37/36. Chapter:
Sunan Ibn Majah 4303 — The Poor Muhajirin at the Cistern
The Cistern
Cistern in Islam: The First Drinkers from the Poor Muhajirin
Sunan Ibn Majah : 4303
Sunan Ibn MajahHadith Number 4303
حَدَّثَنَا مَحْمُودُ بْنُ خَالِدٍ الدِّمَشْقِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا مَرْوَانُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مُهَاجِرٍ، حَدَّثَنِي الْعَبَّاسُ بْنُ سَالِمٍ الدِّمَشْقِيُّ، نُبِّئْتُ عَنْ أَبِي سَلاَّمٍ الْحَبَشِيِّ، قَالَ بَعَثَ إِلَىَّ عُمَرُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ فَأَتَيْتُهُ عَلَى بَرِيدٍ فَلَمَّا قَدِمْتُ عَلَيْهِ قَالَ لَقَدْ شَقَقْنَا عَلَيْكَ يَا أَبَا سَلاَّمٍ فِي مَرْكَبِكَ . قَالَ أَجَلْ وَاللَّهِ يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ . قَالَ وَاللَّهِ مَا أَرَدْتُ الْمَشَقَّةَ عَلَيْكَ وَلَكِنْ حَدِيثٌ بَلَغَنِي أَنَّكَ تُحَدِّثُ بِهِ عَنْ ثَوْبَانَ مَوْلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فِي الْحَوْضِ فَأَحْبَبْتُ أَنْ تُشَافِهَنِي بِهِ . قَالَ فَقُلْتُ حَدَّثَنِي ثَوْبَانُ مَوْلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ " إِنَّ حَوْضِي مَا بَيْنَ عَدَنَ إِلَى أَيْلَةَ أَشَدُّ بَيَاضًا مِنَ اللَّبَنِ وَأَحْلَى مِنَ الْعَسَلِ أَوَانِيهِ كَعَدَدِ نُجُومِ السَّمَاءِ مَنْ شَرِبَ مِنْهُ شَرْبَةً لَمْ يَظْمَأْ بَعْدَهَا أَبَدًا وَأَوَّلُ مَنْ يَرِدُهُ عَلَىَّ فُقَرَاءُ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ الدُّنْسُ ثِيَابًا وَالشُّعْثُ رُءُوسًا الَّذِينَ لاَ يَنْكِحُونَ الْمُنَعَّمَاتِ وَلاَ يُفْتَحُ لَهُمُ السُّدَدُ " . قَالَ فَبَكَى عُمَرُ حَتَّى اخْضَلَّتْ لِحْيَتُهُ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَكِنِّي قَدْ نَكَحْتُ الْمُنَعَّمَاتِ وَفُتِحَتْ لِيَ السُّدَدُ لاَ جَرَمَ أَنِّي لاَ أَغْسِلُ ثَوْبِي الَّذِي عَلَى جَسَدِي حَتَّى يَتَّسِخَ وَلاَ أَدْهُنُ رَأْسِي حَتَّى يَشْعَثَ .
Abu Sallam Al-Habashi Narrated from:
Umar bin ‘Abdul-‘Aziz sent for me and I came to him upon the riding animal prepared for swift mail delivery. When I came to him, he said: ‘We have caused you some trouble O Abu Sallam.’ He said: ‘Yes, by Allah, O Commander of the Believers!’ He said: ‘By Allah, we did not want to cause you any hardship, but there is a Hadith which I have heard that you narrate from Thawban, the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), concerning the Cistern, and I wanted to hear it directly from you.’ He said: “I said: ‘Thawban, the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), told me that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “My Cistern is (wider than) the distance between Ailah and ‘Aden. It is whiter than milk and sweeter than honey, and its cups are as many as the stars in the sky. Whoever drinks from it will never feel thirst again. The first ones who come to drink from it will be the poor Muhajirin, with dirty clothes and disheveled hair, who do not marry refined women and for whom no doors are opened.”‘Umar wept until his beard became wet, then he said: ‘But I have married refined women and doors have been opened for me. Certainly I will not wash the clothes that are on my body until they become dirt, and I will not comb my hair until it becomes disheveled.’”
Reference : Sunan Ibn Majah 4303In-book reference : Book 37, Hadith 204English translation : Vol. 5, Book 37, Hadith 4303
Summary of Sunan Ibn Majah Hadith 4303
This Hadith about the Cistern in Islam gives both description and feeling. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says his Cistern is between Aden and Ailah. It is whiter than milk, sweeter than honey, and its cups are like the stars in the sky. Whoever drinks one drink from it will never feel thirst again, as the Hadith says. The first to come to it are described as the poor Muhajirin, with dirty clothes and disheveled hair. They were not people for whom doors were opened, and they did not marry refined women. The narration then shows Umar bin Abdul-Aziz weeping when he heard it. The focus stays on the text: the Cistern, the poor Muhajirin, and a humble response.
What we learn from this hadith
- The Cistern is described as pure, sweet, wide, and full of many cups.
- The first group mentioned here are poor Muhajirin with simple outward conditions.
- Hearing a Hadith about the Hereafter can move a person to humility and tears.
