Part of Lives of the Salaf — the Pious Predecessors (series completed)
· Lesson 56 of 72
A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (56) | Keeping the Tongue - Part Three
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
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The life of the salaf was defined by the harmony between their words and their deeds.
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Guarding the tongue.
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Guarding the tongue against speaking about Allah without knowledge.
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Exercising caution (wara') in issuing legal rulings (fatwa) and in transmitting reports from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
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Al-Qasim Ibn Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"For a man to live in ignorance after having learned what Allah has made incumbent upon him
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is better for him than to speak about that which he does not know."
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"By Allah, we do not know everything you ask us about;
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and had we known, we would not have concealed it from you,
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for it is not permissible for us to conceal it from you."
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Ibn al-Munkadir, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"The scholar stands between Allah and His servants,
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so let him seek a way out for his own soul."
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Al-Rabi' Ibn Khuthaym, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"Let one of you fear saying, 'Allah has permitted such-and-such, and Allah has forbidden such-and-such,'
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lest Allah say to him, 'You have lied;
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I did not permit such-and-such, nor did I forbid such-and-such.'"
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Sahnun, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked:
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"Is it permissible for a scholar to say 'I do not know' regarding a matter he actually knows?"
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He replied, "Regarding matters for which there is a clear text from the Qur'an or an established Sunnah, no.
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But as for matters based on personal opinion (ra'y),
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then it is permissible for him to do so,
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because he does not know whether he is correct or mistaken."
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Zubayd al-Yami said:
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"I never asked Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, may Allah have mercy on him, about anything
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without seeing signs of aversion on his face;
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he would say, 'I hope,' or 'Perhaps.'"
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Al-A'mash, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"I never heard Ibrahim al-Nakha'i say,
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'This is halal' or 'This is haram.'
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He would only say,
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'They used to dislike this,' or 'They used to like this.'"
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Ibn Mahdi said:
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"A man asked Malik Ibn Anas, may Allah have mercy on him, about a matter,
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and he replied, 'I do not know it.'
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The man said,
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'I have traveled from such-and-such a place just to ask you about this.'
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Malik said to him,
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'When you return to your home and your place,
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inform them that I told you:
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I do not know it.'"
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Ibn Wahb said:
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"If I wished to fill pages with the words of Malik Ibn Anas, may Allah have mercy on him,
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saying 'I do not know,' I could have done so."
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He, may Allah have mercy on him, also said:
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"It was not the way of the people,
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nor of those who passed before us from our salaf,
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nor of anyone I have met whom I would take as a model,
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to say of something, 'This is halal and this is haram.'
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They would not dare to do that.
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They would only say,
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'We dislike such-and-such,' or 'We view this as good.'
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'This is appropriate,'
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or 'We do not see this as appropriate.'
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They would not say 'halal' or 'haram.'
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Have you not heard the saying of Allah the Exalted:
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“Say: Have ye considered what provision Allah hath sent down for you, how ye have made of it lawful and unlawful? Hath Allah permitted you, or do ye invent a lie concerning Allah?” (10:59)
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“Say: Have ye considered what provision Allah hath sent down for you, how ye have made of it lawful and unlawful? Hath Allah permitted you, or do ye invent a lie concerning Allah?” (10:59)
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"Say, 'Has Allah permitted you [to do this]?'"
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“Say: Have ye considered what provision Allah hath sent down for you, how ye have made of it lawful and unlawful? Hath Allah permitted you, or do ye invent a lie concerning Allah?” (10:59)
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The halal is what Allah and His Messenger have permitted,
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and the haram is what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden.
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A man asked Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him,
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and he said to him, "Ask someone who knows; ask someone who knows."
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Abu Sahl Muhammad Ibn 'Umar narrated
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from some of the scholars of Balkh:
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"I entered Baghdad,
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and there was a man at the bridge calling out for three days, saying:
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'Beware! Judge Ahmad Ibn 'Amran al-Khasafah, may Allah have mercy on him,
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was asked for a fatwa on such-and-such a matter,
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and he answered with such-and-such,
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but that is an error;
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the correct answer is such-and-such.
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May Allah have mercy on whoever conveys this to him.'"
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Taqi al-Din Ibn 'Abd al-Qadir al-Tamimi al-Ghazzi, may Allah have mercy on him, said,
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commenting on this story:
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"This is how scholars should be;
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this is how caution must be exercised in the religion of Allah,
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and this is the sincerity owed to the servants of Allah."
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Sheikh 'Atiyyah Salim said
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regarding his teacher, the scholar Muhammad al-Amin al-Shinqiti, may Allah have mercy on them both:
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"Among the things noted about him in his final years
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was his distancing himself from issuing fatwas.
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He would often say,
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'I will not bear anything upon my conscience;
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the scholars say such-and-such.'
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I once asked him about that,
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and he said:
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'A person is in safety as long as he is not tested,
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and being asked is a trial,
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because you are speaking on behalf of Allah,
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and you do not know if you have hit upon Allah's ruling or not.'
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So, as long as there is no definitive text from the Book of Allah
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or the Sunnah of His Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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it is mandatory to exercise caution regarding it."
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He would exemplify this with the poet's words:
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"If you know a thing, then speak of it;
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but do not speak of that which you are ignorant of."
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"Whoever loves to be seen in the forefront,
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and hates to say 'I do not know,' his vital points have been struck."
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Guarding the tongue from speaking about what does not concern one.
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Someone visited Abu Dujanah, may Allah be pleased with him, while he was ill,
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and his face was radiant.
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He said:
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"There is no deed of mine more reliable in my own estimation than two things:
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I would not speak about what did not concern me,
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and my heart was sound toward the Muslims."
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Some of the salaf said:
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"Whoever busies himself with what does not concern him
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wastes what does concern him."
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Al-Fudayl Ibn 'Iyad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"You spoke about what did not concern you,
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so it distracted you from what did concern you.
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Had you busied yourself with what concerned you,
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you would have abandoned what did not concern you."
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Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"A man will not be righteous until he abandons what does not concern him.
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When he does that,
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it is hoped that Allah will open his heart."
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Ma'ruf al-Karkhi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"The servant's speech regarding what does not concern him
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is a form of abandonment (khidhlan) from Allah the Exalted."
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The discourse of the salaf on preferring silence over speech at times,
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and vice versa.
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'Ubayd Allah Ibn Abi Ja'far, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"If a person is speaking in a gathering
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and he finds his speech pleasing,
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let him hold his tongue.
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And if he is silent
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and he finds his silence pleasing,
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let him speak."
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Malik Ibn Dinar, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"Patience is silence,
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and silence is part of patience.
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The speaker is not more pious than the silent one,
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except for a scholar who speaks when it is appropriate
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and remains silent when it is appropriate."
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Guarding the tongue from affectation in speech.
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Ibrahim Ibn al-Mahdi said to 'Abd Allah Ibn Sa'id,
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his scribe, may Allah have mercy on them both:
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"Beware of pursuing obscure, archaic words
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in the hope of attaining eloquence,
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for that is the greatest form of speech impediment.
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Stick to what is simple,
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while avoiding the language of the vulgar."
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Whose backbiting is permissible?
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'Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
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"There is no sanctity for a wicked person."
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Al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"There are three for whom backbiting is not applicable:
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the treacherous leader,
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the person of innovation who calls to his innovation,
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and the sinner who openly commits his sin."
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Ibrahim al-Taymi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"There are three who have no protection against backbiting:
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the oppressor, the sinner,
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and the person of innovation."
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He also said, may Allah have mercy on him:
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"They did not consider it backbiting
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as long as the person was not named."
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Guarding the tongue from breaking promises.
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When death approached 'Abd Allah Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, he said:
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"A man from Quraysh once asked for my daughter's hand,
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and I had given him something akin to a promise.
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By Allah, I will not meet Allah with a third of hypocrisy;
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bear witness that I have married her to him."
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Shu'bah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"I never made an appointment with Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani, may Allah have mercy on him,
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but that he would say to me when he wanted to part ways:
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'There is no appointment between me and you.'
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Yet when I arrived, I would find he had already preceded me."
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Guarding the tongue from harshness and sharpness.
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Some of the salaf said:
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"People never speak a harsh word
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but that beside it is a word that is softer,
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which would have sufficed in its place."
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Abu al-'Aliyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted concerning the covenant He took from the Children of Israel:
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"And speak to people good [words],"
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"meaning, say to them the best of speech,
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and treat them with the best of what you would love to be treated with."
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Guarding the tongue from asking about what has not occurred.
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A man came one day to Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both,
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and asked him about something—I do not know what it was.
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Ibn 'Umar said to him:
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"Do not ask about what has not happened,
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for I heard 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may the pleasure of Allah be upon him,
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curse the one who asks about what has not happened."
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'Umar, may the pleasure of Allah be upon him, said from the pulpit:
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"I adjure by Allah any man who asks about what has not happened,
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for Allah has already clarified what is to be."
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Other benefits.
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Abu al-Darda', may Allah be pleased with him, said:
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"There is no part of the believer more beloved to Allah the Exalted than his tongue;
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through it, He admits him to Paradise.
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And there is no part of the disbeliever more hateful to Allah the Exalted than his tongue;
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through it, He admits him to the Fire."
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Abu Hazim, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"It is incumbent upon the believer
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to be more protective of his tongue than he is of his own footsteps."
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Ibn 'Uyaynah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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Hakim once came upon a group of people who were conversing,
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so he stopped by them, greeted them, and said:
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"Speak as people who know that Allah hears their words,
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and that the angels are recording them."
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Yahya Ibn Mu'adh, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"Hearts are like pots boiling in the chest with whatever is inside them,
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and their ladles are the tongues."
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So, wait for a man to speak,
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for his tongue will ladle out for you what is in his heart,
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whether it be sweet, sour, fresh, or bitter.
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The ladling of his tongue will inform you of the flavor of his heart.
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Some of the wise once said to their sons:
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"Refine your tongues,
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for when a man is struck by a calamity,
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he may borrow his brother’s mount or his brother’s garment,
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but he will find no one to lend him his tongue."
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The life of peace lies between speech and action.