Bishr ibn al-Harith al-Hafi 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l -ridwan (d.226H/840CE)

Bishr ibn al-Harith al-Hafi Radi Allahu anhu was born in 150 Hijri or 767 C.E. in the city of Merv in Egypt. He was one of the early Sufi Masters and a teacher of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal Radi Allahu anhu. Imam Ahmad was the founder of the Hanbali school of Islamic thought. His title was Al-Hafi (The Barefoot). One legend explains the reason for his title that he lead a corrupt life, and then made his repentance on the hand of Imam Moosa Kazim. At that time he was barefoot. There are other legends about his title too. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal Radi Allahu anhu, in order to attain this marifa, although he was at a high degree in knowledge and ijtihad, ran to be in the service of Hadrat Bishr al-Hafi Radi Allahu anhu. When he was asked why he kept close to Bishr al-Hafi, he answered, 'He knows Allah better than I do.'

Some quotes of Bishr al-Hafi :

Regarding renunciation (zuhd) he said :  "Renunciation is a king who dwells only in a free and empty heart."

Regarding sadness (huzn), Bishr al-Hafi says: 'Sadness or sorrow is like a ruler. When it settles in a place, it does not allow others to reside there.'

Regarding Imam al Azam Abu Hanifa Radi Allahu anhu he said: "None criticizes Abu Hanifa except an envier or an ignoramus".

Regarding tawakkal [trust in Allah] Bishr al-Hafi said: "One of them may say: 'I have put all my trust in Allah [tawakkaltu 'ala 'llah],' although he is actually telling a lie. For, by Allah, if he had really put all his trust in Allah, he would be perfectly content with the way Allah treats him."

Bishr al-Hafi Radi Allahu anhu passed away in 840 C.E. or 227? Hijri and is burried in Baghdad, Iraq

Fatimah bint Abdul Malik was a highly placed woman of first century Hijrah. She was wife of the great Banu Umayyad Caliph Umar ibn Abdul Aziz and daughter of Abdul Malik ibn Marwan. She was raised in palatial atmosphere like princesses and she was familiar with the royal culture.

Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, himself a man of great beauty was regarded one of the few who greatly were mindful of their get-up. His diet and dress were equally worthy of royalty. But after he had to take over the charge of the Caliphate, he gave up all princely practices. He turned his mouth away from the superb and delicious cuisine. The pulses were started to be cooked daily and all the people of his household were sick with the pulses.

One day a servant complained his matron that he was fed up with the pulses. She silenced him to tell that his master, the Commander of the Faithful, too ate the same and they themselves, as well.

Narrated Abû Mûsa (radhi Allahu anhu) : Allah’s Messenger (salallahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “Many amongst men reached (the level of) perfection but none amongst the women reached this level except Assiyya – Pharaoh’s wife, and Mary – the daughter of ‘Imrân. And no doubt, the superiority of ‘Aisha to other women is like the superiority of Tharid (i.e. a meat and bread dish) to other meals.” (Sahih Al-Bukharî, Vol. 4, Hadîth No. 623).

Not much is known about Assiyya, the wife of Pharaoh. She brought Moses into her home when he was a baby, as is recorded in the Quran:

And We inspired the mother of Mûsa (Moses), (saying): “Suckle him [Mûsa (Moses)], but when you fear for him, then cast him into the river and fear not, nor grieve. Verily! We shall bring him back to you, and shall make him one of (Our) Messengers.”

Abu Sulayman Dawud ibn Nusayr al-Tai al-Kufi 'alayhi al-rahmah wal-ridwan  (d. 160 or 165H/783CE)

Dawud al-Tai alayhir rahman narrated hadith from a number of the Tabi'in and took fiqh from Imam Abu Hanifa alayhir rahman who predicted that he would devote himself entirely to worship. Ibn Zyad al-Lului reported, [Abu al-Hudhayl] 'Zufar [ibn al-Hudhayl al-Anbari] [110-158] and Dawud al-Tai al-Kufi at first were colleagues, then Dawud left fiqh for asceticism while Zufar joined between the two.

Ibn al-Jawzi in 'Sifat al-Safwa' from which is quoted all the following material narrates that Abu Hanifa said to Dawud: 'Abu Sulayman! As for the instrument, we have mastered it.' Dawud said:What is left? Abu Hanifa said: 'What is left is to put it to practice!' Dawud said: 'When I heard this,my soul stirred me to seclusion and solitariness, but I told her: Sit with them for a year and do not raise a peep during that time.' During that year, he said, 'A question would come up which made me crave to answer more than someone parched craves water, but I would not answer.' After one year, he went into seclusion.

Among Dawuds sayings:

'Fear Allah and keep piety to your two parents; fast from the world and make death your breakfast; run away from people as you would from a lion, without disparaging them nor leaving their congregation.'

'Be satisfied with little from the world together with safety in Religion, just as worldly people are satisfied with the world together with corruption in their Religion.'

'Despair is the natural end of our deeds, but the hearts drag us to hope.'

'Beware lest Allah finds you where He forbade you to be; beware lest He not find you where He ordered you to be; be ashamed of His nearness to you and His power over you.'

'To a student who wished to learn archery:

'Archery is fine but your days are counted; look well how you spend them.'

Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abi Dawud said he heard Shiduyah ask Dawud: 'What do you think of a man who enters upon those ['Abbasi] princes and commands them good and forbids them from evil?' Dawud said: 'I fear he will be lashed' He said: 'What if he endures it?' Dawud: 'I fear the sword for him.' He said: 'What if he endures it?' Dawud: 'I fear for him the deeply-hidden disease 'vain glory (al-.ujb).'

Muhammad ibn Uthman al-Sayrafi said that Dawud only came out of his house upon hearing the iqama then, when the Imam gave salam, jumped up and re-entered his house. His daily diet was bread, salt, and water. One time he ate dates out of craving, after which he swore never to touch dates again. One time his maidservant cooked him a dish but he said: 'Take it to So-and-so's orphans. If I eat it, it will end up in the refuse, but if they eat it, it will be stored up in the Divine presence.'

At a funeral one day, Dawud was heard to say:

'Whoever fears the Divine threat, all that seems farlooms near to him; whoever harbours endless hopes, his deeds are feeble; everything that is going to take place is actually near! Know, my brother, that everything that keeps you away from your Lord is a misfortune for you. Know that the dwellers of the graves are happy for what they sent forth and regret their useless occupations, while the dwellers of the world fight and compete with one another precisely over what the grave-dwellers regret.'

Visitors once said to one another, upon seeing him sitting on the dusty ground: 'This is an ascetic (zahid).. He said:

'The ascetic is one who first evaluates then leaves!'

When Sufyan al-Thawri visited him with Abu Khalid al-Ahmar the latter was miffed that Dawud did not so much as look at Sufyan, but Sufyan told him: 'He is unconcerned by affection; did you not see his eyes? They see other than what we fiddle with.'

To another visitor who offered to have the cobwebs in his ceiling swept Dawud said:

'Do you not know that He [!] detests superfluous gazes?' After that he refused visitors and communicated from behind his door.

Dawud inherited from his parents or his freedwoman twenty pieces of gold which sufficed him for twenty years, after which he would sell the wood of his roof for sustenance until he lived in the last sheltered corner of his house.

Hammad [ibn Salama] and/or Abu Yusuf said to him: 'Dawud! You are satisfied with so little of this world!' He replied:

'Do you know who is satisfied with much less? Those who are happy with all this world in exchange for the hereafter!'

To al-Harith ibn Idris who asked him for counsel Dawud replied: 'The soldiers of death await you.'

Dawud's frequent prayer:

'Allahumma! Your care has piled cares upon me and barred my way to sleep. My desire to see You has tied me up and barred me from pleasures. I am in your jail . O' Generous One, under arrest!'

Then he would repeat a verse of the Qur'an over and over. His neighbour, overhearing, said: 'It would seem to me as if all the pleasures of this world were summed up in that verse.' Abu Nuaym [al-Fad'l ibn Dukayn] said he saw an ant crawl on Dawud's face lengthwise and widthwise while Dawud did not even feel it because of his anxiety and sorrow.

Abu Dawud al-T'ayalisi said he was present at Dawud's deathbed and he never witnessed a harder agony. Hafs ibn Umar al-Jufi said the reason for his final illness was that Dawud read a verse that mentioned hellfire that affected him deeply. He repeated it all night long until morning then gave up the ghost, his head resting on a clay brick.

Ibn al-Jawzi said the report that Dawud al-Tai was a silk-maker, is probably about Dawud ibn Abi al-Hind al-Basri rather than al-Tai, who did not have a profession. That report states that for forty years, he left his house with his luncheon which he gave away as alms, then he would go home and eat dinner with his family and they never knew that he was fasting.

Sufyan ibn Sa'id ibn Masruq Abu 'Abd Allah al-Thawri al-Mudari al-Kufi 'alayhi al-rahmah wa'l-ridwan (d.161H/778CE)

Sufyan al-Thawri al-Mudari al-Kufi [97-161], the Godfearing, wise, grief-stricken, Mujtahid Imam, "Commander of the Believers in Hadith" – the highest level in hadith Mastership –, "Shaykh al-Islam, the Imam of hadith Masters, the leader of the practicing Ulema in his time, the author of the Jami' " (SHAMS AL-DIN AL-DHAHABI). His father was a junior Tabi'i Muhaddith and he thus began his scholarly career at home. Abu Ishaq al-Sabi'i recited when he saw Sufyan coming: (And We gave him wisdom when a child) (19:12). His Shuyukh number 600. Ibn al-Jawzi claimed that his students number over 20,000 but al-Dhahabi said: "This is preposterous, they hardly reached 1,000. I know none of the hadith Masters from whom more narrated than Imam Malik, and those number 1,400 – including the liars and the unknown!"

FATIMAH TUZ ZAHRAH (r.a) – DUAGHTER OF MUHAMMAD (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
Fatimah (R.A.) was youngest in age of all her sisters but highest in grades. She was dearest to her father of all his daughters. He once said, “Fatimah is like soul and heart to me.” once, he said, “Fatimah will be the leader of the women in Paradise.” he further said, “What troubles Fatimah troubles me as well.”

It was the sixth year of Prophethood and Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) had launched his preaching mission but his own clan were impeding in his way. The people of the Quraysh were trying every trick to trouble him. One day while he was performing Salãh in the Haram, on the instigation of the pagans of Mecca, Aqabah ibn Moeet brought the entrails of a camel and placed it on his neck whilst he was prostrating. Someone told Fatimah (R.A.) who was then just six years old. She came running and removed the stuff and cursed the non-believers. She, at such an early age beheld the tribulations and torments Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) was being subject to.

UMME KULTHUM (r.a) – DAUGHTER OF MUHAMMAD (صلى الله عليه وسلم)
Umme Kulthum (R.A) was Rasulullah’s (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) third daughter. She too, was married like her sister to the son of Abu Lahab, Utaiba. Utaiba too like his brother, divorced Umme Khulthum (R.A).

When her elder sister Ruqayyah (R.A) passed away, Umme Kulthum was given in marriage to Uthman (R.A.).

A narratable situation had arisen on that occasion.
Hafsa (R.A) the daughter of Umar (R.A) had become a widow when she was only 18 years old. Umar (R.A) offered Uthman (R.A) to take her in marriage who was very disconsolate after the death of Ruqayyah but he refused. Umar (R.A) was hurt by his refusal.