Hadith # 360
Anas bin Malik (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: After the death of Messenger of Allah (PBUH), Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) said to 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) : "Let us visit Umm Aiman (May Allah be pleased with her) as Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to visit her". As we came to her, she wept. They (Abu Bakr and 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) said to her, "What makes you weep? Do you not know that what Allah has in store for His Messenger (PBUH) is better than (this worldly life)?" She said, "I weep not because I am ignorant of the fact that what is in store for Messenger of Allah (PBUH) (in the Hereafter) is better than this world, but I weep because the Revelation has ceased to come". This moved both of them to tears and they began to weep along with her.
[Muslim]
Commentary
Umm Aiman (May Allah be pleased with her) belonged to Ethiopia and was a slave-girl of the Prophet's father ('Abdullah bin 'Abdul-Muttalib). After the death of 'Abdullah, Umm Aiman (May Allah be pleased with him) remained with the Prophet's mother, Aminah, and took great care in his upbringing. Subsequently, the Prophet (PBUH) set her free and then she was married to Zaid bin Harithah (May Allah be pleased with her) This Hadith holds justification for weeping over the death of the pious and also shows that it is desirable to visit such persons to whom one's friends go to pay respect. The incident mentioned in this Hadith also shows the love that the Companions of the Prophet (PBUH) had for him.
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