عبد الرحمان بن عوف

"O Meena, May I not relate to you what I heard from the messenger of Allah?" I said: "Yes." He said: "I heard him say: I am the tree, and Fatimah is its branch. ‘Ali fecundates it, and al-Hasan and al-Husayn are its fruits. And those of my Ummah who love them are the leaves of the tree. (May Allah shower them all with His pleasure)." And may Allah bless out master Muhammad, the Prophet and his progeny.

"O Mother, I fear that my abundant wealth may destroy me. I am the richest among the Quraish." She said: "O Son, spend (in the way of Allah), for surely, I heard the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, say: From my companions, there will be some who will never see me again after I have departed from them." He said: Abdul Rahman left, and on his way met with Umar ibn al-Khattaibn He informed him about what Ummu Salemah had said. He (Umar) came to Ummu Salemah with insistence that he be allowed to visit her, then he said: "O mother, am I among them?" She said: "I do not know, nor am I going to absolve anyone beside you."

On the night of the delegation of Jinn (i.e. during the battle of Tabuk), we were with the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, when he made a station at Ula. Then he went away, and when he returned, he heaved a sigh. Then he said: "O Ibn Mas’ood, I have been warned of my impending death." So I said: "O messenger of Allah, appoint a successor." He asked: "Who?" "I said: "Abu Bakr." He said: (The Prophet) walked for sometime, and heaved a sigh and then said: "My death has been announced to me O Ibn Mas’ood." Then I said: "Appoint a successor, O messenger of Allah." He asked: "Who?" I said: "Umar." He remained silent, and then walked for sometime, heaved a sigh, and said: "I have been given news of my death, O Ibn Mas’ood!" So, I said: "Appoint a successor!" He asked: "Who?" I said: "Uthman." He kept silent, walked for sometime, heaved a sigh and said: "O Ibn Mas’ood, my death has been announced to me!" I said: "Appoint a successor, O Prophet of Allah" He asked: "Who?" I said: "‘Ali ibn Abi Talib." He heaved a sigh and said: "By He Who controls my soul, if they obey him (i.e. ‘Ali), they will definitely enter Paradise, everyone of them."

The Statement of the Mighty and Majestic: “[43:79] Or have they settled an affair? Then surely, We are the settlers. [43:80] Or do they think that We do not hear what they conceal and their secret discourses? Indeed (We do), and Our messengers are by them, to record”. He (asws) said: ‘And these two Verse were Revealed regarding them on that day’. Abu Abdullah (asws) said: ‘Hopefully you will see that is was a day resembling the day of the writing of the agreement except for the day Al-Husayn (asws) was martyred, and thus it had preceded in the Knowledge of Allah (azwj) Mighty and Majestic which He (azwj) Made known to the Rasool Allah (saww) that when the agreement is written down, Al-Husayn (asws) would be martyred, and the kingdom would exit from the Clan of Hashim. So all of that did take place. I said, ‘The Verse: “[49:9] And if two parties of the believers quarrel, make peace between them; but if one of them acts wrongfully towards the other, fight that which acts wrongfully until it returns to Allah’s command; then if it returns, make peace between them with justice and act equitably; surely Allah loves those who act equitably”. He (asws) said: ‘The two groups, but rather its explanation came on the day of Al-Basra (The battle of the Camel), and they are the ones belonging to this Verse, and they are the ones who rebelled against Amir-ul-Momineen (asws). So it was obligatory upon him (asws) to fight them, and he (asws) fought them until they submitted to the Command of Allah (azwj). And had they not been submitted, it became obligatory upon him (asws) with regards to what Allah (azwj) Revealed, that he (asws) should not raise his sword (stop fighting) until they complied and returned from their opinions, because they had pledged their allegiances willingly, without compulsion. And this is the rebel group as Allah (azwj) the High has Said. So it was obligatory upon Amir-ul-Momineen (asws) that he (asws) should deal with justice among them when he (asws) was victorious over them, just as the Rasool Allah (saww) had been just among the people of Mecca, he (saww) was benevolent upon them and forgave them. And that is what Amir-ul-Momineen (asws) did with the people of Al-Basra when he (asws) was victorious over them similar to what the Rasool Allah (saww) did with the people of Mecca. Like a sandal follows a sandal (same footsteps). I said, ‘(What about) the Statement of the Mighty and Majestic: “[53:53] And He destroyed the Overthrown Cities (of Sodom and Gomorrah)”. He (asws) said: ‘These are the people of Al-Basra. It is the overthrown city’. I said, ‘(What about) “[9:70] and the overthrown cities; their messengers came to them with clear arguments”. He (asws) said: ‘They were the people of Lut (as), their town was turned upside down upon them’.

“Once, some people of Yemen came to Medina. The Prophet (sw) said: “They come to you gently.” When they came to the Prophet (sw), he said: “They are people of gentle hearts and deep-rooted faith. From among them, there will be al-Mansoor. He will come with seventy thousand soldiers. He will support my descendant and my guardian’s descendant. The sheaths of their swords are from musk.” They said: “O Messenger of Allah, who is your guardian?”
The Prophet (sw) said: “It is he, whom Allah has ordered you to keep to when He has said: (And hold fast by the covenant (rope) of Allah all together and be not disunited).” They said: “O Messenger of Allah, will you declare to us what this rope is?” He said: “It is the saying of Allah, ‘save (where they grasp) a rope from Allah and a rope from men.’ The rope from Allah is His Book and the rope from people is my guardian.” They asked: “O Messenger of Allah, who is your guardian?” He said: “It is he about whom Allah has revealed, ‘Lest a soul should say: O woe to me! For what I fell short of my duty to Allah.’” They asked: “O Messenger of Allah, what is this duty to Allah?” He said: “It is what Allah has said about, ‘And the day when the unjust one shall bite his hands saying: O! would that I had taken a way with the Messenger.’ It is my guardian and the way that leads to me.” They said: “O Messenger of Allah! By Him, Who has sent you with the truth, declare him to us. We are so eager to know who he is.” He said: “It is he, whom Allah has made as a sign for the true believers. If you look at him with a look of (him who has a heart, or gives ear with full intelligence), you will know that he is my guardian as you have known that I am your prophet. Go through the rows and stare at the faces then see towards whom your hearts incline. It will be him because Allah has said: (therefore make the hearts of some people yearn towards them). It means towards him and his progeny (as).” Then Abu Aamir al-Ash’ari, Abu Ghurra al-Khawlani, Dhabyan, Uthman bin Qays, Arana ad-Dousi and Lahiq Bin Alaqa from among their tribes went through the rows, stared at the faces and held the hand of the bald, stout man and said: “O Messenger of Allah, towards this man our hearts yearned.” The Prophet (sw) said: “You are the elite of Allah where you recognized the Prophet’s guardian before you have been told about him. How did you know that he was him?” They began crying and said: “O messenger of Allah, we looked at the people but our hearts did not incline to any of them. When we saw this man our hearts trembled and then our souls felt assured, our eyes shed tears and our chests became pleased as if he was our father and we were his children.” The Prophet (sw) recited: “But none knows its interpretation except Allah and those who are firmly rooted in knowledge.” You are near them in your good position and you are far away from Hell. These men remained loyal until they fought with Imam Ali (as) in the battles of al-Jamal (the camel) and Siffeen, in which they were martyred. May Allah have mercy upon them. The Prophet (sw) had brought them good news to be in Paradise and had predicted that they would have been martyred with Imam Ali (as).”