Commentary on the hadith “People are like a hundred camels, among which you can hardly find one that is fit for riding”
Question

                There is a hadeeth called that a human being is like a camal and if we take 100 camal, out of this one is suitable for journey. Could you explain the idea behind this hadeeth?
Praise be to Allah.
	Al-Bukhaari (6498) and Muslim (2547) narrated that ‘Abdullah 
	ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of 
	Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say: “People 
	are like a hundred camels, among which you can hardly find one that is fit 
	for riding.” This is the version narrated by al-Bukhaari. The version 
	narrated by Muslim says, “You will find that people are like a hundred 
	camels, among which a man cannot find one that is fit for riding.”
Al-Haafiz Ibn 
	Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

	The report without the definite article and without the word 
	hardly means: among one hundred camels, you will not find one that is fit 
	for riding, because the one that is fit for riding should be amenable and 
	easy-going. Similarly, among one hundred people you will not find one who is 
	fit to be a friend, who could be helpful to his companion and is gentle and 
	kind to him.

	The report which says you will hardly find is more 
	appropriate, because it emphasises the idea more and is more reflective of 
	reality, even though the meaning of the first report boils down to the same 
	thing, and the absolute negation may be interpreted as emphasis and as 
	meaning that what is rare is an exception and is not the rule.

	Al-Khattaabi said: The Arabs refer to one hundred camels as “ibl” 
	[the word translated as camels in this hadith]. So they say So and so has 
	ibl, meaning one hundred camels, and So and so has two ibls, meaning two 
	hundred camels.

	I say: according to this, the report that does not use the 
	definite article mentions one hundred by way of explaining the word ibl, 
	because the phrase ka ibl (like ibl) means like one hundred camels. 
	Because the word ibl by itself was not commonly used to refer to one 
	hundred, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) mentioned 
	one hundred so as to highlight that meaning and avoid any confusion. With 
	regard to the report of al-Bukhaari, the definite article is used in a 
	generic sense.

	Al-Khattaabi said: The scholars interpreted this hadith in 
	two ways:

	1.
	
	that with regard 
	to the rulings of religion, all people are equal, and there is no 
	discrimination between one of high status and one of low status, like one 
	hundred camels among which there is not one that is fit for riding, which 
	refers to one that may be saddled and ridden. They are all fit only for 
	carrying loads, but they are not fit to be saddled and ridden upon; 
	

	2.
	
	that most people have shortcomings; as for people of virtue, 
	their number is very few, so they are like the camel that is fit for riding 
	among camels that are fit only for carrying loads. We see this also in the 
	verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the 
	meaning): “but 
	most of mankind know not” 
	[al-A‘raaf 7:187].

	I say: al-Bayhaqi narrated this hadith in
	Kitaab al-Qada’, regarding the judge treating both disputants 
	equally, basing it on the first interpretation (that people are equal with 
	regard to the rulings of religion). And he narrated from Ibn Qutaybah that 
	the “camel that is fit for riding” is the high-quality she-camel that is 
	selected from among camels that are used for riding, and if she is among 
	other camels she can be recognised. What the hadith means is that in terms 
	of lineage, people are like one hundred camels among which there is no camel 
	that is fit for riding, so they are equal.

	Al-Azhari said: The Arabs call the camel 
	that is fit for riding najeeb if it is male and najeebah if it 
	is female (najeeb means high-quality). The ha’ in the word raahilah 
	(translated here as a camel that is fit for riding) is used for emphasis [it 
	does not mean that the camel in question is necessarily female]. He said: 
	The view of Ibn Qutaybah is wrong. What is meant is that those who have 
	little interest in this world, who have attained perfection in that regard 
	and are eager for the hereafter, are few, as rare as the camel that is fit 
	for riding among one hundred camels.

	An-Nawawi said: This is a better 
	interpretation of the hadith, and even better than this is the view of 
	others, that those people whose character is pleasing and of perfect quality 
	are few.

	I say: this is the second interpretation, 
	but it emphasises the attributes of those who have little interest in this 
	world, whereas it is more appropriate to understand it in broader terms, as 
	the Shaykh said.

	Al-Qurtubi said: it is more appropriate to 
	understand this metaphor as meaning that the generous man, who carries 
	people’s burdens and loads and relieves them of their distress, is very rare 
	and dear, like the camel that is fit for riding among many other camels.

	Ibn Battaal said: What the hadith means is 
	that people are many, but those among them who are pleasing are few. 
	al-Bukhaari hinted at this meaning by including the hadith in the chapter 
	entitled Raf‘ al-Amaanah (loss of trust), because if a person has 
	this characteristic (loss of trust, i.e. he is dishonest and untrustworthy), 
	it is better not to mix with him. End quote.

	Fath al-Baari 
	(11/335)

	From this we may conclude that the hadith 
	is to be interpreted as emphasising the equality of people.

	But it may be that what it means is that 
	those people who are pleasing in terms of religious commitment and good 
	character are few or rare, just as you may find one hundred camels among 
	which there is not one that is fit for riding.

	This second interpretation is the one that 
	is favoured by most of the scholars.

	Ibn al-Atheer (may Allah have mercy on 
	him) said:

	“People are like a hundred camels, among 
	which you will not find one that is fit for riding” means: a person who is 
	pleasing and of high quality is very rare and dear, like the camel of high 
	quality that is strong enough to carry loads and travel far, which you 
	cannot find among many camels. End quote.

	An-Nihaayah 
	(1/15)

	See also: Mirqaat al-Mafaateeh 
	(8/3360); ‘Umdat al-Qaari (23/85); at-Tayseer (1/395); 
	Haashiyat as-Sindi ‘ala Ibn Maajah (2/479)

	And Allah knows best.