ar- Raqâ’iq - The Heart Softening Narrations

Stated Imaam al-Barbahaaree,

"May Allaah have mercy upon you! Examine carefully the speech of everyone you hear from in your time particularly. So do not act in haste and do not enter into anything from it until you ask and see: Did any of the Companions of the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) speak about it or any of the scholars? So if you find a narration from them about it, cling to it, do not go beyond it for anything and do not give precedence to anything over it and thus fall into the Fire."

[Sharh us-Sunnah]

And `Umar bin Salamah al-Hamdaanee said:

"We were sitting in the circle of Ibn Mas'ood in the mosque, which had been plain land after it had been covered with gravel. `Ubaidullaah bin Umar ibn al-Khattaab, who had just returned from an expedition, said to him: `

What is the straight path O Abu `Abdur-Rahmaan?'

He replied: `By the Lord of the Ka'bah, it is that which your father was firmly established upon until he entered Paradise' and then he swore firmly upon that three times,

Then he drew a line in the ground with his hand and also drew lines to either side of it and said:

`Your Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) left you upon this end and its other end is in Paradise. So whoever remains steadily upon it will enter Paradise and whoever takes any of these lines will be destroyed."

Ibn Abbas said (with a sahih chain of narration):

“For me to step forward and have my head cut off is dearer to me than for me to be in the front of a group which contains Abu Bakr.”

From Ahmad (with an authenticity of sahih):

The Prophet (sas) said to Abu Bakr and Ali:

“With one of you is Jibreel and with the other is Mikail and Israfil and another great angel who participates in battle.”

من ذا الذي قد نال راحة سره * في عسره إن كان أو في يسره
فأخو التجارة خـائف مترقب * مما يلاقي من خسارة أمره
وأخو الوزارة حـائر متفـكر * مما يقاسي من نوائب دهره
وكذلك السلطـان في أحكامه * رهن الهموم على جلالة قدره
ولقد حسدت الطير في أوكاره * فوجدت أكثر ما يصاد بوكره
تالله لو عـاش الفتى من دهره * ألفا من الأعوام مالك أمره
متلـذذا فيهـا بكل مليـحة * متنعما فيها بنعمى عصره
لا يعتريـه السقـم فيها مرة * أبدا ولا تطرا الهموم بفكره
وصفت له الأيـام حتى إنـه * لا تنطق الأصوات عند مقره
ما كان ذلك كلـه ممـا يفي * بمبيت أول ليلة في قبره

Who has found true peace of mind * In better, or perhaps in worse?
The businessman is worn with fear * Of loss in his commerce
The statesman lives in fretful dread * Of times and tides adverse
The potentate, for all his power * In thrall to angst and fears
For after every glad report * Comes news that rocks his piers
I’d envy the birds, but the nest, I found * Is oft where the kill occurs
By Allah, if a man had to live, in control * Of his life, for a thousand years
Indulging in every beauty’s delight * In a bliss that for life endures
With never an illness obstructing his way * And he never a worry incurs
And tranquility reigns, and his days are serene * And no noise ever reaches is ears—
None of that would avail him the first night spent* In the grave, when he ends his years.

[Imam Shafiee - Translated by Abu Muhammad]

Ibn Qudamah (rahimahumullah) once said that...

...when one slanders you, you should be thankful that he spoke something about you which was untrue, for there are many blemishes on your account which are true which Allah hid from the world.

“The people of Qur’aan, they are the people of Allaah and His specialties.”

[Ahmad, Nisaa’ee, Ibn Maajah]

Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah said,

There are various types of ‘abandonment’ of the Qur’aan:

1) To abandon listening to it and believing in it.

2) To abandon acting upon it, and ignoring its lawful and prohibited ordinances (Halaal and haraam), even if one believes in it and recites it.

3) To abandon judging by it, and resorting to it as a judge when there are differences in the essence of the religion or other matters.

4) To abandon pondering over it, and understanding it, and seeking the explanation of it.

5) To abandon using it as a cure in all types of diseases of the heart, and instead to seek to cure these diseases by other means.

And all of these categories are included in the statement of Allaah,

'And the Messenger (will) say: “0 My Lord, indeed my people took this Qur’aan as something worthy of being abandoned!’' [25:30]

even though some of these types of abandonment are worse than others.

[Quoted in 'An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur'aan' - Shaykh Yasir Qadhi]

“Indeed, Allaah will honour people (i.e., in this world and the Hereafter) by this Book, and He will debase others by it.”
[Muslim]

“Whoever puts (the Qur’aan) ahead of him, it will lead him to Paradise; and whoever throws it behind him, it will drag him into Hell.”
[at-Tabaraani]

There are ten useless matters:

1. Knowledge that is not acted on
2. The deed that has neither sincerity nor is based on following the righteous examples of others
3. Money that is hoarded, as the owner neither enjoys it during this life nor obtains any reward for it in the Hereafter
4. The heart that is empty of love and longing for Allah, and of seeking closeness to Him
5. A body that does not obey and serve Allah
6. Loving Allah without following His orders or seeking His pleasure
7. Time that is not spent in expiating sins or seizing opportunities to do good
8. A mind that thinks about useless matters
9. Serving those who do not bring you close to Allah, nor benefit you in your life
10. Hoping and fearing whoever is under the authority of Allah and in His hand; while he cannot bring any benefit or harm to himself, nor death, nor life; nor can he resurrect himself.

However the greater of these matters are wasting the heart and wasting time. Wasting the heart is done by preferring this worldly life over the Hereafter, and wasting time is done by having incessant hope. Destruction occurs by following one’s desires and having incessant hope, while all goodness is found in following the right path and preparing oneself to meet Allah.

How strange it is that when a servant of Allah has a [worldly] problem, he seeks help of Allah, but he never asks Allah to cure his heart before it dies of ignorance, neglect, fulfilling one’s desires and being involved in innovations. Indeed, when the heart dies, he will never feel the significance or impact of his sins.

[Ibn Qayyim Al Jawziyyah - Al-Fawa'id]

“Give good news to this Ummah of ease of life, exalted stature, establishment of their religion, victory and leadership on earth. Whoever does acts of the Hereafter for this world, he will have no portion of the Hereafter.”

[Saheeh: Related by Ahmad (4/134) and al-Haakim (4/311) and it was authenticated by al-Albaanee in Ahkaamul-Janaa’iz (p.52).]

And Allaah’s statement:

“They worship Me alone and do not associate anything with Me.”

Ahmad reports upon Mu’aadh who said;

I was sitting behind the Prophet, sal-Allaahu ’alayhe wa sallam, on a donkey. There was nothing between the Prophet, sal-Allaahu ’alayhe wa sallam, and I except the end of his saddle.

The Prophet said to me:

“O Mu’aadh ibn Jabal!”

I said: “Here I am O Messenger of Allaah in your service.”

The Prophet continued to ride on for some time and then he said to me: “O Mu’aadh ibn Jabal!”

I said: “Here I am O Messenger fo Allaah in your service.”

The Prophet said: “Do you know what is the right of Allaah upon His slave?”

I said: “Allaah and His Messenger know best.”

He said: “The right of Allaah upon the slaves is that they worship Him and do not associate anything with Him.”

The Prophet continued to ride on for some time and then he said to me: “O Mu’aadh ibn Jabal!”

I said: “Here I am O Messenger of Allaah, at your service.”

The Prophet said: “Do you know what is the right of the slaves upon Allaah if they (worship Him alone)?”

I said: “Allaah and His Messenger know best.”

He said: “The right of the slaves upon Allaah is that He does not punish whosoever does not associate anything with Him.”

[This narration is also reported in the two Saheehs. [Related by al-Bukhaaree (6/58) and Muslim (1/232)]

Imaam ash-Shaafi`ee - rahimahullaah - said:

"O my soul! It is not, except a few days of patience;
As if the extent were but a few dreams.
O my soul! Pass quickly on through this world;
And leave it, for indeed life lies ahead of it."

[Related by Ibn Rajab in Fadl `Ilmus-Salaf (p.63)]

"The gates of Paradise will be opened on Monday and on Thursdays, and every servant [of Allah] who associates nothing with Allah will be forgiven, except for the man who has a grudge against his brother. [About them] it will be said, 'Delay these two until they are reconciled. Delay these two until they are reconciled. Delay these two until they are reconciled.'"

[Muslim, Maalik, Abu Dawood]

Abdullah Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

"O, you perpetrator of sin! Do not feel safe from the end result of it, when what follows the sin is greater than the sin which you committed, for to feel little or no embarrassment towards those on the right and the left of you when you committed the sin is greater than the sin which you committed. Your laughter, when you know not what Allah will do to you is greater than the sin. Your happiness with the sin if you succeeded in doing it is greater than the sin, and your unhappiness at being unable to commit the sin is greater than the sin if you had succeeded in committing it. Your fear of the wind if it moved the curtain covering your door while you were committing the sin and your heart is not disturbed by Allah seeing you is greater than the sin which you committed. Woe to you!

Do you know what was the sin of Ayyub ('alayhis salam) and why Allah, the Most High tested him in his body and by the loss of his wealth? The sin of Ayyub was only that a poor man sought his help in alleviating injustice that had befallen him, but he did not help him and he did not enjoin the good or forbid the oppressor from commiting injustice against this poor man and so Allah, the all Mighty, the all Powerful put him to trial."

Hilyatul Awliya'

Abu Sa'id al Khudri reported Allah's Messenger (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) as saying:

"When the believers pass safely over (the bridge across) Hell, they will be stopped at a bridge between Hell and Paradise where they will retaliate against one another for the injustices done among them in the world, and when they are purified of all their sins, they will be admitted to Paradise. By Him in Whose hands the life of Muhammad is, everybody will recognize his dwelling in Paradise better than he recognizes his dwelling in this world."

[Sahih al-Bukhari, Fath Al-Bari]

Ibn al-Qayyim, rahimahullah said:

“So O reader, for you is to benefit from this book, and upon the author is the penalty. You have the fruit, and upon him is arduous labour. So whatever you find it in harmonious with the truth and accurate - then accept it. And focus not to the author. Rather focus to what is being said, not to who is saying it. For Allah has admonished those who reject the truth if it comes from one whom he hates, and accepts it if it comes from one he loves, for these are characteristics of a wretched ummah. Some of the companions said: “Accept the truth from the one who says it, even if you dislike him, and reject falsehood from whoever it comes, even if he is beloved”, and whatever mistakes you find, then its author did not exerted effort to bring it about purposely, and truly Allah refuses to grant perfection to any save Himself. However, the one whose mistakes are counted is closer to the truth, than the one who has his goodness counted. It is upon the one who speaks to take as a source for his speech authentic knowledge, to aim to make his advice for the sake of Allah, His Book, His Messenger and to his fellow Muslim brothers. For if he makes the truth in accordance with his desires, then his heart, actions, condition and path will become corrupt. Allah says: “If the Truth had been in accord with their desires, truly the heavens and the earth, and all beings therein would have been in confusion and corruption! [23:71]”

[From Madaarij as-Saalikeen and Miftaah Daar as-Sa’aadah]

al-Haafith ath-Thahabi, rahimahullah, says:

“Is seeking knowledge better than voluntary prayers, recitation of the Quraan and rememberance of Allah?

“Whoever is sincere to Allah in his search for knowledge, and his mind is astute, then knowledge is better for him, with some aspects of prayer and worship, for if you see him serious in knowledge yet has no share in (acts) that bring one closer to Allah, then this (one) is lazy, careless, and is not truthful in his intention.

“As for the ones who seek hadeeth, fiqh, due to personal whim and selfishness, than worship for this person is better, and this is a general categorisation, for few, by Allah, are those that I have seen sincere in their search for knowledge.”

[Siyar A’laam an-Nubalaa`, 7/167]

'Abdurahmaan bin Mahdi, rahimahullah said of ar-Risaalah for ash-Shafi'ee:

"When I looked to ar-Risaalah for ash-Shafi'ee, I was stunned; for I saw words of an intelligent, eloquent, and advice-giving (man). And verily, I supplicate much for him"

[Cover of ar-Risaalah]