2 of 4 · 5 AH · the siege of the Trench · The camp of the Confederates, outside Madinah
Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman رضي الله عنه
The Night Scout
On a night of piercing cold and wind during the siege of the Trench, the Prophet ﷺ asked who would go and bring back news of the enemy, promising that man would be with him in Paradise. The Muslims were so cold and hungry that no one answered, even after he asked a second and a third time. Then he called Hudhayfah by name.
Hudhayfah said that as he set out, he felt warm as though walking in a bath, until he returned. The Prophet ﷺ told him not to alarm anyone. In the enemy camp, he found their fires out, their tents blown over, and Abu Sufyan telling the men to check who was sitting next to them. Hudhayfah quickly grasped the hand of the man beside him and asked who he was, so no one suspected him.
He could have shot Abu Sufyan with an arrow, but remembered the Prophet ﷺ's instruction not to do anything until he came back. He returned and told the Prophet ﷺ that the enemy was about to leave, and the Prophet ﷺ wrapped him in the end of his cloak while he finished his prayer.
Obedience means stopping at the line the leader set, even when the opportunity is tempting.
When have you done only what you were asked, when you could have done more?
- Sahih Muslim 1788 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Qur'an 33:9
- Ibn Hisham, al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah (the Trench)Historical 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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