5 of 5 · 11 AH – 18 AH · after the Prophet's passing · Makkah and Syria
Suhayl ibn 'Amr رضي الله عنه
The Speech in Makkah
When news of the Prophet's ﷺ death reached Makkah, the governor, 'Attab ibn Asid, was so stricken that he hid in his house, and the people of the city began to waver. Suhayl, the old orator, stood in front of the people and spoke. He told them: do not be the last to embrace Islam and the first to leave it. He said that Allah's religion would stand, that Muhammad ﷺ had died but Allah is alive and does not die, and that anyone who tried to turn away would be struck down.
His words are reported as close to the words of Abu Bakr in Madinah, and the people steadied. Years earlier the Prophet ﷺ had said that Suhayl might one day take a position that no one could blame. This was that position: the voice that once spoke against the Messenger ﷺ was now holding the people to his message.
Suhayl then left for Syria with his family to take part in the conquests, and died there around 18 AH, in the plague of 'Amwas; others say he fell at Yarmuk. His son 'Abdullah was martyred at Yamamah, and his other son Abu Jandal died in Syria. His daughter Sahlah, wife of Abu Hudhayfah, is the woman who came to the Prophet ﷺ about her household's affairs (Sahih Muslim 1453).
A gift for words, once turned toward the truth, becomes a strength for the whole community.
What skill do you have that you could dedicate to steadying others?
- Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-KubraHistorical report
- al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-MulukHistorical report
- Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wa'l-NihayahHistorical report
- Sahih Muslim 1453 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala'Historical 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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