4 of 4 · After 11 AH · the caliphates · Madinah and Kufah
Abu Rafi' رضي الله عنه
With the Household of 'Ali
After the Prophet ﷺ died, Abu Rafi' passed on what he had seen and heard. Once he wanted to sell two rooms in Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas's courtyard. He had been offered five hundred dinars, yet he sold them to Sa'd for less, because he had heard the Prophet ﷺ say: "The neighbour has more right because of his nearness" (Sahih al-Bukhari 2258).
His family stayed close to 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. Al-Tirmidhi notes that his son 'Ubaydullah ibn Abi Rafi' was 'Ali's scribe (Jami' al-Tirmidhi 657), and 'Ubaydullah was with 'Ali when the Haruriyyah, the Khawarij, rebelled (Sahih Muslim 1066).
The biographers differ on when Abu Rafi' died: some say in the caliphate of 'Uthman, and others say early in the caliphate of 'Ali.
A hadith acted upon is worth more than profit; Abu Rafi' gave up money to honour a word he had heard.
What would you give up to act on something the Prophet ﷺ taught?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 2258 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Jami' al-Tirmidhi 657 Graded by Ahmad Muhammad Shakir: Sahih · Al-Albani: Sahih · Bashar Awad Maarouf: Hasan Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: SahihSahih
- Sahih Muslim 1066 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Hajar, al-IsabahHistorical 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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