Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari Al-Kinani (, '), also spelled Abu Tharr or Abu Zar, born Jundab ibn Junādah (), was the fourth or fifth person converting to Islam, and a member of the

Muhajirun The ''Muhajirun'' (, singular , ) were the converts to Islam and the Islamic prophet Muhammad's advisors and relatives, who emigrated from Mecca to Medina; the event is known in Islam as the '' Hijra''. The early Muslims from Medina are called the ...

.The Mirror of all the Prophets as Shown by The Hadith of Similitude
/ref> He belonged to the Banu Ghifar, the Kinanah tribe. His date of birth is unknown. He died in 652 CE, at Al-Rabadha, in the desert east of

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

. Abu Dharr is remembered for his strict piety and also his opposition to Muawiyah during the caliphate of

Uthman ibn Affan Uthman ibn Affan (17 June 656) was the third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruling from 644 until Assassination of Uthman, his assassination in 656. Uthman, a second cousin, son-in-law, and notable Companions of the Prophet, companion of ...

. He is venerated by

Shia Muslim Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

s as one of The Four Companions, early

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s who were followers (

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

) of

Ali ibn Abi Talib Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until Assassination of Ali, his assassination in 661, as well as the first imamate in Shia doctrine, Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muha ...

. He was regarded by many, including

Ali Shariati Ali Shariati Mazinani (, 23November 193318June 1977) was an Iranian revolutionary and sociologist who specialised in the sociology of religion. He is regarded as one of the most influential Iranian intellectuals of the 20th century. He has be ...

, Muhammad Sharqawi and Sami Ayad Hanna, as a principal antecedent of

Islamic socialism Islamic socialism is a political philosophy that incorporates elements of Islam into a system of socialism. As a term, it was coined by various left-wing Muslim leaders to describe a more spiritual form of socialism. Islamic socialists believe ...

, or the first Islamic socialist. He protested against the accumulation of wealth by the ruling class during 'Uthmān's caliphate and urged the equitable

redistribution of wealth Redistribution of income and wealth is the transfer of income and wealth (including physical property) from some individuals to others through a social mechanism such as taxation, welfare, public services, land reform, monetary policies, con ...

Early life

Little is known of his life before his conversion to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. Abu Dharr is said to have been a serious young man, an

ascetic Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their pra ...

and a

monotheist Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

even before he converted. He was born to the Ghifar clan, located to the south-west of Medina. Abu Dharr was apparently typical of the early converts to Islam, described by

Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Abd Allah ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (; died 124 AH/741-2 CE), also referred to as Ibn Shihab or az-Zuhri, was a ''tabi'i'' Arab jurist and traditionist credited with pioneering the development of '' s� ...

as "young men and weak people". They were a part of the Ghifar clan of the Banu Bakr ibn Abd Manat tribe, part of the

Kinana Kinana () is an Arab tribe based around Mecca in the Tihama coastal area and the Hejaz mountains. The Quraysh of Mecca, the tribe of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was an offshoot of the Kinana. A number of modern-day tribes throughout the Arab w ...

tribes, which also included the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

tribe of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

Popular accounts of Abu Dharr reported that his tribe lived by pillaging caravans, but that he preferred to live a poor but honest life as a shepherd. Having heard the contention that a new

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

had arisen in Mecca, Abu Dharr and his brother travelled to Mecca to find him. He converted instantly and rushed out to declare his new faith in front of the

Kaaba The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and Holiest sites in Islam, holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Sa ...

, which at that time was a

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

temple. He was beaten for his religious beliefs. He did this three days in a row, after which the Islamic prophet Muhammad told him to return to his clan, where he taught his people about Islam. He and his tribe then joined Muhammad after the Hijra, or migration to Medina in 622 CE. Muhammad once said that "the sky did not spread its canopy on any man who was more truthful than Abu Dharr." This seems to be a simplified account of stories reported in these

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

s, , and . According to the early Islamic historian

Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim ulama, scholar, polymath, Islamic history, historian, tafsir, exegete, faqīh, juris ...

, Abu Dharr claimed to have been the fourth or fifth convert to Islam. However, Saad bin Abi Waqqas made the same claim. While the exact order of conversion may never be established, there is no doubt that he was a very early convert.

Military campaigns during Muhammad's era

During the expedition led by Ka'b ibn 'Umair al-Ghifari, his son Umair al-Ghifari was killed. In this expedition Muhammad ordered an attack on the Banu Quda'a tribe because Muhammad received intelligence that they had gathered a large number of men to attack the Muslim positions. In response Muhammad ordered the third expedition led by Dhu Qarad to take revenge for the killing of the son of Abu Dharr Ghifari at al-Ghaba.

After Muhammad's death

Abu Dharr had begun his agitation in Medina after Uthman had given 500,000 dirhams to

Marwan I Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya (; 623 or 626April/May 685), commonly known as MarwanI, was the fourth Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad caliph, ruling for less than a year in 684–685. He founded the Marwanid ruling house of the Umayyad ...

, 300,000 to al-Harith ibn al-Hakam, and 100,000 to the Medinan

Zayd ibn Thabit Zāyd bin Thābit () was the personal scribe of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, serving as the chief recorder of the Quranic text. He was an ansar (helper), and later joined the ranks of the Muslim army at age 19. After Muhammad's passing in 632 ...

from the ''

khums In Islam, khums ( ) is a tax on Muslims which obligates them to pay one-fifth (20%) of their acquired wealth from the spoils of war and, according to most Muslim jurists, other specified types of income, towards various designated beneficiarie ...

'' of the booty seized in

Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...

in 647 CE. He then quoted relevant

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

ic passages threatening the hoarders of riches with hell-fire. Marwan complained to Uthman who sent his servant Natil to warn Abu Dharr, but to no avail. Uthman displayed patience for some time until, in the presence of the caliph, Abu Dharr launched an angry verbal attack on Ka'ab al-Ahbar, who had backed Uthman's use of public money. Uthman now chided Abu Dharr and sent him to

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. There is a

tradition that Muhammad predicted this sad end during the Battle of Tabouk, when Abu Dharr was left behind because his camel was ill or too weak. So he alighted from the camel and, placing the pack on his back, walked to join the rest of the army. Muhammad saw him and exclaimed:

Abu Dharr, may
Allah Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...
have mercy upon you! You'll live alone, die alone and enter
Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...
alone.

Sunni view

Many hadith (oral traditions) are traced to Abu Dharr. He is respected as an early and observant Muslim, renowned for being honest and direct. According to Sunni tradition, he was a rough and unlettered Bedouin who held no high office, but who served the

Muslim community ' (; ) is an Arabic word meaning Muslim identity, nation, religious community, or the concept of a Commonwealth of the Muslim Believers ( '). It is a synonym for ' (, lit. 'the Islamic nation'); it is commonly used to mean the collective comm ...

with everything he had to give. During the caliphate of

Uthman Uthman ibn Affan (17 June 656) was the third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruling from 644 until his assassination in 656. Uthman, a second cousin, son-in-law, and notable companion of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, played a major role ...

, he stayed in

and witnessed Muslims deviating from Islam, going after worldly pleasures and desires. He was saddened and repelled by this. So Uthman invited him to come to Madinah where he was also disturbed by people's pursuit of worldly goods and pleasures.

Al-Rabathah

Abu Dharr then asked Uthman for permission to live in al-Rabathah, a small village in eastern

Madinah Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

. Uthman approved his request. Abu Dharr stayed there away from people, holding to the traditions (

sunnah is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...

) of

and his companions. A relevant story about him is:

A man visited him once and when he found his house almost bare, he asked Abu Dharr: "Where are your possessions?" Abu Dharr said: "We have a house yonder (meaning the
hereafter The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's stream of consciousness or identity continues to exist after the death of their physical body. The surviving essential aspect varies bet ...
), to which we send the best of our possessions." The man understood what Abu Dharr meant and replied: "But you must have some possessions so long as you are in this abode." "The owner of this abode will not leave us in it," said Abu Dharr.

Also, when the governor (

amir Emir (; ' (), also transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title has ...

) of Syria sent Abu Dharr three hundred

dinars The dinar () is the name of the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, with a more widespread historical use. The English word "dinar" is the transliteration of the Arabic دينار (''dīnār''), which was bor ...

to meet his needs, he returned the money saying, "Does not the amir find a servant more deserving of it than I?" Muhammad said about him:

"The earth does not carry nor the heavens cover a man more true and faithful than Abu Dharr."

Abu Dharr died in 652 CE.

Shi'a view

Aba Dharr is considered one of the greatest and most loyal sahaba, along with

Salman the Persian Salman Farsi (; ) was a Persian religious scholar and one of the companions of Muhammad. As a practicing Zoroastrian, he dedicated much of his early life to studying to become a magus, after which he began travelling extensively throughout Weste ...

Miqdad ibn Aswad Al-Miqdad ibn Amr al-Bahrani (), better known as al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad al-Kindi () or simply Miqdad, was one of the Sahabah, companions of the Islamic Muhammad, prophet Muhammad. His Kunya (Arabic), kunya was Abu Ma'bad (). Miqdad was born in ...

, and

Ammar ibn Yasir Ammar ibn Yasir (; July 657 C.E.) was a ''Sahabi'' (Companion) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and a commander in the early Muslim conquests. His parents, Sumayya and Yasir ibn Amir, were the first martyrs of the Ummah. Ammar converted to I ...

. * When Abu Dharr was exiled to al-Rabathah by Caliph Uthman bin Affan under duress from Muawiyah,

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

and his sons,

Hasan Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scotti ...

and Husayn, went to see him off. Ali said to him:

Abu Dharr, you've become very angry for Allah. The people are worried about their religion, and you are worried about your religion. So, leave what they are worried about in your hands and escape from them with what you're worried about. They're in need of what you've prevented them from. And you're in no need of what they've prevented you from. Tomorrow you'll know who will be the winner. Abu Dharr, nothing amuses you but the truth and nothing annoys you but the untruth.

Abu Dharr, his wife and his daughter were exiled to al-Rabathah, a rural town outside

, as he recalled Muhammad's

words A word is a basic element of language that carries meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consensus among linguists on its ...

"Abu Dharr, may Allah have mercy upon you. You'll live alone, die alone, rise from the dead alone and enter Paradise alone."

Abu Dharr was extremely devoted to Islam, and Muhammad is believed to have said about him:

Abu Dharr is like
Isa ibn Maryam In Islam, Jesus (), referred to by the Arabic rendering of his name Isa, is believed to be the penultimate prophet and messenger of God and the Messiah being the last of the messengers sent to the Israelites () with a revelation called the (E ...
(Jesus) of my nation in his '' zuhd'' (asceticism) and '' wara''' (piety).

and

Neither has the sky shaded one more truthful and honest than Abu Dhar nor has the earth had anyone walk over it like him.

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

has two shrines dedicated to Abu Dharr commemorating his effort in spreading Islam, one in

Sarepta Sarepta (near modern Sarafand, Lebanon) was a Phoenician city on the Mediterranean coast between Sidon and Tyre, also known biblically as Zarephath. It became a bishopric, which faded, and remains a double (Latin and Maronite) Catholic titula ...

and the other in Meiss al-Jabal.

Notes

References

External links

Abu Dhar al-Ghifari (al-islam.org)

And Once Again Abu-Dhar by Dr. Ali ShariatiAbout his asceticismThe power of belief
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Dharr al-Ghifari Year of birth unknown 652 deaths Muhajirun Sahabah hadith narrators Kinana Proto-socialists