2 of 3 · Shawwal 3 AH · March 625 CE · Makkah, then Mount Uhud
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas رضي الله عنه
The First Arrow
Sa'd was known as a skilled archer. He said of himself that he was the first of the Arabs to shoot an arrow in the path of Allah (Sahih al-Bukhari 3728), referring to a small party sent out early in Madinah.
At Uhud he stood beside the Prophet ﷺ shooting arrows, and the Prophet ﷺ handed him arrows and said, "Shoot, Sa'd, may my father and mother be ransomed for you." 'Ali later said he had never heard the Messenger ﷺ say this for anyone but Sa'd (Sahih al-Bukhari 2905).
A well-known tradition holds that the Prophet ﷺ prayed that Sa'd's aim would be true and his prayers answered. This is why he is called Mustajab al-Da'wah, "the one whose prayers are answered."
A skill given to the service of a good cause becomes an honour.
What ability of yours could be put to the service of something bigger than you?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 2905 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 3728 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Book of VirtuesGrade not recorded here
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
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