In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
The life of the salaf was defined by the harmony between their words and their deeds.
Guarding the tongue.
Guarding the tongue against speaking about Allah without knowledge.
Exercising caution (wara') in issuing legal rulings (fatwa) and in transmitting reports from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Al-Qasim Ibn Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"For a man to live in ignorance after having learned what Allah has made incumbent upon him
is better for him than to speak about that which he does not know."
"By Allah, we do not know everything you ask us about;
and had we known, we would not have concealed it from you,
for it is not permissible for us to conceal it from you."
Ibn al-Munkadir, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"The scholar stands between Allah and His servants,
so let him seek a way out for his own soul."
Al-Rabi' Ibn Khuthaym, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Let one of you fear saying, 'Allah has permitted such-and-such, and Allah has forbidden such-and-such,'
lest Allah say to him, 'You have lied;
I did not permit such-and-such, nor did I forbid such-and-such.'"
Sahnun, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked:
"Is it permissible for a scholar to say 'I do not know' regarding a matter he actually knows?"
He replied, "Regarding matters for which there is a clear text from the Qur'an or an established Sunnah, no.
But as for matters based on personal opinion (ra'y),
then it is permissible for him to do so,
because he does not know whether he is correct or mistaken."
Zubayd al-Yami said:
"I never asked Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, may Allah have mercy on him, about anything
without seeing signs of aversion on his face;
he would say, 'I hope,' or 'Perhaps.'"
Al-A'mash, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"I never heard Ibrahim al-Nakha'i say,
'This is halal' or 'This is haram.'
He would only say,
'They used to dislike this,' or 'They used to like this.'"
Ibn Mahdi said:
"A man asked Malik Ibn Anas, may Allah have mercy on him, about a matter,
and he replied, 'I do not know it.'
The man said,
'I have traveled from such-and-such a place just to ask you about this.'
Malik said to him,
'When you return to your home and your place,
inform them that I told you:
I do not know it.'"
Ibn Wahb said:
"If I wished to fill pages with the words of Malik Ibn Anas, may Allah have mercy on him,
saying 'I do not know,' I could have done so."
He, may Allah have mercy on him, also said:
"It was not the way of the people,
nor of those who passed before us from our salaf,
nor of anyone I have met whom I would take as a model,
to say of something, 'This is halal and this is haram.'
They would not dare to do that.
They would only say,
'We dislike such-and-such,' or 'We view this as good.'
'This is appropriate,'
or 'We do not see this as appropriate.'
They would not say 'halal' or 'haram.'
Have you not heard the saying of Allah the Exalted:
“Say: Have ye considered what provision Allah hath sent down for you, how ye have made of it lawful and unlawful? Hath Allah permitted you, or do ye invent a lie concerning Allah?” (10:59)
“Say: Have ye considered what provision Allah hath sent down for you, how ye have made of it lawful and unlawful? Hath Allah permitted you, or do ye invent a lie concerning Allah?” (10:59)
"Say, 'Has Allah permitted you [to do this]?'"
“Say: Have ye considered what provision Allah hath sent down for you, how ye have made of it lawful and unlawful? Hath Allah permitted you, or do ye invent a lie concerning Allah?” (10:59)
The halal is what Allah and His Messenger have permitted,
and the haram is what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden.
A man asked Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him,
and he said to him, "Ask someone who knows; ask someone who knows."
Abu Sahl Muhammad Ibn 'Umar narrated
from some of the scholars of Balkh:
"I entered Baghdad,
and there was a man at the bridge calling out for three days, saying:
'Beware! Judge Ahmad Ibn 'Amran al-Khasafah, may Allah have mercy on him,
was asked for a fatwa on such-and-such a matter,
and he answered with such-and-such,
but that is an error;
the correct answer is such-and-such.
May Allah have mercy on whoever conveys this to him.'"
Taqi al-Din Ibn 'Abd al-Qadir al-Tamimi al-Ghazzi, may Allah have mercy on him, said,
commenting on this story:
"This is how scholars should be;
this is how caution must be exercised in the religion of Allah,
and this is the sincerity owed to the servants of Allah."
Sheikh 'Atiyyah Salim said
regarding his teacher, the scholar Muhammad al-Amin al-Shinqiti, may Allah have mercy on them both:
"Among the things noted about him in his final years
was his distancing himself from issuing fatwas.
He would often say,
'I will not bear anything upon my conscience;
the scholars say such-and-such.'
I once asked him about that,
and he said:
'A person is in safety as long as he is not tested,
and being asked is a trial,
because you are speaking on behalf of Allah,
and you do not know if you have hit upon Allah's ruling or not.'
So, as long as there is no definitive text from the Book of Allah
or the Sunnah of His Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
it is mandatory to exercise caution regarding it."
He would exemplify this with the poet's words:
"If you know a thing, then speak of it;
but do not speak of that which you are ignorant of."
"Whoever loves to be seen in the forefront,
and hates to say 'I do not know,' his vital points have been struck."
Guarding the tongue from speaking about what does not concern one.
Someone visited Abu Dujanah, may Allah be pleased with him, while he was ill,
and his face was radiant.
He said:
"There is no deed of mine more reliable in my own estimation than two things:
I would not speak about what did not concern me,
and my heart was sound toward the Muslims."
Some of the salaf said:
"Whoever busies himself with what does not concern him
wastes what does concern him."
Al-Fudayl Ibn 'Iyad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"You spoke about what did not concern you,
so it distracted you from what did concern you.
Had you busied yourself with what concerned you,
you would have abandoned what did not concern you."
Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"A man will not be righteous until he abandons what does not concern him.
When he does that,
it is hoped that Allah will open his heart."
Ma'ruf al-Karkhi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"The servant's speech regarding what does not concern him
is a form of abandonment (khidhlan) from Allah the Exalted."
The discourse of the salaf on preferring silence over speech at times,
and vice versa.
'Ubayd Allah Ibn Abi Ja'far, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"If a person is speaking in a gathering
and he finds his speech pleasing,
let him hold his tongue.
And if he is silent
and he finds his silence pleasing,
let him speak."
Malik Ibn Dinar, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Patience is silence,
and silence is part of patience.
The speaker is not more pious than the silent one,
except for a scholar who speaks when it is appropriate
and remains silent when it is appropriate."
Guarding the tongue from affectation in speech.
Ibrahim Ibn al-Mahdi said to 'Abd Allah Ibn Sa'id,
his scribe, may Allah have mercy on them both:
"Beware of pursuing obscure, archaic words
in the hope of attaining eloquence,
for that is the greatest form of speech impediment.
Stick to what is simple,
while avoiding the language of the vulgar."
Whose backbiting is permissible?
'Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"There is no sanctity for a wicked person."
Al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"There are three for whom backbiting is not applicable:
the treacherous leader,
the person of innovation who calls to his innovation,
and the sinner who openly commits his sin."
Ibrahim al-Taymi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"There are three who have no protection against backbiting:
the oppressor, the sinner,
and the person of innovation."
He also said, may Allah have mercy on him:
"They did not consider it backbiting
as long as the person was not named."
Guarding the tongue from breaking promises.
When death approached 'Abd Allah Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, he said:
"A man from Quraysh once asked for my daughter's hand,
and I had given him something akin to a promise.
By Allah, I will not meet Allah with a third of hypocrisy;
bear witness that I have married her to him."
Shu'bah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"I never made an appointment with Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani, may Allah have mercy on him,
but that he would say to me when he wanted to part ways:
'There is no appointment between me and you.'
Yet when I arrived, I would find he had already preceded me."
Guarding the tongue from harshness and sharpness.
Some of the salaf said:
"People never speak a harsh word
but that beside it is a word that is softer,
which would have sufficed in its place."
Abu al-'Aliyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted concerning the covenant He took from the Children of Israel:
"And speak to people good [words],"
"meaning, say to them the best of speech,
and treat them with the best of what you would love to be treated with."
Guarding the tongue from asking about what has not occurred.
A man came one day to Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both,
and asked him about something—I do not know what it was.
Ibn 'Umar said to him:
"Do not ask about what has not happened,
for I heard 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may the pleasure of Allah be upon him,
curse the one who asks about what has not happened."
'Umar, may the pleasure of Allah be upon him, said from the pulpit:
"I adjure by Allah any man who asks about what has not happened,
for Allah has already clarified what is to be."
Other benefits.
Abu al-Darda', may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"There is no part of the believer more beloved to Allah the Exalted than his tongue;
through it, He admits him to Paradise.
And there is no part of the disbeliever more hateful to Allah the Exalted than his tongue;
through it, He admits him to the Fire."
Abu Hazim, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"It is incumbent upon the believer
to be more protective of his tongue than he is of his own footsteps."
Ibn 'Uyaynah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Hakim once came upon a group of people who were conversing,
so he stopped by them, greeted them, and said:
"Speak as people who know that Allah hears their words,
and that the angels are recording them."
Yahya Ibn Mu'adh, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Hearts are like pots boiling in the chest with whatever is inside them,
and their ladles are the tongues."
So, wait for a man to speak,
for his tongue will ladle out for you what is in his heart,
whether it be sweet, sour, fresh, or bitter.
The ladling of his tongue will inform you of the flavor of his heart.
Some of the wise once said to their sons:
"Refine your tongues,
for when a man is struck by a calamity,
he may borrow his brother’s mount or his brother’s garment,
but he will find no one to lend him his tongue."
The life of peace lies between speech and action.