What is the Hawd of the Prophet?

What the Hawd is

"Hawd" is Arabic for a pool or basin. Many authentic hadith describe it, and Sunni scholars consider belief in it part of the creed. It belongs to the Day of Judgement, when people are standing for a long time under intense heat and thirst. In that moment, the Prophet ﷺ will be waiting at his pool to greet the believers of his ummah.

How it is described

The Prophet ﷺ said his pool is as wide as a month's journey, its water is whiter than milk, its scent is better than musk, and its cups are as many as the stars in the sky. Whoever drinks from it will never be thirsty again (Sahih al-Bukhari 6579). He also told his Companions, "I will be ahead of you at the Hawd" (Sahih al-Bukhari 6583), like a host who goes first to prepare for his guests.

The link with al-Kawthar

When this short surah was revealed, the Prophet ﷺ explained that al-Kawthar is a river his Lord promised him, with abundant good, and a pool that his ummah will come to on the Day of Resurrection (Sahih Muslim 400). Scholars explain that al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise, and its water flows into the Hawd.

Recognised by the light of wudu

The Companions asked how he would recognise followers he had never met. He said they would come with faces, hands and feet shining from the traces of wudu, and he would recognise them as his own (Sahih Muslim 249). In the same hadith he said he wished he could see "our brothers", meaning believers who would come after him without ever seeing him. Converts today are among them.

The hadith also warn that some people will be turned away from the pool because they changed the religion after him. That's a reminder to hold on to the Sunnah, not to frighten sincere believers.