2 of 2 · Shawwal 5 AH · March 627 CE · Madinah, the Trench
al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam رضي الله عنه
The Prophet's Disciple
During the siege of Madinah by the confederate tribes, the Prophet ﷺ needed someone to go and bring news of the Banu Qurayzah, the neighbouring tribe whose loyalty was in doubt. He asked for a volunteer, and al-Zubayr said he would go.
The Prophet ﷺ asked again, and again al-Zubayr answered. Then the Prophet ﷺ said that every prophet has a disciple (hawari), and his disciple was al-Zubayr (Sahih al-Bukhari 2846; Sahih Muslim 2415).
The word hawari is the same one the Qur'an uses for the closest followers of 'Isa. It speaks of a person who is nearest to a mission, ready to be sent anywhere and to take on its heaviest tasks.
To be needed by a good cause, say yes when others hesitate.
What task are you quietly waiting for someone else to volunteer for?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 2846 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 2415 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wa'l-NihayahHistorical 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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