2 of 2 · Shawwal 8 AH · 630 CE · The valley of Hunayn
Al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib رضي الله عنه
"O Companions of the Tree!"
Al-'Abbas left Makkah to join the Prophet ﷺ as the Muslim army marched on the city in 8 AH, and was with him at its conquest. Weeks later, at Hunayn, the Muslim army was ambushed in a narrow valley and many fled in confusion. Al-'Abbas stayed at the Prophet's side, holding the bridle of his white mule.
Al-'Abbas narrated it himself: he was a man with a powerful voice, and the Prophet ﷺ told him to call out to the Companions of the Samurah — those who had pledged under the tree at al-Hudaybiyah. He shouted, "Where are the Companions of the Samurah?" And, he said, when they heard his voice they turned back like cows returning to their calves, crying, "Here we are! Here we are!" (Sahih Muslim 1775).
The battle turned. The voice that had once spoken for the Prophet ﷺ at al-'Aqabah now called his army back to him.
In a moment of panic, the man who stood firm and used the one gift he had — his voice — helped turn the whole battle.
What gift do you have that could call people back to what is right?
- Sahih Muslim 1775 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Hisham, al-Sirah al-NabawiyyahHistorical 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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