2 of 2 · 1 AH / 622 CE · Quba' · Quba', near Madinah
Salim, freed man of Abu Hudhayfah رضي الله عنه
Leading the Emigrants in Prayer
When the first Muhajirun arrived at Quba' before the Prophet ﷺ reached Madinah, they needed someone to lead them in prayer. Among them were men of noble lineage such as 'Umar ibn al-Khattab and Abu Salamah, yet it was Salim, the freed man, who stood at the front, because he knew the most Qur'an (Sahih al-Bukhari 692).
The Prophet ﷺ later said: take the Qur'an from four, and he began with 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, then Salim the freed man of Abu Hudhayfah, then Mu'adh ibn Jabal, then Ubayy ibn Ka'b (Sahih al-Bukhari 3806; Sahih Muslim 2464).
So a man who had no tribe, no family name and no wealth became a teacher and imam to some of the noblest of Quraysh.
In prayer and learning, the one who knows the Book is put forward, whatever his background.
Would you willingly learn from someone whose status you consider lower than yours?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 692 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 3806 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 2464 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
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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