Part of Lives of the Salaf — the Pious Predecessors (series completed)
· Lesson 55 of 72
A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (55) | Keeping the Tongue - Part Two
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most 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 backbiting.
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It is narrated from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said:
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"The one who conveys a false statement,
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and the one who sustains it with sin, are both the same."
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It is also narrated from Ka'b, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said:
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"Beware of backbiting,
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for its perpetrator finds no rest from the torment of the grave."
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Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"The backbiter corrupts in an hour
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what the sorcerer cannot corrupt in a month."
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Condemning the two-faced and warning against them.
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Some people said to Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both:
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"We enter upon our rulers,
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and we say to them things contrary to what we say
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when we leave their presence."
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He replied:
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"We used to consider that hypocrisy."
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Guarding the tongue against lying.
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It is narrated from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said:
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"Beware of lying,
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for lying is incompatible with faith."
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'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
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"You will not find a believer who is a habitual liar."
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'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say:
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"Lying is not appropriate, whether in earnest or in jest,
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nor should a man promise his child something
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and then fail to fulfill it."
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He also said, may Allah be pleased with him:
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"A man continues to speak the truth and strives for truthfulness
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until there is not left in his heart for wickedness
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even the space of a needle's eye to settle.
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And a man continues to lie and strives for falsehood
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until there is not left in his heart for righteousness
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even the space of a needle's eye to settle."
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Ibn Mas'ud and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said:
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"A believer may be naturally inclined to all sorts of traits,
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except for lying and treachery;
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for you will never find a believer who is a traitor or a liar."
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Al-Hasan, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"It is counted as hypocrisy:
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the discrepancy between action and speech,
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the discrepancy between one's private and public life,
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and the discrepancy between what one enters into and what one exits from."
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"The root of hypocrisy, and that upon which hypocrisy is built,
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is lying."
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He also said, may Allah have mercy on him:
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"Lying is the sum of hypocrisy."
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Yunus ibn 'Ubayd, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"Every bad trait may be hoped to be abandoned one day,
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except for the one who is a habitual liar."
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Hudhayfah al-Mar'ashi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"That I should intentionally tell a lie for the sake of Allah
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is more beloved to me than performing a Hajj pilgrimage."
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Samnun ibn 'Abdullah, may Allah have mercy on him,
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used to speak about divine love,
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then he named himself 'the liar'
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because of his claim in his own words:
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'I have no share in anything other than You,
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so test me however You wish.'
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He was then tested with urinary retention,
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and he would go around to the offices
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and say to the young boys:
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'Pray for your uncle who is afflicted by his tongue.'"
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Some eloquent scholars said:
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"The truthful person is protected and honored,
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while the liar is disgraced and humiliated."
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Ibrahim, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"They did not permit lying
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in either earnest or jest."
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Yazid ibn Maysarah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"Lying waters the door of every evil,
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just as water waters the roots of trees."
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Some of the wise men of the Arabs said:
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"I examined the qualities of people,
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and I found the most noble of them to be the truthfulness of the tongue.
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Whoever lacks the virtue of truthfulness in his speech
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has been bereaved of his most honorable character."
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Guarding the tongue against reviling and insulting.
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It is narrated from Ka'b, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said:
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"Whoever curses something without cause,
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the curse continues to circulate between the heaven and the earth,
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until it settles upon the collarbone of the one who uttered it."
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Abu Ja'far,
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Muhammad ibn 'Ali, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"The weapon of the base is foul speech."
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It is narrated from Ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him, that he said:
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"Whoever belittles the scholars loses his Hereafter,
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whoever belittles the rulers loses his worldly life,
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and whoever belittles his brothers loses his chivalry."
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Mujahid, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"It is said that whenever the devil mentions a people, he is present with them.
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So if he hears someone cursing him, he says:
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'You have cursed one who is already cursed.'
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And there is nothing more cutting to his back than 'La ilaha illa Allah' (There is no god but Allah)."
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Guarding the tongue against mockery.
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Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"I see something that is blameworthy,
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and nothing prevents me from speaking about it
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except the fear that I might be afflicted with it myself."
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Al-Hasan, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"They used to say:
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'Whoever mocks his brother for a sin from which he has repented to Allah, the Almighty and Majestic,
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will not die until Allah afflicts him with it.'"
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Guarding the tongue against speaking about Allah without knowledge.
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And piety in issuing fatwas and narrating from the Prophet, peace be upon him.
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Maymun ibn Mihran, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him,
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when a dispute was brought to him, would look into the Book of Allah.
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If he found in it that which he could judge by, he would judge between them with it.
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If he did not find it in the Book,
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he would look to see if there was a Sunnah from the Prophet, peace be upon him, regarding it.
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If he knew it, he would judge by it.
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And if he did not know it, he would go out and ask the Muslims,
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saying: 'Such and such has come to me,
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and I have looked into the Book of Allah
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and into the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
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and I have not found anything regarding it.
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Do you know if the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him,
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has issued a judgment regarding this?'
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Often a group would stand up
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and say: 'Yes, he judged such and such regarding it.'
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So he would accept the judgment of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him."
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'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, used to do the same.
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If he found it difficult to find in the Qur'an and the Sunnah,
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he would look to see if Abu Bakr had issued a judgment regarding it.
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If he found that Abu Bakr had issued a judgment regarding it, he would follow it.
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Otherwise, he would call the leaders of the Muslims and their scholars,
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and consult them.
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If they agreed upon a matter, he would judge between them accordingly.
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'Ubayd ibn Jurayj said:
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"I used to sit in Makkah with Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both,
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and he would say 'I do not know' regarding what he was asked
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more often than he would issue a fatwa."
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It is narrated from Jabir ibn Zayd
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that Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, met him during the circumambulation (Tawaf),
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and said to him:
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"O Abu al-Sha'tha',
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you are one of the scholars of Basra,
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so do not issue a fatwa except based on a clear Qur'an
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or an established Sunnah,
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for if you do otherwise,
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you will perish and cause others to perish."
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'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
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"O people,
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fear Allah.
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Whoever among you knows something,
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let him speak based on what he knows,
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and whoever does not know,
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let him say:
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'Allah knows best.'
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For it is better for one of you
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to say about what he does not know:
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'Allah knows best,'
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for Allah, the Almighty and Majestic,
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said to His Prophet, peace be upon him:
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'Say: I do not ask of you any reward for it.'"
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“Say (O Muhammad, unto mankind): I ask of you no fee for this, and I am no simulating.” (38:86)
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It is narrated from Ibn Mas'ud and Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both,
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that they said:
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"Whoever issues a fatwa to people on everything they ask him about
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is a madman."
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He also said, may Allah be pleased with him:
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"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said..."
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then he trembled,
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and then he said something similar to that.
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Anas, may Allah be pleased with him,
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used to narrate little from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
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and when he did narrate from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
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he would say:
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"Or as the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said."
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Al-Sha'bi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"'I do not know' is half of knowledge."
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'Umar ibn Abi Za'idah said:
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"I have never seen anyone who was more frequent
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in saying, when asked about something:
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'I have no knowledge of it,'
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than al-Sha'bi, may Allah have mercy on him."
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It was said to al-Sha'bi, may Allah have mercy on him:
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"How did you used to act when you were asked?"
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He said:
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"When a man was asked,
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he would say to his companion: 'You answer it,'
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and they would continue until it returned to the first one."
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Ibn Abi Layla, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"I met one hundred and twenty of the Companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
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and there was not one of them who was asked a hadith
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but that he wished his brother would suffice him in narrating it,
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nor was there one asked for a fatwa
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but that he wished his brother would suffice him in issuing it."
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Some wise men said:
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"Do not speak about what you do not know,
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lest you be accused regarding what you do know."
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Ibn Sirin, may Allah have mercy on him,
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when asked about the lawful and the unlawful,
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his color would change,
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until you would say he was not the same person he was before.
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The life of peace.
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Between speech and action.