A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (40)

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

0:03 The life of the salaf between word and deed.

0:09 Self-abasement.

0:13 Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, said in the sermon he delivered at the beginning of his caliphate:

0:20 "I have been given authority over you, though I am not the best among you."

0:23 "If I do well, then support me."

0:26 "And if I do wrong, then correct me."

0:30 Sufyan, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

0:32 It reached us that al-Hasan, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

0:36 "Yes, by Allah, he was indeed the best of them."

0:40 "But the believer abases his own soul."

0:43 And Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

0:48 "If you knew what I know about myself, you would heap dust upon my head."

0:54 A man once jostled Salim Ibn Abdullah, may Allah have mercy on him.

0:58 Salim said to him:

1:00 "Take it easy, may Allah have mercy on you."

1:03 The man replied:

1:05 "I see you as nothing but a wicked man."

1:08 Salim replied:

1:10 "I do not think you are any better."

1:12 Mutarrif Ibn Abdullah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

1:16 "No one has ever praised me,"

1:19 "but that my soul felt smaller in my own estimation."

1:22 He also said, may Allah have mercy on him, while at Arafat:

1:26 "O Allah, do not reject the entire gathering on my account."

1:29 Abdullah Ibn Bakr al-Muzani, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

1:34 I heard a man narrating on the authority of my father:

1:37 That he was standing at Arafat,

1:40 and he wept, saying:

1:42 "Were it not for my presence among them,"

1:44 "I would have said that they have been forgiven."

1:47 Al-Dhahabi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

1:49 "Thus should the servant belittle his own soul and abase it."

1:55 Muhammad Ibn Wasi‘, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

1:58 "If sins had a scent,"

2:01 "you would not be able to come near me,"

2:04 "due to the stench of my sins."

2:06 Abdullah Ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him, was reading:

2:11 The Book of Rites (al-Manasik).

2:13 He reached a hadith which contained:

2:16 "Abdullah said: 'We adopt this view.'"

2:19 He asked, "Who wrote this from my words?"

2:23 It was said, "The scribe who wrote it."

2:26 He continued to rub it out with his hand until it was erased.

2:30 Then he said, "Who am I that my words should be written down?"

2:35 Abu Sulayman al-Darani, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

2:39 "If all of creation gathered to lower my status as much as I lower it in my own eyes,"

2:45 "they would not be able to do so."

2:47 A man said to Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him:

2:52 "Praise be to Allah that I have seen you."

2:55 He said, "Sit down. Who am I? What is this?"

3:01 A man said:

3:03 "I saw the traces of grief on the face of Abu Abdullah,"

3:06 meaning Ahmad Ibn Hanbal,

3:09 when someone praised him and said to him:

3:12 "May Allah reward you with good on behalf of Islam."

3:16 He replied, "Rather, may Allah reward Islam with good on my behalf."

3:20 "Who am I, and what am I?"

3:23 A man asked Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn ‘Attab, may Allah have mercy on him,

3:29 about some issues he had selected and prepared.

3:32 He answered him with the best of answers.

3:35 The man praised him,

3:37 and he said to him:

3:39 "O son of my brother, do not make this a habit."

3:42 "For had I not reviewed them yesterday,"

3:45 "I would not have answered you like this."

3:48 Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

3:52 Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, would often say:

3:57 "I possess nothing, and nothing comes from me,"

4:01 "nor is there anything in me."

4:03 He would often recite this line of poetry:

4:07 "I am a beggar, son of a beggar,"

4:10 "and such were my father and my grandfather."

4:13 When he was praised to his face, he would say:

4:18 "By Allah, I am still renewing my Islam at every moment,"

4:22 "and I have not yet truly submitted as I ought."

4:26 Toward the end of his life, he sent me

4:29 a treatise on Tafsir in his own handwriting.

4:32 On the back of it were verses of his own composition:

4:36 "I am the one in need of the Lord of all creation,"

4:39 "I am the poor one in all my states."

4:43 "I am the one who wrongs my own soul, and it is my oppressor,"

4:47 "and if any good comes to us, it comes from Him."

4:51 "I cannot bring any benefit to myself,"

4:55 "nor can I ward off any harm from myself."

4:59 "I have no master other than Him to manage my affairs,"

5:03 "nor any intercessor when my sins surround me."

5:07 "I possess nothing apart from Him, ever,"

5:11 "nor am I a partner to Him in even the smallest atom."

5:15 "He has no helper to assist Him,"

5:19 "as is the case with those who hold worldly authority."

5:23 "Poverty is an essential attribute of my being forever,"

5:27 "just as richness is an essential attribute of His being forever."

5:31 "This state is the state of all creation,"

5:35 "and they are all servants coming to Him."

5:39 "So whoever seeks a goal from other than his Creator,"

5:43 "is the ignorant, oppressive, arrogant polytheist."

5:47 "And praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds,"

5:51 "for what has passed and for what is yet to come."

5:55 He, may Allah have mercy on him, would draw the righteous poor close,

6:00 honor them, keep them company, and be easygoing

6:04 with his delightful conversation, more so than with others.

6:08 He would even serve them himself,

6:12 and assist them by carrying their burdens to comfort their hearts,

6:16 seeking thereby to draw closer to his Lord.

6:20 He, may Allah have mercy on him, would never grow weary of anyone

6:24 who sought a legal ruling or asked him a question; rather, he would turn to them

6:28 with a cheerful face and a gentle disposition.

6:32 He would stand with them until they were the ones to depart from him,

6:36 whether they were young or old, man or woman,

6:40 free or slave, scholar or layman.

6:44 He would never rebuff them—that is, he would never meet them with speech

6:48 that was harsh or cold, nor would he embarrass them,

6:52 nor alienate them with words that would cause them distress.

6:56 Rather, he would answer them, help them understand, and clarify the error

7:00 from the truth with gentleness and openness.

7:05 Between word and deed.

A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (40) | Self-digestion

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