Gems Pearls of Wisdom of the Salaf

Allied SoulsIt is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. Masʿūd – Allāh be pleased with him – said:


If the people were gathered on one plain, all of them believers, except for two unbelievers amongst them, they would join each other. And if the people were gathered on one plain, all of them unbelievers, except for two believers amongst them, they would join each other.


Ibn Baṭṭah, Al-ʾIbānah Al-Kubrā 1:455


It is also reported that he said:


The souls of people are allied together (like for like), they meet and detect one another like horses do; those that recognise each other come together, and those that disapprove each other, separate. If a believer entered a mosque in which there were a hundred people, amongst them only one other believer, he would end up sitting with him. And if a munāfiq entered a mosque in which there were a hundred people, amongst them only one other munāfiq, he would end up sitting with him.


ibid.


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


The souls of people are allied together, those that recognise each other come together, and those that disapprove each other, separate; and [thus] it is not possible for a follower of the Sunnah to compromise with an adherent of Bidʿah ever, except out of nifāq (hypocrisy).


Op. cit. 456
 
It is reported that Mālik – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
It is upon whoever seeks knowledge to have a solemn, dignified demeanour, fearful [of Allāh]; and to follow in the footsteps of those who went before him.
​
 
Verbal Security It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAmr b. Al-ʿĀs – Allāh be pleased with them – said:


Leave alone what you have nothing to do with, and do not speak about what does not concern you, and secure your tongue like you secure your money.


Ibn Ḥibbān Al-Bustī, Rawḍatu Al-ʿUqalāʾ 1:55.
 
[h=2]Wolves in Sheeps’ Clothing[/h]It is reported that Abūl-ʿĀliyah said:
There will come upon the people a time when their hearts will be derelict of the Qurān; they will find neither sweetness nor pleasure by it. If they fall short of doing what they have been commanded to do, they will say: Allāh is most forgiving, merciful (He will forgive us), and if they do what they have been forbidden from doing, they will say: we will be forgiven, we haven’t committed any shirk with Allāh. Their affairs will all be based on [false] hope, having no truth and sincerity with it. They will wear the skins of lambs over hearts of wolves. The best of them in his religion will be someone who compromises.
​
Imām Aḥmad, Al-Zuhd article 1741.
 
It is reported that ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān – Allāh be pleased with him – once addressed the people in a sermon. He praised Allāh, then said:
O people! Fear Allāh and obey Him, for piety is a valuable prize. Verily the most intelligent person is he who takes account of himself and works for what comes after death, and acquires through the light (guidance) of Allāh a light for the darkness of the grave.
The servant of Allāh should fear lest Allāh the Mighty and Sublime resurrects him blind though he used to see. A few comprehensive words can be enough for a wise man, whereas the deaf (who does not listen to guidance) is being called from afar.
And know that whoever Allāh the Mighty and Sublime is with has nothing to fear; but whoever Allāh the Mighty and Sublime is against, then in whom can he hope after Allāh?!
​
Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-ʿIlm 4:116,117.
 
Al-Muzanī reports:
I heard Al-Shāfiʿī say:

A man once asked Ubay b. Kaʿb – Allāh be pleased with him, “Exhort me with something I can benefit by and by which I will be rewarded.” He replied, “Be brotherly with brothers according to how righteous they are, do not expend your speech on those who are not interested in it, do not seek anyone to meet your need who does not care if he does not fulfil it, and do not envy the living except for something you would envy the dead.”

Al-Ājurrī, Juz fīhi Ḥikāyāt ʿan Al-Shāfiʿī article 24.
 
It is reported that Sufyān Al-Thawrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

Whoever hears of a bidʿah, let him not tell it to those who are with him, lest he cast it into their hearts.

Commenting, Al-Dhahabī states, “The majority of the Imāms of the Salaf are upon this; they see that the hearts are weak, and specious arguments ensnare.”

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar ʾAʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 7:261
 
It is reported that ʿAlī b. ʾAbī Ṭālib – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

Do not be with the sinner (fājir), for he will beautify to you the things he does, and he will want you to be like him; and he will beautify to you the worst of his practices; and his entrance upon you and leaving from your company will cause ignominy and discredit [of you].

And do not accompany the fool (aḥmaq), for he will exhaust himself [to help you] but will not benefit you, and he may want to benefit you but end up harming you; his silence is better than his speaking, his distance is better than his closeness, and him dying is better than him living.

And do not accompany the liar, for life will not benefit you with him, he will tell others what you say, and tell you what others say; and if you speak the truth, it will not be believed.

Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir AlʿIlm no. 1379.
 
It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. Mas’ūd – Allāh be pleased with him – said, “One of the worst sins is when a man says to his brother, “Fear Allāh,’ and he replies, “Worry about yourself.”

Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm article 2619.
 
It is reported that Makḥūl – Allāh have mercy on him – said, “The people with the softest hearts are those who sin the least.”

Abū Nu’aym, Ḥilyah Al-Awliyā` Vol. 2 p344.

It is reported that ‘Awn b. ʿAbdillāh, the ascetic and jurist, said, “Sit with the repentant, for they have the softest hearts.”

Abū Nu’aym, Ḥilyah Al-Awliyā` Vol. 2 p192.
 
It is reported that Abū Bakr Al-Maṭū’ī said:

I sat in the circle of Abū ‘Abdillāh Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal for twelve years while he read the Musnad to his children, and I never wrote a single ḥadīth, I only looked at his behavior, character and etiquette.

Ibn Al-Jawzī, Manāqib Aḥmad, article 210.
 
It is reported that Al-Ḥasan b. Ismā’īl said, ‘I heard my father say:

There would gather in the circle of Aḥmad five thousand people or more; less than five hundred would write, the rest would learn from him good manners and behavior.’

Ibid.
 
Just Playing

It is reported that Imām Mālik – Allāh have mercy on him – said:


Whatever you fool around with, don’t fool around with your dīn (religion).


Al-Lālakāʾī, Sharḥ ʾUṣūl ʾIʿtiqād Ahl Al-Sunnah 1:163
 
It is reported that Masrūq – Allāh have mercy him – said: There is no house better for the believer than the niche of his grave, for then he will rest from the worries of this world, and be secured from the punishment of Allāh.

Ibid. #87
 
Speech Therapy [Exhortation]

It is reported that a man saw Ibn ʿAbbās – Allāh be pleased with them – holding the tip of his tongue saying:Woe to you, say what is good and you will reap gain, and be silent from speaking evil and you will be safe.The man asked him:O Ibn ʿAbbās, what is the matter that I see you holding the tip of your tongue saying such-and-such?He replied:It has reached me that the servant of Allāh will not be as angry at anything on the Day of Resurrection as he will be at his tongue.Imām Aḥmad, Al-Zuhd p236
 
[h=2]Comprehensive Reliance[/h]Saʿīd b. Jubayr – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Tawakkul (reliance and trust in Allah) comprehends all of Īmān.
​
Hunād b. Al-Sarī, Al-Zuhd #534.


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[TR][TD]Comprehensive Reliance - Sayings of the Salaf
Reliance and trust in Allah is what brings together the various aspects of faith....[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]
 
Aḥmad b. Yūnus reports:
I saw Zuhayr b. Muʿāwiyah come to Zāʾidah b. Qudāmah (d.160H) and speak to him to get him to narrate ḥadīth to a man, so Zāʾidah asked, Is he from Ahl Al-Sunnah? Zuhayr replied, I do not know that he has any bidʿah. Zāʾidah said, No, that is another matter! Is he from Ahl Al-Sunnah? Zuhayr said, Since when have people become like this? Zāʾidah replied, Since when did people curse Abū Bakr and ʿUmar?!
​
Al-Khaṭīb Al-Baghdādī, Al-Jāmiʿ li Akhlāq Al-Rāwī #754.
 
Sometimes the Manners Surpassed KnowledgeIt is reported that Imām Al-Zuhrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:


We used to sometimes come to a scholar and what we learned of his manners was more beloved to us than the knowledge we took from him.


Abū Nuʿaym, Ḥilyatu Al-ʾAwliyāʾ #4575
 
It is reported that a man once wrote to Ibn ʿUmar – Allāh be pleased with them:

Please write down all knowledge for me. Ibn ʿUmar replied: Knowledge is vast, but if you can meet Allāh having kept your back light of the burden of people’s blood, your stomach void of people’s wealth and having kept your tongue from [disparaging] their honour, then do so.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar ʾAʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 3:222
 
It is reported that Abū Muslim Al-Khawlānī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
The example of the scholars on earth is that of the stars in the sky: when they appear, the people are guided (they navigate using the stars), but when they disappear, the people get confused and lost.
​
Al-Bayhaqī, Al-Madkhal ilā Al-Sunan Al-Kubrā #287
 

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