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Salim, freed man of Abu Hudhayfah رضي الله عنه
From Adopted Son to Brother in Faith
Salim was a slave woman's son from Istakhr in Persia. His mistress freed him, and Abu Hudhayfah ibn 'Utbah, one of the early Muslims, took him as a son in the custom of the time, so that people called him Salim ibn Abi Hudhayfah.
When the verse came that adopted sons should be called by their real fathers, and that those whose fathers are unknown are brothers in religion and mawali (33:5), Salim became Salim mawla Abi Hudhayfah, the freed man and brother in faith. He had been among the early Muslims in Makkah and later emigrated.
The change was not a demotion. Sahih al-Bukhari 5088 records how this affected the household, and the Prophet ﷺ made a ruling for that household to ease a real difficulty; scholars have discussed the details of that ruling at length and differ about it.
In Islam, the tie of faith can be stronger than the tie of blood or adoption, and truth sometimes asks us to change what we are used to.
When have you had to let go of a familiar name or role for the sake of what is right?
- Qur'an 33:5
- Sahih al-Bukhari 5088 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Hajar, al-IsabahHistorical report
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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