4 of 4 · After 11 AH · until 54 AH · Ramlah and Hims, Syria
Thawban رضي الله عنه
A Teacher in Syria
After the Prophet ﷺ died, Thawban moved to Syria. The biographers say he lived in Ramlah, then settled in Hims, where he died in 54 AH.
There the people of Syria learned from him. Ma'dan ibn Abi Talhah asked him about a deed that would bring him into Paradise. Thawban was silent twice, and the third time he said he had asked the Prophet ﷺ the same, and he had answered: "Prostrate to Allah often, for you will not make one prostration to Allah except that Allah raises you a degree by it and removes a sin from you by it" (Sahih Muslim 488).
He also narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said Allah had gathered the earth together for him so that he saw its east and its west, and that the rule of his Ummah would reach as far as he had been shown (Sahih Muslim 2889). Thawban lived to see the Muslims settled in the lands where he taught.
A companion's later years were spent passing on what he had heard, carefully and without show.
What have you learned that you are holding back from passing on?
- Sahih Muslim 488 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 2889 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-KubraHistorical report
- 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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