A Family Tradition of Hospitality
During the period of ignorance, Hazrat Sa‘d (ra) bin Ubadah and his ancestors also, would announce from their fortress that whosoever desires to eat meat and tallow, he should come to the fortress of Dulaim bin Haritha. Hisham bin Urwah relates from his father, “I first saw Sa‘d (ra) bin Ubadah whilst he was announcing from his fortress that whosoever desires to eat meat and tallow, he should go to him.” That is, he would slaughter the animals and distribute its meat amongst the people.
He further relates, “I observed his son doing the same and he would also invite others. At the time, I was a young man and was walking near Medina. Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (ra) was also walking past me (Hisham bin Urwah has related this from his father and states that he was young at the time and Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (ra) walked past him). We were walking past Aliya which is a valley situated approximately 4 to 8 miles from Medina towards the direction of Najjad and I was heading towards my land. Addressing me, Abdullah bin Umar said, ‘Young man! Come here. Can you see anyone calling out from the fortress of Sa‘d (ra) bin Ubadah?’ (the fortress was nearby). I replied in the negative. He then stated, ‘Indeed, you have spoken the truth, however it seems that the extent of generosity shown by Hazrat Sa‘d (ra) bin Ubadah has not passed on.’”
(Al-Tabaqaat-ul-Kubra li ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, pp. 460-461, Sa’d bin Ubadah, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1990) (Umdatul Qari, Vol. 16, p. 279, Dar Ihyaa al-Turath al-Arabi, Beirut, 2003)
It was for this reason that Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (ra) enquired about this from him.
Hazrat Nafay (ra) relates that Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (ra) walked by the fortress of Hazrat Sa‘d (ra) bin Ubadah and he said to him, “O Nafay! These are the houses of their ancestors. One day in the year, a caller would cry out: ‘Whosoever desires meat and tallow, they should go to the house of Dulaim.’ When Dulaim passed away, Ubadah continued this practice. When Ubadah passed away, Hazrat Sa‘d (ra) continued this practice, then I saw Qais bin Sa‘d doing the same and he was extremely generous.”
(al-Isti‘ab, Vol. 3, p. 595, Sa‘d bin Ubadah, Dar-ul-Jeel, Beirut, 1992)
From the aforementioned narration it has been further clarified that this practice was continued by his progeny, but no longer continued after them. Hazrat Sa‘d (ra) bin Ubadah accepted Islam during the second pledge at Aqabah.
(Siyar as-Sahabah, Vol. 3, p. 375, Darul Isha’at, Karachi, 2004)