‘Awn ibn Abdillah (rahimahullah) said, “A man advised his son saying: O my son! You should adopt Taqwa and if you are able to be better today than you were yesterday and to be better tomorrow than you are today, then do so.”(Kitabuz Zuhd of Imam ‘Abdullah ibn Al Mubarak, Hadith: 846, pg. 254 and Hilyatul Awliya, vol. 4 pg. 263/264. Also see Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, Hadith: 36741)
"Surely, you are a man who has attained the outer knowledge of Islam and thereby gained honour. So seek the inner knowledge of Islam and gain the love of Allah and nearness to Him."
Another version relates that he wrote, "Because of your outer knowledge, you have gained sta-tus and honour with the people. So seek inner knowledge to seek status with Allah and nearness to Him. You should know that each of these are separate stations."
Taken from the book: 'The Heirs of the Prophets' byImam Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbali (RA)
Hz Umar's رضي الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ عنه advice to the Muslim Army:
‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab said (advising Sa’d Ibn Abee Waqqaas, who was the leader of an army):
“I urge you and the troops who are with you to fear Allah in all circumstances, for fear of Allah is the best means of preparation to face the enemy and the best plan at times of war. I command you and those who are with you to be more cautious of sin than of your enemy, for the sins of an army are more alarming for them than their enemy. And the Muslims are only granted divine help because of their enemy’s disobedience towards Allah.”
[Al-Faarooq ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab, by Muhammad Rasheed Rida, p.119]
“Shaykh Al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyyah), Allah be pleased with him, said to me, when I presented to him one objection (îrâd) after another,
‘Do not make your heart like a sponge for objections and doubts, such that it cannot ripen but with them, but rather like polished glass, so doubts may pass over its surface but do not stay within: its purity makes you see them, and its firmness allows you to repel them’.
Or something to this effect. I do not know of any other advice that has helped me repel doubts like this one”.
From Imam Ghazali’s رحمه الله Bidayatul Hidayah (The Beginning of Guidance)
'Sayyidina Ali رضي الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ عنه said:
Do not be in the company of an ignorant friend; Beware of him & let him beware of you.
How often an ignorant man has brought destruction to a forbearing man who has befriended him.'
It is reported that ‘Abdullâh b. Al-Mubârak – Allâh have mercy on him – said:
It is right that an intelligent person does not undervalue three [types of people]: the scholars, the rulers, and [his Muslim] brothers.
Whoever undervalues (does not respect him, does not value his knowledge, his authority, does not seek knowledge from him, etc) the scholars will lose his afterlife, whoever undervalues the rulers will lose his worldly life, and whoever undervalues his brothers loses his good character and conduct.
Shaykh Abu Ali al-Juzjani [RA] who when asked about the distinguishing traits of the spiritual traveller (seeker of Allah's pleasure) said:
"Obedience to God is their sweetness; love of God is their companion; God is their need and He is their protector. Righteousness is their nature; with God is their commerce; upon Him they depend; with Him is their intimacy; and in Him is their confidence…The Quran is their speech, gratitude their ornament, the invocation of God their booty… Life is their place of alighting [on their journey], death is their way station; the grave is their citadel; and the Day of Judgment their feast day. [To stand] before God is their most ardent desire, in the shade of the Throne is their gathering place, in [the paradise of] Firdaws is their dwelling and the vision of God the object of their destiny."
From- 'The Stumblings of Those Aspiring'
By Imam Abu 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sulami Al-Naysaburi
Abu Layth Samarqandi (Rahimullah) says, the fear of Allah is shown through five things:
1. Tongue– Because of the fear of Allah it stops from lies, evil-speaking, backbiting and unnecessary talking and engages in Tilawat and Zikr.
2. Stomach– A person puts only Halal food in his stomach and saves it from Haram, and even Halal enters just as much as necessary.
3. Eye– It dislikes Haram and looks at Halal as well only for admonition, not because of desires.
4. Hand– It stops from all these actions that Allah dislikes, it’s actions are only for the sake of Allah’s pleasure.
5. Foot– It doesn’t take a step towards the things including Allah’s disobedience, but runs for the pleasure of Allah .
6. Heart– In the Allah-fearing heart in the place of hatred, envy and jealousy is love, friendliness, humanity and respect.
7. Ikhlas– Someone fearing Allah keeps on exploring Ikhlas to avoid that Ikhlas missing somewhere causes all the actions to get wasted.
For people like this the Qur’an says,
“The Hereafter, in the sight of thy Lord is for the Righteous (Muttaqeen).” (43:35)
“Verily for the God-conscious (Muttaqeen) there is supreme fulfilment in store.” (78:31)
“As to the Righteous (they will be) in a position of Security.” (44:51)
“Not one of you but will pass over it: this is, with thy Lord, a Decree which must be accomplished. But We shall save those who guarded against evil, and We shall leave the wrong-doers therein, (humbled) to their knees.” (19:71-72)
“Tanbihul Ghafileen” by Faqih Abu Layth Samarqandi Rahimullah Ta’ala
If a person loves an attribute of Allâh , then this will help him to reach Him. Allâh is as-Sabûr, patient, and there is none that is more patient and forbearing than Him. It was reported that Allâh revealed to Dâwûd (alaihi wa sallam), “Have my attributes, as one of My attributes is that I am sabûr (patient).” Allâh loves His attributes and characteristics, and He loves to see the effects of His attributes on His slaves. As He is beautiful, so He loves beauty; as He is all-forgiving, He loves forgiveness; as He is generous, He loves generosity; as He is all-knowing, he loves the people of knowledge; as He is strong and powerful, so a strong believer is more beloved to Him than a weaker one; as He is sabûr (patient), so He loves those who have patience; as He is shakûr (grateful), so He loves those who give thanks. As He loves those who have His characteristics, so He is with them, and this is a special and unique type of companionship.
Taken from Patience and Gratitude By Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah An abridgement of his original work entitled, “Uddat as-Sâbireen wa Dhâkirat ash-Shâkireen”
1.That the slave should protect himself from kufr (covering over the truth), and that is the station of Islam;
2.That he should protect himself from acts of disobedience and forbidden things, and it is the station of turning or repentance [tawbah];
3.That he should protect himself from doubtful matters, and that is the station of caution or carefulness [wara'];
4.That he should protect himself from even those things that are permitted (i.e, avoiding what is more than absolutely necessary of this world) and that is the station of doing without [zuhd];
5.That he should protect himself from the presence of other than Allah in his heart, and it is the presence of witnessing [mushahadah].
Source: Al-Kalbi, Ibn Juzayy.Kitabu-t Tashil li ‘Ulumu-t Tanzil.
“How are you?” He said: “We patch the life of this world by tearing from our religion, so neither our religion remains nor what we patch. Blessed is he who prefers Allah, his Rabb and renounces the life of this world for what he expects as reward in the Hereafter.”
[Abdul Malik Ali-Qasim from “The Life of This World Is a Transient Shade”]
The believer sees his sins as if he were sitting beneath a mountain which he feared was about to fall upon him, whereas the wicked sees his sins like a man who finds a fly settle upon his nose, so he does this (one of the narrators said: He brushes it away from his nose).
“How are you?” He said: “We patch the life of this world by tearing from our religion, so neither our religion remains nor what we patch. Blessed is he who prefers Allah, his Rabb and renounces the life of this world for what he expects as reward in the Hereafter.”
“The people will remain upon goodness so long as they take knowledge from their Scholars, their greater ones and their elders. When they take knowledge from their young ones and their foolish ones, they will be destroyed.”
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