Muslim staff

 
Sunnah of Walking Stick


as-salamu `alaykum



i have seen many of our ulema with walking sticks:



sh. muhammad al-yaqoubi



habib ali



habib umar



what is the significance?
 
a3oothoo billahi mina shaytaan irajeem


Bismillahi rahman araheem

Salaam u alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh



Yeah Akhi, Look at my sig..

And when Imam al-Shafi'i (Rahimullah) reached forty [years of age] he began to walk with a staff, and when questioned about it used to say: "To remind myself that I am a traveller"
 





Allamah Suyuti has written that using an 'Asa (Staff) is a sign of a beleiver and it is a sunnah of the Ambiyaa alayhimussalaam





Hasan al-Basri has mentioned a few specialities of the 'Asa



It is a sunnah of the Ambiyaa alayhimussalaam

It is an adornment of the pious people

It is a weapon against the enemy

It is an aid for a person who is weak and old



Allamah Qurtubi has mentioned the following



Shaytaan flees from a believer when he has an 'Asa

Evil people and hypocrites are awed by him

It could be used as a sutrah in salah

It is a source of relief when tired



Sayyiduna Abdullah Ibn Unays narrates that when he came to Nabi he was leaning on an 'Asa', and Nabi gave this 'Asa' to him and instructed him to use it, saying that people who use the 'Asa will number very few on the day of Judgement.

Tabrani / Sirat Vol.7 Page 589



When this Sahabi passed away, the 'Asa of Nabi was buried with him, as a source of blessings. - Musannaf Vol. 3 Page 185



(Taken from As-Shamaa'il al-Kubra by Mufti Muhammad Irshad Qasmi )
 
i found out some more stuff on the stick:




1. Musa (as) had a stick/staff as mentioned in the Qur'an.



2. The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, delivered the khutba using a stick - [Abu Dawud, Ahmad]



3. it was a custom of the arabs, in the same way the turban was.



4. it is narrated in bukhari and muslim that the prophet had a stick on his camel whilst performing tawaf (used to touch the black stone)



5. "By the One in Whose hand is my soul, the Hour shall not rise until one of you, after leaving his family, shall hear his own sandal or whip or stick telling him what happened to his family after he left them" - [Ahmad]



there are several other ahadith showing the prophet had a stick with him - i think i answered my own question



the ulama call this a customary sunna.



not surprisingly, al-albani disagreed.
Sayyiduna Sulayman also had a staff as did Sayyiduna Ibrahim




It is also mentioned in al-Bar al-Muhit that the staffs of Sayyiduna Musa and Sayyiduna Sulayman alayhimassalam descended from Jannah.
 



The Asa is a lost Sunnah. Have the Ulama mentioned that anyone less than 40 years of age cannot carry a stick? What do the Mashaikh say?