Abu Rafi' al-Qibti

ProfileAbu Rafi' al-Qibti

Abu Rafi' (may Allah be pleased with him) was a Copt of Egypt. According to the early biographies, he was a slave of al-Abbas, the Prophet's ﷺ uncle, and his name was Aslam, though some say Ibrahim or Yasar, and the sources do not say how he came from Egypt to Arabia. According to the early biographies, he carried messages between al-Abbas and his nephew, and was a carpenter.

Abu Rafi' told that Quraysh sent him to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and when he saw him, Islam was cast into his heart, and he said that he would never go back to them. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that he did not break a covenant or hold messengers, and that he should go back, and if he still felt as he did then, he should return. He went back, and then came and accepted Islam (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded sahih by al-Albani). According to the early biographies, al-Abbas gave him to the Prophet ﷺ, and the Prophet ﷺ freed him, and married him to a freed woman named Salma. According to the early biographies, he stayed in Makkah as a secret Muslim with the household of al-Abbas, and was beaten by Abu Lahab after Badr for saying that the army of Quraysh had been struck down by angels, and the wife of al-Abbas, Umm al-Fadl, struck Abu Lahab with a tent pole.

Abu Rafi' told that the Prophet ﷺ sent a man of the Banu Makhzum to collect the sadaqah, and the man said to Abu Rafi', "Come with me, and you will get some of it." He said that he would not, until he asked the Prophet ﷺ. He asked, and the Prophet ﷺ said that the sadaqah was not lawful for them, and that the freed slave of a people is one of them (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded sahih by al-Albani; Jami at-Tirmidhi, graded sahih). He also told that the Prophet ﷺ borrowed a young camel from a man, and when the camels of sadaqah came, he told Abu Rafi' to return one to him, and Abu Rafi' said that he found only better ones, in their seventh year. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Give it to him, for the best of people are those who are best at repaying" (Sahih Muslim).

According to the early biographies, he fought in the campaigns from Uhud and took part in Khaybar, and was sent as a messenger between the Prophet ﷺ and Maymunah when the Prophet ﷺ married her. According to the early biographies, he pitched the Prophet's ﷺ tent on journeys,. According to the early biographies, he was among the Companions who took part in the conquests under Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman, and stayed close to Ali and the family of the Prophet ﷺ, so that he is remembered as the freed slave of the family of the Prophet ﷺ. According to the early biographies, about forty hadith are recorded from him in the Musnad of Ahmad, mostly of the Prophet's ﷺ private life.

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