It is narrated from Mirdās al-Aslamī (may Allah be pleased with him) that
the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"The righteous servants of Allah (ṣāliḥ kullar) will depart to the Hereafter one after another; those who remain
will be worthless people, like the refuse of barley and dates. Allah
Most High will not give them any importance."
Bukhārī, Riqāq 9. See also Dārimī, Riqāq 11.
Transmitter
Mirdās al-Aslamī
Mirdās ibn Mālik al-Aslamī was one of the fortunate Companions (ṣaḥāba) who were present at the Pledge of Riḍwān (Bayʿat al-Riḍwān), but there is no information about his life. Apart from this narration, there is no other report from him in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī or in the Six Books (Kutub al-Sitta). Only Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim, a member of the generation of the Successors (tābiʿīn), narrated ḥadīth from Mirdās.
May Allah be pleased with him.
Explanation
As we saw in the ḥadīths mentioned at the beginning of our topic, which speak about the time when the Dajjāl will appear, when the good servants of Allah (Hudā's righteous) depart one by one, only worthless people, who show no sign of goodness, will remain. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) likens them to the refuse of barley and dates. Just as windblown, insect-eaten, rotten crops and dates have no value and no sensible person wishes to take them, likewise, Allah Most High will not value these refuse-like people who have nothing worthy of appreciation.
Thus, the world is beautiful because of the good people within it. It is valuable thanks to the friends of Allah (awliyāʾ), whom the Exalted Lord praises as "My walī servants." This noble ḥadīth counsels us to spend our short lives in the company of the friends of Allah, to live near and with them, in order to make the most of our time. To live a Muslim life,
one must live
together with Muslims.
The bad people and bad neighbors around us affect us, even if we do not want them to. They influence our children. Thus, with every good person we lose, we lose something of ourselves and our values. In this world, where we live as strangers, we become even more estranged. May the Exalted Lord make us neighbors with the righteous.
Lessons Learned from the Hadith
- We should strive to be with good people, especially scholars, and to live together with them.
- We should avoid opposing good people. For to oppose them is to be counted among the refuse whom Allah does not value.
- As the Day of Resurrection approaches, there will remain no scholar or righteous servant on earth; the world will fall into the hands of the wicked and the ignorant, and the Resurrection will befall them.