Part of Lives of the Salaf — the Pious Predecessors (series completed)
· Lesson 51 of 72
A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (51) | Consoling and relieving distress, and caring for the poor
0:000:00
Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
0:00
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
0:04
The life of the salaf between speech and action.
0:11
Consolation and the relief of distress.
0:14
Ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
0:20
People will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection, more thirsty than they have ever been.
0:24
More parched than they have ever been.
0:27
And more exhausted than they have ever been.
0:30
So whoever clothes someone for the sake of Allah, Allah will clothe him.
0:34
Whoever feeds someone for the sake of Allah, He will feed him.
0:37
Whoever gives someone a drink for the sake of Allah, He will give him a drink.
0:40
And whoever acts for the sake of Allah, Allah will enrich him.
0:44
A man came to al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him),
0:48
And asked him to accompany him to attend to a need.
0:51
He replied, "I am in i‘tikaf (seclusion in the mosque)."
0:55
The man then went to al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and informed him.
0:59
Al-Hasan said,
1:01
"Had he walked with you to attend to your need,
1:04
It would have been dearer to me than a month of i‘tikaf."
1:08
Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
1:11
"For me to fulfill a need for a Muslim,
1:14
Is dearer to me than praying a thousand rak‘ahs."
1:19
When Umm Salih (may Allah have mercy on her) passed away,
1:22
The wife of Ahmad ibn Hanbal,
1:25
Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said to a woman with them,
1:29
"Go to so-and-so, my cousin,
1:32
And propose to her on my behalf."
1:35
He said: She went to her, and she accepted.
1:39
When she returned to him, she said,
1:42
"Her sister heard your request."
1:45
He asked, "Was she blind in one eye?"
1:48
She said, "Yes."
1:50
He said, "Go and propose to the one who is blind in one eye."
1:55
She went to her, and she accepted,
1:58
And she became the mother of ‘Abdullah.
2:01
Ibrahim ibn Adham (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
2:04
"Generosity, kindness, benevolence, and consolation have vanished.
2:08
So whoever cannot console people with his wealth, food, or drink,
2:13
Let him console them with a cheerful face and good character."
2:17
Do not, because of your abundance of wealth,
2:20
Be arrogant toward your poor,
2:23
Nor turn away from your weak,
2:26
Nor be dismissive of your destitute.
2:30
The care of the salaf for the poor and the destitute.
2:37
Aslam said:
2:40
I went out one night with ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) to the outskirts of Medina.
2:45
A tent appeared to us, so we headed toward it.
2:49
Inside was a woman in labor, weeping.
2:53
‘Umar asked her about her condition.
2:56
She said, "I am a stranger,
2:59
And I have nothing."
3:01
‘Umar wept,
3:03
And hurried back to his house.
3:06
He said to his wife, Umm Kulthum bint ‘Amr ibn Abi Talib,
3:11
"Do you wish for a reward that Allah has brought to you?"
3:14
And he told her the story.
3:16
She said, "Yes."
3:18
He carried flour and fat on his back,
3:22
And Umm Kulthum carried what was needed for childbirth, and he came.
3:27
Umm Kulthum entered to be with the woman,
3:30
And ‘Umar sat with her husband, talking,
3:33
While the husband did not recognize him.
3:35
The woman gave birth to a boy.
3:38
Umm Kulthum said,
3:40
"O Commander of the Faithful,
3:42
Give your companion the good news of a boy."
3:44
When the man heard her say this,
3:47
He was overwhelmed and began to apologize to ‘Umar.
3:51
‘Umar said, "Do not worry."
3:54
Then he provided them with provisions and what they needed, and left.
3:59
Aslam said:
4:02
We went out with ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) to Harrah Waqim,
4:08
Until we reached Sirar, where we saw a fire.
4:12
He said,
4:13
"O Aslam,
4:15
I see travelers here,
4:17
Held back by the night and the cold.
4:20
Let us go."
4:22
We hurried until we drew near them.
4:25
There was a woman with small children,
4:29
And a pot set over a fire,
4:32
And her children were crying.
4:35
‘Umar said,
4:37
"Peace be upon you, O people of the light."
4:40
He disliked saying,
4:42
"O people of the fire."
4:44
She said, "And upon you be peace."
4:47
He said, "May I draw near?"
4:50
She said, "Draw near with good, or leave."
4:54
He drew near and said,
4:56
"What is the matter with you?"
4:58
She said,
4:59
"The night and the cold have held us back."
5:02
He said,
5:03
"And why are these children crying?"
5:07
She said,
5:08
"Hunger."
5:10
He said,
5:11
"What is in this pot?"
5:14
She said,
5:15
"Something to quiet them until they sleep.
5:19
May Allah judge between us and ‘Umar."
5:22
He said,
5:23
"May Allah have mercy on you,
5:25
What would ‘Umar know of your condition?"
5:27
She said,
5:28
"‘Umar is in charge of our affairs,
5:30
Yet he is heedless of us."
5:32
He said,
5:33
And he turned to me and said,
5:36
"Let us go."
5:38
We hurried until we reached the storehouse of flour.
5:42
He took out a sack of flour and a lump of fat.
5:47
He said,
5:48
"Load it onto me."
5:50
I said,
5:51
"I will carry it for you."
5:53
He said,
5:54
"Will you carry my burden for me on the Day of Resurrection?"
5:58
So I loaded it onto him.
6:00
He set off, and I went with him, hurrying toward her.
6:04
He dropped it by her,
6:07
And took out some of the flour.
6:09
He began saying to her,
6:11
"Sprinkle it for me, and I will stir it for you."
6:15
He began blowing under the pot,
6:17
Then he took it off.
6:19
He said,
6:20
"Bring me something."
6:22
She brought him a bowl, and he poured it into it.
6:26
Then he began saying to her,
6:29
"Feed them, and I will flatten it for them."
6:32
He did not stop until they were full,
6:35
And he left the remainder with her.
6:38
He stood up, and I stood up with him.
6:40
She began saying,
6:42
"May Allah reward you with good.
6:44
You were more worthy of this position than the Commander of the Faithful."
6:48
He said,
6:50
"Say something good.
6:52
When you come to the Commander of the Faithful,
6:55
You will find me there, if Allah wills."
6:58
Then he moved away from her,
7:01
And sat down nearby.
7:04
We said to him,
7:06
"We have other matters to attend to."
7:09
He would not speak to me,
7:11
Until I saw the children wrestling,
7:14
Then they slept and became quiet.
7:16
He said,
7:17
"O Aslam,
7:19
Hunger kept them awake and made them cry,
7:22
So I did not want to leave until I saw what I saw."
7:27
‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) went out in the darkness of the night,
7:32
And Talhah saw him.
7:34
‘Umar went and entered a house,
7:37
Then he entered another house.
7:40
When morning came, Talhah
7:42
Went to that house,
7:44
And found an old, blind, bedridden woman.
7:47
He said to her,
7:49
"Why does this man come to you?"
7:52
She said,
7:53
"He has been looking after me for such and such a time.
7:57
He brings me what I need,
8:00
And removes the harm from me."
8:02
Talhah said,
8:04
"May your mother mourn you, O Talhah!
8:06
Are you tracking the slips of ‘Umar?"
8:09
Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him) used to work with his own hands,
8:14
And when he earned something,
8:16
He would buy meat or fish with it,
8:19
Then he would invite the lepers,
8:21
And they would eat with him.
8:23
A poor blind man came
8:26
To Ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him),
8:29
While people were crowding around him.
8:31
He called out,
8:32
"O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman,
8:35
You have brought the people of status and the elite close,
8:38
And pushed me away because I am poor."
8:42
He said to him,
8:43
"Come closer."
8:44
He kept bringing him closer,
8:46
Until he sat him by his side and near him.
8:50
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both)
8:54
Would not eat a meal unless an orphan was at his table.
8:59
Jabir ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) said,
9:03
"For me to give a dirham in charity to an orphan or a poor person,
9:07
Is dearer to me than a Hajj after the obligatory Hajj."
9:12
The value of the clothes of Bakr ibn ‘Abdullah (may Allah have mercy on him)
9:17
Was four thousand.
9:19
He used to sit with the poor and the destitute, talking to them,
9:24
And he would say that they enjoyed that.
9:28
‘Ali ibn al-Husayn (may Allah have mercy on him)
9:31
When he gave charity to a beggar,
9:34
He would kiss it, then give it to him.
9:37
Zubayd al-Yami (may Allah have mercy on him)
9:40
On a rainy night, would take a torch of fire,
9:45
He would make the rounds among the elderly women of the neighborhood.
9:48
He would say, "Is there any need for a house for you, or do you require fire?"
9:54
When morning came, he would make the rounds among the elderly women of the neighborhood.
9:58
"Do you have any need in the market, or do you require anything?"
10:03
The custodians of the Sacred House of Allah wrote to 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him,
10:10
requesting that he order a covering for the House,
10:12
just as those before him used to do.
10:15
He wrote back to them,
10:17
"I have decided to spend that on hungry livers [the needy],
10:22
for they are more deserving of it than the House."
10:25
Al-Marwudhi narrated, saying:
10:28
"I never saw the poor in any gathering more honored than they were in the gathering of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him."
10:36
He was inclined toward them,
10:38
and kept his distance from the people of this world.
10:42
The life of the righteous.
10:44
Between speech and action.