2 of 2 · The Madinan years · Madinah and the road from Makkah
Thawban رضي الله عنه
In His Service
Thawban stayed close to the Prophet ﷺ at home and on his journeys. On one journey, after the Prophet ﷺ slaughtered his sacrifice, he said: "Thawban, prepare the meat of this." Thawban said: "I kept feeding him from it until he reached Madinah" (Sahih Muslim 1975).
Being so near, he saw the small habits of the Prophet ﷺ and remembered them. He reported that when the Prophet ﷺ finished his prayer, he would seek Allah's forgiveness three times and say: "O Allah, You are Peace and from You is peace. Blessed are You, Possessor of majesty and honour" (Sahih Muslim 591).
Those who serve closely become trustees of the details; the small acts of worship we know today were carried by such people.
Which small habit of the Prophet ﷺ could you take up after every prayer?
- Sahih Muslim 1975 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 591 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
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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