1 00:00:00,820 --> 00:00:04,759 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 2 00:00:04,759 --> 00:00:11,750 The life of the salaf was defined by the harmony between their words and their deeds. 3 00:00:11,750 --> 00:00:18,230 Condemning the haste to assume positions of leadership in gatherings, teaching, and issuing legal rulings. 4 00:00:18,230 --> 00:00:20,730 Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 5 00:00:20,730 --> 00:00:24,679 "Acquire fiqh before you are elevated to positions of leadership." 6 00:00:24,679 --> 00:00:28,210 And Ibrahim Ibn Adham, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 7 00:00:28,210 --> 00:00:32,210 "Whenever we saw a young man speaking in a gathering, 8 00:00:32,210 --> 00:00:34,210 we despaired of any good coming from him." 9 00:00:34,210 --> 00:00:37,659 And al-Thawri, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 10 00:00:37,659 --> 00:00:41,659 "Whoever speaks before he is needed to do so brings humiliation upon himself." 11 00:00:41,659 --> 00:00:45,299 And Sahnun, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 12 00:00:45,299 --> 00:00:51,810 "I have never found anyone who sold his Hereafter for the worldly life of another, except for the one who issues legal rulings." 13 00:00:51,810 --> 00:00:54,810 And al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 14 00:00:54,810 --> 00:01:00,289 "If a young person assumes a position of leadership, much knowledge escapes him." 15 00:01:00,289 --> 00:01:03,289 And Malik Ibn Anas, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 16 00:01:03,289 --> 00:01:09,379 "I did not issue a legal ruling until seventy [scholars] testified that I was qualified to do so." 17 00:01:09,379 --> 00:01:12,379 And he also said, may Allah have mercy on him: 18 00:01:12,379 --> 00:01:17,379 "I would not answer a question regarding a legal ruling until I had asked someone more knowledgeable than myself, 19 00:01:17,379 --> 00:01:20,379 whether he saw me as fit for that task." 20 00:01:20,379 --> 00:01:24,379 "I asked Rabi'ah and I asked Yahya Ibn Sa'id, 21 00:01:24,379 --> 00:01:26,379 and they commanded me to do so." 22 00:01:26,379 --> 00:01:29,379 It was said to him, "O Abu Abd Allah, 23 00:01:29,379 --> 00:01:31,540 what if they had forbidden you?" 24 00:01:31,540 --> 00:01:34,540 He said, "I would have desisted." 25 00:01:34,540 --> 00:01:38,540 "It is not appropriate for a man to consider himself fit for something 26 00:01:38,540 --> 00:01:42,769 until he asks someone who is more knowledgeable than him." 27 00:01:42,769 --> 00:01:44,769 And he said, may Allah have mercy on him: 28 00:01:44,769 --> 00:01:50,769 "Not everyone who wishes to sit in the mosque to teach hadith and issue legal rulings should do so, 29 00:01:50,769 --> 00:01:54,769 until he consults the people of righteousness and virtue, 30 00:01:54,769 --> 00:01:57,769 and the people of authority in the mosque. 31 00:01:57,769 --> 00:02:00,769 If they see him as fit for it, then he may sit." 32 00:02:00,769 --> 00:02:05,769 "I did not sit until seventy scholars of knowledge testified 33 00:02:05,769 --> 00:02:07,769 that I was a person fit for that." 34 00:02:07,769 --> 00:02:12,020 And Sahnun Ibn Sa'id, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 35 00:02:12,020 --> 00:02:16,020 "The boldest of people in issuing legal rulings are the least of them in knowledge." 36 00:02:16,020 --> 00:02:20,020 "A man may possess only one chapter of knowledge, 37 00:02:20,020 --> 00:02:23,020 yet he thinks that all truth is contained within it." 38 00:02:23,020 --> 00:02:25,060 And it was said to him: 39 00:02:25,060 --> 00:02:29,060 "Questions come to you that are well-known and understood, 40 00:02:29,060 --> 00:02:31,060 yet you are slow to answer them." 41 00:02:31,060 --> 00:02:33,090 He replied: 42 00:02:33,090 --> 00:02:35,090 "To be quick with an answer that is correct 43 00:02:35,090 --> 00:02:39,120 is a greater trial than the trial of wealth." 44 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:41,120 And he said, may Allah have mercy on him: 45 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:45,120 "You find a man who is patient with fasting and prayer, 46 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:47,120 and who exercises caution regarding his worldly needs, 47 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:51,120 but when it comes to issuing legal rulings, he lacks patience." 48 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,759 And al-Sa'luki, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 49 00:02:54,759 --> 00:02:57,759 "Whoever assumes a position of leadership before his time, 50 00:02:57,759 --> 00:02:59,759 has only invited his own disgrace." 51 00:02:59,759 --> 00:03:05,900 Stories and incidents concerning some of the scholars. 52 00:03:05,900 --> 00:03:10,669 Muhammad Ibn al-Munkadir, may Allah have mercy on him, passed by 53 00:03:10,669 --> 00:03:13,669 a young man talking to a woman on the road. 54 00:03:13,669 --> 00:03:15,669 He said: 55 00:03:15,669 --> 00:03:17,669 "O young man, 56 00:03:17,669 --> 00:03:20,669 is this how you show gratitude for the blessing of Allah upon you?" 57 00:03:20,669 --> 00:03:24,669 And he, may Allah have mercy on him, saw a man with a woman in a ruin, 58 00:03:24,669 --> 00:03:26,669 and he was speaking to her. 59 00:03:26,669 --> 00:03:28,669 He said: 60 00:03:28,669 --> 00:03:30,669 "O you, Allah sees you both; 61 00:03:30,669 --> 00:03:33,669 may Allah conceal us and you." 62 00:03:33,669 --> 00:03:36,219 And from Thabit: 63 00:03:36,219 --> 00:03:40,219 That Silah Ibn Ashyam, may Allah have mercy on him, and his companions 64 00:03:40,219 --> 00:03:43,280 saw a man who had let his garment hang below his ankles. 65 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:48,340 His companions wanted to rebuke him with their tongues, 66 00:03:48,340 --> 00:03:50,340 but Silah said: 67 00:03:50,340 --> 00:03:52,340 "Leave him to me, I will suffice you." 68 00:03:52,340 --> 00:03:54,340 He said: 69 00:03:54,340 --> 00:03:55,340 "O son of my brother, 70 00:03:55,340 --> 00:03:58,340 I have a need of you." 71 00:03:58,340 --> 00:04:00,340 "What is it, O uncle?" 72 00:04:00,340 --> 00:04:02,340 He said: 73 00:04:02,340 --> 00:04:04,340 "Raise your garment." 74 00:04:04,340 --> 00:04:07,340 He said, "Yes, and with pleasure." 75 00:04:07,340 --> 00:04:09,379 Then he said to his companions: 76 00:04:09,379 --> 00:04:12,379 "Had you approached him harshly, he would have said, 77 00:04:12,379 --> 00:04:15,379 'I will not do it,' and he would have persisted." 78 00:04:15,379 --> 00:04:21,019 Some of the salaf saw a man from the family of Ali walking with a swagger, 79 00:04:21,019 --> 00:04:25,019 so he hurried to him, took his hand, and said: 80 00:04:25,019 --> 00:04:27,019 "O you, 81 00:04:27,019 --> 00:04:32,019 the one whom Allah has honored, this was not his way of walking." 82 00:04:32,019 --> 00:04:33,050 He said: 83 00:04:33,050 --> 00:04:36,050 "And the man abandoned that walk thereafter." 84 00:04:36,050 --> 00:04:41,620 Malik Ibn al-Mundhir summoned Muhammad Ibn Wasi', may Allah have mercy on him, 85 00:04:41,620 --> 00:04:44,660 who was the chief of police in Basra, 86 00:04:44,660 --> 00:04:45,660 and said: 87 00:04:45,660 --> 00:04:47,660 "Take the position of judge." 88 00:04:47,660 --> 00:04:49,660 But Muhammad refused. 89 00:04:49,660 --> 00:04:52,660 He pressed him again, but he refused. 90 00:04:52,660 --> 00:04:53,660 So he said: 91 00:04:53,660 --> 00:04:57,660 "Either you take the position, or I will have you lashed three hundred times." 92 00:04:57,660 --> 00:04:59,779 Muhammad said to him: 93 00:04:59,779 --> 00:05:02,779 "If you do so, you are a tyrant, 94 00:05:02,779 --> 00:05:07,779 and to be humiliated in this world is better than to be humiliated in the Hereafter." 95 00:05:07,779 --> 00:05:13,199 A woman came to Sufyan al-Thawri, may Allah have mercy on him, and said: 96 00:05:13,199 --> 00:05:17,199 "My son has neglected me and abandoned his work." 97 00:05:17,199 --> 00:05:18,230 He asked: 98 00:05:18,230 --> 00:05:21,230 "In what field is your son occupied?" 99 00:05:21,230 --> 00:05:22,230 She said: 100 00:05:22,230 --> 00:05:24,230 "In hadith." 101 00:05:24,230 --> 00:05:25,230 He said: 102 00:05:25,230 --> 00:05:27,230 "Seek your reward with Allah." 103 00:05:27,230 --> 00:05:31,810 And it was said to Umar Ibn Abd al-Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him: 104 00:05:31,810 --> 00:05:34,810 "If only you would unite the people upon one thing." 105 00:05:34,810 --> 00:05:36,810 He replied: 106 00:05:36,810 --> 00:05:39,810 "It does not please me that they do not differ." 107 00:05:39,810 --> 00:05:43,939 Then he wrote to the horizons and the provinces, 108 00:05:43,939 --> 00:05:48,939 that every people should judge according to what their jurists have agreed upon. 109 00:05:48,939 --> 00:05:53,509 Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him, was brought before the Caliph, 110 00:05:53,509 --> 00:05:56,509 and they tried to intimidate him, 111 00:05:56,509 --> 00:05:59,509 for he had already beheaded two men. 112 00:05:59,509 --> 00:06:03,670 Ahmad looked at Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Shafi'i 113 00:06:03,670 --> 00:06:04,670 and said: 114 00:06:04,670 --> 00:06:08,670 "What do you remember from al-Shafi'i regarding wiping [the khuffayn]?" 115 00:06:08,670 --> 00:06:11,930 Ibn Abi Du'ad said: 116 00:06:11,930 --> 00:06:15,930 "Look at this man who is being led to his execution, 117 00:06:15,930 --> 00:06:17,930 yet he is debating fiqh!" 118 00:06:17,930 --> 00:06:22,540 And Abu Zakariya al-Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, 119 00:06:22,540 --> 00:06:25,540 showed signs of brilliance from his youth. 120 00:06:25,540 --> 00:06:29,540 He arrived in Damascus in the year 649, 121 00:06:29,540 --> 00:06:33,540 and he read the *Tanbih* in four and a half months, 122 00:06:33,540 --> 00:06:37,540 and memorized a quarter of *al-Muhadhdhab* in the remainder of the year. 123 00:06:37,540 --> 00:06:39,540 He remained with his teacher, al-Kamal 124 00:06:39,540 --> 00:06:43,540 Ishaq Ibn Ahmad al-Maghribi, may Allah have mercy on him, 125 00:06:43,540 --> 00:06:46,540 and stayed for nearly two years, 126 00:06:46,540 --> 00:06:49,540 barely resting his side to sleep, 127 00:06:49,540 --> 00:06:55,629 subsisting only on the stipend from the Rawahiyah school where he resided. 128 00:06:55,629 --> 00:07:00,759 He would read twelve lessons a day to the scholars, 129 00:07:00,759 --> 00:07:02,759 covering explanation and verification. 130 00:07:02,759 --> 00:07:07,759 He, may Allah have mercy on him, possessed a great share of knowledge and asceticism, 131 00:07:07,759 --> 00:07:11,759 moderation in living, and patience with its hardships, 132 00:07:11,759 --> 00:07:15,759 and a level of piety that we have not heard of in anyone of his time, 133 00:07:15,759 --> 00:07:18,759 nor for a long time before him. 134 00:07:18,759 --> 00:07:20,759 He slept very little, 135 00:07:20,759 --> 00:07:25,759 spending much of his night in worship, recitation, remembrance, and writing. 136 00:07:25,759 --> 00:07:30,860 He was one who enjoined good and forbade evil, 137 00:07:30,860 --> 00:07:34,860 confronting the princes, the elite, and the kings with that, 138 00:07:34,860 --> 00:07:36,860 and speaking the truth openly. 139 00:07:36,860 --> 00:07:39,980 Sheikh Muhyi al-Din was appointed 140 00:07:39,980 --> 00:07:42,980 to the headship of the Dar al-Hadith al-Ashrafiyah 141 00:07:42,980 --> 00:07:47,980 after Sheikh Shihab al-Din Abu Shamah, may Allah have mercy on him, 142 00:07:47,980 --> 00:07:51,980 in the year 665 until he passed away. 143 00:07:51,980 --> 00:07:55,980 He did not take a single penny from its endowment, 144 00:07:55,980 --> 00:07:59,980 and he rarely accepted a gift from anyone. 145 00:07:59,980 --> 00:08:05,980 He lived only on what came to him from his father, of bread and dry food. 146 00:08:05,980 --> 00:08:09,980 He was unassuming among the people, 147 00:08:09,980 --> 00:08:14,980 yet he was clothed in tranquility and dignity, may Allah have mercy on him.