Abu Said al-Khudri (r.a.)

Abu Said, whose real name was “Sa’d bin Malik” was from Madinah. His father Malik bin Sinan, became a Muslim in the first years of Islam. Abu Said was a small child then. Thus, he found himself in a Muslim family when he had just started to know life.

The belief in Abu Said’s little heart was so enthusiastic that he tried to be together with the Prophet (pbuh), listen to his blessed talk and experience the atmosphere of Paradise. He wanted to do everything that the Prophet showed people without taking his strength into consideration. He carried stones when Masjid an-Nabawi was built.

He wanted to take part in the Battle of Badr very much but he was not recruited since he was very young. When the army was preparing for the Battle of Uhud, he was 13 years old. He wanted to make jihad very much. He trained for the war. He was sure that he would stand against the polytheists with a sword though his height was barely equal to a sword. He had self-confidence. He asked his father to take part in the Battle of Uhud. His father held his hand and took him to the Prophet (pbuh). He narrates what happened after that as follows: 

“When my father held my hand and took me to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), I was 13. When we saw the Messenger of Allah, my father told him that I wanted to make jihad. My father said, “his bones are big” and put forward some other arguments but the Messenger of Allah did not accept because I was young.” [1]

Abu Said’s father took part in the Battle of Uhud and fought heroically. Finally, he was martyred. When the martyrs were being buried, the Prophet stated the following when he was next to Malik:

“Hellfire will not touch a person whose blood is mixed with my blood.”

Once Malik saw that the blessed face of the Messenger of Allah was bleeding; he sucked the blood of the Prophet though he was severely wounded and did not allow it to fall onto the ground. [2]

Abu Said was waiting with his mother on the way of Uhud in order to see the Prophet and to meet his father. He approached the Messenger of Allah, who was on a horse, and started to kiss his blessed knees. The Prophet told him that his father had been martyred. He said, “May Allah reward your father!”

Islam became a kind of castle for those who studied ilm and for the poor. The Muslims forgot about their worldly poverty in the face of the otherworldly richness, which was the real richness. The Companions who were enlightened by the light of the belief of the Messenger of Allah saw that all of their agonies and troubles were turning into beauty in the Prophet. One of those fortunate people were Abu Said al-Khudri.

Abu Said’s father was poor. He could hardly make ends meet. After he was martyred, his family was in financial difficulty. Once, Abu Said’s mother sent him to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to ask for something. Abu Said did not want to go at first but when his mother insisted, he had to. He entered into the presence of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). He was delivering a sermon:  

“O believers! It is time for you to have chastity and not want anything from others. Allah will give to those who are chaste and will make those who are contented rich. I swear by Allah, in whose hand of power my soul is, that a person has not been given a greater sustenance than patience. If you want from me, I can give you only what I have.”

The reason for the delivery of this sermon by that was that some people insistently wanted some things from him. [3]

Abu Said gave up the idea of wanting anything from the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) after hearing those words. He returned and told his mother about it. Afterwards, he stated the following:

“After I returned without wanting anything from the Messenger of Allah, God Almighty sent us our sustenance. Things went so well that we became among the rich people of Ansar.”

Abu Said, who could not take part in the Battle of Badr and Battle of Uhud due to his young age, took part in all of the battles and wars after that. He said, “When I took part in Sons of Mustaliq Expedition with the Messenger of Allah, I was 15 years old. [4] At the most terrible moment of the Battle of Khandaq, Abu Said went to the Prophet and said, “O Messenger of Allah! We are having great difficulty. Is there not a prayer that we can say?” The Prophet said, “Yes, there is.” Then, he said, “O Lord! Close all of our open places through which the enemy can attack! Secure us from all of the things that we fear.” All of the Companions said that prayer. After a while, a severe storm broke out and turned the headquarters of the enemy upside down. The polytheists had to end the siege and return to Makkah. [5]

Abu Said experienced the excitement of both material and spiritual jihad together. On the one hand, he made jihad and on the other hand, he attended Suffa School, memorizing hadiths and learning. He spent most of his time in Suffa. He sometimes received compliments from the Messenger of Allah thanks to it. He narrates a memory related to it as follows:

“I was sitting in a circle with the members Ansar. Some of us were sitting together because of lack of clothing while a reader was reciting the Quran to us. All of a sudden, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) came along and stood beside us as if he was one of us. Thereupon, the reader stopped. The Messenger of Allah asked, ‘What are you doing?’ We said we were listening to the Quran. The Messenger of Allah made a gesture, wanting us to form a circle. We formed a circle. I saw that the Messenger of Allah did not recognize any of us except me. He addressed us as follows: ‘Rejoice, you group of poor people! You will enter Paradise half a day before the rich; and that is five hundred years.’”[6]

Abu Said would not act without asking the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) when he encountered a new issue. Once, the Prophet sent them somewhere for a duty. They wanted to spend the night in the land of an Arab tribe but they did not allow them. After a while, a scorpion stung the chief of the tribe. They could not find a cure no matter what they did. They came to the Companions and asked them if they knew anything about it.  Abu Said said, “I know but you did not entertain though we asked you. I will not read unless you give us something.” The Arabs agreed. They went to the chief all together. Abu Said read the chapter of al-Fatiha seven times. After a while, the chief recovered. The Bedouins gave them a herd of sheep in return. They wanted to share the sheep but Abu Said said, “No. We cannot do it without asking the Messenger of Allah. We will tell him about what happened and give the sheep to him. We will do whatever he tells us to do. They agreed. When they returned to Madinah, Abu Said narrated the incident to the Prophet. The Messenger of Allah told them that they could share the sheep. [7]

Abu Said became interested in hadith and fiqh after the death of the Prophet (pbuh). He taught many students. Abu Said, who was educated by the Messenger of Allah, narrated 1170 hadiths. Thus, he became “the seventh Companion who narrated the most hadiths”. Some of the hadiths he narrated are as follows:

“Those who love one another for Allah will see that their rooms in Paradise will be bright like the stars that rise in the east and west. It will be asked in Paradise, ‘Who are they?’ The following answer will be given: ‘They are those who love one another for Allah.”[8]

“He who eats halal food, acts in accordance with the Sunnah and does not wrong and harm people will enter Paradise.”[9]

“You will tread the same path as was trodden by those before you inch by inch and step by step so much so that if they entered into the hole of the lizard, you would follow them in this also. We said, “Do you mean Jews and Christians by your words? He said, “Who else can they be?” [10]

“A believer will not find good words and wisdom enough until he attains Paradise.” [11]

Abu Said al-Khudri, who died in 74 H, when he was 86, never feared people related to telling the truth and did not mind if people would oppose him when he applied something that he knew to be right. His criterion regarding the issue was the following hadith of the Messenger of Allah: “Do not be dissuaded by the fear of people related to saying what you know to be true and what you have seen.”

May Allah be pleased with him!

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[1]Mustadrak, 3: 563.
[2]Usdul-Ghaba, 4: 281; Isaba, 3: 345.
[3]Hilyatul-Awliya, 1: 370.
[4]Usdul-Ghaba, 5: 211.
[5]Musnad, 3: 3.
[6]Musnad, 3: 63.
[7]Tirmidhi, Tibb: 20.
[8]Fathur-Rabbani, 19: 156.
[9]Tirmidhi, Qiyamah: 60.
[10]Muslim, Ilm: 6; Ibn Majah, Fitan: 17.
[11]Tirmidhi, Ilm: 19.