Pearls of Wisdom of the Salaf

Faulty Iman
It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī said:
Son of Ādam, you will never find the reality of īmān as long as you fault people for doing what you yourself are guilty of, until you clear yourself of that fault and correct it. Then, you will not correct a fault in yourself except that you will notice another, so your occupation will become correcting yourself, and this is the most beloved thing to Allāh, when you are like this.

Al-Khaṭīb Al-Baġdādī, Al-Muntakhab min Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqāʾiq, article 41.
https://www.sayingsofthesalaf.net/topic/sins/

Do Not Beautify Yourself with Knowledge

It is reported that Ḥabīb b. ʿUbayd – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

Learn knowledge, understand it and benefit from it (live by it); and do not study it in order to decorate yourself with it, for if you live long you will likely see a time when knowledge will be used for beautification like a man beautifies himself with his garments.

Ibn Al-Mubārak, Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqāʾiq no. 1056.

Ali on fear, hope, knowledge and patience

It is reported that ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib – Allāh be pleased with him – said, “The servant [of Allāh] should not fear except his sins, and should not hope except in his Lord. The ignorant should not be ashamed to ask, and the knowledgeable should not be ashamed to say – if he does not know something – ‘Allāh knows best.’ Patience (al-ṣabr) to faith (Al-Īmān) is like the head to the rest of the body: if the head is cut off, the body will rot. And one who has no patience, has no faith.”

Al-Baihaqī, Shu’ab Al-Īmān, Vol.12 p195.
https://www.sayingsofthesalaf.net/al...-and-patience/

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

How fast these days are in doing away with our lifespans, and how fast this year is in doing away with its months, and how fast this month is in doing away with its days.Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Al-ʿUmr was Al-Shayb article 25.

The Three Men and the Valley [example of the munafiq]

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
https://www.sayingsofthesalaf.net/th...f-the-munafiq/

It is reported that Abū Juḥayfah – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

Sit with the seniors, mix with the wise, and enquire with the scholars.

Ibn Ḥibbān, Rawḍatu Al-ʿUqalāʾ p176. See Al-Albānī, Al-Ḍaʿīfah ḥadīth 3462.

Praying for the Tawbah of the SinnerIt is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. Masʿūd – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

If you see a man amongst you having committed a sin, do not supplicate Allāh against him and do not revile him; instead, pray to Allāh to cure him and accept his repentance, for when we used to see a man die upon something good, we would have hope for him, and when we used to see a man die upon wrongdoing, we would fear for him.

Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Kitāb Al-Tawbah article 112.

It is reported that Al-Nuʿmān b. Bashīr – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

The example of the son of Adam and death is that of a man who has three friends. He says to one of them: “What do you have?” [The first friend] replies, “I have your wealth, take from it what you wish, and whatever you do not take, you will no longer possess.” Then he asks the second, “What do you have?” He replies, “I will look after you, and when you die, I will bury you and then leave you.” The man then asks the third, “What do you have?” He replies, “I will be with you wherever you go.” [Al-Nuʿmān] said, “As for the first one, it is the wealth of a person: whatever he uses is his, and whatever he does not use is not. As for the second, it is a man’s family and kin: when he dies they take care of him, then they leave him. As for the third, it is a man’s actions: wherever he goes (before and after death), they go with him.”

Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf ḥadīth 34723.

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.

It is reported that Al-Rabīʿ b. Khuthaym – Allāh have mercy him – said: There is nothing that is away from the believer, and for which he waits, better for him than death.

Ibid. #88

death, dunyā, Paradise, remembrance of Allah, the hereafter, zuhd

Masrūq, ʿAbdullāh b. Masʿūd

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

It is reported that Al-Hasan Al-Basrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
How strange it is that a people whose departure (from this world to the next) has been announced, and whose predecessors have already departed, still play around!

Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm article 843.

death, dunyā, the hereafter

Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī

It is reported that Al-Dahhāk said:
How surprising it is that the companions of ʿAbdulāh (ibn Mas’ūd) are looking now to see where the sun rises from. Do they not know that when Fajr comes from a direction, the sun rises from the same?

It is reported that Jundub b. ʿAbdillāh Al-Bajalī said:

I once sought permission to see Ḥudhayfah three times without being given permission. So I left, but his messenger caught up with me. [When I spoke to Ḥudhayfah] he asked, “What made you leave?” I replied, “I thought you were sleeping (after Fajr).” He said, “I do not sleep until I see where the sun rises from.” [The narrator] said, “I related this to Muḥammad (another narrator), to which he said, ‘More than one of the Companions of Muḥammad – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him – did this.’”

Ibn Abī Shaybah, Kitāb Al-Adab articles 156 and 157.

Faulty Iman

It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī said:

Son of Ādam, you will never find the reality of īmān as long as you fault people for doing what you yourself are guilty of, until you clear yourself of that fault and correct it. Then, you will not correct a fault in yourself except that you will notice another, so your occupation will become correcting yourself, and this is the most beloved thing to Allāh, when you are like this.

Al-Khaṭīb Al-Baġdādī, Al-Muntakhab min Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqāʾiq, article 41.
https://www.sayingsofthesalaf.net/faulty-iman/

It is reported that:

ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn – Allāh have mercy on him – would sometimes ride to Makkah and return without entering it (meeting anyone there), and he used to sit with Aslam the freedman of ʿUmar (himself a scholar), so it was said to him, “You leave Quraysh, and instead sit with the slave of Banī ʿAdī!” So he replied, “A man [should] sit where he benefits.”

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 4:388.

Two Qualities a Believer Cannot Have
ʿAbdullāh b. Masʿūd – Allāh be pleased with him – said: "A believer might harbour any [bad] quality, except treachery and lying."

Ibn Abī Shaybah, Kitāb Al-Īmān article 80, where Al-Albānī grades its chain of narration ṣaḥīḥ; and others.
Saʿd b. Abī Waqqās – Allāh be pleased with him – said: "A believer might be characterised with any [bad] quality, except treachery and lying."

Ibn Abī Shaybah, Kitāb Al-Īmān article 81, where Al-Albānī grades its chain of narration ṣaḥīḥ; and others.
https://www.sayingsofthesalaf.net/tw...r-cannot-have/

It is reported that Sufyān Al-Thawrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

Safety lies in not wanting to be known.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 7:258.

No Bachelorhood in Islām
Imâm Ahmad – Allâh have mercy in him – said:
{Voluntary] bachelorhood has nothing to do with Islâm. The Prophet – Allâh’s peace and blessings be upon him – married fourteen women, and he died being married to nine of them. If Bishr b. Al-Hârith had married, his affairs would be complete. If people left marrying no one would go to battle or go on pilgrimage (Al-Hajj), and such-and-such wouldn’t happen.
He went on to say:
The Prophet – Allâh’s peace and blessings be upon him – would wake in the morning and his family would have nothing to eat and go to bed at night and they would have nothing to eat, [yet] he died married to nine wives, he chose marriage and encouraged others to marry.
Abû Bakr Al-Marrûdhî, Kitâb Al-Wara’ p116, 117.
https://www.sayingsofthesalaf.net/no...hood-in-islam/

Beneficial Brotherhood and Love
It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. ‘Abbās – Allāh be pleased with him – said, “Love for Allāh and hate for Allāh, make your enmity because of Allāh and your allegiance because of Allāh; for indeed, the love and support of Allāh is not achieved save through this. And a man will never taste true faith (īmān) – though he may pray and fast much – except when he is like that. Today, the people’s brotherhood is based upon worldly considerations (dunyā), but this will not do anything for them on the Day of Resurrection.”
Ibn Al-Mubārak, Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqā`iq article 353.
https://www.sayingsofthesalaf.net/be...hood-and-love/

The Diagnosis and the Cure

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

Verily the Qurān guides you to your disease and your treatment: as for your disease, it is your sins; and as for your treatment, it is to seek the forgiveness of Allāh.

Al-Bayhaqī, Shuʿab Al-Īmān 9:347 no. 6745.

The Diagnosis and the Cure - Sayings of the Salaf The Quran tells us both what is wrong with us and how to fix it....