Explanation of the Second Hadith, which is (from Abu Dharr that he died at al-Rabizhah . . . . . . . . . . . ) narrated by Ahmad.
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The Shaykh : The second hadith means that Ibrahim ibn al-Ashqar reported that Abu Dharr was on his deathbed at al-Rabizhah, so his wife wept. He said, "What makes you weep?" She said, "I weep because I have no control over your life, and I do not have a shroud large enough to wrap you in... If there is an error in my narration, correct it. "I do not have a shroud large enough to wrap you in." He said, "Do not weep, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) — and here is a missing part that I have supplied, which comes after his statement — I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) one day while I was with him in a group. This is an addition — the Messenger (peace be upon him) was speaking in a gathering of the Companions, and Abu Dharr was among them. Sahih Ibn Hibban 62:555 Abu Dharr said: "Everyone who was with me in that gathering has died, some in groups and some individually... Everyone who was with me in that gathering has died, some in groups and some individually, and none of them remains except me. And I have become in a desolate place where I will die. Watch the road, for you will see what I say. For I swear by Allah, I have not lied, nor have I been lied to." She said: "How is that possible when the pilgrims have stopped coming?" He said: "Watch the road." He said: "So while she was doing so, she saw a group of people riding their mounts, as if they were... The people came until they stood before her and said: 'What is the matter?' I said: 'A Muslim man has died; shroud him and you will earn reward in it.' They said: 'Who is he?' She said: 'Abu Dharr.' So they ransomed him with their fathers and mothers, and they put their whips on the necks of their mounts, racing toward him. He said — in my version, and she said, and it is an error — 'Rejoice, for you are the group about whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said what he said. And I have — an addition between parentheses — become today where you see. If I had a garment from my clothes — here is the point — from my clothes large enough to shroud me, I would not be shrouded in anything else. I call upon you by Allah that no man among you who was a chief, a governor, or a messenger shroud me, for every one of the people had received something from that, except a young man from the Ansar who was with the people. He said: 'I am your companion. I have two garments in my chest from my mother's spinning, and one of these two garments is the one on me.' He said: 'You are my companion.'" Ahmad narrated it, and the wording is his, and its narrators are the narrators of the authentic collections, and al-Bazzar narrated it similarly with brevity. Al-'aybah is with a fathah on the 'ayn, a sukun on the tha, followed by a muhaddah; it is what a traveler puts his clothes in, meaning "a travel bag."
We return to this hadith to explain some of what may be difficult for some people. Ibrahim ibn al-Ashqar says that Abu Dharr was on his deathbed at al-Rabizhah, a place near Madinah. His wife wept because she was living with her husband, Abu Dharr, in a desolate place where there was no companion, no friend, no houses, and nothing else. So his wife wept, and her husband was on his deathbed. He said, "What makes you weep?" She said, "I weep because I have no control over your life, and I do not have a shroud large enough to wrap you in... I have no shroud to wrap you in, and there is no one here to help me." So he gave her good news of what he had heard from the Messenger (peace be upon him), saying to her, "Do not weep, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) one day while I was with him in a group, saying This is the good news. The wife was distressed by the death of her husband alone, with no shroud to shroud him in. So he informed her that the Messenger (peace be upon him) had said one day in a gathering of a group of the Companions, of whom he was one, that one of these people would die in a desolate place in the wilderness, but a group of believers, a group, would witness it. Abu Dharr said, "Everyone who was with me in that gathering has died, some in groups and some individually," meaning sometimes people died in groups and some died alone, like him, but none of these people remained except me. Therefore, I am the one who will die in a desolate place, and the news of the Messenger (peace be upon him) must come true regarding me when he said Sahih Ibn Hibban 62:555 Therefore, rejoice and do not despair. Here is a note I want to... The text of the hadith addresses the Companions present in that gathering. So the Companion, look how he reflects on the precise words of the Messenger, and understands that this address is intended for this specific group present in that gathering, and it does not occur to him that it means one of all the Companions. No, because it is an address to those who were present in that gathering. And from here, Abu Dharr was certain that since the group had died, sometimes in groups and sometimes alone, but none of them had died in a desolate place, and since all of them, the group, had died and none remained except me, and I am in the desolate place, then I am the one intended by that news. So the full news must be realized, which is that a group, a group of believers, meaning from the Companions, will witness his death. So he says, "Everyone who was with me in that gathering has died, some in groups and some individually, and none of them remains except me. And I have become in a desolate place where I will die. So watch the road, for you will see what I say. For I swear by Allah, I have not lied, nor have I been lied to." Meaning, I have not lied to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), nor has the Messenger (peace be upon him) lied to me. Far be it from that. If he has died as you speak, this news must come true. I am not lying to the Messenger (peace be upon him), nor does the Messenger lie to us. But she remained distressed and surprised by this news. She said, "How is that possible when the pilgrims have stopped coming?" The couple were living in a desolate place, meaning not on the path of people and the road by which people pass with their caravans, but on a road usually traveled by pilgrims, and there were no pilgrims returning from Hajj. So where would these people come from whom you think will attend your death? He said: "Watch the road." He said the words of a believing man who believes that the news of the Messenger (peace be upon him) will be realized in him and must be. He said: "So while she was doing so, watching the road in obedience to her husband's command, she saw a group of people riding their mounts... from the torrent, and he is in... They were riding and between them was speed in travel. In some versions, this is the narration of Ahmad: 'So while she was doing so, she saw a group of people riding their mounts, as if they were the rakhm (a type of bird).' I do not actually understand this simile. If any of our brothers present have prior knowledge of this definition, let them inform us of it. It is a simile to the rakhm, as if they were the rakhm..."
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... a simile. So the people came until they stood before her and said, "What is the matter?" She said, "A Muslim man has died; shroud him and you will earn reward in it," meaning here a man is on his deathbed, so perhaps you will earn his reward and shroud him. They said, "Who is he?" She said, "Abu Dharr... Abu Dharr. As soon as they heard his name, they ransomed him with their fathers and mothers, and they put their whips on the necks of their mounts. It appears that the intended meaning is that they hung the whips they used to drive their mounts on the mounts... so that they would head to where Abu Dharr was on his deathbed. He said, "And they put their whips on their mounts, racing toward him." He said, meaning they came to him, and he said, "Rejoice, for you are the group about whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said what he said, that a group of believers would witness it... the sentence. And here is also a missing part. Strange, I do not know if the author abbreviated it, and this is not the practice of authors, and the strange thing is that al-Haythami followed him in this omission in Majma' al-Zawa'id."
A man from among you will surely die in a desolate place, accompanied by a group of believers.
ليموتن رجل منكم بفلاة من الأرض يصحبه عصابة من المؤمنينWe return to this hadith to explain some of what may be difficult for some people. Ibrahim ibn al-Ashqar says that Abu Dharr was on his deathbed at al-Rabizhah, a place near Madinah. His wife wept because she was living with her husband, Abu Dharr, in a desolate place where there was no companion, no friend, no houses, and nothing else. So his wife wept, and her husband was on his deathbed. He said, "What makes you weep?" She said, "I weep because I have no control over your life, and I do not have a shroud large enough to wrap you in... I have no shroud to wrap you in, and there is no one here to help me." So he gave her good news of what he had heard from the Messenger (peace be upon him), saying to her, "Do not weep, for I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) one day while I was with him in a group, saying
A man from among you will surely die in a desolate place, witnessed by a group of believers.
ليموتن رجل منكم في فلاة من الأرض تشهده عصابة من المؤمنينA group of believers will witness it
يشهده عصابة من المؤمنينThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : ... a simile. So the people came until they stood before her and said, "What is the matter?" She said, "A Muslim man has died; shroud him and you will earn reward in it," meaning here a man is on his deathbed, so perhaps you will earn his reward and shroud him. They said, "Who is he?" She said, "Abu Dharr... Abu Dharr. As soon as they heard his name, they ransomed him with their fathers and mothers, and they put their whips on the necks of their mounts. It appears that the intended meaning is that they hung the whips they used to drive their mounts on the mounts... so that they would head to where Abu Dharr was on his deathbed. He said, "And they put their whips on their mounts, racing toward him." He said, meaning they came to him, and he said, "Rejoice, for you are the group about whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said what he said, that a group of believers would witness it... the sentence. And here is also a missing part. Strange, I do not know if the author abbreviated it, and this is not the practice of authors, and the strange thing is that al-Haythami followed him in this omission in Majma' al-Zawa'id."