The wife with the longest hand

['Aleena]

:sl:

Narrated Aisha(RA): Some of the wives of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) asked him, " Who amongst us will be the first one to follow you (i.e., die after you)?" He said, "The one who has the longest hand."

So they started measuring their hands with a stick and Sauda (RA)'s hand turned out to be the longest. However, when
Zainab (RA) died first, from among all his wives, in the caliphate of Umar (RA), we came to know that the long hand was a symbol of practicing charity. So she was the first to follow the Prophet (Peace be upon him) as she used to love to practice charity. Sauda (RA) died later in the caliphate of Muawiya.

Source: Bukhari Vol. 2, Hadith No. 501

[Zuzubu]

Shukran okhti for that hadith. I like Aisha(RA)'s hadiths, as they have a "hidden" message inside them, and she is always curious enough to narrate them when she figures out what it means.

There is sometimes a hidden message, they are good to know or you may not understand the hadith.

[shakylla]

Jazakallahu khayran for this informative thread. I did suspect before reading the thread that "the longest hand" might have been metaphorical.

[Ramadhan]

ironically (and funnily), in bahasa indonesia (indonesian language), "bertangan panjang" ("long hand") means "thief/love stealing", so this hadith would sound ridiculous if translated literally to bahasa.

But this is good info, jazakallah khayr.

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[Souljette]

Asalamualaykum,
Subhanallah how they were measuring the hand.. shows how literally they took the hadith.. mashallah Jazakallah for sharing