~During the khilafa of Ali ibn Abi Talib RA (35-40 AH)Date debatedThe Sheikh, following Ibn Sa'd, places Abu Dharr's death in the caliphate of Ali RA. Most sources date it to about 32 AH, during the caliphate of Uthman RA.
Dating debated
The Sheikh, following Ibn Sa'd, places Abu Dharr's death in the caliphate of Ali RA. Most sources date it to about 32 AH, during the caliphate of Uthman RA.
In the years after the Prophet ﷺ's death, wealth began to flow into Madinah and some Companions built larger houses. Abu Dharr al-Ghifari RA confronted them about this again and again, and many complained. In the end the caliph, Uthman ibn Affan RA, asked him to leave Madinah. Abu Dharr agreed. He went to live in the desert with only his wife and a young servant.
The rest of the story is reported by Ibn Sa'd. Many years later, during the caliphate of Ali ibn Abi Talib RA, Abu Dharr lay dying. His wife wept, because she had no cloth to shroud him and no strength to bury him. He told her not to cry. He reminded her that he had once been sitting with a group of Companions when the Prophet ﷺ said, "One of you will die all alone, yet a group of believers will pray over him." Every other man in that gathering had already died, and none of them had died alone. He was the only one left in the wilderness, so he knew someone would come.
He told her to take his body to the roadside after he died. She asked why anyone would come by, since it was not the season of Hajj. He insisted, swearing that he was not lying and had not been lied to.
Abu Dharr passed away, and his wife did as he had said. Almost at once, a large caravan appeared on the road. Among the travelers were Abdullah ibn Mas'ud RA and Ammar ibn Yasir RA. The servant called out to them to stop and help bury a Muslim. When they learned it was Abu Dharr, Ibn Mas'ud wept and said, "The Prophet ﷺ has spoken the truth." The travelers gave their own clothes for his shroud, prayed the funeral prayer over him in the desert, and buried him.
Outcome: Buried in the desert by a passing caravan that included Ibn Mas'ud RA and Ammar ibn Yasir RA.
Abu Dharr's death fulfilled the Prophet ﷺ's words about him. It also showed his lifelong sincerity, since at the very end he insisted that he was neither lying nor had been lied to. His lonely death and the caravan's timely arrival are among the best known examples in the seerah of trust in the Prophet ﷺ's word long after his own lifetime.
Other events recorded around the same time. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
Stop! Stop! Help me bury a Muslim!
This is Abu Dharr, the Companion of the Prophet ﷺ.
Answering a traveler in the caravan who asked whose body it was.
The Prophet ﷺ has spoken the truth.
Ibn Mas'ud recognized this as the fulfillment of the Prophet ﷺ's words that Abu Dharr would die alone yet be prayed over by a group of believers.
Why are you crying?
Asked of his wife, who wept beside him as he lay dying alone in the wilderness.
Because I don't even have cloth to shroud you, or the power to bury you.
Do not cry, for I heard the Prophet ﷺ say one day when we were sitting with a group of people, "One of you will die all alone, yet a group of believers will pray over him." And every other companion in that sitting has passed away, and they were not in this condition, and I'm the only one left in the wilderness. So when I die, take my body and go sit on the path; somebody will come.
Why would anyone come? It isn't Hajj season.
Do as I say, go on the path: for wallahi, neither am I lying, nor was I lied to.