A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (49) | The ancestors’ care for children - Part One

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

0:04 The life of the salaf was defined by the harmony between their words and their deeds.

0:12 The salaf were deeply concerned with the upbringing of their children.

0:14 They were diligent in raising and educating them.

0:19 And they exercised great patience in doing so.

0:21 Ali Ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, said regarding this verse:

0:26 ﴾Protect yourselves and your families from a Fire...﴿

0:30 "Teach them and discipline them."

0:34 Umar Ibn al-As, may Allah be pleased with him, once stood by a circle of the Quraysh.

0:39 He said:

0:40 "Why have you pushed these young boys aside?"

0:44 "Do not do that."

0:46 "Make space for them in the gathering."

0:48 "Let them hear the hadith."

0:50 "And help them understand it."

0:52 "For they are the youth of a people today,"

0:56 "And they are likely to become the leaders of a people tomorrow."

0:59 "You yourselves were once the youth of a people,"

1:01 "And today you are the leaders of a people."

1:04 Ikrimah reported that he said:

1:06 "Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both,"

1:09 "Would place shackles on my legs,"

1:12 "And teach me the Qur'an and the Sunnah."

1:15 Some of the wise said:

1:18 "Hasten to discipline your children,"

1:21 "Before your tasks multiply and your mind becomes preoccupied."

1:25 Some poets said:

1:27 "Twigs, when you straighten them, they become straight,"

1:31 "But wood does not soften once it has hardened."

1:35 "Discipline may benefit the young while there is time,"

1:39 "But discipline is of no avail in old age."

1:43 Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, said:

1:46 "A child should be taught to pray,"

1:49 "Once he can distinguish his right from his left."

1:52 He also said to a man, may Allah be pleased with him:

1:56 "O man, discipline your son well,"

2:00 "For you are responsible for him,"

2:03 "And he is responsible for his righteousness toward you."

2:06 Sufyan al-Thawri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

2:09 "It is appropriate for a man to compel his child to seek knowledge,"

2:13 "For he is responsible for him."

2:16 Ibrahim al-Harbi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

2:19 "Keep your children away from bad companions,"

2:22 "Before they dye them in corruption,"

2:25 "Just as a garment is dyed."

2:28 He also said, may Allah have mercy on him, "The beginning of the corruption of children,"

2:31 "Is one from another."

2:34 It reached Umar Ibn Abd al-Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him,

2:38 That a ring-stone had been bought for his son for a thousand dirhams.

2:41 And he had used it as a seal.

2:44 So Umar wrote to him:

2:47 "It is my firm command to you that you sell the stone,"

2:50 "Which you bought for a thousand dirhams,"

2:53 "And give its price in charity."

2:57 "And have inscribed upon it:"

3:00 "'May Allah have mercy on a person who knows his own worth.'"

3:03 "Peace."

3:06 He also wrote, may Allah have mercy on him, to the tutor of his children:

3:09 "Be stern with them, for that is more effective,"

3:12 "In preventing their rashness and their morning idleness."

3:15 "For habit breeds negligence."

3:18 "And minimize their laughter,"

3:21 "For excessive laughter kills the heart."

3:24 "Instill in them through your discipline,"

3:27 "A hatred for amusements,"

3:30 "Which begin with Shaytan,"

3:33 "And whose consequence is the wrath of the Most Merciful."

3:36 "For it has reached me from reliable carriers of knowledge,"

3:39 "That attending musical gatherings and listening to songs,"

3:42 "And being obsessed with them,"

3:45 "Causes hypocrisy to grow in the heart,"

3:48 "Just as grass grows with water."

3:52 Al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, entered one day,

3:56 Into one of the chambers of Harun al-Rashid.

3:59 Permission was sought for him to enter.

4:02 The servant seated him next to Abu Abd al-Samad,

4:05 The tutor of al-Rashid's children.

4:08 He said to him, "O Abu Abd Allah,"

4:11 "These are the children of the Commander of the Faithful,"

4:14 "And this is their tutor."

4:17 "So give some advice." He turned to Abu Abd al-Samad,

4:20 And said to him, "Let the first thing you begin with,"

4:23 "In reforming the children of the Commander of the Faithful,"

4:26 "Is to reform yourself."

4:29 "For their eyes are fixed upon your eyes."

4:32 "What is good to them is what you deem good,"

4:35 "And what is evil to them is what you deem evil."

4:38 "Teach them the Book of Allah,"

4:41 "But do not force them, lest they grow weary of it,"

4:44 "And do not neglect them, lest they abandon it."

4:47 "Then increase them with the purest of poetry,"

4:50 "And the noblest of hadith."

4:53 "Do not move them from one branch of knowledge to another,"

4:56 "Until they have mastered it."

4:59 "For the crowding of words in the ear,"

5:03 "Is a cause of confusion for the understanding."

5:06 Al-Maymuni, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

5:09 "I asked Abu Abd Allah,"

5:12 "Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him,"

5:16 "He said, 'Start with the Qur'an.'"

5:19 "I said, 'Should I teach him the whole of it?'"

5:22 "He said, 'Unless it is too difficult, then teach him from it.'"

5:25 "Then he said to me,"

5:28 "Once he reads it first,"

5:31 "He will become accustomed to reading and will adhere to it."

5:34 Ibn Muflih, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

5:37 "And upon this are the followers of Imam Ahmad,"

5:40 "Up to our present time."

5:45 Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

5:50 "A man will have his rank raised,"

5:53 "And he will say, 'My Lord,'"

5:56 "'How did I attain this?'"

5:59 "It will be said to him, 'Through your child's seeking forgiveness for you.'"

6:02 Ibrahim Ibn Adham, may Allah have mercy on him, said,

6:05 To a man, "Do you have children?"

6:08 He said, "Yes." He said,

6:11 "The anxiety of your children is a form of anxiety."

6:15 Patience in the loss of a child.

6:20 Muhammad Ibn Isa al-Zahid said,

6:24 May Allah have mercy on him, according to what reached him,

6:27 That Abd al-Rahman Ibn Mahdi, may Allah have mercy on him,

6:30 Had a son who died.

6:33 He grieved for him with intense grief.

6:36 This reached Muhammad Ibn Idris,

6:39 Al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him.

6:42 So he wrote to him:

6:46 "How will it be when we are gathered,"

6:49 "To account for our sins?"

6:52 "I offer you my condolences,"

6:55 "Not because I am certain,"

6:58 "Of immortality, but because it is the way of the religion."

7:01 "So be comforted by the one who remains,"

7:04 "After his companion, and for the one who offers condolences,"

7:07 "Even if they both live for a while."

7:10 He said, "So they used to console one another."

7:14 The virtue of spending on them.

7:19 From Abu Qilabah, from Abu Asma',

7:22 From Thawban, may Allah be pleased with him,

7:25 From the Prophet, peace be upon him, who said:

7:28 "The best dinar a man spends,"

7:31 "Is a dinar he spends on his family,"

7:34 "And a dinar a man spends,"

7:37 "On his mount in the path of Allah,"

7:40 "And a dinar he spends on his companions,"

7:43 "In the path of Allah."

7:45 Abu Qilabah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

7:49 "He began with the family."

7:51 "And what man has a greater reward,"

7:54 "Than a man who spends on young children,"

7:57 "Until Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, makes them self-sufficient?"

8:00 Abd Allah Ibn al-Mubarak,

8:03 May Allah have mercy on him, said, "Nothing takes the place,"

8:06 "Of earning for one's family,"

8:09 "Not even jihad in the path of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic."

8:12 Al-Sha'bi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

8:15 "A servant leaves no wealth for which he has a greater reward,"

8:19 "Than wealth he leaves for his child,"

8:22 "By which he keeps him from needing others."

8:26 Al-Hasan, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

8:29 "He who is stingy with his family is a traitor."

8:32 Muslim said:

8:36 "Mu'awiyah Ibn Qurrah, may Allah have mercy on him, met me,"

8:39 "While I was coming from the pasture."

8:42 He said, "What have you done?"

8:45 I said, "I have provided for my family such and such."

8:48 He said, "And did you earn it from a lawful source?"

8:51 I said, "Yes."

8:54 He said, "For me to go out,"

8:57 "In the pursuit I went out for every day,"

9:00 "Is more beloved to me than to stand in prayer at night,"

9:03 "And fast during the day."

A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (49) | The ancestors’ care for children - Part One

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