2.2.21.3 - His Uncle, the Follower, Abu Muslim al-Khawlani

In addition to his paternal uncle Abdullah, the brother of his father, mentioned above, the Greatest Shaykh mentioned in his books the story of two of his uncles, as the relatives to his mother or mother-in-law, both of whom were Sufis or ascetic scholars.

Our cousin Abu Muslim al-Khawalani (may Allah have mercy on him) was one of the Shaykhs; he used to pray all night, and if he feels tiered, he hit his legs with the rods he had and he says to his feet that you need to be beaten more than my animal. By God, if the companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, are better than us then I will compete with them until they knew that they left behind great men.

[Futuhat: II.18, I.109].

However, Abu Muslim al-Khawalani was not the direct brother of his mother, but perhaps one of her grandparents because the Greatest Shaykh also mentioned him in the “Holy Spirit” while describing the situation of Shaykh Abu Muhammad Abdullah Baghi al-Shakkaz, who will be mentioned in section [ref:al-shakkaz below, then he said: “I did not see him like but only Abu Muslim al-Khawalani [Quds: pp. 69-70], he then mentioned the same description above about praying all night. Thus, his uncle is the well-known follower of Abdullah Ibn Thoub and his origin from Iraq from Basra, and he is the one who met Omar Ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, and had a story we will tell a little later.

Ibn Saad mentioned in the Great Classes:

Abu Muslim al-Khawalani, his name is Abdullah Ibn Thoub, and he was a trusted man who died in the reign of Yazid Ibn Muawiya. ... (the companion) Kaab (al-Ahbar) asked him: Where are you, Abu Muslim? He said: From the people of Iraq. He said: Where from Iraq? He said: “From the people of Basra.”

[The Great Classes, by Ibn Saad, Beirut Printing and Publishing House, Beirut, 1985: v. 9, p. 451].

Also al-Nuwairi stated in the End of the Lord:

From who embraced Islam from Khawlan is the devotee Abu Muslim al-Khawalani, and his name is Abdullah Ibn Thoub. He did not see the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, because he came to Medina after he passed away. He has a wonderful story with al-Aswad al-Ansiy (that we shall mention below).

[The End of the Road in the Arts of Literature, by Shihab al-Din Ahmed Ibn Abdul Wahab al-Nuwairi, the Egyptian Foundation for authoring, translation, printing and publishing - Cairo, 1964: v. 18, p. 82].