Part of Lives of the Salaf — the Pious Predecessors (series completed)
· Lesson 32 of 72
A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (32) | Hiding and concealing good deeds
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
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The Life of the Salaf (Early Generations) Between Speech and Action:
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Hiding and Concealing Righteous Deeds,
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And the Eagerness for Obscurity and Avoiding Prominence and Fame.
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On the authority of Buraydah ibn al-Husayb (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
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"I was present at Khaybar, and I was among those who climbed through the breach in the fortress,
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and I fought until my position was clearly seen,
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while wearing a red garment.
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And I do not know of any sin I committed in Islam that felt graver to me than that—"
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meaning, seeking fame.
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And 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him),
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whenever the reinforcement contingents from the people of Yemen came to him,
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would ask them,
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"Is Uways ibn 'Amir among you?"
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until he came upon Uways and asked,
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"Are you Uways ibn 'Amir?"
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He replied, "Yes."
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'Umar asked,
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"From Murad, and then from Qaran?"
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He replied, "Yes."
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'Umar asked,
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"Were you afflicted with leprosy and then cured of it, except for the space of a dirham?"
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He replied, "Yes."
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'Umar asked,
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"Do you have a mother?"
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He replied, "Yes."
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'Umar said:
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"I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say,
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'There will come to you Uways ibn 'Amir
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with the reinforcement contingents from the people of Yemen,
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from Murad, and then from Qaran.
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He had leprosy and was cured of it, except for the space of a dirham.
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He has a mother to whom he is devotedly dutiful;
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if he were to swear an oath by Allah, Allah would fulfill it.
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So if you can have him seek forgiveness for you, do so.'
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Therefore, pray for forgiveness for me."
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So Uways prayed for forgiveness for him.
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Then 'Umar asked him,
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"Where do you intend to go?"
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He replied,
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"To Kufa."
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'Umar said,
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"Shall I not write on your behalf to its governor?"
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He replied,
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"To be among the obscure, common folk is dearer to me."
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Bishr ibn Mansur (may Allah have mercy on him) was praying one day,
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and he prolonged his prayer.
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Then he noticed a man looking at him,
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and Bishr realized what was happening.
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So he said to the man,
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"Do not be impressed by what you have seen of me,
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for indeed Iblis worshiped Allah alongside the angels for such-and-such an amount of time."
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And it was mentioned to Muslim ibn Yasar (may Allah have mercy on him)
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how little he glanced around during prayer,
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to which he replied,
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"And what makes you know where my heart was?"
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And on the authority of al-A'mash, who said:
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"Ibrahim al-Nakha'i (may Allah have mercy on him) used to avoid fame;
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he would not sit beside the pillar,
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and whenever he was asked about an issue,
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he would not add anything beyond answering that specific question.
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So I would say to him regarding the matter he was asked about,
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'Does it not also entail such-and-such?'
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And he would reply,
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'He did not ask me about that.'"
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Jawab al-Taymi used to tremble whenever Allah was remembered,
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so Ibrahim al-Nakha'i said to him,
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"If you can control it, then I do not care not to consider you of any account;
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and if you cannot control it,
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then you have differed from those who were better than you."
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Ibrahim al-Nakha'i (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:
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"They used not to dislike, whenever they gathered,
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that a man should bring forth the finest knowledge he possessed."
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Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"I have been mentioned, and I do not love to be mentioned."
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And on the authority of Ibrahim ibn Adham
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and Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani (may Allah have mercy on them), who said:
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"A servant who loves fame has not been true to Allah."
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Al-Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"The mark of a sincere person,
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who might unconsciously harbor a love for fame,
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is that whenever he is rebuked regarding it,
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he does not become enraged nor vindicate himself;
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rather, he admits it and says,
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'May Allah have mercy on the one who points out my faults to me.'
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He must not be conceited, oblivious to his own flaws;
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indeed, he should not be oblivious to the fact that he is oblivious,
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for that is a chronic disease."
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Sufyan al-Thawri (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"I love to know people without them knowing me."
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Al-Hasan said:
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"I was with 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak
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(may Allah have mercy on him) one day,
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and we came upon a public watering place
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where people were drinking.
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So he drew near it to drink,
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but the people did not recognize him,
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so they crowded him and pushed him aside.
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When he came out, he said to me,
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'Life is truly nothing other than this'—
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meaning, where we are neither recognized nor revered."
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'Abdah ibn Sulayman al-Marwazi said:
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"We were on an expedition with Ibn al-Mubarak
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(may Allah have mercy on him) in Byzantine territory,
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and we encountered the enemy.
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When the two battle lines met,
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a man from the enemy stepped forward
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and challenged us to single combat.
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A Muslim fighter went out to him, and the enemy killed him;
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then another went out, and he killed him too;
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then yet another went out, and he killed him as well.
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Then the enemy called out again for single combat,
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so a man went out to face him,
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skirmished with him for an hour,
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and then struck him and killed him.
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The people rushed toward this Muslim champion,
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and when I looked,
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there he was: 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak,
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covering his face with his sleeve.
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So I took the edge of his sleeve and pulled it back,
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and behold, it was indeed him!
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Thereupon he said,
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'Are even you, O Abu 'Amr,
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among those who expose us?'"
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Al-Fudayl ibn 'Iyad
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(may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"If you are able to remain unknown, then do so.
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What harm is it to you if you are not praised?
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And what harm is it to you to be blameworthy
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in the eyes of people,
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as long as you are praiseworthy in the sight of Allah?"
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And on the authority of Sahnun (may Allah have mercy on him),
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who said:
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"Some of those who came before
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would wish to utter a beneficial word,
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and had they uttered it,
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a vast multitude of people would have benefited from it,
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yet they would withhold it and not speak it,
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out of fear of ostentation."
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And Abu al-'Aliyah (may Allah have mercy on him),
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whenever more than four people sat around him,
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would stand up and leave them.
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Bishr ibn al-Harith (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"A man who loves to be recognized by people
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will never taste the sweetness of the Hereafter."
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And on the authority of al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him),
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who said:
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"A man might be deeply versed in fiqh,
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sitting among a gathering of people,
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such that some of them would think he was tongue-tied,
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yet he had no impediment in speech at all;
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it was only his aversion to becoming famous."
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And he (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"A man might have memorized the entirety of the Qur'an
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without his neighbor ever realizing it;
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and a man might have acquired vast knowledge of fiqh
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without the people being aware of it;
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and a man would perform
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long prayers in his home
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while having guests who did not even notice him.
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Indeed, we met generations of people
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for whom there was no deed upon the face of the earth
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that they were able to perform in secret
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which they would ever perform openly.
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The Muslims used to strive diligently in supplication,
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yet not a sound would be heard from them;
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it was nothing but a whisper between them and their Lord, Mighty and Majestic.
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That is because Allah the Exalted says:
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'Call upon your Lord in humility and in secret.'
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And it is because Allah the Exalted mentioned a righteous servant,
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pleased with his speech, saying:
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'When he called upon his Lord, a call in secret.'"
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Al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"I would love for mankind to learn this knowledge from me
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without any part of it being attributed to me."
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And on the authority of Hassan ibn 'Atiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him),
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who said: "A man's prayer in the presence of his family is among secret deeds."
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Ibn al-Mubarrid (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"I was informed on the authority of Judge 'Ala' al-Din ibn al-Lahham,
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that he said (may Allah have mercy on him):
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'The Shaykh—
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meaning al-Hafiz Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him)—once discussed
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an issue with us and elaborated on it at great length,
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and I was amazed by that and by his masterful grasp of it.
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Later, that very issue came up in a gathering of leading scholars of the legal schools and others,
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yet he did not utter a single word regarding it.
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So when he stood up to leave, I said to him,
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"Did you not speak on that very topic with such profound words before?"
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He replied, "I only speak where I hope for Allah's reward,
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and I feared speaking in this assembly."'"
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Concealing Righteous Deeds:
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Al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
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"Whoever among you is able to have a hidden stash of righteous deeds,
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let him do so."
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Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) wept during his prayer,
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and when he finished, he turned around and saw a man behind him,
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so he said: "Do not inform anyone of this."
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And 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
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"When it is the day of fasting for one of you,
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let him awaken in the morning with his hair oiled and combed."
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And on the authority of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:
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"We went out with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) on an expedition,
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and we were a group of six men,
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sharing a single camel that we took turns riding.
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Eventually, our feet became blistered and worn,
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and my own feet became ulcerated,
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and my toenails fell off,
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so we would wrap rags around our feet;
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and thus it was named the Expedition of Dhat al-Riqa' (the Expedition of the Rags),
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because of the strips of cloth we bound around our feet."
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Abu Burdah said:
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"Abu Musa narrated this hadith,
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but then he disliked having done so,
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and said:
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'Why did I ever mention it?!'
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as though he hated that any of his deeds should be disclosed."
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And Abu Umamah (may Allah be pleased with him) came upon
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a man in the mosque
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who was prostrating and weeping profusely in his prostration
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while supplicating to his Lord.
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Thereupon, Abu Umamah said:
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"What a wonderful thing this would be—if only it were done in your home!"
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And whenever 'Umar ibn Qays (may Allah have mercy on him)
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was overcome with weeping and emotional softness, he would turn his face toward the wall
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and say to his companions:
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"How terrible is this cold!"
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And Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani (may Allah have mercy on him) used to pray throughout the night in secret;
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then, shortly before dawn, he would raise his voice,
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as if he had only just awakened at that very moment.
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And Ibn al-Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him),
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whenever he felt deeply moved and feared that it would show,
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would stand up and leave,
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or he might deliberately start narrating another hadith.
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And Hassan ibn Abi Sinan (may Allah have mercy on him)
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used to attend the gatherings at the mosque of Malik ibn Dinar (may Allah have mercy on him),
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and whenever Malik spoke,
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Hassan would weep until he soaked the ground before him,
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yet not a single sound could be heard from him.
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And Muhammad ibn Wasi' (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"I have known men
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whose heads would rest alongside their wives' heads on the very same pillow,
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soaking whatever was beneath their cheeks with tears,
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without their wives even realizing it!
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And I have indeed known men
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who would stand in the prayer row,
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with tears flowing down their cheeks,
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while the person standing right next to them noticed nothing at all."
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And a man entered upon Ibrahim al-Nakha'i (may Allah have mercy on him)
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while he was reciting from the mushaf,
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so Ibrahim covered it up and said:
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"Let this person not think that I am reading from it at all hours."
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And on the authority of Abu Hazim and Bishr ibn al-Harith (may Allah have mercy on them), who said:
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"Conceal your good deeds just as you conceal your evil deeds."
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And on the authority of 'Abdullah ibn Dawud al-Khuraybi (may Allah have mercy on him), who said:
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"They used to love for a man to have a hidden reservoir of righteous deeds
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known neither to his wife nor to anyone else."
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And on the authority of al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him), who said:
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"A man would be sitting in a gathering,
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and tears would well up in him, but he would hold them back;
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and if he feared that they would overpower him, he would stand up and leave."
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He (may Allah have mercy on him) also said:
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"O son of Adam, you possess both words and actions,
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as well as a private inner state and a public outward state;
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and your actions are more defining of you than your words,
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just as your secret life is more defining of you than your public life."
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Beware of feigning asceticism, obscurity, and righteous deeds.
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On the authority of 'Alqamah (may Allah have mercy on him), who said:
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"We were in the presence of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him),
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when a drink was brought to him,
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so he said: 'Serve the people.'
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They said: 'We are fasting.'
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Thereupon, he said:
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'As for me, I am not fasting,'
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and then he drank."
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“Men whom neither merchandise nor sale beguileth from remembrance of Allah and constancy in prayer and paying to the poor their due; who fear a day when hearts and eyeballs will be overturned;” (24:37)
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And 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"Be fond of obscurity out of a genuine aversion to fame,
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but do not display to others that you love obscurity,
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for you would thereby be exalting yourself;
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indeed, claiming asceticism stems from your ego,
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because you are subtly drawing praise and adulation to yourself."
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And Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
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"Let a man fear Allah;
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and if he chooses asceticism, let him not make his asceticism a torment for the people,
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for a man concealing his asceticism is far better than publicly proclaiming it."