From the life of the Prophet ﷺ
The Bedouin who urinated in the mosque
Lesson: gentleness in teachingA Bedouin entered the Prophet’s Mosque and began to urinate in a corner of it. The Companions rose to stop him, but the Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not interrupt him.” When the man finished, the Prophet ﷺ called him and gently explained that mosques are not for urine or filth but for the remembrance of Allah, prayer and the recitation of the Quran, and he ordered a bucket of water to be poured over the spot. Then he gave his Companions a principle for teaching and calling to Allah.
Khadijah reassures the Prophet ﷺ
Lesson: a sincere support in a time of fearThe Prophet ﷺ came back from the cave of Hira after the first revelation, his heart trembling. He went to his wife Khadijah, may Allah be pleased with her, and said, “Cover me, cover me,” then told her what he had seen and said, “I fear for myself.” She answered only by reminding him of the character she knew in him, and then took him to her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal. Fear is heavy for one who is alone, and light for one who has someone to remind him of his goodness.
At-Ta’if and the angel of the mountains
Lesson: patience, and hope for the good of those who hurt youThe Prophet ﷺ went to At-Ta’if to call its people to Allah, but they rejected him harshly and set their fools on him to throw stones until his feet bled. On the way back, the angel of the mountains came and said, “If you wish, I will crush them between the two mountains.” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “No — I hope that Allah will bring from their descendants people who worship Allah alone, associating nothing with Him.” And so it came to be.
In the cave: “Do not grieve, Allah is with us”
Lesson: trust in Allah at the hardest momentOn the journey of the Hijrah, the Prophet ﷺ and his companion Abu Bakr hid in the cave of Thawr while Quraysh searched for them, until the searchers stood at the mouth of the cave. Abu Bakr said, “If one of them looked down at his feet he would see us.” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “What do you think, Abu Bakr, of two people whose third is Allah?” The Quran preserved that moment.
دَعُوهُ وَأَهْرِيقُوا عَلَى بَوْلِهِ سَجْلًا مِنْ مَاءٍ، فَإِنَّمَا بُعِثْتُمْ مُيَسِّرِينَ وَلَمْ تُبْعَثُوا مُعَسِّرِينَLeave him, and pour a bucket of water over his urine. You were sent to make things easy, and you were not sent to make things difficult.
كَلَّا وَاللَّهِ مَا يُخْزِيكَ اللَّهُ أَبَدًا، إِنَّكَ لَتَصِلُ الرَّحِمَ، وَتَحْمِلُ الْكَلَّ، وَتَكْسِبُ الْمَعْدُومَ، وَتَقْرِي الضَّيْفَ، وَتُعِينُ عَلَى نَوَائِبِ الْحَقِّNever! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep family ties, bear the burdens of the weak, help the poor, honour the guest, and assist those struck by calamity.
إِلَّا تَنصُرُوهُ فَقَدۡ نَصَرَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِذۡ أَخۡرَجَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ ثَانِيَ ٱثۡنَيۡنِ إِذۡ هُمَا فِي ٱلۡغَارِ إِذۡ يَقُولُ لِصَٰحِبِهِۦ لَا تَحۡزَنۡ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَنَاۖ فَأَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ سَكِينَتَهُۥ عَلَيۡهِ وَأَيَّدَهُۥ بِجُنُودٖ لَّمۡ تَرَوۡهَا وَجَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ ٱلسُّفۡلَىٰۗ وَكَلِمَةُ ٱللَّهِ هِيَ ٱلۡعُلۡيَاۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌSi vous refusez votre soutien au Messager, sachez qu’Allah lui a apporté le Sien lorsque, forcé par les impies à l’exil avec son compagnon, il dit à celui-ci dans la grotte où les deux hommes avaient trouvé refuge : « Ne t’afflige pas, Allah est avec nous ! » Allah fit alors descendre quiétude et sérénité sur Son Messager et l’assista d’armées invisibles. Puis Il renversa le culte des mécréants et éleva bien haut la religion de l’unicité. Allah est Tout-Puissant et infiniment Sage.
Stories of the Companions
Abu Bakr: “I left for them Allah and His Messenger”
Lesson: selflessness and trust in what is with AllahWhen the Prophet ﷺ urged people to give for the army of hardship, Umar brought half his wealth, thinking he would finally outdo Abu Bakr; but Abu Bakr brought everything he owned. The Prophet ﷺ asked, “What did you leave for your family?” He said, “I left for them Allah and His Messenger.” Umar said, “By Allah, I will never be able to surpass him in anything.”
Mus’ab ibn Umayr: from comfort to martyrdom
Lesson: the world weighs little against the truthMus’ab was among the most pampered, best-dressed youths of Makkah. When he became Muslim his family turned away from him and he lost his comfort. The Prophet ﷺ then sent him to Madinah as a teacher, and many people accepted Islam at his hands. He was martyred at Uhud leaving nothing but a single cloak: if they covered his head, his feet showed; if they covered his feet, his head showed. So they covered his head and placed grass over his feet.
Bilal: “One, One”
Lesson: steadfastness in tawhid whatever the hardshipBilal ibn Rabah was a slave of Umayyah ibn Khalaf. When he became Muslim, his master made him lie on scorching sand with a huge rock on his chest, yet he would only say, “One, One.” Abu Bakr bought him and set him free, and Bilal became the first muezzin in Islam.
Ka’b ibn Malik: truthfulness saves
Lesson: be truthful, even when it is hardKa’b stayed behind from the expedition of Tabuk with no excuse. When the Prophet ﷺ returned, the hypocrites came swearing and making excuses, but Ka’b said, “By Allah, I had no excuse.” The people were ordered to shun him and his two companions for fifty nights, until the earth seemed narrow for him despite its vastness. Then Allah revealed their repentance, and it was the happiest day of his life. Ka’b said, “Allah saved me only because of truthfulness, and part of my repentance is that I will speak nothing but the truth as long as I live.”
Uthman and the well of Rumah
Lesson: ongoing charity outlives its giverWhen the Muhajirun came to Madinah they found its drinking water hard to get, and a man owned a well, Rumah, from which he sold water. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Who will buy the well of Rumah and let his bucket be like the buckets of the Muslims, for something better in Paradise?” Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, bought it with his own wealth and made it an endowment for all Muslims.
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَكُونُواْ مَعَ ٱلصَّٰدِقِينَVous qui croyez ! Craignez Allah et comportez-vous en hommes véridiques et sincères !
Stories of the women Companions
Umm Sulaym: her dowry was Islam
Lesson: faith is worth more than goldAbu Talhah, who was then a polytheist, proposed to Umm Sulaym. She said, “A man like you is not turned away, Abu Talhah, but you are a disbeliever and I am a Muslim woman; it is not lawful for me to marry you. If you accept Islam, that is my dowry and I ask for nothing else.” He accepted Islam. Thabit said, “I never heard of a woman with a more honourable dowry than Umm Sulaym: Islam.”
Stories of the Tabi’in
Uways al-Qarani: kindness to his mother raised him
Lesson: kindness to parents raises a person with AllahUways lived in Yemen at the time of the Prophet ﷺ and never met him, because he was devoted to his mother and would not leave her. The Prophet ﷺ spoke of him as among the best of the Tabi’in and told Umar, “If you can get him to ask forgiveness for you, do so.” When Umar met him, he asked Uways to seek forgiveness for him.
Urwah ibn az-Zubayr: patience in affliction
Lesson: praising Allah in ease and hardshipUrwah ibn az-Zubayr developed a disease in his leg that had to be amputated, and on the same day his son died. He said, “O Allah, to You belongs all praise: I had four limbs and You took one and left three; I had seven sons and You took one and left six.” So the historians and biographers report.
Questions fréquentes
Are these stories authentic?
Most are in the Two Sahihs or the Sunan; anything reported only by historians is marked as such. All content awaits review by an Azhar scholar.
Les textes et traductions sont en cours de révision par des savants.