maimed Abyssinian appeared at that door with a jar of water on his head. The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said, “It is this one,” and repeated three times, “Welcome, Yasār.“  Abū  Hurairah  adds, “[Yasār] used to sweep the masjid.”[3]

Unnamed Female

Our mother, ^cĀisha, may Allāh be pleased with her, reports that a black woman who belonged to one of the Arab tribes embraced Islām and had a small house in the masjid. This woman used to visit our mother and converse with her. When she finished she would recite the following couplets:

The Day of Wishāḥ is from the wonders of our Lord

Listen! Indeed, He, from the lands of disbelief, saved me

After the woman had done this a number of times, our Mother inquired of her, “What is the day of wishāḥ? The ṣaḥābiyyah replied, “A young girl of some of my people went out one day with a wishāḥ (i.e. decorated belt) made from a tanned skin which fell on the ground [ while she was unawares]. A kite came down and, thinking that it was meat, [flew off with it]. The people suspected me of stealing it and began torturing me until my affair reached to such an extent that they began looking for it in my privates.

While they were gathered around me, and I was utterly distraught, the kite came right above our heads and dropped [the belt]. They picked it up and I said, “This is the thing you were suspecting me [of stealing] while I was innocent.”

In Bukhārī the incident of the kite dropping the belt, etc. is mentioned first, then the young girl comes to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, embraces Islām, and tells our Mother the story behind the lines of poetry.[4]

Mihja^c

Mihja^c, the freed slave of ^cUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allāh be pleased with both of them, was among the first to accept Islām, the first migrants, and was the first Muslim to die in the battle of Badr. An arrow came from nowhere and struck him while he was standing in the rows. He is one of those about whom the āyah, “And do not drive away those who call on their Lord morning and evening,” was revealed.

al-Awẓā^cīy relates that ^cAbdur-Raḥmān ibn Ḥarmalah said, “A black man came to ask Sa^cīd ibn al-Musayyab something, and he said to the man: Do not be grieved due to being black, because amongst the best of mankind were three black men: Bilāl, Mihja^c, the freed slave of Umar, and Luqmān the Wise, who was a black Nubian.”

Ibn Asākir relates that Qāsim Ibn ^cAbdur-Raḥmān said, “The first to take his horse out in the path of Allāh was al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad, the first to shoot an arrow in the path of Allāh was Sa^cd Ibn Mālik, the first to call the ādhān amongst the Muslims was Bilāl, the first to build a masjid  in which ṣālah was performed was Ammār, the first to openly recite Qur’ān was ^cAbdullah ibn Mas^cūd, and the first to be martyred amongst the Muslims on the day of Badr was Mihja^c, the freed slave of ^cUmar.”

He also relates on the authority of al-Awẓā^cīy that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said, “The best of the black people are four: Luqmān, al-Najāshī, Bilāl, and Mihja^c.”[5]

Anjasha

Abū Māriyah Anjasha al-Aswad al-Ḥādī was an Abyssinian. He was the women’s camel driver, and lead the wives of the Prophet ﷺ during the Farewell Pilgrimage. He had a beautiful voice.

Anas Ibn Mālik, may Allah be pleased with him, relates, “Once the Prophet ﷺ came to some of his wives while Umm Sulaym was with them. He subsequently said, ‘Woe, O Anjasha! Be gentle with the glass vessels.”

^cAllāmah Muhammad Anwār Shāh Kashmiri, may Allah have mercy on him, explains the last words in the following manner: “Take your time and lead the animals as though they were carrying glass vessels. What is meant by glass vessels is women. Just as vessels are broken at the slightest blow, the hearts of women are affected by the slightest of things. Therefore, when you have a beautiful voice don’t let women hear it lest their hearts be tempted.”[6]

Abū Laqīṭ al-Ḥabashī

Abū Laqīṭ al-Ḥabashī was one of the freed slaves of the Prophet ﷺ. He was either Nubian or Abyssinian, and lived until the time of Umar. “[7]

Khālid Ibn al-Ḥuwwārā al-Ḥabashī

Ishāq Ibn al-Ḥārith said, “I saw Khālid Ibn al-Ḥuwwārā, an Abyssinian man among the Prophet’s ﷺ companions. He had been with his family, so when his time came he said, “Wash me twice: once for major ritual impurity and once for death.”[8]

Usāmah Ibn Zaid Ibn Ḥārithah

“The beloved, son of the beloved.”

Usāmah Ibn Zayd Ibn Ḥārithah Ibn Sharāhīl al-Kalbī is the son of Zayd Ibn Hārithah, the Prophet’s ﷺ freed slave and adopted son, and Umm Ayman, the Prophet’s ﷺ freed slave and “mother after (his) mother”. He was born into Islam and was eighteen or twenty years old when the Prophet ﷺ died. ^cUmar would honor him and treat him with deference, and gave preference to him, with respect to gifts, over his own son, ^cAbdullāh Ibn ^cUmar.

He removed himself from the fitnah after the murder of ^cUthmān and died in the latter portion of Mucāwiyah’s, may Allāh be pleased with him, khilāfah. He lived in Mizzāh, one of the districts of Damascus, Wādiy al-Qurrāh, and Madīnah where he died in the year fifty-three A.H.

Imām Dhahabī writes, “He was extremely black [in complexion], amiable, shrewd, and courageous. The Prophet ﷺ raised him and loved him immensely. He was the son of the nurse of the Prophet ﷺ, Umm Ayman, and his father was white [See: Footnote 9]. The Prophet  was extremely happy at the statement of Mujaẓẓiẓ al-Mudlijīyyu: Certainly, these feet are related.”

Usāmah Ibn Ẓayd narrates that the Prophet ﷺ used to take him and al-Ḥasan and say, “O Allāh, love them for, indeed, I love them.”

Ibn ^cUmar relates that the Prophet ﷺ deputed a detachment and put Usāmah ibn Ẓayd over them. Some of the people disapproved of his leadership, so the Prophet ﷺ said, “If you disapprove of his leadership, you disapproved of the leadership of his father before. By Allāh, [his father] was qualified to lead and was the most beloved of people to me, and this one [Usāmah] is the most beloved of people to me after him.”

^cĀisha relates that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ came to see her once and was so happy that the features of his face were shining. He enquired, “Did you hear what al-Mudlijīyyu said to Ẓayd and Usāmah [when he saw their feet]? Certainly, these feet are related.”

^cAbdullāh ibn Dinār reports that Ibn Umar was in the masjid once when he saw a man in a corner of the masjid whose clothes were trailing on the ground. He asked, “Who is this? If only he were near me [so I could advise him].” Someone said, “O Abū ^cAbdur-Raḥmān, don’t you recognize this person? This is Muḥammad, the son of Usāmah.” At this, Ibn ^cUmar put his head down and struck the earth with his hand. After a while he said, “If the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ saw him he would have loved him.”[9]

Pious People II

Abū al-Khayr al-‘Aqṭa^c al-Tīynātī

Abū al-Khayr al-‘Aqṭa^c al-Taynātī, was an ascetic, devout worshipper, and a person of spiritual states and miracles. Originally from the Maghrib, he lived in the port of Tīynāt, one of the districts of Ḥalab (Aleppo) which is a few miles from al-Massiysah, a city on the banks of the river Jayhān. It is said that his name was Hammād, Hammād Ibn Abdullāh, or ^cAbbād Ibn ^cAbdullāh. He had a son named Īsā who was also very pious. As-Sulamī said, “He [i.e. Abū al-Khayr] used to weave palm leaves with his good hand, [though] no one knows how. Numerous miracles occurred at his hands: the wild beasts used to come to him and liked his company.” Ibn Kathir mentions that some people happened upon him while he was weaving and he took a covenant with them that they shouldn’t tell anyone as long as he was alive. Ibn Asākir has devoted 13 pages to his life and the miraculous events that occurred in it.

He is called al-‘Aqṭa^c because his hand was cut off. The cause of this was that he was in the mountains of Antioch and its surroundings seeking lawful sustenance and sleeping. He made a covenant with Allāh, Most High, that would only eat the fruits of the mountains which the wind threw down to him. For days the wind didn’t knock anything down. One day, he saw a tree laden with fruit and craved one but wouldn’t take it. Then the wind inclined the fruit towards him so he took one. It so happened that some bandits where in the area dividing up the things they had stolen. Suddenly, the authorities fell upon and arrested them. Unfortunately, the sheikh was also arrested with them and when their hands and legs were cut, his hand was also cut. However, when they went to cut his leg off one man recognized him and told the amīr, “You’ve destroyed yourself! This is Abū al-Khayr!” The amīr started to cry and begged Abū al-Khayr to pardon him which he did, stating, “I confess my sin (i.e. breaking his covenant with Allāh).”

One time some people from Baghdad came to see him and began talking about their escapades in his presences. He became annoyed at their speech and left. Shortly afterwards, a wild beast came along and entered the house. The people started to cling to one another in utter silence and their color changed. Abū al-Khayr came back inside and enquired, “O my masters! Where are those claims?”

It is said about Ibrāhīm al-Raqqīy that he said,”I once visited him to give salām. When he performed Maghrib he didn’t recite Fātihah properly and I thought to myself that my journey was wasted. After making salām, I went outside but a wild animal came after me so I went back inside and told him what happened. He went outside, shouted at the lion, and said, “Didn’t I tell you not to get in my guests way?!” The animal withdrew and I was able to go fulfill my need. When I came back, Abū al-Khayr said, “You have occupied yourself with rectifying your exterior so you were afraid of the lion, while we have occupied ourselves with rectifying our heart thus the lion fears us.”

Abū Bakr al-Misrī relates that he heard one of his companions, a pious man known as al-Ansār, say,”I visited Abū al-Khayr once, and he gave me two apples which I put in my pocket. I said to myself that I would not eat them but would seek barakah from them because of the status the shaykh had in my eyes. My journey back was in a state of deprivation but I would not eat the apples. Eventually, dire need compelled me to take one out and eat it. When I stuck my hand in my pocket to get the second one, I found that there were still two apples. I continued eating them until I entered Mosul (a city in Northern Irāq) where I came across a sick individual who was calling out from a dilapidated structure, “Someone! I crave an apple!” but it wasn’t the season for apples. I took the apples out and gave them to the individual. He ate them, and then his soul departed his body. I subsequently came to know that the shaykh had given me the apples for that sick person.

Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm Ibn ^cAbdullāh said, “I went to see Abū al-Khayr in his masjid and found him speaking to someone. He told me to leave and close the door behind me, so I went back out and closed the door. I sat there for a long time despite having some business with him. Eventually I said to myself, “If they were discussing some secret they must have finished.” Thus I opened the door and went inside to find the shaykh sitting alone. I enquired, “Beloved, where is the man who was with you, because he didn’t leave?” Abū al-Khayr replied, “My dear son, he didn’t go out by the door.” I then asked, “Who was he?” Abū al-Khayr said, “He was Khidr.” I began to cry and when he asked why, I informed him, “If I had recognized him I would have asked him to make dua.”

Abū al-Khayr said, “One time, I visited the city of the Messenger ﷺ while I was in a state of dire need. I remained in the city for five days without taste anything, so I went to the grave of the Prophet ﷺ, gave salām to him, Abū Bakr, and ^cUmar, then said, ‘O Messenger of Allāh, I am your guest tonight.’

After doing this, I withdrew and went to sleep behind the minbar. In a dream I saw the Prophet with Abū Bakr to his right, ^cUmar to his left, and ^cAlī Ibn Abī Tālib in front of him. ^cAlī shook me and said, ‘Stand! The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ has come.’”

Abū al-Khayr continues, “I went to the him and kissed him between his eyes. [The Prophet ﷺ] gave me a flat loaf of bread which I ate from until only half was left. When I awoke the other half was in my hand.”

He died in or around the year 349 A.H. at the age of 120. Ibn Asākir records the statement of Abū^cAbdur-Raḥmān al-Sulamī: The ports of Shām remained protected during his life until he passed away. May Allāh have mercy on him.[10]

Yaẓīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb

“Our master and our learned one.”-Layth Ibn Sa’d

The Imām, jurist, Muftī and Sheikh of the lands of Egypt, Yaẓīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb (d. 128 A.H.) was an Abyssinian who was born around the year fifty-three A.H. and is among the younger Tābi^cīn. Yaẓīd’s father, Suwayd, the freed slave of a woman who was a client (mawlāh) of Banī Hasl, was from Dunqalah (also spelled Dumqulah and Damqalah) a huge city in Nubia stretching eight nights journey along the banks of the Nile. This city was the domicile of the Nubian King. Yaẓīd’s mother was the freed slave of Tujīyb or Nujīyb, and he had a brother named Khaliyfah.  He met the companion, ^cAbdullāh Ibn al-Hārith Ibn Juẓ’, may Allāh be pleased with him, and relates from Sālim, Nāfi^c, ^cIkramah, ^cAtā, etc. Among his students were gigantic scholars like Ibn Lahiyyah and Layth Ibn Sa^cd both of whom are listed along with their teacher in Imām Suyūṭī’s Ḥusn al-Muḥāḍharah under the chapter mentioning the a’immah mujtahidīn. His narrations can be found in the Ṣiḥaḥ Sittah.

Abū Saīyd Ibn Yūnus said, “He was the Muftī of the people of Egypt in his day. He was forbearing, intelligent, and the first to [introduce] knowledge in Egypt and discuss the lawful and prohibited, as well as various legal issues.” It is said that before that they used to speak about fitan (pl. of fitnah), battles, and give encouragement to good works. And he was one of the three individuals whom ^cUmar Ibn ^cAbdul-^cAẓīẓ made the Muftī of Egypt.

Ibn Lahiyyah said that one time Yaẓīd Ibn Abī Ḥabīb got sick and Hawtharah Ibn Suhayl, the governor of Egypt came to visit him. During the course of his visit, he enquired, “O Abū Rajā’, what is your opinion regarding praying in clothes that have the blood of fleas on it?” Yaẓīd turned his face away and would not reply, so the governor got up and left. Ibn Lahiyyah said that afterwards Yaẓīd looked at him and said, “He kills so many people every day and is going to ask me about the blood of fleas!”

Yaẓīd Ibn Abī Ḥabīb once said, “I don’t let my brother get angry at me twice, rather I look to see what he dislikes and then I abandon it.”

He died during the khilāfah of Marwān Ibn Muhammad, in the year 128.

Imām Muslim relates that Abū al-Ṭāhir Aḥmad Ibn ^cAmr Ibn ^cAbdullāh ibn Sarḥ al-Miṣrī told us that Ibn Wahb informed us from ^cAmr Ibn al-Ḥārith from Yaẓīd Ibn Abī Ḥabīb from Abū al-Khayr who heard ^cAbdullāh Ibn ^cAmr Ibn al-^cĀs saying, “Indeed, a man asked the Messenger of Alłāhﷺ which Muslim was the best? He replied, ‘That one whom the other Muslims are safe from his tongue and his hand.’”

Imām Bukhārī relates that ^cAmr Ibn Khālid said that al-Layth (Ibn Sa’d, the jurist of the people of Egypt) told us on the authority of Yaẓīd (Ibn Abī Ḥabīb, the jurist), on the authority of Abī al-Khayr, on the authority of ^cAbdullāh Ibn ^cAmr, that a man asked the Prophet ﷺ which Islām was best (i.e. which trait of Islām was best). He responded, “Serving food and giving salām to those whom you recognize and those you do not recognize .”

Imām Abū Dawūd relates that Qutaybah Ibn Sa^cīyd told us that Al-Layth told us on the authority of Yaẓīd Ibn Abī Ḥabīb on the authority of Abī al-Khayr on the authority of Uqbah Ibn Āmir that the Messenger of Allāh went out one day and prayed for the people of Uḥud like his prayer for the dead, then he returned.

Imām Tirmidhī relates that Qutaybah told us that Ibn Lahiyyh told us on the authority of Yaẓīd Ibn Abī Ḥabīb on the authority of ^cAlī Ibn Rabāh on the authority of ^cUqbah Ibn Āmir who said, “The Messenger of Allāh ordered me to recite al-muawwidhatain (i.e. Sūrah Falaq and Sūrah Nās) after every ṣalāh.”

Imām al-Nisā’ī relates that Qutaybah told us that Layth told us on the authority of Yaẓīd Ibn Abī Ḥabīb on the authority of Sa^cīyd Ibn Abī Hind that Muṭrif related that ^cUthmān Ibn Abī al-^cĀs said: I heard the Messenger of Allah say, “A good fast is [to fast] three days out of every month.”

Imām Ibn Mājah relates that Muḥammad Ibn Rumḥ told us that al-Layth Ibn Sa^cd informed us on the authority of Yaẓīd Ibn Abī Ḥabīb on the authority of Sa^cd Ibn Sinān on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik who said that the Messenger of Allāh said, “Patience is only at the first jolt.”[11]

Unnamed Female

The great ascetic, Dhūn Nūn al-Misrī relates, “While I was traveling in the area where Banū Isrā’īl had wandered I came across a black woman who had been driven out of her mind by intense love for al-Rahmān. She was staring fixedly at the sky.

I said to her, “As Salāmu Alaykum, sister,” and she replied, “Wa Alaykum Salām, Dhūn Nūn.”

I enquired, “Where do you know me from, woman?”

The woman responded, “O indolent one, Allāh, Mighty and Majestic, created the souls two thousand years before the bodies and made them go around the Arsh. Whoever became acquainted among them got along and whoever disregarded one another did not. My soul came to know your soul during that circular movement.”

I said, “I believe you are a wise woman. Teach me something of that which Allāh, Mighty and Majestic, has taught you.”

She said, “O Abū al-Faydh, place the scale of fairness and justice over your limbs until everything that is not for Allāh’s sake melts away, and your heart remains pure with nothing in it besides the Lord, Mighty and Majestic. Only after that will He stand you by the door, entrust you with a new spiritual rank and order those in charge of His treasures to obey you.”

I said, “Give more advice, sister!”

She said, “O Abū al-Faydh, take from yourself for yourself. Obey Allāh, Mighty and Majestic, when you are alone and He will answer you when you supplicate.”[12]

Unnamed Female

Sālih Ibn Abdul-Karīm reports, “I saw a black woman in Basrā with people gathered about her. After some time she got up and entered a house. The people followed her inside and surrounded her. I got close to her and enquired, “Don’t you fear that you will become amazed at your own self?” The woman raised her head and looked at me, then replied, “How can anyone be amazed at their actions who doesn’t know if perhaps they (i.e the actions) have been rejected?”[13]

Unnamed Male

Abū al-Khayr al-Aswad or al-Khayrāt, who is better known as al-Asqalāni, relates, “In ^cAbbādān there was a black man with curly hair who used to stay in ruins. I took something with me and sought him out. When his gaze fell on me, he smiled and gestured at the earth, and wherever I looked I saw gold and silver coins gleaming. The man then said, “Give me what you have.” I did so and fled, terrified of his affair.[14]

Ayman ibn Nābil al-Ḥabshī al-Makkī

Ayman ibn Nābil al-Ḥabshī al-Makki, Abū ^cImrān or Abū ^cAmr, was a client of the family of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq. He narrates from his father, Nābil, ^cAbdulāh Ibn ^cUmar, al-Qāsim Ibn Muḥammad, ^cAtā, Sa^cīd Ibn Jubayr, Mujāhid and others. Sufyān ibn ^cUyaynah, Sufyān al-Thawrī, Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī, and Wakīy^c Ibn al-Jarraḥ, amongst others relate ḥadīth on his authority.

^cAbdul-Wāhīd, the son of Ayman, relates that his father, Ayman, told him that he had visited^cĀisha, mas Allāh be pleased with her, once and told her, “I was a slave of ^cUtbah, the son of Abū Lahab; he died, his sons inherited me and sold me to Ibn Abī ^cAmr but made a condition thatwilāyah should be theirs.”

^cĀisha, may Allāh be pleased with her, informed him that Barīrah came to her once and requested that she purchase and free her. Our Mother agreed, but then Barīrah mentioned that her people would not sell unless they made a condition that wilāyah should be theirs. ^cĀisha responded, “I have no need for that.”

Either the Prophet ﷺ heard that or the information reached him; he mentioned it to ^cĀisha and she mentioned what she had said to her, whereupon he said, “Purchase her and free her, and leave them to make whatever conditions they wish.”

^cĀisha did so and the family put the condition that they should have wilāyah whereupon the Prophet said, “Wilāyah is for the one who frees even if they make a hundred conditions.”

Ibn Hajr, may Allāh be pleased with him, writes in Fath al-Bārī that Abdul-Wāhid’s father, is Ayman al-Ḥabashī al-Makkī who moved to Madīnah, and not Ayman ibn Nābil al-Ḥabshī al-Makkī who moved to Asqalān.[15]

Yāqūt al-Habshī

Yāqūt Ibn ^cAbdullāh al-Ḥabshī al-Qurashī al-^cĀrif al-Shādhilī, the Ascetic of Alexandria, was a student of Shaykh Abū al-^cAbbās al-Mursī and trod the Path at his hands. Ibn Aybak says, “He was a pious, blessed shaykh, dignified, and possessed of an awe-inspiring appearance. He learned the path of spirituality from Shaykh al-^cAbbās al-Mursī, whom he accompanied for a long time. People sought him out for du^cā and blessings. There was no one who came afterwards that was comparable to him in his area. Ibn Kathīr writes that amongst his companions and followers was the Shāfi^c jurist Shamsuddīn who used to revere and speak well of him. (2181) Yāqūt, may Allāh have mercy on him, died in Alexandria during Jumād al-Ākhirah in the year 732 A.H. at the age of eighty.[16]

Part 1, Part 2

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