Lessons from Ahadith

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

InshaAllah I'm going to include two types of ahadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be on him) in the next couple of posts. In this post I'm going to include the first type, which are about the area of Al Sham. As Palestine (and therefore Al Quds) was part of the area known as Al Sham in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Al Quds was included in the areas the Prophet was talking about. This makes these ahadith relevant for us. For those who don't know, in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be on him) reference to Al Sham included present-day Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan from the Euphrates to Sinai.

The second type of ahadith I'll include in the next post, inshaAllah. They are specifically about the virtues of the Al Aqsa Sanctuary in Al Quds.

Six Ahadith about Al Sham:

1. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be on him) is reported to have said, "Allah has blessed what lies between Al Arish (in Egypt) and the Euphrates and has made Palestine particularly holy". (Kanz al Ummal)

2. Zayd ibn Thabit (ra) reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be on him) said, "How blessed is Al Sham!" The Companions around asked: "Why is that?" The Messenger (peace and blessings be on him) replied, "I see the angels of Allah spread their wings over Al Sham". Ibn Abbas (ra) added, "and the Prophets lived in it. There is not a single inch in Al Quds (Jerusalem) where a Prophet has not prayed or an angel not stood". (Tirmidhi and Imam Ahmad)

3. Abdullah ibn Umar (ra) reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be on him) said, "O Allah! Bestow Your blessings on our Sham! O Allah! Bestow Your blessings on our Yemen". The people said, "And also on our Najd". He said, "O Allah! Bestow Your blessings on our Sham! O Allah! Bestow Your blessings on our Yemen". The people said, "O Allah's Apostle! And also on our Najd". I think the third time the Prophet (peace and blessings be on him) said, "There (in Najd) is the place of earthquakes and afflictions and from there comes out the side of the head of Satan". (Sahih al Bukhari)

4. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be on him) prayed for the blessing of the people of Al Sham. Anas ibn Malik (ra) reports that the Prophet (peace and blessings be on him) looked towards Iraq, Al Sham and Yemen then said, "O Allah! Bring their hearts over to Your obedience and relieve them of their burdens". (Tirmidhi)

5. Once the Prophet (peace and blessings be on him) advised 'Abdullah ibn Hawalah (ra) to join the army in Al Sham, over any other. However, the Prophet (peace and blessings be on him) noticing Ibn Hawalah's indifference said, "Do you know what Allah says about Al Sham? Allah said 'Al Sham you are the quintessence of My lands (safwati min biladi) and I shall inhabit you with the chosen ones among My servants". (Al Tabarani)

6. Shurayh ibn 'Ubayd said that the people of Al Sham were mentioned in front of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (ra) while he was in Iraq and someone said to him, "Curse them, Commander of the Believers". He replied, "No. I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be on him) say, 'The Substitutes (al Abdal) are in Al Sham- forty men- every time one of them dies, Allah replaces another in his place. By means of them Allah brings down the rain, gives us victory over our enemies and averts punishment from the people of Al Sham' ". (Imam Ahmad)