A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Abu Ayyub Khalid ibn Zayd al-Answari ( r.a. ) said, “A person might do a single good deed, rely on it, and forget sins that he regards insignificant, but then meets Allah ( s.w.t. ) with those sins surrounding him.  And a man might commit a sin, but never stops fearing its consequences, until he meets Allah ( s.w.t. ) Safe and Sound.”

‎ بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Sayyidina Abu Ayyub Khalid ibn Zayd al-Answari ( r.a. ) was one of the great companions.   He took part in the battle of Constantinople.   Near the enemy border, he fell ill.   As the illness grew worse, he dictated his will as follows: “When I die, take my dead body with you.   When you line up against the enemy, bury me at your feet.”   The Muslims buried him at the foot of the fort.   People soon came to know the blessings emanating from the grave.   Whatever they prayed for, at the grave, was immediately Granted.   This is recorded in Imam Abu ‘Umar Yusuf ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-Barr’s ( r.a. ) al-Istiyy’ab fi Ma‘rifat al-Aswhab , where he wrote, “And Abu Ayyub’s grave lies near the ramparts of the fort, and everybody knows it.”   He further wrote, “When people pray for rain there, it starts raining.”

‎ بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Sayyidina Dawud ibn Swalih at-Tammar ( r.a. ) said, “One day, Marwan came, and he saw that a man was lying down with his mouth turned close to the Prophet’s ( s.a.w. ) grave.  Then he said to him, ‘Do you know what you are doing?’  When he moved towards him, he saw that it was Abu Ayyub al-Answari.   He said, ‘Yes.  I have come to the Messenger of Allah ( s.a.w. ), and not to a stone.  I have heard it from the Messenger of Allah ( s.a.w. ) not to cry over religion, when its guardian is competent, but shed tears over religion, when its guardian is incompetent.’”   In al-Mustadrak asw-Swahihayn , Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah al-Hakim an-Nishaburi ( r.a. ) declared it swahih .  Imam Shams ad-Din Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad adz-Dzahabi ( r.a. ) agreed with him.  Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ( r.a. ) recorded it, with a swahih chain of transmission, in his Musnad .