Biography of Uways al-Qarni (may Allah have mercy on him) Part 1

Biography of Uways al-Qarni (may Allah have mercy on him)

Question:
I have heard a great deal, and I get a lot of emails, about a Taabi‘i (and sometimes it is said that he was a Sahaabi) called Uywas al-Qarni, and how he honoured his mother. Can you do us the favour of telling us his story and biography? Did the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) really mention him as having a special status? How was his kind treatment of his mother, if it is true that his kindness towards his mother caused him to attain a special status? May Allah reward you with good and draw you near to Him.

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Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

Uways al-Qarni – Abu ‘Amr – was Uways ibn ‘Aamir ibn Juz’ ibn Maalik al-Qarni al-Muraadi al-Yamaani, one of the foremost Taabi‘een and righteous close friends of Allah. He lived at the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and became Muslim, but he did not meet him. What prevented him from travelling to meet him was the fact that he was preoccupied with taking care of his mother, as was narrated by al-Haafiz Abu Nu‘aym in Hilyat al-Awliya’ (2/87) from Asbagh ibn Zayd. He was not one of the Sahaabah; rather he was one of the Taabi‘een.

He was born and grew up in Yemen.

Imam adh-Dhahabi said of him in Siyar A‘laam an-Nubala’ (4/19):

The exemplary ascetic, leader of the Taabi‘een of his time, one of the pious close friends of Allah and one of His devoted worshippers.

Secondly:

In Sharh Saheeh Muslim, Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) wrote a chapter on his virtues, in which he quoted what Imam Muslim (may Allah have mercy on him) had narrated of hadiths that speak of his virtues, such as hadith no 2542:

It was narrated that Usayr ibn Jaabir said:

Whenever reinforcements came from Yemen, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with him) would ask them: Is Uways ibn ‘Aamir among you? When he found Uways he said: Are you Uways ibn ‘Aamir? He said: Yes. He said: Are you from Muraad then from Qaran? He said: Yes. He said: Did you have leprosy, then you recovered from it except for a spot the size of a dirham? He said: Yes. He said: Do you have a mother? He said: Yes. He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say: “There will come to you Uways ibn ‘Aamir with the reinforcements from Yemen, from Muraad then from Qaran. He had leprosy but he recovered from it except for a spot the size of a dirham. He has a mother and he honours her. If he were to swear in the name of Allah that something should happen, Allah would cause it to happen. If you can ask him to pray for forgiveness for you then do so.” Pray for forgiveness for me. And he prayed for forgiveness for him. ‘Umar said to him: Where are you headed? He said: Kufa. He said: Shall I write to the governor for you? He said: Being among the common folk is dearer to me.

The following year, a man from among their nobles performed Hajj and he met ‘Umar, who asked him about Uways. He said: I left him in a shabby house with meagre provisions.

He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say: “There will come to you Uways ibn ‘Aamir with the reinforcements from Yemen, from Muraad then from Qaran. He had leprosy but he recovered from it except for a spot the size of a dirham. He has a mother and he honours her. If he were to swear in the name of Allah that something should happen, Allah would cause it to happen. If you can ask him to pray for forgiveness for you then do so.”

So he went to Uways and said: Pray for forgiveness for me. He said: You have just come from a sacred journey, so pray for forgiveness for me. He said: Pray for forgiveness for me. He said: You have just come from a sacred journey, so pray for forgiveness for me. He said: Did you meet ‘Umar? He said: Yes. So he prayed for forgiveness for him, and the people came to know of his piety, so he left.

Usayr said: His garment (allocated annually by the state) was a cloak (burdah) and every time anyone saw him he would say: From where did Uways get this cloak?

In al-Mustadrak (3/455), Imam al-Haakim also wrote a chapter about his virtues, and said of him:

Uways was the monk of this ummah. End quote.

Among the greatest of the reports about his virtue are the hadiths that speak of the intercession of a man from among the ummah of Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) for many people. This is mentioned in many reports, the soundest of which is the marfoo‘ hadith of ‘Abdullah ibn Abi’l-Jad‘a’: “Because of the intercession of a man from my ummah, more people than the tribe of Banu Tameem will surely enter Paradise.” Narrated by at-Tirmidhi (no. 2438). He said: It is hasan saheeh. It was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani.

It is soundly narrated from al-Hasan al-Basri that this intercessor is Uways al-Qarni. This is narrated in other marfoo‘ hadiths, but they are da‘eef (weak).