1 of 2 · 1 AH · 622 CE · Madinah
'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf رضي الله عنه
Show Me the Market
'Abd al-Rahman was among the earliest Muslims, and he had migrated twice, first to Abyssinia and then to Madinah. He arrived in Madinah with almost nothing, having left his wealth behind in Makkah.
The Prophet ﷺ joined the Emigrants and the Helpers in brotherhood, and 'Abd al-Rahman was paired with Sa'd ibn al-Rabi'. Sa'd, one of the wealthiest of the Ansar, offered him half of his property and said he had two wives, and would divorce whichever 'Abd al-Rahman liked so that he might marry her.
'Abd al-Rahman answered, "May Allah bless you in your family and your wealth. Show me the market." He went to the market, bought and sold, and before long had earned enough to marry (Sahih al-Bukhari 3780).
Receiving generosity gracefully, and then standing on your own feet, is a kind of dignity.
When you are offered help, how do you thank the giver without becoming dependent?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 3780 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-KubraHistorical report
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
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