It was narrated that Jabir ibn Samurah said: The people of Kufah complained about Sa‘d to ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), so he dismissed him and appointed ‘Ammar as their governor instead. Then they complained to the extent that they said that he [Sa‘d] did not pray properly. So ‘Umar sent for him and said: O Abu Ishaq, these people are saying that you do not pray properly. Abu Ishaq said: By Allah, I used to lead them in prayer and my prayer was exactly as the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to lead the prayer, and I did not fall short in this in the slightest. When I led them in ‘Isha’ prayer, I made the first two rak‘ahs long and I made the last two rak‘ahs short. ‘Umar said: This is what we think of you, O Abu Ishaq. Then he sent a man, or some men, with him to Kufah, to ask the people of Kufah about him, and he did not omit any mosque but he asked the people there about him, and they spoke well of him, until he went to a mosque belonging to Banu ‘Abs. There a man whose name was Usamah ibn Qatadah, and he was known by the kunyah Abu Sa‘dah, stood up and said: As you are adjuring us by Allah, I am bound to tell you that Sa‘d did not lead us in campaigns, he did not share out the booty equally, and he was not just when passing judgement. Sa‘d said: By Allah, I shall certainly pray for three things: O Allah, if this slave of Yours is lying, and the reason he said that is to show off and seek a reputation, then cause him to live a long life, make him live in poverty for a long time, and put him to trial and temptation. Later on, when the man who said that was asked what had happened, he would say: I am a very old man who has been subjected to trial and temptation. I have been affected by the supplication of Sa‘d. ‘Abd al-Malik said: I saw him later on; his eyebrows had fallen over his eyes because of old age, and when he saw young women in the street, he would try to say sweet words to them. .
Commentary :
Allah (may He be glorified and exalted) has instructed the believer to pay attention to all his duties and obligations. So he should pay attention to the obligatory worship that is required of him, and do it as Allah (may He be glorified and exalted) has enjoined. He should pay due attention to the job or task that has been assigned to him, and do it as he has been instructed to do it and as it should be done. He should pay due attention to giving other people their rights, and take his own rights in full, without anything being detracted from them. So he should not wrong others and he should not be wronged himself.
In this hadith, Jabir ibn Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the people of Kufah complained to ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) about Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) when he was the governor of Kufah. So ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) dismissed him in order to calm the people down and avoid turmoil, even though he trusted him, and he replaced him with ‘Ammar ibn Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) as their governor. ‘Umar appointed Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas as commander-in-chief to fight the Persians in 14 AH, and Allah granted the conquest of Iraq at his hands. He founded the city of Kufah in 17 AH, and ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) appointed him as governor of the city until he dismissed him in 21 AH, or 20 AH.
Some of the people of Kufah complained about Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), making several allegations against him. ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) investigated the matter, and found that the allegations were all false. They even said that he did not pray properly, but this was due to their lack of understanding and their ignorance about how the prayer is to be done, not because Sa‘d (may Allah be pleased with him) did not pray properly. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) sent for Sa‘d and asked him about their complaints, addressing him by his kunyah: O Abu Ishaq – which was Sa‘d’s kunyah – these people are saying that you do not pray properly. Sa‘d said: By Allah, I used to lead them in prayer and my prayer was exactly as the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to lead the prayer, and I did not fall short in this in the slightest. When I led them in ‘Isha’ prayer, I made the first two rak‘ahs long – that was because after al-Fatihah he would recite whatever he could of Qur’an – and I made the last two rak‘ahs short – because he would not recite anything after al-Fatihah. It is as if what they criticized in his prayer was his making the recitation lengthy in the first part of the prayer and making it shorter in the second part of the prayer, but those who criticized him for that were ignorant. Sa‘d (may Allah be pleased with him) singled out ‘Isha’ prayer for mention, because he thought that their complaint was about this prayer. It was also suggested that what he meant when he referred to ‘Isha’ prayer was both Maghrib and ‘Isha’. ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: You have followed the Sunnah in your actions, and you have prayed as the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to pray. This is what we thought you would do.
At the beginning of the hadith, it says that ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sent for Sa‘d (may Allah be pleased with him) to question him, then he addressed him as one present: “That is what we think of you, O Abu Ishaq.” This indicates that Sa‘d was not there, then he came. ‘Umar sent one man, or some men, to Iraq with him, who were led by Muhammad ibn Maslamah (may Allah be pleased with him). This delegation asked the people of Kufah about Sa‘d. They did not leave any of the mosques of Kufah but they questioned its people about him, and they all spoke well of him and praised him, until he went to a mosque belonging to Banu ‘Abs, who were a tribe of Qays. A man whose name was Usamah ibn Qatadah stood up and said: As you have adjured us and asked us by Allah (may He be exalted) to tell you about Sa‘d, we will tell you that Sa‘d did not go out on campaign in Allah’s cause, he did not share out the booty fairly, and he was not just when judging between people. He said what he said wrongfully and unfairly towards Sa‘d (may Allah be pleased with him), falsely attributing to him things of which he was innocent. The reason why he stood up and said that was that he was showing off and seeking a reputation. So Sa‘d (may Allah be pleased with him) prayed against him, saying: By Allah, I shall certainly pray for three things: O Allah, if this slave of Yours is lying, and the reason he said that is to show off and seek a reputation, then cause him to live a long life, make him live in poverty for a long time, and put him to trial and temptation. So he prayed against him, asking for three things, the first of which was that he would live a long life. What was meant was that he should live so long that he would reach the worst age, when a man’s bones grow weak and he loses his strength. Thus this was a supplication against the man, not for him. In addition to long life, the second supplication was that Allah would make him very poor for a long time, which is the worst and hardest kind of life in this world. And he added a third thing, which was worse than the first two, which was that Allah should subject him to trial and temptation, so he was subjected to the temptation of women. Thus when this man, whom Sa‘d had prayed against, was asked about the bad situation in which he found himself, he would say: I am a very old man who has been tried and tempted. I have been affected by the supplication of Sa‘d which was answered. His words “a very old man” refer to the fulfilment of the first supplication, “then cause him to live a long life”; his words “who has been tried and tempted” refer to the third supplication. He did not mention the second supplication, “make him live in poverty for a long time”, because it is included in his words, “I have been affected by the supplication of Sa‘d.”
‘Abd al-Malik – one of the narrators of the hadith; he was the son of ‘Umayr ibn Suwayd al-Kufi – said: I saw him after his eyebrows grew long and fell over his eyes because of old age. He would try to chat to young women in the streets, and say sweet words to them in front of people. This proves that the supplication of Sa‘d (may Allah be pleased with him) was answered, and that his supplication against this man came under the heading of praying against a specific wrongdoer in a manner commensurate with his lack of religious commitment, not praying that he fall into sin. Rather it is praying against him in such a way that leads to an increase in the punishment of the wrongdoer.
This hadith highlights the virtue of Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) and indicates that he was a person whose supplication would be answered.
It indicates that it is permissible to make the first rak‘ah lengthy and to make the second rak‘ah shorter.
It highlights the keenness of the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them) to follow the example of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). Thus they used to pray as the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) prayed.
It indicates that warding off mischief takes precedence over attaining good aims. Therefore ‘Umar dismissed Sa‘d even though he was more qualified than those who came after him, in order to put an end to turmoil and ward off mischief.
It indicates that one may address a man of high standing by his kunyah..
Bukhari hadiths
