Mazarat Madinah
Human moments from the life of the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions in Madinah — mercy, humility and loyalty — each with its source.
These stories come from Wafa al-Wafa, al-Samhudi's history of Madinah. A story appears here only after it has been reviewed and checked against its place in the book. Choose a theme to read its stories, or open the place a story is linked to.
Translated from the reviewed Arabic text. The English translation has not yet had a scholar's review.
34 stories
The Sahih reports that when they arrived, Abu Bakr stood to receive the people while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sat — 'sitting silently', in Musa ibn 'Uqbah's version — and the Ansar who came kept greeting Abu Bakr. When the sun reached the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr came and shaded him with his cloak, and only then did the people recognise the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
'Ali ibn Abi Talib stayed behind for some days after the Prophet ﷺ left — three, according to some — until he had returned to people the valuables they had deposited with the Prophet ﷺ, who had left him behind for that purpose. Then he set out, joined him ﷺ at Quba and stayed with Kulthum ibn al-Hidm.
Yahya reports that when the Prophet ﷺ was staying with Banu 'Amr ibn 'Awf — at a time of enmity between the Aws and the Khazraj, As'ad ibn Zurarah having killed Nabtal ibn al-Harith on the Day of Bu'ath — he asked after As'ad. As'ad came to him veiled between Maghrib and 'Isha, and the Prophet ﷺ said: 'Abu Umamah, you came here from your home despite what lies between you and these people?' He replied: 'By the One who sent you with the truth, I would never hear that you were somewhere without coming to you,' and he spent the night with him ﷺ until morning.
The Prophet ﷺ then told Sa'd ibn Khaythamah and Rifa'ah and Mubashshir, the sons of 'Abd al-Mundhir: 'Grant him your protection.' They said: 'You protect him, O Messenger of Allah — our protection is within yours.' He said: 'Let one of you protect him.' Sa'd ibn Khaythamah said, 'He is under my protection,' and brought As'ad from his house hand in hand at midday to Banu 'Amr ibn 'Awf — whereupon the Aws said: 'O Messenger of Allah, all of us are his protectors.'
Al-Tabarani records in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, with trustworthy narrators, that al-Shamus bint al-Nu'man said: 'I watched the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as he founded the Quba mosque, carrying stones and rocks until their weight bent him over, and I could see the white dust on his belly. A companion would come and say, "May my father and mother be your ransom, O Messenger of Allah — let me carry it for you," and he would answer, "No — go and take another like it."'
When the young girls came out to welcome the Prophet ﷺ, he asked them, "Do you love me?" They said, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He said, "By Allah, and I love you," repeating it three times; in another version: "Allah knows that I love you."
In Sahih Muslim: the Prophet ﷺ stayed on the lower floor of Abu Ayyub's house while Abu Ayyub lived above. When Abu Ayyub was troubled at walking over the Prophet's ﷺ head, the Prophet ﷺ told him the lower floor was easier; but when Abu Ayyub said, "I will not be above a roof with you beneath it," the Prophet ﷺ moved upstairs and Abu Ayyub moved down.
Zayd ibn Thabit related that the first gift brought to the Prophet ﷺ at Abu Ayyub's house was a bowl of wheat bread soaked with ghee and milk, sent by Zayd's mother. The Prophet ﷺ said, "May Allah bless it," and called his companions, who ate with him.
Abu Ayyub's mother was asked which food the Messenger of Allah ﷺ liked best during his stay with them. She said: "I never saw him order a particular dish to be made for him, and we never saw him find fault with any food brought to him."
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ joined his companions from the Muhajirun and the Ansar in brotherhood; according to what reached Ibn Ishaq, he said: "Become brothers for the sake of Allah, two by two."
When the old pre-Islamic feud flared up between the Aws and the Khazraj, the Prophet ﷺ went out to them and said: "O Muslims — Allah, Allah! Do you raise the call of the Age of Ignorance while I am among you, after Allah has guided you to Islam … and joined your hearts together?" They realised it was a whisper of Satan and a plot of their enemy; they wept and embraced one another.
Ibn 'Uqba reports that when the people scattered away from him, the Prophet ﷺ held his ground and kept calling to them from behind, until some of them came back to him at al-Mihras in the ravine.
It is reported that when the Prophet ﷺ was told that the banner of the Quraysh army was carried by the clan of 'Abd al-Dar, he said, "We are more worthy of keeping faith than they are," then called for Mus'ab ibn 'Umayr and gave him the banner.
On the day of Uhud the Prophet ﷺ led the noon (Dhuhr) prayer sitting down because of the wounds he had suffered, and the Muslims prayed behind him seated.
In the Sahih: the site of the mosque was a yard for drying dates belonging to two orphan boys, Sahl and Suhayl, in the care of As'ad ibn Zurara. When they said, "No, we give it to you as a gift, O Messenger of Allah," he ﷺ refused to accept it from them as a gift until he had bought it from them, and then he built it as a mosque.
The Prophet ﷺ made supplication in Masjid al-Fath for three days — Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday — and was answered on Wednesday between the two prayers; the joy could be seen on his face.
It is reported from Ja'far ibn Muhammad, from his father, that the Prophet ﷺ entered Masjid al-Fath and raised his hands to Allah until the whiteness of his armpits could be seen, supplicating so intensely that his cloak slipped from his back — and he did not stop to pick it up, but kept on supplicating at length.
It is reported from Salim Abu al-Nadr that on the day of the Trench the Prophet ﷺ prayed: "O Allah, Revealer of the Book, Raiser of the clouds, defeat them and grant us victory over them."
Al-Qurtubi cites a report that when the ordeal grew hard and the stay at the Trench long, the Prophet ﷺ stood one night on the hill where Masjid al-Fath stands, raised his hand and prayed: "O Responder to the cries of the distressed, O Answerer of the desperate, O Remover of my worry, grief and anguish — You see my state and the state of my companions." Jibril then came down and said: "Allah has heard your prayer and has spared you the terror of your enemy."
A report in Ibn 'Uqba's Maghazi says that on the day of the Trench, when his companions brought him the news about Banu Qurayza, the Prophet ﷺ wrapped himself in his garment and lay down; then he raised his head and said: "Give glad tidings of Allah's victory and His help." Al-Samhudi suggests this may have happened at the site of this mosque, giving it its name.
Ibn 'Uqba reports that when Hudhayfa came back, he found the Prophet ﷺ standing in prayer; when the Prophet ﷺ finished, Hudhayfa gave him the news, and by morning Allah had granted the Prophet ﷺ and the Muslims victory and gladdened their hearts.
Al-Tabarani narrates from Abu Qatada that Mu'adh ibn Jabal found the Prophet ﷺ in prostration in the cave along the path people took to Masjid al-Fath, and he stayed down so long that Mu'adh feared he had passed away. The Prophet ﷺ explained that Jibril had come to him there with Allah's message, "I will not grieve you concerning your Ummah", so he had prostrated — adding that the best way to draw near to Allah is prostration.
Ibn Zabala reported, via 'Asim ibn Suwayd from his father, that the elders of Banu Anif used to say the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prayed near their fort when he came to visit Talha ibn al-Bara'.
Yahya reports that after the fighting at Uhud the Prophet ﷺ stood over the body of Mus'ab ibn 'Umayr and recited the verse "Among the believers are men..." through to "...and they have not changed in the least" (Qur'an 33:23), then said: "O Allah, Your servant and Prophet bears witness that these are martyrs."
In Sahih al-Bukhari: eight years after the battle, the Prophet ﷺ prayed over the fallen of Uhud like someone bidding farewell to the living and the dead, then went up on the pulpit and said: "I will go ahead of you, I am a witness over you, and your meeting place with me is the Pool."
Talha ibn 'Ubaydullah relates that they went out with the Prophet ﷺ to visit the graves of the martyrs. Passing some graves near the Harrat Waqim lava field, he said, "These are the graves of our companions"; when they reached the martyrs' graves he said, "These are the graves of our brothers."
Ibn Shabba reports from 'Abbad ibn Abi Salih that the Prophet ﷺ used to come to the graves of the martyrs of Uhud at the turn of every year and say: "Peace be upon you for your patience; how excellent is the final home!" After him, Abu Bakr, then 'Umar, then 'Uthman came to them too.
When Wahshi came to the Prophet ﷺ after becoming Muslim, the Prophet ﷺ asked him, "Are you the one who killed Hamza?" He said, "It happened as you have heard." The Prophet ﷺ said only: "Could you keep your face out of my sight?"
It is narrated that when the Prophet ﷺ stood over Hamza's body he said: "I will never again suffer a loss like you; I have never stood in a place that grieved and angered me more than this." He added that Gabriel had told him Hamza is recorded among the people of the seven heavens as "Hamza ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib, the lion of Allah and the lion of His Messenger."
Ibn Ishaq reports from men of the Banu Salima that when 'Amr ibn al-Jamuh and 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr fell at Uhud, the Prophet ﷺ said: "Bury them together, for they were true friends in this world."
'Amr ibn al-Jamuh had a lame leg. When he and his nephew were killed at Uhud, the Prophet ﷺ passed by him and said: "It is as if I can see you walking on this leg of yours, healed, in Paradise." He had the two of them and their freed servant laid in one grave.
In the same report, the Muhajirun and the Ansar each wanted Salman al-Farisi — a strong man — with them: the Muhajirun said "Salman is one of us", and the Ansar said "He is one of us", until the Prophet ﷺ said: "Salman is one of us, the People of the House (Ahl al-Bayt)."
Al-Tha'labi reports in his Qur'an commentary that the Prophet ﷺ dug the Trench with his own hands to encourage the Muslims, digging until he was exhausted and then sitting to rest.
In the same report, his companions said: "O Messenger of God, we will do it for you," and he ﷺ replied: "I want to share the reward with you."