In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
The life of the salaf between word and deed.
The merit of the people of hadith.
Budayl ibn Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
I, along with Ibrahim ibn Sa‘id al-Jawhari, visited Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him,
on the day he passed away,
or he passed away on the night preceding that day.
He said:
Ahmad began saying to us:
"Hold fast to the Sunnah."
"Hold fast to the traditions (athar)."
"Hold fast to the hadith."
"Do not write down the opinion of so-and-so or the opinion of so-and-so."
He then named the proponents of personal opinion (ahl al-ra'y).
Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Seeking hadith in this era
is superior to all other types of voluntary worship,
because of the fading and neglect of the Sunnah,
and the emergence of innovations and the dominance of their proponents.
Some of the salaf said:
There is no one among the people of knowledge
but that there is a radiance upon his face,
due to the saying of the Prophet, peace be upon him:
"May Allah brighten the face of a person who hears something from us,
and conveys it just as he heard it."
The state of the salaf and the people of knowledge during disagreements.
There was a discussion between Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both,
meaning a dispute regarding a certain matter.
Abu Bakr angered ‘Umar,
so ‘Umar turned away from him in anger.
Abu Bakr followed him, asking him to seek forgiveness for him,
but he would not do so until he closed his door in his face.
So Abu Bakr went to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
"As for your companion here, he has indeed ventured too far."
‘Umar regretted what he had done,
so he came, greeted him, and sat with the Prophet, peace be upon him.
He recounted the story to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
and the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, became angry.
Abu Bakr began saying:
"By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, I was the one who was more in the wrong."
‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
I and Ibn ‘Umar were
leaning against the chamber of ‘A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
and we could hear her using the siwak to brush her teeth.
He said: I said, "O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman,
did the Prophet, peace be upon him, perform ‘Umrah in Rajab?"
He said, "Yes."
I said to ‘A'ishah, "O Mother,
do you not hear what Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman is saying?"
She said, "What is he saying?"
I said, "He says
the Prophet, peace be upon him, performed ‘Umrah in Rajab."
She said:
"May Allah forgive Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman.
By my life, he never performed ‘Umrah in Rajab,
nor did he perform an ‘Umrah
except that he was with him."
He said:
Ibn ‘Umar was listening,
yet he said neither no nor yes;
he remained silent.
And he, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Abu Musa and Abu Mas‘ud entered
upon ‘Ammar ibn Yasir, may Allah be pleased with them all,
when ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, had sent him
to the people of Kufa to mobilize them.
He said:
"We have never seen you do anything we disliked more
than your haste in this matter since you embraced Islam."
‘Ammar said:
"I have never seen anything from you both since you embraced Islam
that I disliked more than your slowness in this matter."
Abu Mas‘ud said—
and he was a man of means—
"O boy, bring two garments."
He gave one to Abu Musa and the other to ‘Ammar,
and said:
"Go in them to the Friday prayer."
Other benefits.
‘A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said:
"Excellent are the women of the Ansar;
modesty did not prevent them from seeking understanding in the religion."
Mujahid, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Knowledge is not acquired by the shy nor the arrogant."
Al-Thawri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Whoever seeks leadership through knowledge prematurely,
misses out on much knowledge."
Wuhayb ibn al-Ward, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
A parable was struck for the scholars of evil.
It was said:
"The likeness of the evil scholar
is like a stone in a water channel;
it neither drinks the water itself,
nor does it let the water pass to the trees so they may live."
Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"The status of one who seeks knowledge to benefit from it
is like that of a slave who seeks everything that pleases his master;
he seeks to endear himself to him and draw near to him,
and to have a high status with him,
so that he finds nothing with him that he dislikes."
Bilal ibn Abi Burdah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Do not let the evil of what you see in us prevent you
from accepting the best of what you hear."
From al-Zuhri, may Allah have mercy on him, who said:
"Knowledge is only lost through
forgetfulness and abandoning review."
From Makhul, may Allah have mercy on him, who said:
"Knowledge should only be taken from one whose pursuit of it is attested."
From Abu Bakr ibn ‘Ayyash, may Allah have mercy on him, who said:
"Entering into knowledge is easy,
but exiting from it to Allah is difficult."
From Musa al-Juhani, who said:
Talhah ibn Musarrif, may Allah have mercy on him,
whenever disagreement was mentioned in his presence, would say:
"Do not call it disagreement,
but call it expansion."
It was said to ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him:
"O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman,
until when will you write this hadith?"
He replied:
"Perhaps the word by which I will benefit
is one I have not yet written."
The life of the salaf
between word and deed.