In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The life of authority lies between speech and action.
Sincerity with Allah.
Bakr Ibn 'Abdullah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him,
did not surpass the people by having more prayer or fasting than them;
rather, he surpassed them because of something that was in his heart.
'Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"You pray more and strive harder than the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
yet they were better than you."
It was said to him, "In what way?"
He replied:
"They were more ascetic regarding this world and more desirous of the Hereafter than you."
Malik Ibn Dinar, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Sincerity appears in the heart as something weak,
just as a palm shoot appears.
It starts as a single twig;
if a child plucks it,
its root is destroyed.
If a goat eats it, its root is destroyed.
But it is watered and it spreads,
it is watered and it spreads,
until it has a firm root that is trodden upon,
a shade under which one finds shelter,
and fruit from which one eats.
Sincerity is the same:
it appears in the heart as something weak,
so its possessor tends to it,
and Allah, the Exalted, increases it.
Its possessor tends to it,
and Allah increases it,
until Allah makes it a blessing for his own soul,
and his speech becomes a remedy for the erring."
Then he says:
"Have you not seen them?"
Then he returns to himself and says:
"Yes,
by Allah, we have seen them:
al-Hasan,
and Sa'id Ibn Jubayr.
A man among them would have Allah revive
vast multitudes of people through his speech."
He, may Allah have mercy on him, also said:
"Tell those who are not sincere:
do not trouble yourselves."
Abu Zur'ah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
I said to Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him:
"How did you escape the sword of al-Mu'tasim
and the trial of al-Wathiq?"
He said to me:
"O Abu Zur'ah,
if sincerity were applied to a wound, it would heal."
It was said to Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him:
"By what did he attain what he attained,
to the point that he is remembered for it?"
He replied, "By sincerity."
Someone mentioned sincerity and devotion to him,
and he said:
"It is by this that the people were elevated."
Abu Sulayman al-Darani, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Whoever is sincere in abandoning a desire,
Allah removes it from his heart."
The Friends of Allah (Awliya').
'Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"There are people who are keys to the remembrance of Allah;
when they are seen, Allah is remembered."
'Abdullah Ibn Abi Awfa, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"The best of the servants of Allah
are those who love Allah,
and those who make Allah beloved to His servants."
One of the salaf, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"A friend of Allah:
when his status increases, his humility increases;
when his wealth increases, his generosity increases;
and when his age increases, his striving increases."
Sincerity.
Condemning hypocrisy and ostentation,
and fearing them.
'Umar wrote to Abu Musa, may Allah be pleased with them both:
"Whoever purifies his intention between himself and Allah,
Allah will suffice him in what is between him and the people.
But whoever adorns himself for the people with what Allah knows is otherwise,
Allah will disgrace him."
Umm Salamah, may Allah be pleased with her, said:
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"Some of my Companions will see me, and I will never see them after I die."
This reached 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him,
and he came to her rushing,
and said to her:
"I adjure you by Allah,
am I among them?"
She said, "No,
and I will never absolve anyone after you."
Hudhayfah, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
'Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, passed by me
while I was sitting in the mosque,
and he said to me:
"O Hudhayfah,
so-and-so has died, so bear witness [to his funeral]."
He said:
Then he walked on,
until, when he was about to leave the mosque,
he turned to me and saw me still sitting.
He realized,
so he returned to me and said:
"O Hudhayfah,
I adjure you by Allah,
am I among those people [the hypocrites]?"
He said:
I replied:
"By Allah, no.
And I will never absolve anyone after you."
He said:
Then I saw 'Umar's eyes overflowing,
meaning they shed tears of joy.
Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"Whoever shows off in this world, Allah will show him off on the Day of Resurrection;
and whoever seeks fame in this world, Allah will expose him on the Day of Resurrection."
Hudhayfah Ibn al-Yaman, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"The hypocrites today are worse than they were during the time of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him;
back then they used to hide it,
but today they proclaim it."
A man said to him:
"I fear that I am a hypocrite."
He replied:
"If you were a hypocrite, you would not fear it."
Some people said to Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him:
"We enter upon our rulers
and say to them the opposite of what we say when we leave them."
He said:
"We used to consider that hypocrisy."
Mujahid, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"We sought this knowledge while having no great intention,
then Allah later granted us the intention."
Hisham al-Dastawa'i, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"By Allah, I cannot say
that I ever went out to seek hadith
desiring only the Face of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic."
Al-Dhahabi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"By Allah, neither can I."
The salaf used to seek knowledge for the sake of Allah,
so they became noble and became imams to be followed.
A group among them sought it initially not for the sake of Allah,
and they attained it,
then they awakened and held themselves to account,
and the knowledge led them to sincerity along the way.
Al-Rabi' Ibn Khuthaym, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Everything not sought for the sake of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will perish."
Abu al-'Aliyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
The Companions of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said to me:
"Do not work for other than Allah,
lest Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, entrust you to the one for whom you worked."
One of the salaf, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"The people closest to ostentation
are those most confident that they are free of it."
Mutarrif Ibn 'Abdullah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"The righteousness of the heart is through the righteousness of deeds,
and the righteousness of deeds is through the soundness of the intention."
Abu al-'Aliyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
The Companions of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, gathered around me
and said, "O Abu al-'Aliyah,
do not perform a deed for which you desire other than Allah,
lest Allah assign your reward to the one you desired."
Al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"By Allah, no believer wakes up or goes to sleep
without fearing hypocrisy for himself."
There was a young man who used to recite in the presence of al-Hasan, may Allah have mercy on him,
and he liked his voice.
He said, "O Abu Sa'id,
I have been blessed with this voice,
and I stand [in prayer] at night,
then the devil comes and says,
'You only want to be heard.'"
Al-Hasan said:
"Your intention is [judged] when you rise from your bed."
It was said to Imam Malik Ibn Anas, may Allah have mercy on him:
"You have occupied yourself with this book [al-Muwatta'],
and people have joined you in it,
and they have produced the like of it."
He said:
"You will surely know what was intended for the Face of Allah, the Exalted."
Ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
I saw Malik Ibn Anas, may Allah have mercy on him,
and I saw him to be among the humble.
Allah only elevated him because of a secret between him and Allah.
This is because I often heard him say:
"Whoever loves for an opening to be made in his heart,
and to be saved from the agonies of death and the terrors of the Day of Resurrection,
let his deeds in secret be more than his deeds in public."
Ibn Wahb, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Malik's worship was mostly in secret, by night and by day,
where no one could see him.
Al-Fudayl Ibn 'Iyad, may Allah have mercy on him, said regarding the saying of the Exalted:
﴾That He may test you, which of you is best in deed﴿
"The most sincere and the most correct."
For if it is sincere but not correct, it is not accepted;
and if it is correct but not sincere, it is not accepted until it is sincere.
Sincerity is when it is for Allah,
The correct view is that which aligns with the Sunnah.
He, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Abandoning an action for the sake of people is showing off (riya').
And performing an action for the sake of people is associating partners with Allah (shirk).
Sincerity (ikhlas) is for Allah to grant you well-being from both.
'Abdullah Ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
If two men were traveling together,
and one of them wished to pray two rak'ahs,
but he abandoned them for the sake of his companion,
that would be showing off.
And if he prayed them for the sake of his companion,
that would be associating partners with Allah.
Some of the salaf, may Allah have mercy on them, said:
Whoever seeks the Countenance of Allah through his knowledge,
Allah will turn His Countenance toward him,
and will turn the hearts of the servants toward him.
And whoever acts for other than Allah the Exalted,
He will turn His Countenance away from him,
and will turn the hearts of the servants away from him.
Yahya Ibn Abi Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Learn the intention,
for it is more profound than the action itself.
It is narrated from Abu Sulayman al-Darani, may Allah have mercy on him, that he said:
The best way a servant can draw near to Allah
is for Allah to look into your heart
and find that you desire nothing from this world or the Hereafter except Him.
Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked:
If a man enters the mosque
and sees people, so he improves his prayer,
does this mean it is showing off?
He said: No.
That is the blessing of one Muslim upon another.
The life of peace
between speech and action.