Narrated Thawban
Thawban, the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: While I was
standing beside the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) one of the rabbis of the Jews
came and said: Peace be upon you, O Muhammad. I pushed him back so hard that he
nearly fell over. Upon this he said: Why do you push me? I said: Why don't you say: O
Messenger of Allah? The Jew said: We call him by the name which he was given by his
family. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: My name is Muhammad, which is
how I was named by my family. The Jew said: I have come to ask you (something). The
Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Will it be of any benefit to you, if I tell you
that? He (the Jew) said: I shall lend my ears to it. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon
him) drew a line with the help of the stick that he had with him and then said: Ask
(whatever you like). Thereupon the Jew said: Where will the human beings be on the Day
when the Earth changes into another earth and the Heavens too (change into other
heavens)? The Messenger of Allah (p). said: They will be in darkness beside the bridge. He
(the Jew) again said: Who amongst the people will be the first to cross (this bridge)? He
said: They would be the poor amongst the refugees. The Jew said: What would constitute
their breakfast when they would enter Paradise? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: A caul of
fish-liver. He (the Jew) said: What would be their food after this? He (the Holy Prophet)
said: a bullock which was fed in the different quarters of Paradise would be slaughtered for
them. He (the Jew) said: What would be their drink? He (the Holy Prophet) said: They
would be given a drink from the fountain which is named Salsabil. He (the Jew) said: I have
come to ask you about something which no one amongst the people on Earth knows
except an apostle or one or two men besides him. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Would it
benefit you if I tell you that? He (the Jew) said: I would lend my ears to that. He then said:
I have come to ask you about the child. He (the Holy Prophet) said: The reproductive
substance of a man is white and that of a woman (i.e. ovum central portion) is yellow.
When they have sexual intercourse and the male's substance (chromosomes and genes)
prevails upon the female's substance (chromosomes and genes), it is the male child that is
created by Allah's Decree. When the substance of the female prevails upon the substance
contributed by the male, a female child is formed by the Decree of Allah. The Jew said: What
you have said is true; verily you are an Apostle. He then turned round and went away. The
Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: He asked me about such and such things of
which I had no knowledge until Allah gave it to me.
(Shahih muslim - 146)
Narrated Salamah ibn al-Akwa'
It has been reported by Salamah ibn al-Akwa': We fought the Battle of Hawazin with the
Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). (One day) when we were having our breakfast
with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), a man came riding a red camel. He made
it kneel down, extracted a strip of leather from its girth and tethered the camel with it. Then
he began to take food with the people and look (curiously around). We were in a poor
condition as some of us were on foot (being without any riding-animals). All of a sudden, he
left us hurriedly, came to his camel, untethered it, made it kneel down, mounted it and
urged the beast which cantered off. A man on a brown she-camel chased him (taking him
for a spy). Salamah (the narrator) said: I followed on foot. I ran on until I was near the
thigh of the she-camel. I advanced further until I was near the haunches of the camel. I
advanced still further until I caught hold of the nose-string of the camel. I made it kneel
down. As soon as it placed its knees on the ground, I drew my sword and struck at the
head of the rider who fell down. I brought back the camel, driving it along with the man's
baggage and weapons. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came forward to meet
me and the people were with him. He asked: Who has killed the man? The people said: Ibn
Akwa'. He said: Everything belonging to the man is for him (Ibn Akwa').
(Shahih muslim - 810)
Narrated Salamah ibn al-Akwa'
(At last) we reached Medina. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sent his camels
with his slave, Rabah, and I was with him. I (also) went to the pasture with the horse of
Talhah along with the camels. When the day dawned, AbdurRahman al-Fazari made a raid
and drove away all the camels of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and killed
the man who looked after them. I said: Rabah, ride this horse, take it to Talhah ibn
Ubaydullah and inform the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that the polytheists
have made away with his camels. Then I stood upon a hillock and turning my face to
Medina, shouted thrice: Come to our help! Then I set out in pursuit of the raiders, shooting
at them with arrows and chanting a (self-eulogising) verse in the Iambic meter: I am the
son of al-Akwa' And today is the day of defeat for the mean. I would overtake a man from
them, shoot at him an arrow which, piercing through the saddle, would reach his shoulder,
and I would say: Take it, chanting at the same time the verse: And I am the son of al-Akwa'
And today is the day of defeat for the mean. By God, I continued shooting at them and
hamstringing their animals. Whenever a horseman turned upon me, I would come to a tree
and (hid myself) sitting at its base. Then I would shoot at him and hamstring his horse. (At
last) they entered a narrow mountain gorge. I ascended that mountain and held them at
bay throwing stones at them. I continued to chase them in this way until I got all the
camels of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) released and no camel was left with
them. They left me; then I followed them shooting at them (continually) until they dropped
more than thirty mantles and thirty lances, lightening their burden. On everything they
dropped, I put a mark with the help of (a piece of) stone so that the Messenger of Allah
(peace be upon him) and his Companions might recognise them (that it was booty left by
the enemy). (They went on) until they came to a narrow valley when so and so, son of Badr
al-Fazari joined them. They (now), sat down to take their breakfast and I sat on the top
of a tapering rock. Al-Fazari said: Who is that fellow I am seeing? They said: This fellow has
harassed us. By God, he has not left us since dusk and has been (continually) shooting at
us until he has snatched everything from our hands. He said: Four of you should make a
dash at him (and kill him). (Accordingly), four of them ascended the mountain coming
towards me. When it became possible for me to talk to them, I said: Do you recognise me?
They said: No. Who art thou? I said: I am Salamah, son of al-Akwa'. By the Being Who has
honoured the countenance of Muhammad (peace be upon him) I can kill any of you I like
but none of you will be able to kill me. One of them said: I think (he is right). So they
returned. I did not move from my place until I saw the horsemen of the Messenger of Allah
(peace be upon him), who came riding through the trees. Lo! the foremost among them
was Akhram al-Asadi. Behind him was AbuQatadah al-Ansari and behind him was al-Miqdad
bin al-Aswad al-Kindi. I caught hold of the rein of Akhram's horse. (Seeing this), they (the
raiders) fled. I said (to Akhram): Akhram, guard yourself against them until Allah's
Messenger and his Companions join you. He said: O Salamah, if you believe in Allah and the
Day of Judgment and (if) you know that Paradise is a reality and Hell is a reality, you should
not stand between me and martyrdom. So I let him go. Akhram and AbdurRahman (Fazari)
met in combat. Akhram hamstrung AbdurRahman's horse and the latter struck him with his
ance and killed him. AbdurRahman turned about riding Akhram's horse. AbuQatadah, a
horseman of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), met AbdurRahman (in combat),
smote him with his lance and killed him. By the Being Who honoured the countenance of
Muhammad (peace be upon him), I followed them running on my feet (so fast) that I
couldn't see behind me the Companions of Muhammad (peace be upon him), nor any dust
raised by their horses. (I followed them) until before sunset they reached a valley which
had a spring of water, which was called Dhu Qarad, so that they could have a drink, for
they were thirsty. They saw me running towards them. I turned them out of the valley
before they could drink a drop of its water. They left the valley and ran down a slope. I ran
(behind them), overtook a man from them, shot him with an arrow through the shoulder
blade and said: Take this. I am the son of al-Akwa'; And today is the day of annihilation for
the people who are mean. The fellow (who was wounded) said: May his mother sweep
over him! Are you the Akwa' who has been chasing us since morning? I said: Yes, O enemy
of thyself, the same Akwa'. They left two horses dead tired on the hillock and I came
dragging them along to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). I met Amir who had
with him a container having milk diluted with water and a container having water. I
performed ablution with the water and drank the milk.
(shahih muslim - 828)