Abu Kabshah al-Ansari

Abu Kabsha al-Ansari (died after 60 AH) was a Companion of the Prophet ﷺ from the Ansar of Medina who participated in the early campaigns and transmitted hadith from the Prophet ﷺ. He is recorded as having been present at significant moments in the prophetic era and was among those who transmitted traditions on matters of practice and theology.

Among his most widely transmitted narrations is one about relying on Allah alone: the Prophet ﷺ was asked what one should rely on, and he gave a response that addressed both taking practical means and having full tawakkul (reliance) on Allah. This narration circulates in collections on Islamic spirituality and the proper balance between action and trust in Allah.

He also narrated a hadith about the equality of reward — that the person who gives charity from his earnings and the scholar who teaches people share equally in merit, while one who merely inherits wealth and spends it is at a lower station. This teaching on the special merit of productive contribution to the community through either wealth or knowledge is attributed to him in collections on virtue.

He lived to an advanced age and died in the Umayyad period. His narrations were transmitted by his descendants and by students of the Medinan scholarly community. Like many Ansari companions of the second tier, his legacy is preserved primarily in the hadith collections rather than in dramatic historical narratives, though his standing as a Companion who directly heard the Prophet ﷺ gives his narrations their authority.