2 of 2 · Madinah years · c. 622–632 CE · Madinah
Ubayy ibn Ka'b رضي الله عنه
The Greatest Verse
The Prophet ﷺ once asked Ubayy, "O Abu al-Mundhir, which verse in the Book of Allah is greatest?" Ubayy said, "Allah and His Messenger know best." The Prophet ﷺ repeated the question, and this time Ubayy answered: "Ayat al-Kursi: ﴿اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ﴾ (“Allah — there is no god but Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of all.”)"
The Prophet ﷺ struck him on the chest and said, "May knowledge be a joy to you, Abu al-Mundhir" (Sahih Muslim 810).
Notice both parts of the exchange. Ubayy first answered with humility, deferring to Allah and His Messenger, and spoke only when asked a second time. The Prophet ﷺ's reply was to bless him with the blessing of knowledge itself.
Real knowledge is spoken humbly, and a teacher's best reward is to see it settle in the student's heart.
When you are asked a question you know the answer to, do you answer with humility?
- Sahih Muslim 810 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.
Create a free account to keep your place as you go. Create a free account · Sign in