Esteemed Status in the Eyes of the Holy Prophet (sa)
Hazrat Anas bin Malik (ra) relates that the Holy Prophet (sa) said, “From among my Ummah, the most merciful to them is Abu Bakr (ra); the one who most strictly adheres to the religion of Allah is Umar (ra); the most modest is Uthman (ra); the best decision-maker is Ali (ra) bin Abi Talib; the most knowledgeable of the Holy Quran is Ubayy (ra) bin Ka‘b; the most knowledgeable of what is lawful and unlawful is Mu‘az (ra) bin Jabal and the person with the greatest awareness of his obligations is Zaid (ra) bin Thabit. Hearken! Every nation has an ameen [custodian] and the ameen of my ummah is Abu Ubaidah (ra) bin al-Jarrah.”
(Sunan Ibn Majah, Kitab Iftitah al-Kitab fi al-Iman wa Faza‘il al-Sahabah wa al-Ilm, Bab Faza‘il Khubbab, Hadith 154)
Hazrat Abu Hurairah (ra) relates that the Holy Prophet (sa) said, “What an excellent man is Abu Bakr; what an excellent man is Umar; what an excellent man is Abu Ubaidah bin al-Jarrah; what an excellent man is Usaid bin Hudair; what an excellent man is Thabit bin Qais bin Shammas; what an excellent man is Mu‘az bin Jabal and what an excellent man is Mu‘az bin Amr bin al-Jamooh.” This is a narration of Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal.
(Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal, Vol. 7, p. 502, Hadith 9421, Alam al-Kutub, Beirut, 1998)
Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) bin Jabal relates that the Messenger (sa) of Allah took hold of his hand one day and said, “O Mu‘az! By Allah, I love you”. Hazrat Mu‘az (ra) replied, “May my parents be sacrificed for you; I too love you.” The Holy Prophet (sa) then said, “O Mu‘az (ra), I advise you to never forget to recite after every prayer:
اللّٰہُمَّ أَعِنِّیْ عَلٰى ذِکْرِکَ وَشُکْرِکَ وَحُسْنِ عِبَادَتِکَ
‘O Allah, help me remember You, to be grateful to You and to worship You in an excellent manner.’”
(Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal, Vol. 7, p. 380, Hadith 22470, Alam al-Kutub, Beirut, 1998)