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[6] Some Extraordinary Personalities of The First Three Generations

Written by Abdullah Jallow on . Posted in History of Islam, Morals and Manners - 'Akhlaaq', Salaf As Saalih (Pious Predecessors), Scholars of Islam, The Salaf - Pious Predecessors, Zuhd (Abstinence).

In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Bishr Ibn Al-Harith, may Allah have mercy upon him

Bishr Ibn Al-Harith Ibn Abdir Rahman Ibn Ataa Ibn Hilaal Ibn Mahan Ibn Abdillah Al-Marwazee. He was well known as for Zuhd. His grandfather Abdullah accepted Islam at the hands of Ali Ibn Abee Talib, may Allah be pleased with him. 

Bishr learnt a lot from Imam Hammad Bin Zayd, may Allah have mercy upon him, Imam Abdullah Ibn Al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy upon him, Imam Ibn Mahdee, may Allah have mercy upon him, Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy upon him, Imam AbuBakr Bin Ayyash, may Allah have mercy upon him, and others. Thereafter, he busied himself with worship, isolated himself from the people and stopped narrating.

Many of the Imams of the Sunnah praised him due to his devotion to worship, his Zuhd and Taqwah. Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy upon him, said when Bishr’s death reached him, “None was like Bishr, except Aamir Bin Abdi Qays, may Allah have mercy upon him. His affair would have been perfected if he got married”.

Ibraheem Arr-Harbi, may Allah have mercy upon him, said, “There was none in Badgdad who was more sensible and restrained his tongue more than Bishr Al-Hafi (i.e. Bishr Ibn Al-Harith)”.

One day he knocked at the door of someone, a young female servant said, “Who is it?” He said, “Bishr Al-Hafi (i.e. Bishr the barefooted)”. The girl said, “If only you bought shoes for a Dirham, the word Hafie would have disappear from us”.

Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi, may Allah have mercy upon him, stated that Bishr had three sisters and all of them were devout worshippers like him and even more pious. [end of quote] [An Excerpt from Al-Bidayah Wan-Nihayah. 10/ 297-299]

While reading about the lives of these amazing personalities, a sensible person would not desire engaging in argumentation with the people of his era. Rather, he would reflect on his own shortcomings and realise the urgency of striving to follow the path of these noble men. We ask Allah to distance us from everything that diverts us from what is truly beneficial for our afterlife. Amin.