In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.
Ali Bin Hafs Al-Bazzaar [rahimahullaah] said, ‘’Hafs Bin Abdir-Rahmaan [rahimahullaah] was a [business] partner of Abu Haneefah [rahimahullaah] and Abu Haneefah used to supply him with [merchandise]. Once he sent merchandise to Hafs and informed him that there was a defect in such and such thobe and that he should make it known before selling it. However, Hafs sold it and forgot to make that known and did not know who he sold it to. When Abu Haneefah knew about it, he gave charity equivalent to the price of all the merchandise. [Taareekh Baghdaad: 13/358]
In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.
Abul Haarith As-Saa’iq [rahimahullaah] said, ‘’I heard Abu Abdillaah [Imaam Ahmad (rahimahullaah)] saying, ‘He [The Prophet (sallal-laahu-alayhi-wasallam)] said, ‘The best of the people are those living in my generation’. Therefore, none of his companions are to be compared to the Taabi’een’’’. [Ref 1]
Al-Fadl Bin Ziyaad [rahimahullaah] said, ‘’I heard Abu Abdillaah [Imaam Ahmad (rahimahullaah)] when he was asked about a man who belittles Mu’aawiyah and Amr Ibnul Aas [radiyallaahu-anhuma], whether he should be called a Raafidi? So he said, ‘Indeed, he [i.e. this man] did not become insolent towards them except that he is one with hidden evil [in his heart]. No one belittles anyone amongst the companions of the Prophet [sallal-laahu-alayhi-wasallam] except that he has a hidden evil [in his heart]’’’. [Ref 2]
In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy
Imaam Fudayl Ibn Iyaad (rahimahullaah) once cried when he read the statement of Allaah [The Most High]: [أَلَمۡ نَجۡعَل لَّهُ ۥ عَيۡنَيۡنِ-Have We not made for him (i.e. the human) a pair of eyes?][ وَلِسَانً۬ا وَشَفَتَيۡنِ -And a tongue and a pair of lips?] [Ref 1]; then he was asked the reason he cried, so he said, ”Have you spent a night really thanking Allaah (for giving) you two eyes by way of which you can see and a tongue by way of which you speak?’’ [Ref 2]
In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy
Shuraih Al-Qaadhiy [rahimahullaah] said: Indeed [when] afflicted by a calamity, I praise Allaah four times: I praise Allaah for not making the calamity greater than what it is. I praise Allaah for granting me patience. I praise Allaah for the reward I hope for in that calamity and I praise Allaah for not placing that calamity in the affairs of my religion.
In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy
Imaam Ibnul Jawzi [rahimahullaah] said:
I saw that solely being preoccupied with studying Fiqh and listening to [transmission] of hadeeth is not enough to rectify the heart, except [when] combined with [the authentic narrations concerning the] softening of the hearts, and looking into the biographies of the pious predecessors. As for having knowledge of Halaal and Haraam only, it does not have a great strength in softening the heart; rather the softening of the heart is [attained] by mentioning the Ahaadeeth on the subject matter and the stories of the pious predecessors. That is because they [i.e. the pious predecessors] grasped the intent behind narrating [ahadeeth]–they demonstrated the tangible obligated actions by way of them, practical encounter with their meanings and the goals behind them. And there is nothing that will make you experience this, except after cultivation and experience.
That is because I find that the ambition of the majority of the Muhadditheen and the students of hadeeth is [focused on acquiring hadeeth that has the closest chain of transmission from the Prophet (sallal-laahu-alayhi-wasallam) and gathering numerous authentic Ahaadeeth on a particular subject matter in the religion etc]. And the majority of the jurists [focus on] the science of debate and that which gives one the upper hand [i.e. what he observed during his era]; so how can the heart be softened through these affairs?
Indeed, a group of the pious predecessors aspired to see that a righteous slave should look to his character and upright guidance and not [merely] the knowledge he has acquired. That is [because] his character and upright guidance are the fruits of his knowledge. So understand this! The student of Hadeeth and Fiqh should combine [seeking after hadeeth and fiqh] with studying the lives of the pious predecessors and the Zuhhaad, so that it can be a means to softening the heart. Indeed, books have been compiled regarding the affairs and manners of each one of those well-known outstanding men [of piety]. A book has been compiled regarding the affairs of Al-Hasan [Al-Basri], Sufyaan Ath-Thawri, Ibraaheem Bin Ad-ham, Bishr Al-Haafiy, Ahmad Bin Hanbal, Ma’roof and other than them amongst the scholars and the Zuhhaad.
[An Excerpt from ‘Saydul khaatir’ Page 171. Daar Ibn Rajab. 1st edition 2003. Slightly paraphrased]
In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy
Khaalid Ibn Safwaan (rahimahullaah) reported: I met Maslamah Ibn Abdil Maalik (rahimahullaah) in a state of bewilderment, so he said to me: ”O Khaalid! Inform me of Hasan Al-Basree (rahimahullaah), for indeed I think that you know of his affair that which none else knows”.
So I said, ”May Allaah rectify the affairs of the Ameer, I am the best of those to inform you about him based on knowledge. I was a neighbour of his, I sat with him and I sat in his gatherings”. So he (Maslamah) said to me, ”Give what you have (of information)”. So I said, ”Indeed, he was a man whose private affairs were the same as his public affairs (i.e. what he believed and did in private was the same as what he believed and did in public), and his speech conformed to his actions. When he commanded good, he was the one who acted upon it the most, and when he forbade evil, he was the one who abandoned it the most. Indeed, I saw him free from having any need of the people and abstaining from what the people possessed, but the people were in need of him and sought after what he had.” So Maslamah (rahimahullaah) said, ”Enough O Khaalid! How can a people be misguided when the likes of such a person was amongst them”.
[Source: Suwar Min Hayaat At-taab’een Lis-saf Ath-thaalitha Al-Mutawassit page 14. Saudi Arabia Ministry of Education]
In The Name of Allaah, The Most Mercififul, The Bestower of Mercy
Abdul-Azeez Al-Qurashee [rahimahullaah] said:
I heard Sufyaan [rahimahullaah] saying: It is incumbent upon you that you do not attach your heart to the worldly life [i.e. a blameworthy attachment as opposed to seeking one’s needs] and you are not eager for its attainment [i.e. the eagerness that leads to sin, transgression, greed etc], and Allaah will make you see the concealed affairs of the worldly life [i.e. its corruption, true reality, worries etc when we are attached to it in a blameworthy manner]. It is incumbent upon you to fear Allaah in a manner that will keep you away from those affairs that are doubtful and thus may affect you in the afterlife and Allaah will make your giving account on [the day of judgement] less burdensome. Leave what makes you doubt for that which is not doubtful; leave those affairs that resemble the truth but are falsehood in reality and your religion will be safeguarded. [Hilyatul Awliyaa 7/20]
In this video Shaykh Saliah al-Fawzaan provides us with some much needed advice in regards to clinging onto the Methodology of the Salaf. Tune in and benefit!
The people said to Jundub [radiyallaahu-anhu], “Advise us.” He said: “The first thing of the human body to putrefy is the abdomen, so he who can eat nothing but good food [halaal and earned lawfully] should do so, and he who does as much as he can that nothing intervenes between him and paradise by not shedding even a handful of blood [i.e. unlawful killing], should do so.”
