Gems Pearls of Wisdom of the Salaf

Asalamu alaikum rahmatullah wa barakatu


It is reported that ‘Imrān b. Husayn – Allāh be pleased with him – was once relating hadīth amongst a group of people, when a man said:

Leave this and give us something from the Book of Allāh. ‘Imrān said, “You are a dunce (stupid). Do you find in the Book of Allāh details of prayer. Do you find in the Book of Allāh details of fasting!? This Qur`ān prescribes those matters, and the Sunnah explains them.”

Al-Harawī, Dham Al-Kalām article 244, et al with various wordings.
 
Asalamu alaikum rahmatullah wa barakatu

It is reported that ‘Abdullāh b. Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
I asked my father, “Who are the [real] people?” He replied, “The [real] people are none but those who say ḥaddathanā and akhbaranā (those who report ḥadīth).”

Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm article 3438.
 
Asalamu alaikum rahmatullah wa barakatu

It is reported that Abū ‘Ubaydah b. Al-Jarrāḥ – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
O people! Yes, I am a man from Quraysh, but there is not a white man (literally: red), nor a black man amongst you who exceeds me in righteousness (taqwā) except that I wish I was in his skin.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 1:18.
 
Asalamu alaikum rahmatullah wa barakatu

It is reported that Mufaddal b. Muhalhal – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
If the heretic started mentioning his bid’ah right at the beginning of the sitting, you would be on your guard and flee from him, but what he does is begin by mentioning ḥadīth from the Sunnah. Then, he slips his bid’ah in on you. It might then stick to your heart; but when will it leave your heart?

Ibn Battah, Al-Ibānah Al-Kubrā, 2:444.
 
Asalamu alaikum rahmatullah wa barakatu

Imām Sa’īd b. Al-Musayyib – Allāh have mercy on him – once saw a man praying more than two rak’ah after sunrise the beginning of Fajr, making many bows and prostrations, and so he forbade him. The man said, “O Abu Muḥammad, is Allāh going to punish me for praying?” Sa’īd said, “No, but He will punish you for contradicting the Sunnah.”

Al-Bayhaqī, As-Sunan Al-Kubraa 2:466. graded ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Al-Albānī. See Irwā Al-Ghalīl 2:236.
 
Asalamu alaikum rahmatullah wa barakatu

It is reported that ‘Abdullāh b. Masʿūd – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

This world (the dunyā) is [only taken as] a home by those who will have no real home [in Jannah], and it is the wealth of those who will have no real wealth, and it is gathered and collected for by those who have no real intelligence.

Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Dhamm Al-Dunyā article 16.
 
Asalamu alaikum rahmatullah wa barakatu

‘Abdullāh b, ‘Abbās reports that ‘Umar b. Al-Khattāb – Allāh be pleased with them – said:

I used to have a neighbor from the Anṣār who lived in the area of Banī Umayyah b. Zayd, which is in the ‘Awālī of Medinah, and we used to take turns attending [the gatherings] of Allāh’s Messenger – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him. My neighbor would attend one day and I the other; so when I attended I would convey to him the reports about the revelation that had come, and other such news, and when he attended he would do the same.

My Anṣārī companion went on one of his days, and [upon returning] came to my door and knocked hard saying, ‘Is he there?’ I was alarmed and came out to him, and he said, ‘Something serious has happened (some people thought the Prophet had divorced his wives).’ I entered upon Ḥafṣah and found her weeping. I said, ‘Has Allāh’s Messenger – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him – divorced you [all]?’ She replied, ‘I don’t know.’ Then, I came to the Prophet – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him – and asked him, still standing, ‘Have you divorced your women?’ He said, ‘No’, so I said, ‘ Allāhu Akbar (Allāh is Greatest).’

Al-Bukhārī, Al-Ṣaḥīḥ, Chapter on Taking Turns in Seeking Knowledge.

Notes

The narration translated above is a shorter report of the full incident, recorded elsewhere in Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī.

In his commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī, Ibn Ḥajr lists some of the lessons and points that can be taken from this narration, including the following:

1. This hadith shows us that the khabar (news, report) of a single (reliable) person is dependable.

2. The student of knowledge should not neglect taking care of his living needs, in order to help him continue seeking knowledge and other pursuits (at that time, ‘Umar was involved in trade, as is mentioned in other reports).

3. At the same time, the student of knowledge should be diligent and resolute in asking about the knowledge he has missed in his absence.
 
Asalamu alaikum rahmatullah wa barakatu

It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

It has reached me that when Allāh the Mighty and Majestic blesses a people and gives them some good he asks them to be grateful. If they are grateful, He is all-able to give them more. But if they are ungrateful, He is all-able to turn His blessings into a punishment.

Al-Bayhaqī, Shu’ab Al-Imān article 4536.
 
Asalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatu

It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

One who acts without knowledge is like one who travels off the path; and the one who acts without knowledge corrupts more than he rectifies. So seek knowledge in a way that does not harm your worship, and seek to worship [Allāh] in a way that does not harm [your seeking of] knowledge. For verily, there were people (the Khawārij extremists) who sought to worship [Allāh] but abandoned knowledge until they attacked the Ummah of Muḥammad – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him – with their swords. But if they had sought knowledge, it would not have directed them to do what they did.

Quoted by Ibn ‘Abd Al-Barr, Jāmi’ Bayān Al-‘Ilm wa Faḍlihi article 905.
 
Asalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatu

It is reported that the son of Al-Fuḍayl b. ‘Ayyāḍ – Allāh have mercy on him – said to his father:

Father! How sweet (beautiful) the speech of the Companions is! [Al-Fuḍayl] said, “Son, do you know why it was so sweet?” He replied, “No father, I do not.” He said, “Because they sought Allāh the Exalted when they spoke.”

Al-Bayhaqī, Shu’ab Al-īmān
 
Asalamu alaikum rahmatullah wa barakatu

It is reported that Imām Muḥammad b. Sīrīn – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

There were people who abandoned knowledge and sitting with the scholars, and [instead] took to their chambers and prayed until their skin dried [from exertion in worship]. Thereafter they began to contradict the Sunnah and thus were destroyed. By Allāh, never does a person act without knowledge, except that he spoils and corrupts more than he fixes and rectifies.

Al-Aṣbahānī, Al-Targhīb wa Al-Tarhīb 3:98
 
Correct but even elders i have comeacross learn quran eagerly some wat manage to
By heart suras nd use it in the prayer. One of my relative at 67 joined quran class along with d.inlaws.she was so dedicated in studying she was able pickup watever being taught
Nd she was awarded by the teacher
My dotr her dil was too a bright girl but couldnt surpass her mil
 
It is reported that Imām Abū Dāwūd Al-Sijistānī – Allah have mercy on him – said:

Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal never used to involve himself in the things of this world that people involved themselves in; but when knowledge was mentioned, he would speak.

Ibn Al-Jawzī Ṣifatu Al-Ṣafwah 2:519.
 
Asalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatu

It is reported that Al-Fuḍayl b. ‘Ayyāḍ – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

The believer speaks little and does alot, whereas the hypocrite (munāfiq) speaks a lot and does little. When the believer speaks, it is with wisdom, when he is silent, it is in deep thought, when he sees, he takes lessons, and when he acts, it is a cure. If this is the way you are, then you are in the constant worship [of your Lord.]

Abū Nu’aym, Ḥilyatu Al-Awliyā` 8:98.
 
Asalamu alaikum rahmatullah wa barakatu

It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

The believer does the best deeds yet is most fearful [that his deeds will not be accepted]. If he were to spend a mountain of wealth [in charity], he would not feel sure [of the reward] until he sees it. The more righteous and pious he becomes, the more he fears. But the hypocrite (munāfiq) says, ‘There are so many people, I will be forgiven, no problem.’ So he does wrong and evil deeds, yet holds foolish wishes about Allāh.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 4:586.
 
Asalamu alaikum rahmatullah wa barakatu

It is reported that Mālik b. Dīnār – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

It is unfitting for a believer that his belly becomes his greatest concern, or that his desires dominate him.

Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Al-Jū’ (The Book of Hunger) article 105.
 
It is reported that Imām Al-Shāfi’ī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

If you fear becoming deluded and impressed by your deeds then remember whose pleasure you are seeking, and the joy (Paradise) in which you want to be, and what punishment you fear. Whoever thinks about these things will diminish his deeds.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 10:42.
 
It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

The intelligent person’s tongue is behind his heart: when he wants to speak, he first thinks. If [his words] will be in his favor, he says them, and if they will be against him, he does not speak. And the ignorant person’s heart is behind his tongue: when he merely thinks of saying something, he says it, whether it is for or against him.

Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm article 2049.
 
Salmān Al-Fārsī – Allāh be pleased with him – once visited a sick friend. When he entered upon him he said:

Have glad tidings, for verily Allāh makes the illness of a believer an expiation [for his sins] and a cause of being pleased, whereas the illness of a sinner is like a camel that has been tied by its owners, then released by them: it knows not why it was tied up nor why it was released.

Al-Bukhārī, Al-Adab Al-Mufrad in the Chapter on the Expiation [of sins through] illness. Graded ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Al-Albānī in Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Adab Al-Mufrad.
 
It is reported that ‘Abdullāh b. Masʿūd – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

The example of the believer, the unbeliever and the hypocrite is that of three people who arrived at a valley. One of them descended and passed through to the other side. One of them descended until he reached half way, when the third man on the edge of the valley called to him, “Woe to you, where are you going? You will die. Come back.” The man who made it to the other side called to him, “Come and be saved.” So [the man in the middle of the valley] kept looking back and forth at the two [on each side of the valley], when a flood came into the valley and drowned him. The man who passed through to the other side is the believer; the one who drowned is the munāfiq (hypocrite) –

مُّذَبْذَبِينَ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ لَآ إِلَىٰ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ وَلَآ إِلَىٰ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ ۚ

[The Hypocrites] sway between this and that, neither [fully] with the believers nor with the unbelievers.

Quran 4:143

And the one who remained at the edge of the valley [not able to escape the flood and pass] is the kāfir (unbeliever).

Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Al-Tafsīr article 6144.
 

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