Sunday, February 22, 2009

Sayyiduna Umar and Sayyiduna `Uthman and Love for the Ahl al-Bayt

Hafidh al-Maghrib al-Imam al-Qadhi Abu Umar Yusuf bin `Abd il-Barr relates in his al-Isti'ab fi Ma'rifat al-Ashab:


وروى ابن أبي الزناد عن أبيه عن الثقة أن العباس بن عبد المطلب لم يمر بعمر ولا بعثمان وهما راكبان إلا نزلا حتى يجوز العباس إجلالاً له ويقولان: عم النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم


"
Ibn Abi Zinad narrates on the authority of his father [who is a trustworth narrator of the highest degree according to none other than Imam Malik, agreed to be the most stringent of the muhaddithin when it came to chosing the very few that he would relate from in his Muwatta] who narrates from a trustworthy source that `Abbas bin `Abdil Muttalib never once passed by `Umar or `Uthman, may Allah be pleased with them all, when they were mounted, except that they would dismount in his honor while `Abbas passed, saying "... the uncle of the prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam)..."

How beautiful is it that despite both being cousins of the Nabi, sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam, and Sayyiduna `Umar being his father-in-law and Sayyiduna`Uthman being to him such a son-in-law that he married two daughters to him in succession and after the death of the second declared that had he yet another daughter, he would have married her to `Uthman, despite all of those things, they found love in everything that reminded them, may Allah be pleased with the, of the messenger of Allah. Everything.

Everything that reminds us of Rasulallah, sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam is beautiful. It is so that we realize that the beauty of all of those sunnahs that we honor are not because of their intrinsic value, but because of their nisbah to him.

In it is a fragrant lesson for us.