People of the shelter (أصحاب الصفة)
العقيدة
المعنى الاصطلاحي :
A group of poor Companions who lived in a shaded place in the rear of the Prophet’s Mosque.
الشرح المختصر :
"As-hāb as-suffah" or "Ahl as-suffah" (people of the shelter) were the poor Muslims from among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him. Having no homes, they used to stay in a shaded area annexed to the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. They were known as the guests of Islam. They got used to a life of poverty and asceticism. They always stayed at the mosque, praying, studying the Qur’an, remembering Allah Almighty, and some of them learning how to write. Their poverty was not out of laziness and abandonment of work; rather, some of them would crush date stones during the daytime to feed livestock, and some would take part in jihad. In normal circumstances, they were around seventy, and their number would increase or decrease at different times.