Question:
Assalamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullah Sheikh,
I hope you and the family are well.
In the hadith related by Hazrat Sa’eed ibn Zayd (اسكن حراء فانه ليس عليك إلا نبي او صديق او شهيد), among the people present were S’ad ibn Abi Waqqas, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Awf, and Sa’eed ibn Zayd himself. I wasn’t able to find a historical account on how these three Companions died.
حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مَنِيعٍ حَدَّثَنَا هُشَيْمٌ أَ
Answer:
Alaykum Salam wa rahmatullah,
They all died in their old age, and Allah knows best. Al-Dhahabi in Tarikh al-Islam mentions that `Abd al-Rahman died in the year 32 aged 75 and was buried in al-Baqi`; Sa`id died in the year 51 in his seventies in al-`Aqiq and was washed and buried by Sa`d in al-Baqi`; and Sa`d died in the year 58 at age 74 in his house which he had built in Hamra’ al-Asad three miles from Madina, and it was also said he had built it in al-`Aqiq seven miles from Madina, after which they carried him to Madina and he was buried in al-Baqi`. May Allah be well-pleased with them and raise their levels in paradise.
Qadi `Iyad and al-Nawawi said their being included in the hadith of Hira’ is because one of the meanings of شهيد is “recipient of the testimony” i.e. the testimony of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that they are in paradise. Similarly al-Qari said وإثبات الشهادة لبعضهم حقيقة وللباقين حكما والله أعلم “The affirmation of shahada for some of them is literal and for the rest it is virtual, and Allah knows best.”
Hajj Gibril Haddad
