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Are the virtues of the people of Yemen mentioned in the hadiths restricted to a specific time, or do they apply to the people of all times?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Some scholars have specified certain hadiths to refer only to those who were contemporary with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. An example of this is the hadith: "The people of Yemen have come to you. They are the softest-hearted and the most tender-hearted. Faith is Yemeni and wisdom is Yemeni. Pride and arrogance are found in the owners of camels, while tranquility and dignity are found in the owners of sheep." An-Nawawi, Ibn As-Salah, and As-Suyuti stated that what is meant are those who existed at that time, not all people of Yemen in every era. However, Ibn Hajar said: There is no impediment to the meaning of his saying, "Faith is Yemeni," being more general than what Abu Ubaid and Ibn As-Salah mentioned. The essence of this is that the word "Yemeni" includes those who are attributed to Yemen by residence and by tribe. However, the interpretation that it refers to those attributed by residence is more apparent, as it is observed in every era regarding the conditions of the inhabitants of the Yemen region and the northern region.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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