Hadith 33436

Chapter 13

باب 13

(13) بَابُ عَمَلٌ صَالِحٌ قَبْلَ الْقِتَالِ

(13) Chapter: Practising good deeds before taking part in a battle
24
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الرَّحِيمِ، حَدَّثَنَا شَبَابَةُ بْنُ سَوَّارٍ الْفَزَارِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا إِسْرَائِيلُ، عَنْ أَبِي إِسْحَاقَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ الْبَرَاءَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ يَقُولُ أَتَى النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم رَجُلٌ مُقَنَّعٌ بِالْحَدِيدِ فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أُقَاتِلُ وَأُسْلِمُ. قَالَ " أَسْلِمْ ثُمَّ قَاتِلْ ". فَأَسْلَمَ ثُمَّ قَاتَلَ، فَقُتِلَ، فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " عَمِلَ قَلِيلاً وَأُجِرَ كَثِيرًا ".

Narrated Al-Bara:
A man whose face was covered with an iron mask (i.e. clad in armor) came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Shall I fight or embrace Islam first? "The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Embrace Islam first and then fight." So he embraced Islam, and was martyred. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, A Little work, but a great reward. "(He did very little (after embracing Islam), but he will be rewarded in abundance).

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 2808

In-book reference: Book 56, Hadith 24

USC-MSA web (English) reference(deprecated numbering scheme): Vol. 4, Book 52, Hadith 63