“Whoever travels a path in search of knowledge, Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise.”
Saʿīd b. Jubayr – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Tawakkul (reliance and trust in Allah) comprehends all of Īmān.
Hunād b. Al-Sarī, Al-Zuhd #534.
It is reported that Abū Bakr Al-Ṣiddīq – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
Beware of lying, for lying is far removed from īmān.
Abū Bakr Al-Ḵallāl, Al-Sunnah no. 1467, 1470; Al-Bayhaqī, Shuʿab Al-Īmān no. 4463.
It is reported that Imām Mālik – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Whatever you fool around with, don’t fool around with your dīn (religion).
Al-Lālakāʾī, Sharḥ ʾUṣūl ʾIʿtiqād Ahl Al-Sunnah 1:163
Allah knows the fraud of the eyes, and all that the breasts conceal [Quran, Ghāfir (40):19]
يَعْلَمُ خَآئِنَةَ ٱلْأَعْيُنِ وَمَا تُخْفِى ٱلصُّدُورُ
Hunād b. Al-Sarī, Al-Zuhd article 1428.
It is reported that Imām Al-Awzāʿī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Learn what is not to be taken, like you learn what is to be taken.
Ibn ʿAbd Al-Barr, Jāmiʿu Bayyān Al-ʿIlm article 435.
It is reported that Ibrāhīm b. Adham – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
A person has not been true to Allāh, the mighty and sublime, if he loves recognition (fame).
Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, Al-Zuhd article 2240.
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It is reported that Yūnus b. ‘Ubayd – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
I do not know anything rarer than a good dirham (money earnt lawfully) whose owner spends it on something right, or a brother in Islām in whose company one finds peace. And they are only getting rarer.
Abu Nu’aym, Hilyatu Al-Awliyā` 3:17
Ibn Battah records that Imām Ahmad – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
No man should appoint himself to issue verdicts (fatwa) until and unless he fulfills five characteristics: First, he should have a [firm and good] intention; for if he does not, he will have no light upon him, and nor will his words. Second, he should be forbearing, tranquil and serene. Third, he should be strong upon what he is involved in, strong in its knowledge. Fourth, he should have sufficient means (wealth), otherwise the people will chew him up. Fifth, he should know people and their ways.
Ibn Battah, Ibtāl Al-Hiyal p24.
It is reported that ʿAdī b. Ḥātim – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
You will remain upon good as long as you do not start approving of what you used to repudiate and as long as you do not repudiate what you used to know (to be right), and as long as your scholar (the knowledgeable) can speak amongst you without fear.
Ibn Baṭṭah, Al-Ibānah Al-Kubrā ḥadīth 26.
Jābir b. ‘Abdillāh reports that ‘Umar b. Al-Khattāb – Allāh be pleased with them – used to say:
Abū Bakr is our sayyid (master/leader), and he freed our sayyid – meaning Bilāl.
Al-Bukhārī, Al-Sahīh, hadith 3754.
Sa’īd b. Jubayr – Allāh have mercy on him – reports that a man once asked Ibn ‘Abbās – Allāh be pleased with them:
“How many kabā`ir (major, deadly sins) are there? Seven?” He replied, “They are closer to seven hundred than seven; except a major sin does not remain so if one (truly) seeks forgiveness [from Allāh], and a lesser sin does not remain so if one insists on continuously doing it (i.e. it becomes a major sin).”
Al-Tabarī, Al-Tafsīr article 9207, et al.
Zayd b. Thābit – Allāh be pleased with him – once mounted [his horse or camel] to ride it, so Ibn ‘Abbās – Allāh be pleased with them – took hold of the reins [to serve him by leading his ride]. When he did this, Zayd said (out of respect for him), “Don’t do this o cousin of Allāh’s Messenger – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him.” Ibn ‘Abbās said, “This is what we have been told to do with our scholars (i.e. respect them and serve them).” Zayd said, “Show me your hand.” Ibn ‘Abbās held out his hand, and Zayd kissed it and said, “And this is what we have been told to do with the Ahl Al-Bayt (Family) of our Prophet – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him.”
Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawaāhir Al-‘Ilm 4:146, et al
It is reported that Al-Hasan Al-Basrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Verily, Allāh lets [a person] enjoy a blessing for as long as He wills. But when He is no longer thanked for it, He turns it into a punishment. Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Kitāb Al-Shukr article 17
Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Kitāb Al-Shukr article 17
It is reported that Isḥāq b. Rāhuway – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
If you ask the ignorant: ‘Who are Al-Sawād Al-Aʿẓam (Main Body of the Muslims)?’ they will say, ‘All the people (together).’ But they do not know that The Jamā’ah (Main Body) is a scholar who follows the footsteps of the Prophet – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him – and his way. So whoever is with him and follows him is [one of] The Jamā’ah, but whoever contradicts him in it leaves The Jamā’ah.
Abū Nu’aym, Ḥilyatu Al-Awliyā` 9:238,239 et al
Ayyūb [Al-Sakhtiyānī] used to have a red shawl which he wore in ihrām, and which he had kept for his shroud. I used to walk with him sometimes; he would take different paths and I would be amazed at how he knew of them. He would do this fleeing from people in case they recognized him and said, “There’s Ayyūb.”
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 6:22
It is reported that Imām Al-Zuhrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Those of our scholars who went before us used to say,”Adherence to the Sunnah is salvation, but knowledge is taken away quickly, so the revival of knowledge means the stability of religion and worldly affairs, and the loss of knowledge means the loss of all that.”
Al-Lālakā`ī, Sharh Usūl I’tiqād Ahl Al-Sunnah article 136