Part of Lives of the Salaf — the Pious Predecessors (series completed)
· Lesson 67 of 72
A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (67) | Fear of God and its impact on the Muslim
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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 Lives of the Salaf Between Word and Deed.
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Piety toward Allah and Its Impact on the Muslim.
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'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
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"Be more concerned with the acceptance of an action than with the action itself."
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"For no action performed with piety is ever small,"
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"and how could an action that is accepted be considered small?"
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Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said concerning the verse of Allah Almighty:
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◁ ...be mindful of Allah as He deserves to be minded... ▷
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He said: "It means that He is obeyed and not disobeyed,"
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"remembered and not forgotten,"
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"and thanked and not disbelieved."
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Narrated 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her):
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She wrote to Mu'awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him and his father):
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"If you fear Allah, He will suffice you against the people."
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"But if you fear the people,"
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"they will avail you nothing against Allah."
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"So fear Allah."
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Abdullah Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said:
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"Indeed, the people of piety have signs by which they are known,"
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"and by which they recognize it within themselves:"
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"whoever shows patience in times of affliction,"
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"is pleased with the divine decree,"
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"gives thanks for blessings,"
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"and humbles himself before the rulings of the Qur'an."
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Qatadah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"Whoever fears Allah, Allah is with him."
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"And whoever has Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, with him,"
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"has with him the party that can never be defeated,"
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"the guardian who never sleeps,"
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"and the guide who never strays."
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When the rebellion of Ibn al-Ash'ath occurred,
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Talq Ibn Habib (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"Protect yourselves from it with piety."
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It was said to him:
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"Describe piety to us."
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He replied:
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"Piety is acting in obedience to Allah,"
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"upon light from Allah,"
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"hoping for the mercy of Allah."
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"And it is abandoning disobedience to Allah,"
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"upon light from Allah,"
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"fearing the punishment of Allah."
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Al-Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"He spoke masterfully and concisely."
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"For there is no piety except through deed,"
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"and no deed except through careful reflection upon knowledge and adherence to guidance."
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"And none of that profits except through sincerity to Allah,"
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"not so that it is said, 'So-and-so abandons sins through the light of fiqh,'"
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"since avoiding sins requires knowledge of them;"
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"rather, the abandonment must be out of fear of Allah,"
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"not to be praised for abandoning them."
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"Whoever adheres continuously to this counsel has indeed succeeded."
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Salam Ibn Abi Muti'—or someone else—said:
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"Yunus Ibn 'Ubayd (may Allah have mercy on him) was not the most frequent among them in prayer or fasting,"
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"yet, by Allah, no right due to Allah ever presented itself"
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"except that he was fully prepared for it."
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'Umar Ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"The pious person is bridled;"
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"he cannot do everything he desires."
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Dawud al-Ta'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"Allah never takes a servant out of the humiliation of disobedience into the honor of piety"
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"except that He enriches him without wealth,"
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"grants him honor without a tribe,"
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"and bestows upon him comfort without a companion."
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Apologizing and Returning to the Truth.
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Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say:
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"Whoever wakes up in a state of major ritual impurity should break his fast that day."
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'A'ishah and Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with them) were asked about that,
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and 'A'ishah said:
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"The Prophet (peace be upon him) would wake up in a state of major ritual impurity and then continue his fast."
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When Abu Hurairah was informed of what she said,
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he said: "They know better,"
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and he retracted what he used to say regarding that matter.
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Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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Abdullah Ibn al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about a issue,
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and he answered mistakenly.
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Someone said to him:
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"The ruling on it is such and such."
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He lowered his head for a moment,
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then said:
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"Then I retract my statement willingly and humbly."
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"For me to be a follower in the truth"
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"is more beloved to me than to be a leader in falsehood."
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He (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:
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"Al-Hafiz 'Abd al-Ghani compiled a book"
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"noting the errors of al-Hakim al-Nishapuri (may Allah have mercy on them)."
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May Allah have mercy on them.
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When al-Hakim examined it,
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he began reading it aloud to the people,
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acknowledging 'Abd al-Ghani's merit and knowledge,
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thanking him for compiling it,
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and retracting his own former views wherever the critique was correct.
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May Allah have mercy on them.
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'Izz al-Din Ibn 'Abd al-Salam (may Allah have mercy on him) issued a legal verdict,
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but it later became clear to him that he had erred.
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So he had it announced publicly throughout Fustat and Cairo:
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"Whoever received a legal verdict from so-and-so stating such and such,"
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"let him not act upon it,"
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"for it was an error."
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Condemnation of Fools and Ignoble People.
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'Umar Ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) said to his companions:
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"Tell me, who is the most foolish of people?"
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They said: "A man who sold his Hereafter for his worldly life."
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'Umar said:
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"Shall I inform you of one even more foolish than him?"
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They said: "Yes."
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He said: "A man who sold his Hereafter for someone else's worldly life."
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Wahb Ibn Munabbih (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"When the fool speaks, his foolishness exposes him."
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"When he remains silent, his inability to speak exposes him."
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"When he acts, he causes corruption."
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"When he leaves a matter, he neglects it."
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"His own knowledge does not help him,"
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"nor does the knowledge of others benefit him."
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"His mother wishes she had lost him at birth,"
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"his wife wishes she were without him,"
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"his neighbor wishes to be far removed from him,"
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"and his companion feels distress in his presence."
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Sufyan al-Thawri (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"We found that the root of all enmity"
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"is doing favors for the ignoble."
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Ibn al-Sammak (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"The concern of the wise person is salvation and escape,"
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"while the concern of the fool is amusement and revelry."
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The Conduct of the Salaf in Debate.
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Salman Ibn Rabi'ah was asked about a matter of estate division,
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and 'Umar Ibn Sharahbil disagreed with him.
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Salman Ibn Rabi'ah became angry and raised his voice,
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so 'Umar Ibn Sharahbil said:
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"By Allah, you have no right to do that; Allah Almighty revealed it thus."
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So they came to Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him),
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and he said: "The correct view is what Abu Maysarah said."
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He then said to Salman:
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"You should not have become angry when a man offered you guidance."
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And he said to 'Umar:
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"You ought to have spoken to him privately,"
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"and not refuted him while the people were listening."
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When Hatim al-Asamm (may Allah have mercy on him) entered Baghdad,
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its people gathered around him
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and said to him: "You are a non-Arab man,"
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"yet no one debates you without you silencing him."
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"For what reason is that?"
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Hatim said: "I possess three qualities"
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"by which I prevail over my opponent."
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They asked: "What are they?"
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He said: "I rejoice when my opponent is correct,"
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"I feel grieved when he errs,"
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"and I restrain myself from acting ignorantly toward him."
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Al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"I never debated anyone and wished that he would make a mistake."
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He (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:
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"I never debated anyone except with the intention of sincere advice."
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The Lives of the Salaf
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Between Word and Deed.