In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The life of the believer is defined by the balance between speech and action.
Condemning base desires and the virtue of those who oppose them.
Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:
"Base desire is a worshipped deity."
And he recited:
“Hast thou seen him who maketh his desire his god, and Allah sendeth him astray purposely, and sealeth up his hearing and his heart, and setteth on his sight a covering? Then who will lead him after Allah (hath condemned him)? Will ye not then heed?” (45:23)
It was said to 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him):
"Which struggle is the most excellent?"
He replied, "Struggling against your own base desires."
He (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:
"Do not be among those who follow the truth only when it aligns with their desires,
and oppose it when it conflicts with their desires.
For if you do that, you are not rewarded for the truth you followed,
and you are punished for that which you opposed."
Ibrahim ibn Adham (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"The most intense struggle is the struggle against base desires.
Whoever restrains his soul from its base desires
has found rest from the world and its tribulations,
and has been protected and spared from its harm."
It used to be said:
"Base desire is the partner of blindness."
Malik ibn Dinar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Struggle against your base desires just as you struggle against your enemies."
Some scholars have said:
"Allah created the angels with intellect but no desire,
and He created the beasts with desire but no intellect,
and He created the son of Adam with both.
So, whoever allows his intellect to overcome his desire
is better than the angels,
and whoever allows his desire to overcome his intellect
is worse than the beasts."
A poet said:
"If a person grants his soul everything it craves,
and does not restrain it, it will yearn for every falsehood,
and lead him toward sin and the ruin
that it invited him to, for the sake of fleeting sweetness."
Ibn al-Muqaffa' (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"A wise person must know that sound judgment and base desire are enemies,
and that it is the nature of people to procrastinate on judgment and hasten to satisfy desire,
so he must oppose that,
and strive to ensure his desire is always delayed and his judgment is always prioritized."
He (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:
"If you are confronted by two matters,
meaning, if two matters suddenly arise,
and you do not know which is more correct,
then look at which one is closer to your base desire and oppose it,
for the majority of what is correct lies in opposing base desire."
Condemning disputation and argumentation in general.
'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
"Disputation: its wisdom is not grasped, and its tribulation is not safe."
Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
"It is sufficient sin for you that you never cease to be a disputer."
Al-Awza'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"If Allah intends evil for a people,
He opens the door of argumentation for them and denies them action."
From Muslim ibn Yasar (may Allah have mercy on him):
He used to say:
"Beware of disputation,
for it is the hour of the scholar's ignorance,
and through it, Satan seeks his downfall."
Some of the salaf said:
"By Allah, I have not seen anything more destructive to religion,
nor more diminishing to one's honor,
nor more wasteful of time,
nor more distracting to the heart than hostility."
Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"The believer does not flatter, nor does he dispute;
he spreads the wisdom of Allah (the Almighty and Exalted).
If it is accepted, he praises Allah (the Almighty and Exalted),
and if it is rejected, he praises Allah (the Almighty and Exalted)."
Al-Barbahari (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Sitting for the sake of debate
closes the door to benefit."
Condemning disputation and argumentation in matters of religion.
Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) was asked about touching the Black Stone.
He said:
"I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) touch it and kiss it."
He said:
"I said, 'What if I am crowded?'
'What if I am overcome?'"
He said:
"'Leave your "what ifs" in Yemen;
I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) touch it and kiss it.'"
Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"The worst of Allah's servants
are those who pursue the worst of issues,
blinding the servants of Allah with them."
Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Beware of hostility in religion,
for it occupies or corrupts the heart,
and breeds hypocrisy."
Malik ibn Anas (may Allah have mercy on him) left the mosque one day,
leaning on my hand,
when a man accused of Irja' (the belief that deeds are separate from faith) caught up with him.
He said:
"O servant of Allah,
listen to me, let me speak to you, argue with you, and inform you of my opinion."
He (Malik) said:
"And if you defeat me?"
He (the man) said:
"If I defeat you, follow me."
He (Malik) said:
"And if another man comes and speaks to us and defeats us?"
He (the man) said:
"We follow him."
Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"O servant of Allah,
Allah (the Almighty and Exalted) sent Muhammad (peace be upon him) with one religion,
yet I see you moving from one religion to another."
'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz said:
"Whoever makes his religion a target for disputes will change his views frequently."
Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Argumentation in religion breeds disputation,
removes the light of knowledge from the heart,
hardens it, and inherits malice."
He (may Allah have mercy on him) used to criticize argumentation in religion,
and say:
"Every time a man comes to us who is more argumentative than another,
he wants us to reject what Gabriel brought to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)."
It was said to him (may Allah have mercy on him):
"A man has knowledge of the Sunnah;
should he argue for it?"
He said, "No.
Rather, he should inform others of the Sunnah;
if it is accepted from him, good, otherwise he should remain silent."
Al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Disputation in religion
hardens the heart and inherits malice."
It was said to al-Hakam ibn 'Utaybah (may Allah have mercy on him):
"What drives people to base desires?"
He said, "Hostilities."
It was said to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him):
"O Abu 'Abdullah,
I am in a gathering where no one knows the Sunnah except me,
and an innovator speaks in it;
should I refute him?"
He said:
"Do not set yourself up for this.
Inform him of the Sunnah, but do not argue."
Warning against debating the people of innovation and base desires.
Abu Qilabah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Do not sit with the people of base desires, and do not argue with them,
for I do not feel safe that they will plunge you into misguidance,
or confuse you in your religion with some of what they have been confused with."
A man came to al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him)
and said:
"O Abu Sa'id, come so that I may argue with you about religion."
Al-Hasan replied:
"As for me, I have insight into my religion;
if you have lost your religion, go and seek it."
From Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani (may Allah have mercy on him), he said:
"There is no refutation of them more severe than silence."
A man from the people of base desires said to him:
"O Abu Bakr, I want to ask you about a word."
He turned away, gesturing with his finger, "Not even half a word."
From Ma'mar (may Allah have mercy on him), he said:
"I was with Ibn Tawus (may Allah have mercy on him), and his son was with him,
when a man known as Salih, who spoke about Qadar (divine decree), came to him.
He began to speak about it,
so Ibn Tawus put his fingers in his ears
and said to his son, 'Put your fingers in your ears and press hard,
so that you do not hear anything of what he says,
for the heart is weak.'"
Two men from the people of base desires entered upon Muhammad ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him).
They said:
"O Abu Bakr, may we tell you a hadith?"
He said, "No."
They said:
"May we recite a verse from the Book of Allah to you?"
He said, "No.
Either you leave, or I will leave."
They said:
"So they left."
Some of the people said:
"O Abu Bakr,
what would it have cost you to let them recite a verse from the Book of Allah (the Exalted)?"
He said:
"I feared that they would recite a verse to me and distort it,
and that would settle in my heart."
Muhammad ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"No man has ever argued with me about something—
meaning, disputed with me—
without me knowing what he wants,
and knowing more about disputation than him,
but I refuse to argue with you."
Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Disputation and argumentation in knowledge
remove the light of knowledge from the heart of the servant."
He said:
"It hardens the heart and inherits malice."
Al-Zuhri said:
"I saw Malik and a group of people arguing in his presence,
so he stood up, shook his garment,
and said:
'You are nothing but a source of conflict.'"
He would say when some of the people of base desires came to him:
"As for me, I am upon clear evidence from my Lord,
and as for you, you are in doubt;
Go then to someone like yourself and dispute the matter.
Then he recited.
“Say: This is my Way: I call on Allah with sure knowledge. I and whosoever followeth me - Glory be to Allah! - and I am not of the idolaters.” (12:108)
The life of the weapon.
Between speech and action.