A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (19) | Slandering passion, hypocrisy, and argument

0:00 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

0:03 The life of the believer is defined by the balance between speech and action.

0:09 Condemning base desires and the virtue of those who oppose them.

0:14 Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:

0:19 "Base desire is a worshipped deity."

0:22 And he recited:

0:23 “Hast thou seen him who maketh his desire his god, and Allah sendeth him astray purposely, and sealeth up his hearing and his heart, and setteth on his sight a covering? Then who will lead him after Allah (hath condemned him)? Will ye not then heed?” (45:23)

0:27 It was said to 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him):

0:33 "Which struggle is the most excellent?"

0:35 He replied, "Struggling against your own base desires."

0:39 He (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:

0:41 "Do not be among those who follow the truth only when it aligns with their desires,

0:46 and oppose it when it conflicts with their desires.

0:49 For if you do that, you are not rewarded for the truth you followed,

0:54 and you are punished for that which you opposed."

0:57 Ibrahim ibn Adham (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

1:02 "The most intense struggle is the struggle against base desires.

1:05 Whoever restrains his soul from its base desires

1:08 has found rest from the world and its tribulations,

1:11 and has been protected and spared from its harm."

1:15 It used to be said:

1:17 "Base desire is the partner of blindness."

1:20 Malik ibn Dinar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

1:24 "Struggle against your base desires just as you struggle against your enemies."

1:30 Some scholars have said:

1:33 "Allah created the angels with intellect but no desire,

1:37 and He created the beasts with desire but no intellect,

1:41 and He created the son of Adam with both.

1:45 So, whoever allows his intellect to overcome his desire

1:48 is better than the angels,

1:51 and whoever allows his desire to overcome his intellect

1:54 is worse than the beasts."

1:57 A poet said:

1:59 "If a person grants his soul everything it craves,

2:03 and does not restrain it, it will yearn for every falsehood,

2:07 and lead him toward sin and the ruin

2:11 that it invited him to, for the sake of fleeting sweetness."

2:15 Ibn al-Muqaffa' (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

2:19 "A wise person must know that sound judgment and base desire are enemies,

2:24 and that it is the nature of people to procrastinate on judgment and hasten to satisfy desire,

2:29 so he must oppose that,

2:31 and strive to ensure his desire is always delayed and his judgment is always prioritized."

2:37 He (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:

2:41 "If you are confronted by two matters,

2:43 meaning, if two matters suddenly arise,

2:45 and you do not know which is more correct,

2:48 then look at which one is closer to your base desire and oppose it,

2:52 for the majority of what is correct lies in opposing base desire."

2:56 Condemning disputation and argumentation in general.

3:03 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

3:08 "Disputation: its wisdom is not grasped, and its tribulation is not safe."

3:13 Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

3:18 "It is sufficient sin for you that you never cease to be a disputer."

3:22 Al-Awza'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

3:25 "If Allah intends evil for a people,

3:29 He opens the door of argumentation for them and denies them action."

3:35 From Muslim ibn Yasar (may Allah have mercy on him):

3:38 He used to say:

3:40 "Beware of disputation,

3:43 for it is the hour of the scholar's ignorance,

3:46 and through it, Satan seeks his downfall."

3:51 Some of the salaf said:

3:53 "By Allah, I have not seen anything more destructive to religion,

3:57 nor more diminishing to one's honor,

3:59 nor more wasteful of time,

4:01 nor more distracting to the heart than hostility."

4:05 Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

4:08 "The believer does not flatter, nor does he dispute;

4:13 he spreads the wisdom of Allah (the Almighty and Exalted).

4:16 If it is accepted, he praises Allah (the Almighty and Exalted),

4:20 and if it is rejected, he praises Allah (the Almighty and Exalted)."

4:24 Al-Barbahari (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

4:27 "Sitting for the sake of debate

4:30 closes the door to benefit."

4:32 Condemning disputation and argumentation in matters of religion.

4:39 Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) was asked about touching the Black Stone.

4:45 He said:

4:47 "I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) touch it and kiss it."

4:53 He said:

4:54 "I said, 'What if I am crowded?'

4:57 'What if I am overcome?'"

4:59 He said:

5:00 "'Leave your "what ifs" in Yemen;

5:03 I saw the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) touch it and kiss it.'"

5:09 Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

5:12 "The worst of Allah's servants

5:14 are those who pursue the worst of issues,

5:18 blinding the servants of Allah with them."

5:21 Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

5:27 "Beware of hostility in religion,

5:30 for it occupies or corrupts the heart,

5:34 and breeds hypocrisy."

5:36 Malik ibn Anas (may Allah have mercy on him) left the mosque one day,

5:42 leaning on my hand,

5:45 when a man accused of Irja' (the belief that deeds are separate from faith) caught up with him.

5:49 He said:

5:50 "O servant of Allah,

5:52 listen to me, let me speak to you, argue with you, and inform you of my opinion."

5:59 He (Malik) said:

6:00 "And if you defeat me?"

6:02 He (the man) said:

6:03 "If I defeat you, follow me."

6:06 He (Malik) said:

6:07 "And if another man comes and speaks to us and defeats us?"

6:12 He (the man) said:

6:13 "We follow him."

6:14 Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

6:18 "O servant of Allah,

6:20 Allah (the Almighty and Exalted) sent Muhammad (peace be upon him) with one religion,

6:26 yet I see you moving from one religion to another."

6:30 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz said:

6:33 "Whoever makes his religion a target for disputes will change his views frequently."

6:38 Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

6:43 "Argumentation in religion breeds disputation,

6:47 removes the light of knowledge from the heart,

6:50 hardens it, and inherits malice."

6:53 He (may Allah have mercy on him) used to criticize argumentation in religion,

6:57 and say:

6:59 "Every time a man comes to us who is more argumentative than another,

7:03 he wants us to reject what Gabriel brought to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)."

7:10 It was said to him (may Allah have mercy on him):

7:13 "A man has knowledge of the Sunnah;

7:16 should he argue for it?"

7:18 He said, "No.

7:19 Rather, he should inform others of the Sunnah;

7:22 if it is accepted from him, good, otherwise he should remain silent."

7:25 Al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

7:29 "Disputation in religion

7:31 hardens the heart and inherits malice."

7:35 It was said to al-Hakam ibn 'Utaybah (may Allah have mercy on him):

7:39 "What drives people to base desires?"

7:42 He said, "Hostilities."

7:45 It was said to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him):

7:49 "O Abu 'Abdullah,

7:51 I am in a gathering where no one knows the Sunnah except me,

7:56 and an innovator speaks in it;

7:59 should I refute him?"

8:01 He said:

8:02 "Do not set yourself up for this.

8:05 Inform him of the Sunnah, but do not argue."

8:08 Warning against debating the people of innovation and base desires.

8:16 Abu Qilabah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

8:21 "Do not sit with the people of base desires, and do not argue with them,

8:26 for I do not feel safe that they will plunge you into misguidance,

8:30 or confuse you in your religion with some of what they have been confused with."

8:35 A man came to al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him)

8:39 and said:

8:40 "O Abu Sa'id, come so that I may argue with you about religion."

8:46 Al-Hasan replied:

8:48 "As for me, I have insight into my religion;

8:51 if you have lost your religion, go and seek it."

8:56 From Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani (may Allah have mercy on him), he said:

9:01 "There is no refutation of them more severe than silence."

9:05 A man from the people of base desires said to him:

9:09 "O Abu Bakr, I want to ask you about a word."

9:13 He turned away, gesturing with his finger, "Not even half a word."

9:19 From Ma'mar (may Allah have mercy on him), he said:

9:22 "I was with Ibn Tawus (may Allah have mercy on him), and his son was with him,

9:27 when a man known as Salih, who spoke about Qadar (divine decree), came to him.

9:33 He began to speak about it,

9:36 so Ibn Tawus put his fingers in his ears

9:40 and said to his son, 'Put your fingers in your ears and press hard,

9:45 so that you do not hear anything of what he says,

9:48 for the heart is weak.'"

9:51 Two men from the people of base desires entered upon Muhammad ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him).

9:57 They said:

9:59 "O Abu Bakr, may we tell you a hadith?"

10:02 He said, "No."

10:04 They said:

10:05 "May we recite a verse from the Book of Allah to you?"

10:09 He said, "No.

10:10 Either you leave, or I will leave."

10:14 They said:

10:15 "So they left."

10:17 Some of the people said:

10:19 "O Abu Bakr,

10:20 what would it have cost you to let them recite a verse from the Book of Allah (the Exalted)?"

10:27 He said:

10:28 "I feared that they would recite a verse to me and distort it,

10:33 and that would settle in my heart."

10:36 Muhammad ibn Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

10:41 "No man has ever argued with me about something—

10:44 meaning, disputed with me—

10:45 without me knowing what he wants,

10:48 and knowing more about disputation than him,

10:51 but I refuse to argue with you."

10:55 Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

10:58 "Disputation and argumentation in knowledge

11:01 remove the light of knowledge from the heart of the servant."

11:05 He said:

11:06 "It hardens the heart and inherits malice."

11:10 Al-Zuhri said:

11:12 "I saw Malik and a group of people arguing in his presence,

11:17 so he stood up, shook his garment,

11:20 and said:

11:21 'You are nothing but a source of conflict.'"

11:24 He would say when some of the people of base desires came to him:

11:28 "As for me, I am upon clear evidence from my Lord,

11:32 and as for you, you are in doubt;

11:35 Go then to someone like yourself and dispute the matter.

11:38 Then he recited.

11:39 “Say: This is my Way: I call on Allah with sure knowledge. I and whosoever followeth me - Glory be to Allah! - and I am not of the idolaters.” (12:108)

11:45 The life of the weapon.

11:48 Between speech and action.

A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (19) | Slandering passion, hypocrisy, and argument

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