WEBVTT 00:00:00.820 --> 00:00:04.759 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:11.939 The life of the salaf between speech and action. 00:00:11.939 --> 00:00:16.710 The leaders who are to be followed. 00:00:16.710 --> 00:00:22.710 Umar saw Talhah, may Allah be pleased with them both, wearing two garments dyed with red ochre. 00:00:22.710 --> 00:00:24.710 While he was in the state of ihram. 00:00:24.710 --> 00:00:26.210 He said: 00:00:26.210 --> 00:00:29.300 "What are these two garments you are wearing?" 00:00:29.300 --> 00:00:31.339 Talhah replied: 00:00:31.339 --> 00:00:34.340 "There is no harm in them." 00:00:34.340 --> 00:00:37.560 "They were dyed with clay." 00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:39.590 Umar said: 00:00:39.590 --> 00:00:43.590 "You are leaders whom people follow." 00:00:43.590 --> 00:00:49.590 "If an ignorant person were to see you wearing a dyed garment while in the state of ihram, he would say:" 00:00:49.590 --> 00:00:54.590 "'I saw Talhah wearing dyed garments while in the state of ihram.'" 00:00:54.590 --> 00:01:00.590 "So, none of you, O group, should wear these garments while in the state of ihram." 00:01:00.590 --> 00:01:05.299 Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him, used to: 00:01:05.299 --> 00:01:09.299 When he went to prayer, he would be concise and brief. 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:12.299 Yet he would perfect his bowing and prostration. 00:01:12.299 --> 00:01:15.299 But when he entered his house, he would prolong them. 00:01:15.299 --> 00:01:17.329 It was said to him: 00:01:17.329 --> 00:01:19.329 He replied: 00:01:19.329 --> 00:01:22.329 "We are leaders who are to be followed." 00:01:22.329 --> 00:01:25.709 Al-Awza'i, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 00:01:25.709 --> 00:01:28.810 "We used to laugh and joke." 00:01:28.810 --> 00:01:31.810 "But when we became people who are followed," 00:01:31.810 --> 00:01:34.810 "I feared that such behavior would no longer be appropriate for us." 00:01:34.810 --> 00:01:39.189 It was said to Yahya Ibn Yahya, may Allah have mercy on him: 00:01:39.189 --> 00:01:43.189 "Why do you not relax in public as you do in private?" 00:01:43.189 --> 00:01:45.260 He replied: 00:01:45.260 --> 00:01:49.260 "If I did that, I would be imitated." 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:57.500 "And I love to be followed just as I have followed others." 00:01:57.500 --> 00:01:59.500 Abandoning affectation. 00:01:59.500 --> 00:02:02.980 Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 00:02:02.980 --> 00:02:06.359 "We have been forbidden from affectation." 00:02:06.359 --> 00:02:09.360 Ibn al-Muqaffa', may Allah have mercy on him, said: 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:13.360 "Set for yourself a limit in everything," 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:16.460 "hoping for strength and perfection in it." 00:02:16.460 --> 00:02:20.460 "Know that if you exceed the limit in worship," 00:02:20.460 --> 00:02:23.520 "you will fall into negligence." 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:26.520 "If you exceed it in acquiring knowledge," 00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:28.550 "you will join the ranks of the ignorant." 00:02:28.550 --> 00:02:34.550 "And if you exceed it in striving to please people and being overly casual with them in their needs," 00:02:34.550 --> 00:02:37.550 "you will be the loser and the squanderer." 00:02:37.550 --> 00:02:43.400 Acting upon knowledge. 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:47.500 From Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: 00:02:47.500 --> 00:02:51.500 The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: 00:02:51.500 --> 00:02:57.939 "Allah, the Almighty, forbids you from swearing by your fathers." 00:02:57.939 --> 00:02:58.939 Umar said: 00:02:58.939 --> 00:03:06.939 "By Allah, I have not sworn by them since I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, forbid it," 00:03:06.939 --> 00:03:09.939 "neither as a narrator nor as one quoting another." 00:03:09.939 --> 00:03:14.419 And from Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: 00:03:14.419 --> 00:03:18.419 "People all speak well." 00:03:18.419 --> 00:03:21.550 "So whoever’s actions conform to his words," 00:03:21.550 --> 00:03:24.550 "that is the one who has attained his share." 00:03:24.550 --> 00:03:27.710 "And whoever’s actions contradict his words," 00:03:27.710 --> 00:03:30.710 "he is merely rebuking himself." 00:03:30.710 --> 00:03:35.060 He, may Allah be pleased with him, also said: "Acquire knowledge," 00:03:35.060 --> 00:03:38.060 "and when you have learned, then act." 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:41.479 Abu al-Darda', may Allah be pleased with him, said: 00:03:41.479 --> 00:03:45.479 "Woe to the one who does not know once," 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:51.479 "and woe to the one who knows but does not act seven times." 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:53.669 He, may Allah be pleased with him, also said: 00:03:53.669 --> 00:03:58.669 "I do not fear that it will be said to me, 'What did you know?'" 00:03:58.669 --> 00:04:02.669 "Rather, I fear that it will be said to me, 'What did you do?'" 00:04:02.669 --> 00:04:05.860 He, may Allah be pleased with him, also said: 00:04:05.860 --> 00:04:10.860 "You will never be a scholar until you are a student," 00:04:10.860 --> 00:04:16.860 "and you will never be a scholar until you act upon what you have learned." 00:04:16.860 --> 00:04:21.339 Salman al-Farisi, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:24.439 "The thing I fear most," 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:28.439 "when I stand for the reckoning, is that it will be said to me:" 00:04:28.439 --> 00:04:33.730 "'You knew, so what did you do with what you knew?'" 00:04:33.730 --> 00:04:37.819 Jundub Ibn al-Bajali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 00:04:37.819 --> 00:04:41.819 "The example of one who teaches people but forgets himself," 00:04:41.819 --> 00:04:48.339 "is like a lamp that illuminates for others while burning itself." 00:04:48.339 --> 00:04:52.430 Mu'adh Ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 00:04:52.430 --> 00:04:55.430 "Learn what you wish to learn," 00:04:55.430 --> 00:05:00.430 "but Allah will not benefit you with knowledge until you act." 00:05:00.430 --> 00:05:04.939 From Abdullah Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him: 00:05:04.939 --> 00:05:10.170 That he heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, say: 00:05:10.170 --> 00:05:15.170 "It is not the right of a Muslim who has something to bequeath," 00:05:15.170 --> 00:05:21.170 "to spend three nights without having his will written down with him." 00:05:21.170 --> 00:05:24.519 Abdullah Ibn Umar said: 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:32.579 "Not a single night has passed since I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, say that," 00:05:32.579 --> 00:05:35.579 "without my will being with me." 00:05:35.579 --> 00:05:38.100 Some of the salaf said: 00:05:38.100 --> 00:05:45.129 "Whoever surpasses people in knowledge is worthy of surpassing them in action." 00:05:45.129 --> 00:05:47.480 It was said to one of the salaf: 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:50.480 "How did you attain what you attained?" 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:52.579 He said: "Through knowledge." 00:05:52.579 --> 00:05:53.579 It was said to him: 00:05:53.579 --> 00:05:57.699 "But others have known more than you have known," 00:05:57.699 --> 00:05:59.699 "yet they did not attain what you attained." 00:05:59.699 --> 00:06:01.699 He said: 00:06:01.699 --> 00:06:03.699 "That was knowledge that was merely carried," 00:06:03.699 --> 00:06:06.699 "while this was knowledge that was put into practice." 00:06:06.699 --> 00:06:11.149 Sufyan al-Thawri, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 00:06:11.149 --> 00:06:17.250 "No hadith ever reached me from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him," 00:06:17.250 --> 00:06:20.250 "except that I acted upon it, even if only once." 00:06:20.250 --> 00:06:23.629 He, may Allah have mercy on him, also said: 00:06:23.629 --> 00:06:26.699 "Knowledge calls out to action;" 00:06:26.699 --> 00:06:29.699 "if it answers, well and good; otherwise, it departs." 00:06:29.699 --> 00:06:33.019 He, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked: 00:06:33.019 --> 00:06:38.079 "Is seeking knowledge dearer to you, O Abu Abdullah, or action?" 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:39.079 He replied: 00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:42.079 "Knowledge is only sought for the sake of action." 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:45.110 "Do not abandon seeking knowledge for the sake of action," 00:06:45.110 --> 00:06:49.110 "and do not abandon action for the sake of seeking knowledge." 00:06:49.110 --> 00:06:51.620 Some of the wise said: 00:06:51.620 --> 00:06:53.689 "The best of knowledge," 00:06:53.689 --> 00:06:56.689 "is a man stopping at the limits of his knowledge." 00:06:56.689 --> 00:06:59.910 It was said to Alqamah, may Allah have mercy on him: 00:06:59.910 --> 00:07:01.910 "Will you not preach to us?" 00:07:01.910 --> 00:07:03.910 He said: 00:07:03.910 --> 00:07:07.910 "I dislike commanding you to do what I do not do myself." 00:07:07.910 --> 00:07:11.170 From al-Sha'bi, may Allah have mercy on him, who said: 00:07:11.170 --> 00:07:14.199 "There is no preacher who preaches," 00:07:14.199 --> 00:07:19.199 "but that his sermon will be presented to him on the Day of Resurrection." 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:23.459 From Malik Ibn Dinar, may Allah have mercy on him, who said: 00:07:23.459 --> 00:07:27.579 "When a scholar does not act upon his knowledge," 00:07:27.579 --> 00:07:30.579 "his exhortation slips from the hearts," 00:07:30.579 --> 00:07:33.579 "just as rain slips off a smooth rock." 00:07:33.579 --> 00:07:37.060 He, may Allah have mercy on him, also said: 00:07:37.060 --> 00:07:41.160 "If you seek knowledge to act upon it," 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:43.259 "knowledge will humble you." 00:07:43.259 --> 00:07:46.259 "But if you seek it for other than acting upon it," 00:07:46.259 --> 00:07:49.259 "it will only increase you in arrogance." 00:07:49.259 --> 00:07:52.449 Umar Ibn Qays, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 00:07:52.449 --> 00:07:55.449 "If you hear of a good deed," 00:07:55.449 --> 00:07:58.449 "act upon it, even if only once." 00:07:58.449 --> 00:08:02.800 From al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, who said: 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:05.959 "A man used to seek knowledge," 00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:10.959 "and it would not be long before that was seen in his humility and conduct," 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:14.959 "and in his tongue, his gaze, and his hand." 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:19.279 From Sufyan Ibn 'Uyaynah, may Allah have mercy on him, who said: 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:23.339 "The true people of knowledge, who are worthy of it," 00:08:23.339 --> 00:08:26.339 "are those who act upon it." 00:08:26.339 --> 00:08:28.759 Al-Marwazi said: 00:08:28.759 --> 00:08:32.820 Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him, said to me: 00:08:32.820 --> 00:08:36.820 "I have not written a single hadith except that I have acted upon it," 00:08:36.820 --> 00:08:42.820 "to the point that it reached me that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was cupped," 00:08:42.820 --> 00:08:45.820 "and he gave Abu Taybah a dinar," 00:08:45.820 --> 00:08:50.820 "so I gave the cupper a dinar when I was cupped." 00:08:50.820 --> 00:08:53.110 Some of them said: 00:08:53.110 --> 00:08:57.179 "O you who teach others," 00:08:57.179 --> 00:09:01.179 "why was this teaching not for yourself?" 00:09:01.179 --> 00:09:05.179 "You prescribe medicine for the sick to heal them," 00:09:05.179 --> 00:09:09.179 "so that they may become healthy, while you are sick." 00:09:09.179 --> 00:09:13.179 "I see you trying to nourish our minds with guidance," 00:09:13.179 --> 00:09:17.179 "as advice, while you are devoid of guidance." 00:09:17.179 --> 00:09:20.529 Ibn al-Muqaffa', may Allah have mercy on him, said: 00:09:20.529 --> 00:09:24.590 "Good speech is not complete without good action." 00:09:24.590 --> 00:09:28.590 "It is like a sick person who knows the cure for his own ailment," 00:09:28.590 --> 00:09:33.590 "but if he does not treat himself with it, his knowledge will not benefit him."