A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (39) | Humility and condemnation of arrogance

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

0:04 The life of the salaf between speech and action.

0:11 Humility and the condemnation of arrogance.

0:16 Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, went out on a hot day.

0:19 With his cloak placed over his head.

0:22 He said:

0:24 A young man passed by him riding a donkey.

0:27 He said:

0:28 "O young man, carry me with you."

0:31 He said:

0:33 The young man jumped off the donkey.

0:35 He said:

0:36 "Ride, O Commander of the Faithful."

0:39 He said:

0:40 "No."

0:41 "You ride."

0:42 "And I will ride behind you."

0:45 "Do you wish to make me ride on the rough part,"

0:48 "while you ride on the comfortable part?"

0:51 "Rather, you ride,"

0:52 "and I will be behind you."

0:55 He said:

0:56 So he entered the city with him behind him,

0:59 while the people were looking at him.

1:02 When he, may Allah be pleased with him, arrived in the Levant,

1:05 he encountered a ford,

1:08 meaning a place where the water is shallow,

1:10 which people cross on foot or mounted.

1:14 He got down from his camel,

1:15 took his sandals,

1:17 and removed his socks.

1:19 He took them in his hands and waded through the water.

1:22 Abu Ubaydah, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

1:26 "You have done a great deed today in the eyes of the people of the earth."

1:30 Umar struck his own chest and said:

1:33 "If only someone other than you had said this!"

1:36 "You were the most insignificant, the most humiliated, and the weakest of people,"

1:42 "then Allah honored you with Islam."

1:45 "So whenever you seek honor in anything else, He will humiliate you."

1:49 He, may Allah be pleased with him, said from the pulpit:

1:53 "When a servant humbles himself for the sake of Allah, Allah elevates his wisdom."

1:58 "He is small or poor in his own estimation,"

2:01 "but great in the estimation of the people."

2:04 "And when a servant becomes arrogant and exceeds his bounds,"

2:07 "Allah brings him low."

2:09 "He is great in his own estimation, but small in the eyes of the people,"

2:14 "to the point that he is more contemptible and smaller in the eyes of the people than a pig."

2:20 Abu al-Minhal, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

2:23 "I asked al-Bara' ibn 'Azib and Zayd ibn Arqam, may Allah be pleased with them both, about currency exchange,"

2:29 "and each of them would say, 'This one is better than me.'"

2:35 'Utbah ibn Ghazwan, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

2:39 "I seek refuge in Allah from being great in my own estimation,"

2:43 "while being small in the sight of Allah."

2:46 Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, came into the market

2:50 carrying a bundle of firewood,

2:53 and he was the governor for Marwan at that time.

2:56 He said, "Clear the way for the leader!"

3:00 Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, went out one day,

3:05 and people followed him.

3:07 He said to them, "Do you have a need?"

3:10 They said, "No,"

3:12 "but we wanted to walk with you."

3:15 He said, "Go back,"

3:17 "for it is a humiliation for the follower and a trial for the followed."

3:22 He, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

3:25 "Whoever acts arrogantly, Allah will bring him low,"

3:28 "and whoever humbles himself out of reverence,"

3:31 "Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, will raise him up."

3:34 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said:

3:38 "You are neglecting the best act of worship:"

3:41 "Humility."

3:43 A man said to Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both:

3:47 "O best of people, and son of the best of people!"

3:50 He said:

3:51 "I am not the best of people, nor the son of the best of people,"

3:55 "but I am a servant among the servants of Allah."

3:58 "I hope in Allah and I fear Him."

4:01 "By Allah, you will not cease to flatter a man until you destroy him."

4:06 A man came to him and asked him about a religious obligation,

4:09 and he said to him:

4:11 "Go to Sa'id ibn Jubayr,"

4:13 "for he is more knowledgeable in calculation than I am."

4:17 Mujahid said:

4:20 "I accompanied Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both,"

4:22 "and I wanted to serve him,"

4:25 "but he was the one who served me."

4:28 Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said:

4:32 "I used to teach Qur'an to men from the Muhajirun,"

4:35 "among them 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf."

4:39 Ibn al-Jawzi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

4:41 "In this is a reminder to take knowledge from its people,"

4:45 "even if they are young in age,"

4:47 "or of low status."

4:49 Hakim ibn Hizam used to

4:51 read to Mu'adh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with them both.

4:56 It was said to him:

4:57 "You read to this young Khazraji man?"

5:01 He said:

5:02 "It is only arrogance that has destroyed us."

5:05 Some of the salaf, may Allah have mercy on them,

5:08 would buy something from the market and carry it himself.

5:11 It would be said to him:

5:12 "Give it to us, we will carry it."

5:14 He would refuse and say:

5:16 “Assuredly Allah knoweth that which they keep hidden and that which they proclaim. Lo! He loveth not the proud.” (16:23)

5:21 Al-Rabi' ibn Khuthaym, may Allah have mercy on him,

5:24 would sweep his own latrine himself.

5:26 It was said to him:

5:28 "You could be spared this."

5:30 He said:

5:31 "I like to take my share of the work."

5:36 When 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him, buried Sulayman ibn 'Abd al-Malik,

5:42 and came out of his grave,

5:44 he heard a thud or a rumble from the earth.

5:47 He said:

5:49 "What is this?"

5:50 It was said:

5:51 "These are the mounts of the Caliphate, O Commander of the Faithful,"

5:55 "brought near for you to ride."

5:58 He said:

6:00 "What do I have to do with them?"

6:01 "Take them away from me."

6:03 "Bring me my mule."

6:06 His mule was brought to him, and he rode it.

6:10 The chief of police came to him, walking before him with a spear.

6:15 He said:

6:16 "Move away from me."

6:17 "What do I have to do with you?"

6:19 "I am only a man from among the Muslims."

6:23 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Umar said:

6:26 Raja' ibn Haywah said to me:

6:29 "How perfect is your father's chivalry!"

6:31 "I spent the night with him,"

6:33 "and the lamp grew dim."

6:35 "Beside him was a sleeping servant."

6:38 I said:

6:39 "Shall I wake him?"

6:41 He said, "No."

6:42 "Leave him."

6:43 I said:

6:44 "I will get up."

6:46 He said:

6:47 "No."

6:48 "It is not part of a man's chivalry to use his guest as a servant."

6:52 He stood up to the oil container and fixed the lamp.

6:56 Then he returned,

6:57 and said:

6:59 "I stood up while I was 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz,"

7:02 "and I returned while I was 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz."

7:06 He also said, may Allah have mercy on him:

7:08 "Whoever commits a sin out of desire,"

7:11 "hope for his repentance,"

7:13 "for Adam disobeyed out of desire,"

7:16 "and he was forgiven."

7:17 "But if his sin is out of arrogance,"

7:20 "then fear the curse for its perpetrator,"

7:23 "for Iblis disobeyed out of arrogance, and he was cursed."

7:28 'Awn ibn 'Abd Allah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

7:32 "It is enough of an arrogance for you"

7:34 "that you see yourself as having a merit over those who are beneath you."

7:38 It has been said:

7:39 "Whoever is arrogant during his tenure,"

7:42 "will be humiliated upon his dismissal."

7:45 Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

7:48 "There are people who want to rise,"

7:52 "but Allah refuses except to bring them low."

7:55 "And others who want to be humble,"

7:58 "and Allah refuses except to raise them up."

8:03 Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him,

8:06 whenever he taught someone something,

8:09 he did not act as if he had taught him,

8:11 and whenever he learned something from someone,

8:14 he acted as if he had learned from him.

8:18 'Ubayd ibn Junad said:

8:21 "I have never seen anyone like Ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him."

8:25 "When he mentioned his companions, he would exalt them."

8:28 "He would say, 'Where is anyone like so-and-so?'"

8:32 Sa'id ibn Jubayr, may Allah have mercy on him, saw

8:35 people following him,

8:37 so he forbade them and said:

8:39 "This walking of yours is a humiliation for the follower,"

8:43 "and a trial for the followed."

8:46 Yusuf ibn Asbat, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked:

8:49 "What is the ultimate limit of humility?"

8:52 He said: "That you do not meet anyone"

8:55 "without seeing that they have merit over you."

8:59 Al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

9:02 "Humility is among the characteristics of the noble,"

9:05 "and arrogance is among the traits of the base."

9:08 "Humility breeds love,"

9:11 "and contentment breeds comfort."

9:13 He said:

9:15 "The highest of people in status"

9:17 "is he who sees no status for himself."

9:19 "And the most meritorious of them"

9:21 "is he who sees no merit for himself."

9:24 Yahya ibn Ma'in said:

9:26 "I have never seen anyone like Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him."

9:30 "We accompanied him for fifty years,"

9:32 boasting to us about something

9:34 of the goodness he possessed.

9:38 Ahmad Ibn al-Hasan al-Tirmidhi, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

9:42 I saw Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him,

9:44 buying bread from the market,

9:47 and carrying it himself in a basket.

9:50 I saw him buying fava beans more than once,

9:54 placing them in a bowl or some other container,

9:58 and carrying them while holding the hand of his son, 'Abdullah.

10:02 Salih said:

10:04 My father would sometimes go out to the grocer,

10:08 buy a bundle of firewood, and carry it himself.

10:12 Al-Fudayl Ibn 'Iyad, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked about humility,

10:16 and he said:

10:18 It is to submit to the truth, be guided by it,

10:20 and accept it from whoever speaks it.

10:24 Some have said:

10:26 Do not despise any of Allah's creation, for perhaps

10:30 he is a devoted servant of the Lord of the worlds, and you do not know.

10:34 For the one who has status with Allah is hidden from the people,

10:38 just as the Night of Decree is hidden from their knowledge.

A summary of the life of the Salaf between words and deeds | Episode (39) | Humility and condemnation of arrogance

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