The Journey of the Strangers By Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali & Abu Bakr al-Ajurri

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Islam began as something strange, and it will return to being strange as it began. So give glad tidings to the strangers." (Sahih Muslim 145) This hadith — and the question it raises about who the strangers are and what it means to be among them — is the subject of two shorter works in the Islamic tradition on the believer's relationship with a world that is often hostile to genuine Islam.

The Journey of the Strangers brings together Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali's explanation of this hadith and Abu Bakr al-Ajurri's related treatise on the qualities of the strangers — who they are, what distinguishes them, and how they are to conduct themselves in an era when holding to the Sunnah makes one an outsider.

What This Book Covers

Ibn Rajab's Explanation of the Hadith

Ibn Rajab examines the hadith of the strangers in depth — who the strangers are (the scholars who revive what has been abandoned of the Sunnah), what made the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) describe them as strange, and why their glad tidings are specifically for those who hold to the truth when the majority has left it.

Al-Ajurri on the Qualities of the Strangers

Abu Bakr al-Ajurri's treatise fills out the picture with specific qualities: their adherence to the Qur'an and Sunnah over the opinions of men, their patience with isolation and criticism, their refusal to compromise the religion for social acceptance, and their ultimate reliance on Allah rather than on people's approval.

About the Authors

Imam Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (736–795 AH) was born in Baghdad and educated in Damascus, where he taught and wrote for the rest of his life, across hadith, fiqh and the states of the heart. Abu Bakr al-Ajurri (d. 360 AH) taught in Baghdad before settling in Makkah, where he spent his final thirty years. Published by Dar as-Sunnah Publishers.

Who This Book Is For

Muslims who feel the weight of holding to the Sunnah in a world — and sometimes a Muslim community — that has moved away from it. A book of identity, consolation, and clarity for those who recognize themselves in the Prophet's description of the strangers.

Continue Reading

Browse more works by Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali and Imam Abu Bakr al-Ajurri — al-Ajurri's other title here is The Pursuit of Self-Purification. For a contemporary treatment of the same hadith, see The Strangeness of al-Islam. The same author's Inheritors of the Prophets takes up the scholars this hadith describes, and Books by Ibn Rajab: where to start sets out his works in order.