Encyclopedia of Prophetic Hadiths

We were sitting around the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), and among us were Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, along with a group of people. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) stood up and left. When he delayed returning, we feared that he would be taken away from us. We felt terrified and got up, and I was the first to feel terrified. I went out searching for the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) until I came upon an orchard belonging to the Ansār, from Banu An-Najjār. I looked around for an entrance but could not find one. Then I noticed a streamlet entering the orchard through a well outside the orchard. I crouched down and entered upon the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). He said: "Abu Hurayrah." I said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "What is the matter with you?" I said: You were among us, then you left and delayed in returning. We feared that you would be taken away from us, and we felt terrified. I was the first to feel terrified, so I came to this orchard. I crouched down as a fox would crouch down, and those people are behind me. So he said: "O Abu Hurayrah," and gave me his two sandals, saying: "Take these two sandals of mine and go. Whoever you meet beyond this orchard who bears witness that there is no god but Allah, with full certainty in his heart, give him the glad tidings of Paradise." The first one I met was ‘Umar. He said: What are these sandals, O Abu Hurayrah? I said: These are the sandals of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). He sent me with them to give glad tidings of Paradise to anyone I meet who bears witness that there is no god but Allah, with full certainty in his heart. ‘Umar struck me on my chest with his hand, causing me to fall on my backside. He said: Go back, O Abu Hurayrah. I returned to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), and I was about to weep, and ‘Umar was following close behind me. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What is the matter, O Abu Hurayrah?" I said: I met ‘Umar and told him about what you sent me with. He struck me on my chest with such a strike that it caused me to fall on my back, and he told me to go back.The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O ‘Umar, what caused you to do that?" ‘Umar said: O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you! Did you send Abu Hurayrah with your sandals to give glad tidings of Paradise to anyone who bears witness that there is no god but Allah, with full certainty in his heart? He said: "Yes." ‘Umar said: Then do not do that, for I fear that people may rely on this. Let them continue to work. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then let them."

He was with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) on one of his journeys, and he sent a messenger ordering: "There should not remain any necklace of string or any other kind of necklace around the necks of camels without being cut."

’Umm Salamah mentioned to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) that she had seen a church in Abyssinia called Māriyah, and she mentioned the images that she had seen therein. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Those are a people who, when a righteous slave or a righteous man from among them dies, they build a place of worship over his grave and place those images therein. Those are the most evil people in the sight of Allah."

I heard the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) five (nights) before he died, say: "I stand acquitted before Allah that I should take anyone of you as an intimate friend, for Allah has taken me as an intimate friend just as he took Abraham as an intimate friend. Had I taken anyone from my Ummah as an intimate friend, I would have taken Abu Bakr as an intimate friend. Beware! Those who were before you used to take the graves of their prophets as places for prayer. Beware! Do not take graves as places for prayer, for I forbid you to do so."

"There is no transitive disease and no evil omen, and I like a good omen." It was said: What is a good omen? He said: "A good word."

"Indeed, Allah Almighty forbids you to swear by your forefathers." ‘Umar said: By Allah, I have never sworn by that since I heard that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) forbade it, neither deliberately nor reporting it from others.