ar- Raqâ’iq - The Heart Softening Narrations

Abu Yusuf said, "I asked Abu Hanifah about the Tarawih and what 'Umar did and he said,

'The Tarawih is a stressed Sunnah, and 'Umar did not do that from his own opinion, nor was there in his action any innovation, and he did not enjoin it except that there was a foundation for it with him and authorisation from the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam.'"

[Sharh Mukhtaar as quoted from him in al- Ibdaa of Shaykh Ali Mahfooz p80]

Nothing is more feeble than a scholar whose knowledge the people abandoned due to the corruption of his way [adab] and an ignorant [person] whose ignorance the people accepted due to their looking to his worship.

al-Khatîb al-Baghdâdî
Iqtidâ’ al-’Ilm al-’Amal, pg. 14.

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

“With regard to congratulating others with the congratulations used by the kuffaar on such occasions, it is haraam by scholarly consensus, such as congratulating them on the occasion of their festivals or fasts, wishing them a blessed festival, etc. Even if the one who says this is free of kufr, it is still haraam. It is like congratulating someone for prostrating to the cross. It is even worse with Allah and more hated by Him than congratulating someone for drinking alcohol, or committing murder or adultery, etc. Many of those who have no respect for religion do that, and they do not realize the abhorrence of their actions. Whoever congratulates a person for sin, innovation (bid’ah) or kufr exposes himself to the hatred and wrath of Allah.”

(Ahkaam Ahl al-Dhimmah, 1/441- 442)

فِتنة عَظِيمَة
فَسَادٌ كَبِيرٌ عَالِمٌ مُتَهتّكٌ *** و أكبر مِنه جَاهِلٌ مُتَنَسِّكُ
هُما فِتْنَةٌ في العالمِينَ عَظِيمَة *** لِمَنْ بِهِمَا في دِيْنِهِ يَتَمَسَّكُ

A Great Fitnah

A great corruption is an insolent scholar
And worse than him is a devout ignorant
***
They are two great tribulations in the world
For the one who adheres to them in his Deen

[Diwaan Ash Shafiee]

إذا مَا خَلَوتَ الدَّهْرَ يومًا فلا تَقُلْ *** خَلوتُ ولكن قُلْ عليَّ رَقِيبُ
ولا تحْسَـبنَّ اللـهَ يَغْفِـل ساعَـةً *** ولا أنّ مَا تخفَي عَليه يَغِيبُ
ألم تر أنّ اليومَ أسْرعُ ذاهِبٍ *** و أنّ غداً للناظِرين قَريبُ

“If you spend a day in solitude, do not say
I spent it in solitude, but say over me is a Watcher

And do not think that Allaah is oblivious for even an moment
or that what you try to hide from Him is unseen

Do you not see that today is leaving fast
And that tomorrow for the onlooker is indeed near?"

[Imam Ahmad]

قال الشافِعي رَحِمَه الله:
مَن وَاعَظَ أخَاهُ سِرّا, فقدْ نَصَحَهُ وزَانَهُ, ومَن وَعَظَه عَلانِيَة, فقد فضحه وخَانه.

“Whoever advised his brother secretly has advised him well and whoever advised his brother openly (in public) has indeed exposed him and betrayed him.”

[Imam Ash Shafiee]

Ibn Taymiyyah said,

"Verily, I constantly renew my Islam until this very day, as up to now, I do not consider myself to have ever been a good Muslim."

[Narrated by Ibn al-Qayyim in 'Madarij as-Salikin'; 1/218]

Ibn Mas`ud said,

“The love of the Quran and the love of music cannot combine in the heart of a believer.”

Allaah’s Messenger (salAllahu 'alaihee wa sallam) said,

“Indeed I see what you do not and I hear what you do not. The Heaven cries and is justified in doing so. There is no space equal to the space of four fingers except there is an angel which places its forehead in prostration to Allaah the Exalted. By Allaah! If you knew what I knew you would have laughed little and wept in abundance and you would not (even) have sought pleasure with your wives in the bed. You would come out and run into the wilderness beseeching Allaah!”

[at-Tirmidhi, hasan]

Al-Haafiz ibn Rajab said in Sharh al-Arba’een:

“The words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), ‘every innovation is a going astray’ is a concise but comprehensive comment which includes everything; it is one of the most important principles of religion.

It is like his words ‘Whoever innovates anything in this matter of ours (i.e., Islam), that is not part of it will have it rejected.’ (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3/167, no. 2697; al-Fath, 5/355).

Whoever innovates anything and attributes it to Islam when it has no basis in the religion, this is a going astray and is nothing to do with Islam, whether that has to do with matters of belief (‘aqeedah) or outward and inward words and deeds.”

(Jaami’ al-‘Uloom wa’l-Hakam, p. 233)

The first type of strangeness is the strangeness of the "People of Allah and the People of His Messenger" (peace be upon him), which we mentioned previously. This strangeness is a praiseworthy strangeness, as it has been praised by Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him). Therefore, this kind of strangeness should be sought and its people must be supported. This strangeness occurs in different times, in different places, and among different peoples. These strangers, then, are the true "People of Allah" for they do not worship ought save Him, and they do not take support from any path except the path of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and they do not call to anything except that which has been brought by the Prophet (peace be upon him). These are the people who left mankind when they (the strangers) were in need of them the most. For, on the Day of Judgment, when all other groups will go with that which they used to worship, they will stay in their places. It will be said to them, "Will you not go as the other people have gone?" They will answer, "We had abandoned the people (in this life), and we were more in need of them then we are today, and we will wait for our Lord whom we used to worship." [Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Thus it is apparent that this strangeness does not cause its bearer any discontent. Rather it is a comforting strangeness, a solace to the believers. This is because he knows that his helpers are Allah, His Messenger and those who believe [This is a reference to verse 55 of surah al-Maidah], even if all of mankind left and abandoned him. These strangers are again described in a hadith narrated by Anas ibn Malik, in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "It is possible that a disheveled, dusty person, with not many belongings [Literally, "with two headdresses"], who is not noticed among the people, if he asks of Allah, Allah will fulfill his prayer." [at-Tirmidhi and al-Hakim Sahih] Al-Hasan al-Basri said, "A believer is a stranger in this world, he is never afraid of its humiliation, and he never competes for its glory. The people are in one situation and he is in a different situation. The people are content with him, yet he is tired with himself."

From the characteristics of these strangers that the Prophet (peace be upon him) described is the holding on to the sunnah of the Messenger (peace be upon him), even if the people abandon it. They, the strangers, leave all the innovations that their people invent, even if such practices should be common among them. They also stick to tawheed, even if the people corrupt it with shirk. They do not ascribe themselves to anything besides Allah and His Prophet (peace be upon him); they do not, that is, ascribe themselves to a shaikh, tariqah, particular madhhab or a group of people. They are dedicated only to Allah, with their sincere worship of Him and Him alone, and to His Prophet (peace be upon him), by following the path that he followed. These are the people who grasp the glowing hot embers, even though most of mankind - nay, all of them - blame them for this. This is the meaning of the statements of the Prophet (peace be upon him) alluding to the fact that they stick to his sunnah, even if the people corrupt it.

Allah, all praise be to Him, sent His Prophet (peace be upon him) when mankind followed different religions, for there were those who worshipped rivers and trees, and there were those who worshipped idols, and there were Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians. Islam, when it first appeared among these people, was strange to them. If a person from among them accepted Islam and followed the call of Allah and His Prophet (peace be upon him), he would be shunned by his family and his tribe. He would live the life of a stranger among his people. Eventually, however, Islam spread far and wide. The Muslims became stronger and stronger, so much so that the strangers were those that did not accept the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

But, alas, Satan deceived mankind again. People took to the ways that their forefathers, who had accepted Islam, had abandoned until, finally, Islam became strange again, just like it had started and just like the Prophet (peace be upon him) had foretold. Nay, indeed, rather the true Islam - that which the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his Companions were following [this is a reference to the reply that the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave when asked what the characteristics of the "Saved Group" were] has become even stranger to the people then when it initially appeared, even though its outward signs and external relics are well known and widespread. [This is what ibn al-Qayyim, wrote in the 8th Century of the Hijrah, wrote. Imagine our situations six centuries after him. May Allah protect us.]

How can it not be so, when these strangers are only one group among seventy-two others, each of which follows its own desires and takes its passions as gods? Those are the groups that base their teachings on doubts and innovations and whose sole purpose is the gratification of their own desires. Thus, the group whose goal is to achieve the pleasure of Allah by following the path of His Messenger (peace be upon him) will be the strange one among all of the other groups.

This is why the true Muslims - those that adamantly cling to the Sunnah - will have the reward of fifty Companions. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) was asked about the verse, "O you who believe! Take care of your own selves. If you follow right guidance, no harm can come to you from those who err" (al-Maidah 105), he said, "Nay indeed, order good and forbid evil until you see stinginess being obeyed, and desires being followed, and this world preferred [over the next], and each person being deluded by his own opinions. Then take care of yourself and leave the common people. For indeed, after you there will be days of patience, where patience will be like holding on to glowing embers. Whoever is able to do this will have the reward of fifty people that do like him." They asked, "O Messenger of Allah, the reward of fifty of them?" He replied, "The reward of fifty of you" [al-Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud with a weak chain but it has supporting evidence. Al-Albani calls it sahih. See al-Sahiha, #957]. This reward is due to his strangeness among the people.

So, if the believer whom Allah has blessed with wisdom and knowledge wants to tread upon this path, the path of Allah, then let him be prepared to resign himself to the life of a stranger among his people, just like his predecessors who accepted Islam were treated by the people. For indeed, he will be a stranger in his beliefs, because his people have corrupted their beliefs. He will be a stranger in his religion, due to what the people have done to it. He will be a stranger in his manner of praying, because the people are ignorant of the prayer of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He will be a stranger in his ordering of good and prohibiting evil, for the people have taken what is evil as good and they have abandoned what is good as evil. In short, then, he will be a stranger in all his matters of this world and the Hereafter, calling to the path of Allah and withstanding the harm of all those that go against him.

As for the second type of strangeness, then know, O reader, that this strangeness is the blameworthy strangeness, for its people are the evil sinners, the ignorant and the arrogant of mankind. Their strangeness is due to their refusal to follow the correct and straight path of Allah. This strangeness is the strangeness of not conforming to the religion of Islam and, as such, it will remain strange even if its followers are numerous, its power is strong and its existence is widespread. These are the strangers to Allah. May Allah keep us from becoming one of them.

[Ibn Qayyim - al-Ghurbathu wa al-Ghuraba]

Sufyân ath-Thawrî - rahimahullâh - wrote to ’Abbâd ibn ’Abbâd al-Khawwâs al-Arsûfî - rahimahullâh - saying:

To proceed:

You are in a time which the Companions of the Prophet sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam used to seek refuge from reaching, and they had the knowledge that we do not have, and they had precedence which we do not. So how is it for us, when we reach that, having little knowledge, little patience, few helpers upon what is good, corruption of the people and pollution of this world?! So take to the original state of affairs and cling to it. I advise you to remain unknown, since this is the age for remaining anonymous (khumûl). And remain aloof and mix little with the people, since before, when the people met, they would benefit from each other. But today that has gone and your safety - in our view - lies in abandoning them.

Beware of the Rulers. Beware of coming near to them and of mixing with them in any of the affairs. Beware of being deceived, so that it said to you: Intercede [for me], so that you help one oppressed, or repel an act of oppression - because that is from the deception of Iblîs, which the wicked reciters have taken as a means to attain a favorable position. It used to be said: Beware of the fitnah (trial) of the ignorant worshipper and the wicked scholar, because the trial of these two is indeed a trial for everyone put to trial.

If you find questions and need for fatwâ, then take take advantage of it - but do not compete desirously for it. And beware of being like the one who loves that his saying is acted upon, or that his saying is publicised or listened to, and if that is abandoned, the effects of that are seen upon him.

And beware of the love of leadership, since leadership may be more beloved to a man than gold and silver - but it is something difficult and obscure; and this will not be understood except by wise Scholars. So seek after your lost soul and work with correct intention and know that there has come near to the people a matter which a person would be desirous of death.

Was-salâm.

[Reported by Abû Nu’aym in Hilyah (6/376-377) and Ibn Rajab mentioned a portion of it in Sharh Hadîth Mâ Dhi’bân (pp.53-54) and adh-Dhahabî reported it in the biography of Sufyân in Siyâr A’lâmun-Nubalâ, and it is a famous testament possessed by the Scholars.]

[Al-Hâfidh al-Mizzî - rahimahullâh - says in Tahdbîbul-Kamâl (14/143) in his biography of ‘Abbâd ibn ‘Abbâd: “And he was one of the noble ones of Shâm and their worshippers, and Sufyân ath-Thawrî wrote the famous letter to him, being a testament, and mention of manners, wisdoms, examples and admonitions.”]

Mâlik (d.179H) said to ash-Shâfi’î when they first met:

“Indeed I see that Allaah has placed a light upon your heart, so do not extinguish it with the darkness of disobedience and sin.”

[A’lâmul-Muwaqqi’în (4/258) of Ibn al Qayyim.]

Imâm ashShâfi’î (d.204H) - rahimahullâh - said:

“Whosoever loves that Allâh should open-up his heart for him and grant light to him, then let him abandon speech about that which does not concern him, and abandon sins and turn away from acts of disobedience. Then there will be between him and Allâh a hidden treasure of good actions. So if this is done, then Allâh will open up such knowledge for him, that will preoccupy him. And indeed in death is the greatest pre-occupation."

[Related by al*Bayhaqî in Manâqiush-Shâfi’î (2/171)]

’Ubâdah ibn as-Sâmit radiallâhu ’anhu related that the Prophet sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam said:

“Whosoever seeks forgiveness for the believing men and the believing women, Allâh will record for that person - equivalent to every believing man and believing woman - a good deed.”

[Hasan: Related by al-Haythamî in Majma’az-Zuwâ‘id (l/210)]

Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullah) said:

"The Religion of the Muslims is built upon following the Book of Allaah, the Sunnah of His Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and that which the Ummah has agreed upon. So these are the three infallible usool (fundamentals).So whatever the Ummah differs in, then it is referred back to Allaah and His Messenger. Thus, it is not for anyone to set up a person for the Ummah, and to call to his way and form walaa’ (love, loyalty and allegiance) and ‘adaa (enmity and hatred) based upon that, except for the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). Nor is any speech set up for them based upon which they form walaa’ and ‘adaa except for the Speech of Allaah, and that of His Messenger, and that which the Ummah has agreed upon. Rather, this is that practice of the people of innovation, who set up a person or a saying, with which they cause splits in the Ummah; forming walaa‘ and ‘adaa based upon that saying or ascription."

[Majmoo‘ul Fataawaa (20/164)]

The saying of the Messenger ,

"His Veil is made of light and if He was to uncover it, the splendors/radiances (subuhaat) of His Face, would destroy everything of His creation that His Sight would reach."

[Muslim, from Abu Moosa al-Ash’aree]

Ibn `Uyaynah related a hadeeth of the Prophet, peace be on him:

"People might travel to the farthest corners of the earth in search of knowledge, but they will not find anyone more knowledgeable than the learned man of Madinah."

When asked who was alluded to in this hadeeth, Ibn Sufyaan said it was Maalik ibn Anas and added:

He [Maalik] never reported any unreliable hadeeth; he never accepted any hadeeth from anyone whose trustworthiness and reliability were not beyond question. I have a feeling that Madinah will come to ruin after the death of Maalik ibn Anas.

[Al Intiqaa']

Abu Darda said:

"To say: "I do not know” is half of knowledge."