Biography of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari

Asim ibn Bahdala: from Abu Wa'il, from Abu Musa:

The Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, said: "O Allah, make Ubayda, Abu Amir, the most numerous of the people on the day of Resurrection."

He was killed on the day of Autas, and Abu Musa killed his slayer.

Al-Jurayri: from Qasama ibn Zuhayr, from Abu Musa, who said: "Deepen my grave for me."

No. 83: Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Khalid ibn Zayd ibn Kulayb, may Allah be pleased with him.

Al-Khazraji, al-Najjari, the Badri, the great master, whom the Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, singled out with the favor of descending at his dwelling among the Banu al-Najjar, until there was built for him the chamber of the Mother of the Believers Sawda, and the noble mosque was built.

His name: Khalid ibn Zayd ibn Kulayb ibn Tha'laba ibn Abd Amr ibn Awf ibn Ghanm ibn Malik ibn al-Najjar ibn Tha'laba ibn al-Khazraj.

The narrators of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari

Those who narrated from him: Jabir ibn Samura; al-Bara ibn Azib; al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib; Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Khatmi; Jubayr ibn Nufayr; Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib; Musa ibn Talha; Urwa ibn al-Zubayr; Ata ibn Yazid al-Laythi; Aflah, his freedman; Abu Ruhm al-Sama'i; Abu Salama ibn Abd al-Rahman; Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla; Qartha al-Dabbi; Muhammad ibn Ka'b; al-Qasim Abu Abd al-Rahman; and others.

He has several hadiths: in the Musnad of Baqi there are of him one hundred fifty-five hadiths; among them, in al-Bukhari and Muslim: seven; in al-Bukhari: one hadith; in Muslim: five hadiths.

Harmala: Ibn Wahb narrated to us; Haywa informed us; al-Walid ibn Abi al-Walid informed us; Ayyub ibn Khalid ibn Abi Ayyub al-Ansari narrated, from his father, from his grandfather:

That the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, said to him: "Keep the proposal hidden, then perform ablution, then pray what Allah has written for you, then praise your Lord and glorify Him, then say:

O Allah, You decree and I do not decree, You know and I do not know, and You are the Knower of the unseen: if You see that for me, in so-and-so, name her, there is good in my religion, my worldly life and my hereafter, decree her for me; and if other than her is better for me than her, destine her for me, or he said: decree her for me."

And in the sira of Ibn Abbas: he was governor of Basra for Ali, and Abu Ayyub al-Ansari paid a courtesy visit to him, who took great care to honor him and said:

"I shall reward you for hosting the Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, with you."

He gave him everything in the dwelling: it reached forty thousand.

Al-A'mach: from Abu Dhabyan, from his sheikhs, from Abu Ayyub, that he said:

"Bury me beneath your feet: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, say: whoever dies associating nothing with Allah enters Paradise."

Ibn Ulayya: from Ayyub, from Muhammad, who said:

Abu Ayyoub was present at Badr, then fell behind from no campaign except one year in which a young man was put in command of the army: he abstained, then began to languish, saying: "What is it to me who is placed over me?"

He fell ill, while Yazid ibn Mu'awiya was in command of the army; he came to visit him and said: "Have you a need?"

He said: "Yes: when I am dead, mount me, then carry me forward into the enemy's land as far as you find a way; and if you find no way, bury me, then return."

When he died he mounted him, marched with him, then buried him.

He used to say: Allah says: "Go forth, light and heavy" (Surah al-Tawba, verse 41): I do not find myself but light or heavy.

And Hammad narrated, from Asim ibn Bahdala, from a man:

That Abu Ayyoub said to Yazid: "Convey to the people my salam; and let them set out with me, and press on as far as they are able."

He said: they did so.

Al-Waqidi said: he died the year Yazid campaigned, under the caliphate of his father, against Constantinople.

It has reached me that the Rum attend to his grave, seek it out and pray for rain through it.

Urwa and the group count him among the Badris.

Ibn Ishaq said: he was present at the second Aqaba.

Muhammad ibn Sirin al-Najjar said: he was named thus, al-Najjari, because he allied himself with a carpenter's tool.

And from Ibn Ishaq: the Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, made brotherhood between Abu Ayyoub and Mus'ab ibn Umayr.

Abu Ayyoub witnessed every battlefield.

Ahmad ibn al-Barqi said: there came to him about fifty hadiths.

Ibn Yunus said: he came to Egypt by sea in year forty-six.

Abu Zur'a al-Nasri said: he came to Damascus in the time of Mu'awiya.

Al-Khatib said: he was present at the war of the Khawarij with Ali.

Ja'far ibn Jisr ibn Farqad: my father informed us; Abd al-Rahman ibn Harmala narrated, from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, from Ibn Umar, who said:

The Prophet's arrival in Medina

The people of Medina said to the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him: "Enter Medina, rightly guided and guided."

He entered it, and the people came out looking at him; each time he passed by a clan they said: "O Messenger of Allah, here!"

He said: "Leave her: she is commanded," meaning the she-camel.

Until she knelt at the door of Abu Ayyoub.

Yazid ibn Abi Habib: from Abu al-Khayr, from Abu Ruhm, that Abu Ayyoub narrated to him:

That the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, alighted in our house, the lower floor, and I was in the upper room; water was poured in the upper room; I rose, with Umm Ayyoub, with a velvet cushion, to trace the water, and I went down and said:

"Messenger of Allah, it does not befit that we be above you: move to the upper room."

He ordered his belongings, and they were carried: his belongings were few.

I said: "Messenger of Allah, you would send the food; I would watch, and when I saw the trace of your fingers, I would place my hand on it."

Buhayr ibn Sa'd: from Khalid ibn Ma'dan, from Jubayr ibn Nufayr, from Abu Ayyoub, who said:

The Ansar drew lots: which of them would shelter the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him?

The lot fell upon Abu Ayyoub; and when food was offered to the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, it was offered to Abu Ayyoub.

One day Abu Ayyoub entered, and there was a bowl in which there was onion; he did not eat of it and said: "There comes to me what does not come to you."

Al-San'ani: Muhammad ibn Sabiq narrated to us; Hashraj ibn Nubata narrated; from Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, that he heard Abu Qilaba say:

Abu Abd Allah al-Sunabihi narrated to me that Ubada ibn al-Samit had narrated to him, who said:

I was alone with the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, and said: "Which of your companions is dearest to you?"

He said: "Keep my life concealed."

I said: "Yes."

He said: "Abu Bakr, then Umar, then Ali."

Then he fell silent, and I said: "Then who?"

He said: "Who could there be after these, if not al-Zubayr, Talha, Sa'd, Abu Ubayda, Mu'adh, Abu Talha, Abu Ayyoub, you, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Abu al-Darda, Ibn Mas'ud, the son of Affan and the son of Awf; then this company of freedmen: Salman, Suhayb, Bilal and Salim the freedman of Abu Hudhayfa: these are my intimates."

This hadith is strange.

Al-Haytham al-Shashi narrated it in his Musnad.

Al-Waqidi: Kathir ibn Zayd narrated to us, from al-Walid ibn Rabah, from Abu Hurayra, who said:

When the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, consummated with Safiyya, Abu Ayyoub spent the night at the door of the Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him; at morning he saw the Messenger of Allah and uttered the takbir, and Abu Ayyoub had the sword; he said:

"Messenger of Allah, she was a slave woman recently of a wedding, and you had killed her father, her brother and her husband; I did not feel secure of her against you."

The Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, laughed and said to him what is good.

Very rare.

It has a slight support from the hadith of: Isa ibn al-Mukhtar and Ibn Abi Layla, from al-Hakam, from Miqsam, from Ibn Abbas [...], who mentioned something near it.

And Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shayba: Umar ibn Abi Bakr narrated to us; Abd Allah ibn Abi Ubayda, from his father, from Miqsam, from Jabir: its like.

And Ibn Lahi'a: from Abu al-Aswad, from Urwa: its like.

Abd al-Rahman ibn Ishaq, from al-Zuhri, from Salim, who said:

I married; my father called the people, among them Abu Ayyoub, and they had covered my house with a green cloth.

Abu Ayyoub came, lowered his head and looked: the house was covered; he said: "O servant of Allah! You cover the walls?"

My father, abashed, said: "The women overcame us, O Abu Ayyoub." He said: "One whom I feared the women might overcome, I did not fear they would overcome you: I shall not enter a house of yours, nor eat your food!"

Rare.

Al-Nufayli narrated it, from Ibn Ulayya, from him.

Ibn Abi Dhi'b: from Abd al-Aziz ibn Abbas, from Muhammad ibn Ka'b, who said:

Abu Ayyoub would oppose Marwan, who said: "What carries you to this?"

He said: "I saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, pray the prayers: if I find you in accord with him I accord with you, and if I find you contrary to him I am contrary to you."

Marwan ibn Mu'awiya: from Abd al-Rahman ibn Ziyad ibn An'um, from his father, who said:

Our vessel joined the vessel of Abu Ayyoub al-Ansari at sea; with us was a jocular man, who would say to our purveyor of food: "May Allah reward you with good and piety," and he would grow angry.

We said to Abu Ayyoub: "Here is one who, when we say to him: may Allah reward you with good, grows angry!"

He said: "Return the formula to him."

We began saying: "Him whom good does not amend, evil amends."

The joker said to him: "May Allah reward you with evil and ugliness."

He laughed and said: "You will not give up your jesting!"

Khalifa mentioned that Ali had appointed Abu Ayyoub over Medina.

Al-Hakim said: Abu Ayyoub did not witness Siffin with Ali.

Al-A'mach: from Abu Dhabyan:

That Abu Ayyoub campaigned in the time of Mu'awiya; when he was at the point of death, he said: "When you line up against the enemy, bury me beneath your feet."

Ibn Fudayl: Ibrahim al-Hajari narrated to us, from Abu Sadiq, who said:

Abu Ayyoub al-Ansari came to Iraq; the Azd offered him tavern-keepers, with me; I greeted him and said:

"O Abu Ayyoub, Allah has honored you with the companionship of His Prophet and his descent upon you; why do I see you advancing toward the people to fight them with your sword?"

He said: "The Messenger of Allah entrusted us to fight with Ali those who broke the pledge: we fought them; and those who fell short: this is our way to them, meaning Mu'awiya; and those who broke away: I have not yet seen them."

This is a weak report.

Ishaq ibn Sulayman al-Razi: Abu Sinan narrated to us, from Habib ibn Abi Thabit:

That Abu Ayyoub arrived at Ibn Abbas in Basra; he cleared a house for him and said:

"I shall do with you as you did with the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him: what do I owe you?"

He said: "Twenty thousand."

He gave him forty thousand, twenty slaves, and the furnishings of the house.

Ibn Awn: Muhammad narrated to us, and Umar ibn Kathir ibn Aflah narrated to us: and this is his hadith, who said:

Abu Ayyoub came to Mu'awiya, who seated him with him on the couch, spoke with him privately and said:

"O Abu Ayyoub, who killed the rider of the black mare that kept circling on such and such a day?"

He said: "I did; since you and your father, upon the red camel, had with you the banner of unbelief."

Mu'awiya lowered his head; the people of Syria frowned and spoke.

Mu'awiya said: "Enough! It is not of this that we asked you."

Abu Ishaq al-Fazari: from Ibrahim ibn Kathir: I heard Umar a ibn Ghaziyya, who said:

Abu Ayyoub entered upon Mu'awiya and said: "The Messenger of Allah spoke truly: I heard him say: O company of Ansar, after me you will see coveted favors, so be patient."

It reached Mu'awiya, who believed him and said: "How bold he is! I shall never speak to him, and no roof shall shelter him and me together."

He went from his fury to the campaign, and fell ill; Yazid ibn Mu'awiya visited him, being in command of the army, and said: "Have you a need?"

He said: "I have gained from you and your father nothing but sufficiency: if you wish, make my grave of what borders the enemy [...]", the hadith.

Al-A'mach: from Abu Dhabyan, who said:

Abu Ayyoub campaigned, fell ill, and said: "When I die, carry me; when you line up against the enemy, throw me beneath your feet: I shall surely narrate to you a hadith I heard from the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him:

I heard him say: whoever dies associating nothing with Allah enters Paradise."

Its isnad is strong.

Jarir: from Qabus ibn Abi Dhabyan, from his father, who said:

I came to Egypt, and the people were returning from their campaign; they informed me:

That when they were at the moment their campaign was to descend, where the enemy could see them, death seized Abu Ayyoub; he called the Companions and the people and said:

"When I am taken, let the horses be mounted, then march until you meet the enemy, and they drive you back: then dig for me, bury me, then level it! Let the horses and the men trample over it until it is not known; when you return, inform the people:

the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, informed me that none shall enter the Fire who says: there is no god but Allah."

Al-Walid said: from Sa'id ibn Abd al-Aziz:

Mu'awiya sent his son to campaign in year fifty-five, by land and sea, until they crossed the strait; they fought the people of Constantinople at its gate, then turned back.

And from al-Asma'i, from his father:

That Abu Ayyoub was buried by the rampart of Constantinople, and it was built over him; at morning the Rum said: "O company of Arabs, this night has held a matter for you."

They said: "A man of the great Companions of our Prophet has died; by Allah, were he exhumed, no bell would be struck in the land of the Arabs."

When they had drought, they would uncover his grave, and rain would fall upon them.

The death of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari

Al-Waqidi said: Abu Ayyoub died in year fifty-two; Yazid prayed over him, and he was buried at the base of the fortress of Constantinople; it has reached me that the Rum attend to his grave [...]