Sahl bin Sa’d (r.a.)

When the Prophet (pbuh) migrated to Madinah, one of the children who welcomed him was Hz. Sahl. He was about five years old then. His father, Sa’d bin Malik, had become a Muslim before the Migration; therefore, Hz. Sahl, was brought up in a Muslim family. His real name was “Hanza” but it was changed by the Prophet as “Sahl”.

Hz. Sahl did not take part in any battles with the Prophet because he was very young. However, he helped to dig the ditch in the Battle of Khandaq by carrying soil away. He narrates an incident about it as follows:

“I was with the Prophet while the ditch was being dug. They were digging and we, children, were carrying away the soil. I heard the Messenger of Allah pray as follows: ‘O Lord! The real life is the life in the hereafter. Forgive Muhajirs and Ansar!’”

Sahl was very clever. He was always with the Prophet and served him. He made a lot of efforts to keep what he heard and saw in his memory. He continued like that for ten years until the Messenger of Allah died. He witnessed many incidents. He narrates one of them as follows:

A woman came to the Messenger of Allah and gave him a garment she brought with her. She said, “O Messenger of Allah! I weaved it for you with my own hands. Please accept it.” The Prophet needed something like that. He accepted it and put it on. After a while, one of the Companions saw it and said, “O Messenger of Allah! It is very nice. Will you give it to me as a present?” The Prophet took it off and gave it to him. The other Companions who were there reproved him. They said, “It was not good for you to do it. The Messenger of Allah needed something like that. Do you not know that the Messenger of Allah does not refuse those who want something from him?” Thereupon, that Companion spoke as follows:

“I did not want it to wear. I wanted it so that it will be my shroud when I die.”

As a matter of fact, it happened like that. He was enshrouded with that garment.

Hz. Sahl, who was with Messenger of Allah for ten years and who learned from the famous Companions after that, had a long life. He spent all his life serving Islam. He died in Madinah in the 91st year of the Migration when he was 96 years old. Almost no Companion was alive at that time.

Hz. Sahl, who witnessed an important period of the history of Islam for 91 years, narrated 188 hadiths. Some of them are as follows:

“To act carefully and cautiously is of Allah and to act hastily is of Satan.”

“If the world had as much value as the wing of a fly [compared to the hereafter], he would not give a sip of water to the unbeliever.”

“If Allah gives guidance to somebody through you, it is better for you than possessing red camels.”