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.
They held fast to the Book, the Sunnah, and the traditions of the predecessors.
They condemned relying on personal opinion.
They also condemned the narration of fabricated and weak hadiths.
Umar Ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
I said to Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) during the time of al-Hudaybiyyah:
"O Abu Bakr,
is he not truly the Prophet of Allah?"
He replied, "Yes."
I said, "Are we not upon the truth and our enemy upon falsehood?"
He replied, "Yes."
I said, "Why, then, should we accept humiliation in our religion?"
He said, "O man,
he is indeed the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
and he does not disobey his Lord,
and He is his Helper.
So, hold fast to his path,
for by Allah, he is upon the truth."
Shaybah Ibn Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sat with me and said:
"I have intended not to leave anything in it"—
meaning the Ka'bah—
"of gold or silver
without distributing it among the Muslims."
I said, "You will not do that."
He asked, "Why?"
I said, "Your two companions did not do it."
He replied, "They are two people whose example is to be followed."
Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
"Adhere to knowledge before it is taken away,
and its being taken away is the passing of those who possess it.
Adhere to knowledge,
for you do not know when you might be in need of it,
or when you might be in need of what someone else possesses.
You will find people who claim to be calling you to the Book of Allah,
while they have cast it behind their backs.
So, adhere to knowledge,
and beware of innovation,
and beware of affectation,
and beware of over-complication,
and adhere to the ancient path."
He (may Allah be pleased with him) also said:
"If you are asked about something,
look into the Book of Allah.
If you do not find it in the Book of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic,
then look to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
If you do not find it in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah,
then look to what the Muslims have reached a consensus upon.
If it is not among what the Muslims have reached a consensus upon,
then exercise your own judgment.
Do not say, 'I fear' or 'I am apprehensive,'
for the lawful is clear,
and the unlawful is clear,
and between them are doubtful matters.
So leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt."
Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:
"Do you not fear that you might be punished or that the earth might swallow you up,
when you say, 'The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,'
and then someone else says, 'So-and-so said'?"
It is narrated from Abdullah Ibn Mughaffal (may Allah be pleased with him)
that he saw a man throwing pebbles with his fingers.
He said to him, "Do not do that,
for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
forbade throwing pebbles, saying,
'It does not hunt game,
nor does it injure an enemy,
but it may break a tooth,
or gouge out an eye.'"
Then he saw him doing it again after that,
so he said to him:
"I narrate to you from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
that he forbade throwing pebbles,
and yet you are doing it?
I will not speak to you for such-and-such a time."
Abdullah Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:
"I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say:
'Do not prevent your women from attending the mosques
if they seek your permission to go.'"
Bilal Ibn Abdullah said,
"By Allah, we will certainly prevent them."
Abdullah turned to him
and rebuked him severely,
saying:
"I tell you what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,
and you say, 'By Allah, we will certainly prevent them'?"
Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
"O people of the villages,
be upright,
and follow the path of those who came before you.
For by Allah, if you are upright,
you have indeed surpassed them by a great distance.
But if you deviate to the right or the left,
you have indeed gone far astray."
Imam Malik Ibn Anas (may Allah have mercy on him)
used to say, whenever those who deviate in religion were mentioned in his presence:
"Umar Ibn Abd al-Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
'The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
and the leaders after him established practices.
Adhering to them is following the Book of Allah the Almighty,
and completing the obedience to Allah the Almighty,
and strength in the religion of Allah.
No one has the right to change or alter them.
Whoever looks into anything that contradicts them,
whoever is guided by them is truly guided,
and whoever seeks victory through them is victorious,
and whoever abandons them follows a path other than that of the believers,
and Allah will leave him to what he has chosen,
and will roast him in Hell—and what an evil destination!'"
Umar Ibn Abd al-Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) wrote to the people:
"There is no personal opinion for anyone regarding the Book of Allah.
The opinion of the leaders is only in matters where no Book has been revealed,
and no Sunnah from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has passed.
And there is no opinion for anyone regarding a Sunnah established by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)."
al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"By Allah, those whom I met from the early generation of this Ummah,
what they said with their tongues was exactly what was in their hearts.
By Allah, they were in agreement with the Book of their Lord
and the Sunnah of their Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
When the night covered them, they would stand on their feet, prostrating with their faces,
their tears flowing down their cheeks,
beseeching their Lord to set them free from the Fire.
If they were granted anything of this world, they would take only their sustenance,
and put the rest toward their Hereafter,
and they would offer thanks to Allah for it.
And if it was withheld from them, they would rejoice and say,
'This is a look from Allah and a test from Him for us.'
If they did a good deed, it would please them,
and they would pray to Allah to accept it from them.
And if they did a bad deed, it would distress them,
and they would seek Allah's forgiveness for it."
al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Our scholars who have passed away used to say:
'Holding fast to the Sunnah is salvation.'"
Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Everyone's opinion can be accepted or rejected,
except for the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)."
Ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him)
would not give his own opinion,
except for something he had heard.
He also said (may Allah have mercy on him):
"As long as one is upon the tradition, he is on the right path."
He also said (may Allah have mercy on him):
"The first to use analogy was Iblis,
and the sun and moon were not worshipped
except through analogies."
He (may Allah have mercy on him) was narrating to a man
a hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
and a man said,
"So-and-so said such-and-such."
Ibn Sirin replied:
"I narrate to you from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
and you say, 'So-and-so and so-and-so said such-and-such'?
I will never speak to you again."
Qatadah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"I have not spoken from my own opinion for thirty years."
Sa'id Ibn al-Musayyib (may Allah have mercy on him) saw
a man praying two rak'ahs after the Asr prayer.
He said to him,
"O Abu Muhammad,
will Allah punish me for praying?"
He replied, "No,
but Allah will punish you for contradicting the Sunnah."
al-Awza'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Adhere to the traditions of those who have passed,
even if people reject you.
And beware of the opinions of men,
even if they embellish them for you with words."
A man said to Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him):
"O Abu Abdullah,
do you accept this hadith?"
He replied:
"When I have narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
a sound hadith
and I did not accept it,
then I call you to witness that my intellect has departed."
He (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:
"If you find a Sunnah, follow it,
and do not turn to the words of anyone else."
He (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:
"The people have reached a consensus that whoever has a Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) made clear to him,
it is not for him to abandon it for the words of anyone."
Abu Ubayd al-Qasim Ibn Sallam (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"The one who follows the Sunnah is like one holding onto burning coals,
and this, today, is better in my view than striking with the sword in the path of Allah the Almighty."
Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Obedience to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is mentioned in the Book of Allah the Almighty
in thirty-three places."
Allah the Almighty said:
“Make not the calling of the messenger among you as your calling one of another. Allah knoweth those of you who steal away, hiding themselves. And let those who conspire to evade orders beware lest grief or painful punishment befall them.” (24:63)
It was said to him, "May Allah keep you alive, O Abu Abdullah, upon Islam."
He replied, "And the Sunnah."
Abu Uthman al-Hiri (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Whoever makes the Sunnah a leader over himself in word and deed will speak with wisdom,
and whoever makes desire a leader over himself will speak with innovation."
Allah the Almighty said: ﴾And if you obey him, you will be guided.﴿
al-Junayd (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Our knowledge is bound by the Book and the Sunnah.
Whoever has not memorized the Qur'an, has not written the hadith, and has not studied fiqh, is not to be followed."
The life of peace exists between what is said and what is done.