Do you Know who the Nameless Man was Here?

Taken from Ilifsah ‘an al-M’jam min eedahil-Ghamid was-Mubhim by Ibn Qastalanee (686 AH)

Translated by Abu Aaliyah Abdullah ibn Dwight Battle

Many scholars in the past wrote books about people whose names weren't mentioned. Scholars like Abdul Ghani,
Khateeb Al-Baghdadi, Ibn Atheer and Imam Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on them all) wrote books that deal with
nameless people in the texts of Hadeeth, or people about whom certain verses were revealed about. This is a section
in the field of Hadeeth known as " Mubham" or nameless characters.

1. The man who came in the masjid while the Prophet (‫)صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬
َ was giving the
Khutbah and was asked did you pray. He said, “No “The Prophet then said, “stand up and
pray. was Sulayk ibn Amr
“Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said that once a man, came to Friday Prayer while the Messenger of Allah
(‫صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬
َ ) was delivering Khutbah, so Allah's messenger (‫صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬
َ ) asked him, "Did you pray?" "No", he
answered. Then Prophet (‫صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬َ ) said to him, "Stand up and pray ." [Bukhari 931 and Muslim 597]

2. The man who the Prophet (‫)صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬

َ said, “Pray your prayer again, verily you didn’t
pray.” was Khlaad.
Once the Prophet (‫صلﱠى ﷲ ُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬
َ ) entered the mosque, a man came in, offered the prayer and greeted the Prophet
‫ﱠ‬ ‫ﱠ‬
(‫صلى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلم‬َ ). The Prophet (‫صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬
َ ) returned his greeting and said to him, "Go back and pray again for
you have not prayed." The man offered the prayer again, came back and greeted the Prophet. (‫صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬ َ ). He
said to him thrice, "Go back and pray again for you have not prayed." The man said, "By Him Who has sent you with
the truth! I do not know a better way of praying. Kindly teach Me how to pray… [Bukhari: Adhan 793; and Muslim:
prayer 45/46]

3. The man who accepted Islam and had more than four wives and was ordered to choose
four from among them was Urwa ibn Mas’ud [Al-Bayhaqi in his Sunnan in the chapter of Nikah]

4. The man who was eating with his left hand and the Prophet (‫)صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬
َ ordered him
to eat with his right hand and he said, “I can’t” was Busur ibn Ra’i
Salama b. Akwa' reported on the authority of his father that a person ate in the presence of Allah's Messenger ( ‫صلﱠى‬ َ
‫ )ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬with his left hand, whereupon he said: Eat with your right hand. He said: I cannot do that, whereupon he
(the Prophet) said: May you not be able to do that. It was vanity that prevented him from doing it, and he could not
raise it (the right hand) up to his mouth.” [Saheeh Muslim drinks 3/ 1599]

5. The man who vowed to remain silent and stay in the sunlight was Abu Israel al-Ansari.
6. The man who was known for zina and was ordered to be stoned to death was Ma’iz ibn
Malik.

7. The man who asked the Prophet (‫)صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬

َ about the best Muslim was Abu Musa Al-
Ash’ari (may Allah be pleased with him)
“The Prophet(‫سلﱠم‬
َ ‫)صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو‬
َ was asked whose Islam is the best ...who's a very good Muslim? He replied who
avoids harming the Muslims with his tongue and hands.” [Bukhari, 11]

8. The Prophet (‫)صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬

َ asked his Companions (‫ )رضي ﷲ عنھما‬if any of them had visited
a sick person today. Abu Bakr said, “I did.” The person he visited was Abdur Rahman ibn
‘Awf.
Abu Hurayrah (‫ )رضي ﷲ عنھما‬reported that the Messenger of Allah (‫سلﱠم‬َ ‫)صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو‬
َ asked, "Which of you is fasting
today?" Abu Bakr said, "I am." He asked, "Which of you has visited a sick person today?”I have," Abu Bakr stated...
[Adab Al-Mufrad 515]

9. The Prophet (‫)صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬

َ heard a Companion make dua with Allah’s best Names. He
(‫)صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬
َ said, verily you have asked by the greatest names that when used du’a is
answered. That companion was Abu ‘Eyaash Az-Zarqee Al-Ansari.
َّ ‫ األَ َح ُد ال‬، ‫ت‬
‫ص َم ُد‬ َ ‫ ُ ال إِ َل َه إِال أَ ْن‬ َ ‫ك أَ ْن‬
َّ ‫ت‬ َ ‫ك ِبأ َ ِّني أَ ْش َھ ُد أَ َّن‬
َ ُ‫ اللَّ ُھ َّم إِ ِّني أَسْ أَل‬: ‫ َي ُقو ُل‬، ‫ ُ َع َل ْي ِه َو َسلَّ َم َرجُال‬
َّ ‫صلَّى‬
َ  ِ َّ ‫َسم َِع َرسُو ُل‬
َ ‫ َوإِ َذا ُد‬، ‫ األَعْ َظ ِم الَّذِي إِ َذا ُس ِئ َل ِب ِه أَعْ َطى‬
‫عِي‬ ِ َّ ‫ت ِباسْ ِم‬ َ ‫ " َل َق ْد َسأ َ ْل‬: ‫ َف َقا َل‬، ‫ ولَ ْم َي ُكنْ َل َك ُكفُ ًوا أَ َح ٌد‬، ‫ َو َل ْم ُتو َل ْد‬، ‫الَّذِي َل ْم َتل ِْد‬
َ ‫ِب ِه أَ َج‬
‫اب‬
Allah’s messenger (‫صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬
َ ) heard a man supplicate saying, “ Oh Allah verily I ask you because I bear witness
that You are Allah, there is absolutely no deity worthy or worship but You Alone. The One, He begetteth not, nor is He
begotten and there is none like Him. When he finished the Prophet (‫صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬َ ) said,” Verily you asked Allah by
His greatest names that when they are used for supplication, its answered. [At-Tirmidhi 3475 and others]

10. The man who the Prophet (‫)صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو َسلﱠم‬

َ said, He is a bad son of his tribe was Uyyanah ibn
Hasn

A'ishah (‫ )رضي ﷲ عنھما‬reported that a person sought permission from Allah's messenger (‫سلﱠم‬
َ ‫)صلﱠى ﷲُ َعلَ ْي ِه َو‬
َ to see
him. He said: Grant him permission. (and also added:) He is a bad son of his tribe or he is a bad person of his
tribe. When he came in he used kind words for him. 'A'ishah reported that she said: Allah's Messenger, you said
about him what you had to say and then you treated him with kindness. He said: A'ishah, verily in the eye of Allah,
worst amongst the person in rank on the Day of Resurrection is one whom the people abandon or desert out of the
fear of indecency. [Muslim 2003]