Hadith #513

Arabic Text

English Translation

Yūnus narrated to us, he said: Layth — meaning Ibn Saʿd — narrated to us, from Yazīd ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Usāmah ibn al-Hād, from ʿAmr — meaning Ibn Abī ʿAmr — from al-Muṭṭalib, from Umm Salamah who said: Abū Salamah came to me one day from the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ and said: I heard from the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ a saying that delighted me. He said: "No Muslim is afflicted with a calamity and says 'innā lillāhi wa-innā ilayhi rājiʿūn' and then says: 'O Allāh, grant me reward for my affliction and replace it with something better for me,' except that it will be done for him." Umm Salamah said: I memorized that from him. When Abū Salamah died, I said innā lillāhi wa-innā ilayhi rājiʿūn and said: O Allāh, grant me reward for my affliction and replace him with someone better. Then I said to myself: Where will I find someone better than Abū Salamah? When my waiting period ended, the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ sought permission to visit me while I was tanning a hide. I washed my hands of the tanning leaves and gave him permission. I placed for him a leather cushion stuffed with palm fiber, and he sat on it and proposed to me. When he finished his words, I said: O Messenger of Allāh, it is not that I would not desire you, but I am a woman with intense jealousy, and I fear you may see something from me for which Allāh would punish me. I am also a woman advanced in age, and I have children. He said: As for the jealousy you mentioned, Allāh عز وجل will remove it from you. As for the age you mentioned, the same has befallen me as has befallen you. As for the children you mentioned, your children are my children. She said: I have surrendered to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. So the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ married her. Umm Salamah said: Allāh replaced Abū Salamah for me with someone better than him: the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ.