In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Life of the Salaf Between Word and Deed:
Courteousness toward People.
On the authority of Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), who said:
"He is not truly forbearing who does not treat with kindness
someone with whom he has no choice but to associate,
until Allah grants him a way out."
On the authority of 'Urwah ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah have mercy on him), who said:
"It is written in wisdom:
'Let your speech be pleasant,
and let your countenance be cheerful,
and you will be more beloved to people than one who gives them gifts.'"
Al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Managing people is more difficult than managing beasts."
Abu Sulayman al-Khattabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"As long as you live, treat all people with courtesy,
for you are living in an abode of courteous adaptation.
Whoever behaves courteously will prosper, and whoever does not will soon see himself
becoming a companion to regret."
A man complained to Makhlad ibn al-Husayn (may Allah have mercy on him)
about a man from the people of Kufa.
Makhlad replied, "Where are you when it comes to social courtesy?
For indeed, I treat everyone with courtesy, even this girl,"
referring to an Abyssinian slave girl who was sifting barley for his horses.
Scrupulous Piety: Its Importance and Meaning.
On the authority of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said:
"Indeed, people have neglected the greatest part of their religion: scrupulous piety (*wara'*)."
'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"To return a single dirham of doubtful origin
is more beloved to me than giving one hundred thousand in charity—
nay, even reaching six hundred thousand!"
On the authority of al-Dahhak (may Allah have mercy on him), who said:
"I met people who used to learn scrupulous piety."
On the authority of Damrah ibn Habib (may Allah have mercy on him), who said:
"Do not be amazed by the abundance of a person's prayer or fasting,
but look instead to his scrupulous piety.
If he possesses scrupulous piety alongside whatever worship Allah has provided him,
then he is truly a servant of Allah."
These are accounts of the salaf regarding scrupulous piety.
On the authority of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said:
Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) had
a slave boy who used to pay him an agreed daily earnings fee (*kharaj*),
and Abu Bakr would eat from his earnings.
One day the slave brought something, and Abu Bakr ate from it.
The slave boy asked him, "Do you know what this is?"
Abu Bakr replied, "What is it?"
He said,
"I performed fortune-telling for a man during the pre-Islamic Days of Ignorance,
though I was no good at fortune-telling;
I merely deceived him.
He met me today and gave me this for it,
and this is what you just ate from."
Abu Bakr inserted his hand into his throat
and vomited up everything that was in his stomach.
Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) had two wives.
When it was the day assigned to one of them,
he would not even perform ablution in the house of the other.
Later, both wives passed away during the plague that struck them in Syria,
while the people were intensely preoccupied.
So both were buried in a single grave,
and he drew lots between them
as to which of them should be lowered into the grave first.
Whenever Muhammad ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him)
narrated a hadith, he appeared as though he were guarding against something,
as if he were wary of something.
Ibn 'Awn said:
"I heard Muhammad ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him)
say regarding a matter I debated with him:
'I did not say to you that there is no harm in it;
I only said to you:
I do not know of any harm in it.'"
On the authority of Hisham ibn Hassan, who said:
"Muhammad ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) gave up
forty thousand dirhams
regarding a transaction in which you today would see no harm."
'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) was brought
water that had been heated using fuel from the state treasury.
He disliked it and refused to perform ablution with it.
Once, spoils containing musk were brought to him (may Allah have mercy on him),
so he covered his nose.
They asked, "O Commander of the Faithful,
why do you hold your nose for this?"
He replied, "One benefits from this only through its scent,
and I dislike enjoying its scent to the exclusion of the rest of the Muslims."
On the authority of Maymun ibn Mihran (may Allah have mercy on him), who said:
"A man's lawful earnings are not secure
until he places a barrier of lawful matters between himself and the unlawful."
Clarification on Correct versus Misguided Scrupulous Piety,
and who is worthy of scrupulous piety.
A man asked Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both)
about the blood of a mosquito.
Ibn 'Umar asked, "Where are you from?"
The man replied, "From the people of Iraq."
Ibn 'Umar said, "Look at this man!
He asks me about the blood of a mosquito,
he asks me about the blood of a mosquito,
when they have killed the grandson of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)!
And I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say:
'They [al-Hasan and al-Husayn] are my two sweet-smelling blossoms in this world.'"
Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Anmati said:
"I was with Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him),
and in front of him was an inkwell.
A hadith was mentioned,
so I asked his permission to write from his inkwell.
He said to me,
'Write, my good sir!
For this [excessive hesitation] is dark, misplaced piety.'"
Refinement of Manners and Chivalrous Honor (*Muru'ah*).
On the authority of al-Zuhri (may Allah have mercy on him),
who said:
"We used to come to the scholar,
and learning from his noble manners was more beloved to us than acquiring his knowledge."
'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Good manners were almost two-thirds of the religion."
Imam Malik ibn Anas said
to a youth from the Quraysh:
"O son of my brother, learn good manners before you learn knowledge."
He (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:
"I said to my mother,
'I am going out to write down knowledge.'
She said,
'Come and put on the garments of knowledge.'
So she dressed me and wound a turban on my head,
then said to me,
'Go to Rabi'ah
and learn from his manners before his knowledge.'"
Ibn Wahb said:
"What we acquired of Malik's good manners was more than what we learned of his knowledge."
Al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"If I knew that drinking cold water would diminish my chivalrous honor (*muru'ah*),
I would not drink it except warm."
The people of chivalrous honor are in constant exertion.
Al-Dhahabi said:
"There used to gather in the assembly of Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him)
nearly five thousand people
or more;
around five hundred would write down hadiths,
while the rest learned from his excellent manners and dignified demeanor."
Ibn al-Muqaffa' (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Do not be impressed by the honor shown to you by someone due to high rank or authority,
for authority is among the quickest worldly things to vanish.
Nor let the honor shown to you for wealth impress you,
for wealth follows authority in its rapid disappearance.
Nor let their honor shown to you for noble lineage impress you,
for lineage is the least of virtuous traits in benefiting its possessor in religion or worldly affairs.
But if you are honored for religion or chivalrous honor,
then let that impress you;
for chivalrous honor will never depart from you in this world,
and religion will never depart from you in the Hereafter."
One of the wise men said:
"Good manners are the outward form of the intellect,
so fashion the form of your intellect as you wish."
The poet said:
"A man will never attain chivalrous honor
if he inherits noble virtues from his father only to squander them.
His soul commanded him to baseness and vulgarity,
and forbade him from the paths of lofty ambition, so he obeyed it.
Thus, whenever he acquires a trait of noble virtue
through which the generous man builds honorable traits, he sells it away."
The Life of the Salaf Between Word and Deed.