Ali bin Bakkar

He was detached from the worldly pleasures. He became a fighter and guarder of the Muslim lands; a truthful worshipper.

He lived in al-Masisah (in Sham) as a fighter, and he was a scholar of Fiqh.

Musa bin Turayf said:

“‘Ali bin Bakkar’s slave-girl used to spread his bed for him, so he would touch it with his hand and say: “By Allah, you feel good; by Allah, you feel cool; by Allah, I will not lay on you tonight,” and he would pray until the next morning with the same wudu’.”

Abul-Hasan bin Abi al-Ward said:

“A man said to us: “We came to ‘Ali bin Bakkar and said to him: “Hudhayfah bin al-Mar’ashi sends you his greetings.” So, he said to us: “May peace be upon you and him. I know of him that he has only eaten that which is lawful for over thirty years, and I would love to meet Satan more than I would love to meet him.” I asked him why this was, and he said: “I am afraid that I would try to beautify myself for him out my respect for him, and then be guilty of beautifying myself for other than Allah, and as a result, have my status lowered in the Eyes of Allah – the Mighty and Majestic.”"

Yusuf bin Muslim said:

“‘Ali bin Bakkar wept until he became blind, and his tears would leave marks on his cheeks.”

Fayd bin Ishaq said:

“I came to ‘Ali bin Bakkar, seeking to go out in the Path of Allah, so asked him to advise me. He said: “Fear Allah and stay in your dwelling, guard your tongue, and avoid unnecessarily mixing with the people, and wisdom will be poured on you from above you.”

Yahya bin Zakariyyah said:

“We were with ‘Ali bin Bakkar, so some clouds passed by overhead. I asked him about something, so he said to me: “Be quiet! Do you not fear that these clouds will be followed by rocks that will be poured down on us?”

It has been narrated to us that ‘Ali bin Bakkar was stricken with an injury during a battle that he fought in, as a result of which his intestines spilled out of his stomach. He then gathered his intestines and pushed them back into his stomach, then tied the wound up with his turban. He then jumped back into the battle and was killed after he himself had killed thirteen disbelievers.

‘Ali bin Bakkar narrated hadith from Hisham bin Hassan, Abu Ishaq al-Fizari, Abu Khaldah, etc. He was a close companion of Ibrahim bin Adham.

He was killed in al-Masisah in the year 199 H.

['Sifat as-Safwah’; 2/410-411]

Source: http://iskandrani.wordpress.com/category/scholarly-selections/the-lives-of-the-salaf/page/3/