Imam Ahmad in his Musnad (1:112)
The people of Syria were mentioned in front of Ali ibn Abi Talib while he was in Iraq, and they said: “Curse them, O Commander of the Believers.” He replied: “No, I heard the Messenger of Allah say: “The Substitutes (Al-Abdal) are in Syria and they are forty men, every time one of them dies, Allah substitutes another in his place. By means of them Allah brings down the rain, gives (Muslims) victory over their enemies, and averts punishment from the people of Syria.”
Al-Haythami said, “The men in its chains are all those of the sahih except for Sharih ibn ‘Ubayd, and he is trustworthy (thiqa).” Meaning, this is a sound (sahih) hadith.
The linguistic translation of Abdal is substitutes. The scholars of hadith hold varying opinions on their existence and whether their number is limited to forty. Most scholars have affirmed their existence including Hafiz Ibn Salah, Abi ad-Dunya, Ibn Asakir, Zarkashi, Sakhawi, Suyuti, Qastalani, Ibn Abidin Shami, and others.
Sayyiduna Ali (ra) said:
Do not curse the people of Syria, for among them are the Substitutes (al-abdal), but curse their injustice.
Al-Hakim
Al-Hakim narrated the following which he graded sound (sahih), and al-Dhahabi confirmed him. Note that any religious knowledge unattainable through ijtihad and authentically conveyed from one of the Companions is considered a hadith by the experts of that science.
Anas said that the Prophet said:
The earth will never lack forty men similar to the Friend of the Merciful [Prophet Ibrahim], and through them people receive rain and are given help. None of them dies except Allah substitutes another in his place.
Qatada said: “We do not doubt that al-Hasan [al-Basri] is one of them.”
Mu’jam al-Aswat, Tabarani.
This narration confirms that the early Sufi master Sayyiduna Hasan al-Basri was from the Abdaal.
Ibn Hibban narrates it in al-Tarikh through Abu Hurayra as: “The earth will never lack forty men similar to Ibrahim the Friend of the Merciful, and through whom you are helped, receive your sustenance, and receive rain.”
The Prophet said:
The Substitutes in this Community are thirty like Ibrahim the Friend of the Merciful. Every time one of them dies, Allah substitutes another one in his place.
Musnad (5:322), Imam Ahmad.
Hakim Tirmidhi cites it in Nawadir al-Usul and Ahmad’s student al-Khallal in his Karamat al-awliya’. Haythami said its men are those of the sahih except ‘Abd al-Wahid who was declared trustworthy by al-‘Ijli and Abu Zar’a (as well as Yahya ibn Ma’in).
Umm Salama said:
Disagreement will occur at the death of a Caliph and a man of the people of Madina will come forth flying to Mecca. Some of the people of Mecca will come to him, bring him out against his will and swear allegiance to him between the Corner and the Maqam. An expeditionary force will then be sent against him from Syria but will be swallowed up in the desert between Mecca and Madina, and when the people see that, the Substitutes (abdal) of Syria and the best people (‘asaba) of Iraq will come to him and swear allegiance to him…
Narrated in Abu Dawud through three different good chains in his Sunan (English 4273), Imam Ahmad in his Musnad (6:316), Ibn Abi Shayba in his Musannaf, Abu Ya’la, al-Hakim, and Bayhaqi narrated.
Wahb ibn Munabbih said:
I saw the Prophet in my sleep, so I said: “Ya Rasulallah, where are the Substitutes (budala’) of your Community?” So he gestured with his hand towards Syria. I said: “Ya Rasulallah, aren’t there any in Iraq?” He said: “Yes, Muhammad ibn Wasi’, Hassan ibn Abi Sinan, and Malik ibn Dinar, who walks among the people similarly to Abu Dharr in his time.”
Narrated in Kitab al-Zuhd of Imam Ahmad, also Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Abu Nu’aym, Bayhaqi, and Ibn ‘Asakir narrated from Julays.
Abu Darda said:
When Prophethood ended – and they (the companions) were the supports (Awtad) of the earth – Allah substituted their places with 40 men from the (wider) nation of Muhammad (saws), who are named “Abdāl” (the Substitutes). Not one of them dies except that Allah replaces him with another one (until Qiyamah) to take his place, and they are now the supports (Awtad) of this earth. The hearts of 30 of them contain the same certainty (Yaqin) which Sayyidina Ibrahim ‘alayhi salaam had. They did not succeed or rise above the other people with much fasting or prayer…but rather through being truthful in their scrupulousness, having noble intentions, having sound wholesome hearts, and giving all the Muslims sincere counsel, desiring by that the pleasure of Allah, with patient forbearance, and a merciful core (of being), and humility without being meek. They do not curse anyone, or harm anyone, nor do they see themselves as being higher or nobler than anyone under them, or envy those above them. They do not fake their humility, nor fake their being dead to the world, nor are they ostentatiously impressed with themselves. They do not love the world, nor love for its sake…
(Recorded by Hakim Tirmidhi (Asl #51), and ibn Abi Dunya (K. Awliya, #57) from Abu-z Zinad)
Abu Darda explains how the hierarchy of the saints came into existence after the Prophet Muhammad and Companions passed away. This hierarchy changes as the needs of the people of earth changes.
Title
The Abdāl are in Syria. The people of Syria attain aid through their blessings and receive sustenance by means of them.
Sayyiduna Ali narrated that the Prophet said:
In my Ummah, they are [the Abdaal] more precious than red sulphur.
Mawsu’ah li-ibn abī al-Dunya, vol. 2, p. 388, hadith: 8
Al-Ghazali said in Minhaj al-Abideen:
The earth is folded for the Abdāl. They are called out to with salam, as well as gifted various forms of goodness and miracles.
Al-Abdal are tied to the land of ash-Sham and ash-Sham is tied to the signs of the Day of Judgement and the area where the Resurrection will occur i.e., the Plains of Resurrection. There are numerous ahadith on this, compiled into English, that extend the importance of Al-Abdal in relation to the End Times.
Sources
- Hadith on the Abdal | The Existence of the Abdal in al Shaam al Shareef
- Abdaal – The Substitute Saints Mentioned in the Sunnah
- Al-Arba’in Forty Hadiths on Virtues of Sham. Mufti Shabbir Ahmad. Turath Publishing.
- The Hierarchy Of Saints
- Pages of History - Land of the Abdāl (Part 2). Mawlana Asif Iqbal Attari Madani