(253) Chapter: Superiority of Auliya' and their Marvels

abir bin 'Abdullah (May Allah be pleased with them) said:
My father called me on the evening before (the battle of) Uhud and said: "I perceive that I shall be among the first from among the Companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) to be martyred, and after him you are the dearest to me. I am under the burden of debt. Pay it and treat your sisters well." Next morning he was among the first to be killed, so I buried him along with another in the same grave. Thereafter, I did not like that I should leave him with another in the grave. So I dug up his corpse after six months and he was in the same condition in which he was on the day when I buried him, except that there was a scratch on his ear. Then I buried him in a separate grave.

[Al- Bukhari].

Commentary: This Hadith highlights the following five points:

1. The Companions' love for the Prophet (PBUH) exceeded everything else, even one's own life and children.

2. The Companions' ardent desire for martyrdom.

3. The sixth sense of Jabir's father that he would be honoured with martyrdom.

4. The miracle that his dead body remained intact and did not decompose even after the period of six months.

5. The justification to exhume a dead body, in case of need. This permission is subject to the condition that much time has not passed since the burial of the deceased.