Islamic History
Es'ad b. Zurare's Gift of a Bed to the Prophet
Aisha said: “For the Quraysh in Mecca, there was nothing more pleasant than sleeping on a bed. When our Prophet (PBUH) came to Medina and stayed at Abu Ayyub’s house, he asked him: ‘O Abu Ayyub! Do you not have a bed?’ Abu Ayyub said: ‘No, by Allah!’ Es’ad b. Zurara, upon hearing this, sent a bed with poles made of willow wood, covered with cotton cloth and matting to the Prophet (PBUH). The Prophet (PBUH) slept on it until he was carried to his house. He continued to sleep on it until his death.[50] When the Prophet (PBUH) was washed and shrouded, this bed was placed underneath him, and the funeral prayer was performed while he was on it.[51] People would ask us for it to carry their dead and seek blessings from it. Abu Bakr’s and Umar’s bodies were also carried on it.”[52] This blessed bed of our Prophet (PBUH) was put up for sale during the Umayyad period as part of Hazrat Aisha’s inheritance, and Abdullah b. Ishak, a freed slave of Muawiya b. Abi Sufyan, bought it for four thousand dirhams.[53]