Continuation of the benefits of the hadith of Abu Hurayrah: “We were sitting around the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), with Abu Bakr and ‘Umar among a group, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up from among us”

The Shaykh : So I leaped in as a fox leaps. Among the benefits of this hadith is giving what serves as a sign, meaning a mark and indication of his truthfulness. Where is this taken from? From the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) giving Abu Hurayrah his sandals. He also did this on another occasion in a different manner. He did so when he sent a person to his agent in Khaybar to give him some dates. He said to him: “If he asks you for a sign—meaning a mark—place your hand on your collarbone.” It is as if the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave his agent in Khaybar this mark and said: “When I send a messenger to you, I will make this mark between us.” It is called by the common people *al-imariyyah*, and what is that? It means a sign of this. Among the benefits of this hadith is the intensity of ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), for he struck Abu Hurayrah between his breasts until he fell on his back, meaning he fell on his buttocks. Another benefit is that if a person does something out of jealousy, he is not held accountable for it and is not blamed for it. The reason is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not reprimand ‘Umar, because he did it out of jealousy and interpretation. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not allow ‘A’ishah when she broke the vessel of one of the wives who had sent food to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). You remember the story: one of the Mothers of the Believers sent food to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) while he was with ‘A’ishah. When the Messenger presented it, she struck the Messenger’s hand until the vessel fell and broke, and the food also hit the ground. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took ‘A’ishah’s vessel and her food and sent it to the woman, but this was done out of jealousy. Another benefit is the high status of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) among the Companions. The reason is that when he said “Go back,” he went back; otherwise, he could have said, “I will not go back. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me, and I will not go back.” But Abu Hurayrah knew ‘Umar’s status with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and for this reason he went back. Another benefit is that crying may occur from an elder. Where is this taken from? From his saying: “So I burst into tears.” However, it is rare from an elder and common from a young person. This is a blessing of Allah upon the young person, because crying is a relief for him. Therefore, it is not befitting for you, if you find your child crying when he is struck or reprimanded or the like, to stop him from crying. It is better to let him cry so that what is in his chest is revealed and not suppressed. Another benefit is that some matters may be hidden from the elders. Where is this taken from? From the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) returned to the opinion of ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: “Let them work.” In this hadith, there is the same issue that appeared in the hadith of Mu‘adh: How did Abu Hurayrah report that? And the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) agreed with ‘Umar’s opinion and said: “Let them work.” We say in answer what we said in the hadith of Mu‘adh, and this is even easier, because this was by the consultation of ‘Umar, whereas that was by the statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Even if what the Messenger approved of in speech is like his speech, as mentioned by the scholars of terminology and the scholars of principles, nevertheless the answer is that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) feared that they would not convey the Shari'ah to the Ummah. In this is a refutation of the Rafidah who said that the Companions concealed something of the Qur'an. If they did not conceal such hadiths, how could they conceal something of the Qur'an?