“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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‘Abd Al-Raḥmān b. ‘Awf – Allāh be pleased with him – was once brought some food, and he had been fasting. He said:
Muṣ’ab b. ‘Umayr was killed, and he was better than me and he was buried with a cloak as a shroud: if his head was covered with it his legs would be uncovered and if his legs were covered with it his head would be uncovered. And Ḥamzah was killed and he was better than me. Then, after that time, we were given what we were given of worldly wealth, and we fear that [the reward of] our good deeds has been quickened for us [in this life]. He then began to cry so much that he left his food. Al-Bukhārī, Al-Ṣaḥīḥ hadith 1275 and other places.
Al-Bukhārī, Al-Ṣaḥīḥ hadith 1275 and other places.
It is reported that ‘Abd Al-Raḥmān b. Abzā – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
A righteous woman with a man is like a great gold-leafed crown on the head of a king, and a bad woman with a man is like a heavy weight upon an old man. Ibn Abī Al-Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf article 17428.
Ibn Abī Al-Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf article 17428.
It is reported that ‘Umar – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
Fasting does not mean keeping away from only food and drink, it also means keeping away from lying, falsehood, inanity and swearing [by Allāh without need]. It is reported that Ibrāhīm Al-Nakha’ī – Allāh have mercy on him – said: They used to say: lying breaks the fast. It is reported that Mujāhid – Allāh have mercy on him – said: There are two practices, if a person can keep himself from them, his fast will be secured for him: backbiting and lying. It is related that Abul-‘Āliyah – Allāh have mercy on him – said: The fasting person is in a state of worship as long as he does not backbite. [1] It is reported that Ḥafṣah bint Sīrīn – Allāh have mercy on her – said: Fasting is a shield as long as one does not tear it, and tearing it is when you backbite. [2] It is reported that Anas b. Mālik – Allāh be pleased with him – said: If the fasting person backbites, his fast is broken. [3] Notes Explaining the meaning of sins breaking the fast, Shaykh Al-Islām Ibn Taymīyah – Allāh have mercy on him – states: [4] It is related from some of the Salaf that backbiting, tale carrying and the likes break the fast, and it is mentioned as one opinion in the madhab of Imām Aḥmad. The final word on this issue is that Allāh the Exalted commanded people to fast in order to achieve piety (taqwā), and Allāh’s Messenger – praise and peace of Allāh be upon him – stated: Whoever does not leave off false speech and acting by it; then Allāh is not in need of him abandoning his food and drink. So if the fasting person does not achieve piety, he has not achieved what is intended through fasting, and so the reward of [his] fast will decrease in accordance [with how much he has gone against the intended goal, i.e. commensurate with his sins]. Righteous deeds have two intended goals: gaining reward and avoiding punishment. If a person fasts while also doing forbidden things, like backbiting, carrying tales between people or consuming what is forbidden and so on, he loses the reward. Thus, when the imams say [backbiting etc.] does not break the fast, it means that the person who sins is not punished in the way a person who openly breaks his fast would be punished. And those who said it does break the fast in the sense that the person has not achieved the intended goal behind fasting, or in the sense that he has lost the reward for fasting, then this statement is in agreement with the position of the imams. One who says it breaks the fast in the sense that the person is to be punished for leaving [the fast], then he is in contradiction to the imams. Conclusion A person who disobeys Allāh while fasting hasn’t truly grasped the intent behind fasting. The real goal is to achieve piety and obedience of Allāh through the abandonment of food, drink and sin. Although a person who backbites, lies or does other sins is not considered to have physically broken his fast, he loses the reward of fasting and in this sense he has broken his fast. Allāh knows best. [1] Ibn Abī Al-Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf articles 8975, 8980, 8981 and 8982. [2] ‘Abd Al-Razzāq Al-Ṣan’ānī, Al-Muṣannaf articles 8975. [3] Hunād b. Al-Saree, Al-Zuhd article 1204. [4] Badr Al-Dīn Al-Ba’lī. Mukhtaṣar Al-Fatāwā Al-Maṣrīyah pp288, 289. 1st edn. 1418H. Dār Al-Kutub Al-‘Ilmīyah. Beirut, Lebanon.
[4] Badr Al-Dīn Al-Ba’lī. Mukhtaṣar Al-Fatāwā Al-Maṣrīyah pp288, 289. 1st edn. 1418H. Dār Al-Kutub Al-‘Ilmīyah. Beirut, Lebanon.
When Abū Hurayrah and his companions fasted, they would sit in the mosque and say, “let us purify our fast.” Hunād b. Al-Sarī, Kitāb Al-Zuhd, article 1207
Hunād b. Al-Sarī, Kitāb Al-Zuhd, article 1207
It is reported that Imām Al-Awzā’ī – Allāh have mercy on him – used to say:
Whoever hides his heresy (bid’ah) from us, his companionship is not hidden from us. Ibn Battah, Al-Ibānah Al-Kubrā article 420. It is reported that when Sufyān Al-Thawrī – Allāh have mercy on him – came to Baṣrah he started to look into the matter of Al-Rabī’ – i.e. Ibn Ṣabīḥ (1) – and his status amongst the people. [Sufyān] asked, “What does he believe?” [People] replied, “He believes in nothing but the Sunnah.” He asked, “Who are his companions?” They replied, “The People of Qadr (those who denied Allāh’s pre-decree).” He said, “Then he is a Qadarī (like them).” Ibid. article 421. (1) Al-Rabī’ b. Ṣabīḥ is described in biographies as being a truthful reporter, but with a bad memory; a devout worshipper and a mujāhid. It is reported that Al-Fuḍayl b. ‘Ayyāḍ – Allāh have mercy on him – said: The souls [of people] are in groups gathered together: those of them that identify with each other come together, and those that are different diverge. It is not possible for an adherent of the Sunnah to incline towards an adherent of Bid’ah except out of hypocrisy (nifāq). Ibid. article 429.
Ibid. article 429.
It is reported that Ḥafṣah – Allāh be pleased with her – once said to her father (‘Umar, during his Caliphate):
Allāh has increased the provisions; if only you would eat better food than the food you eat now and wear softer clothes then those you wear now?! He said, “I will argue [against] you with your own self: Was not the condition of Allāh’s Messenger – praise and peace be upon him – such-and-such [when you were his wife]!?” He kept reminding her until she cried. He continued, “I have told you, by Allāh, I will share in their hard living (in this world, referring to The Prophet and Abū Bakr) so that I may partake in their good life (in Paradise).” Hunād b. Al-Sarī, Al-Zuhd article 687; Imām Aḥmad, Al-Zuhd article 201, et al. (1) (1) Shaykh Abd Al-Raḥmān Al-Farīwā`ī explains in his edition of Hunād’s Al-Zuhd that this narration is ṣaḥīḥ if it is confirmed that Muṣ’ab b. Sa’d heard it from Ḥafṣah; otherwise its chain of transmission is mursal ṣaḥīḥ (i.e. it is authentic except there is a missing link between Mus’ab and Ḥafṣah)
(1) Shaykh Abd Al-Raḥmān Al-Farīwā`ī explains in his edition of Hunād’s Al-Zuhd that this narration is ṣaḥīḥ if it is confirmed that Muṣ’ab b. Sa’d heard it from Ḥafṣah; otherwise its chain of transmission is mursal ṣaḥīḥ (i.e. it is authentic except there is a missing link between Mus’ab and Ḥafṣah)
Suwayd b. Ghaflah reports that ‘Umar b. Al-Khattāb – Allāh be pleased with him – once took him by the hand and said:
O Abū Umayah, by Allāh, I know not if we will meet again after today. Fear and obey Allāh your Lord until the Day of Resurrection, as if you see Him, and obey the ruler (imām) even if he is a cut-nosed Abyssinian slave: if he beats you, be patient; if he robs you, be patient and if he belittles you, be patient. And if he tells you [to do something] to the detriment of your religion (to sin), say: “I hear and obey, [but] my blood goes before my religion.” Never leave the Main Muslim Body (Al-Jamā’ah). Ibn Zanjawayh, Kitāb Al-Amwāl article 30; Ibn Abī Zamanīn, Uṣūl Al-Sunnah article 205 with a slight variation in wording. Also recorded in other collections.
Ibn Zanjawayh, Kitāb Al-Amwāl article 30; Ibn Abī Zamanīn, Uṣūl Al-Sunnah article 205 with a slight variation in wording. Also recorded in other collections.
‘Abdullāh b. Shaqīq Al-‘Uqaylī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
The Companions of Allāh’s Messenger – Allah’s praise and peace be upon him – did not consider the leaving of any action to be kufr (unbelief), except the prayer (ṣalāh). Al-Tirmidhī, Al-Sunan ḥadīth 2622. Graded ṣaḥīḥ by Al-Albānī in his edition of Sunan Al-Tirmidhī.
Al-Tirmidhī, Al-Sunan ḥadīth 2622. Graded ṣaḥīḥ by Al-Albānī in his edition of Sunan Al-Tirmidhī.
Ibn Al-Muhallab reports that he heard Abȗ Mȗsā Al-Ash’arī – Allah be pleased with him – standing on his minbar (pulpit) saying:
Whoever Allāh has given some knowledge should teach it. And he must not say anything he has no knowledge of, lest he become one of the pretenders and leave the religion. Ibn Sa’d, Al-Ṭabaqāt 4:102. Maktabah Al-Khānjī, Cairo.
Ibn Sa’d, Al-Ṭabaqāt 4:102. Maktabah Al-Khānjī, Cairo.
It is reported that Imām ‘Abd Al-Raḥmān b. Mahdī – Allāh have mercy on him – said, following a mention of the Ṣȗfīah (Sufis):
Do not sit with them, nor with the followers of Kalām.(1) Be with the carriers of books,(2) for they are like mines, like those who descend: one brings up a gem and another a nugget of gold. Ibn Battah, Al-Ibānah Al-Kubrā article 483. (1) Speculative theology, drawn from foreign philosophy and logic, as practiced by sects such as the Jahmia and Mutazila. (2) Arabic al-qamātir: covers or folders used to keep written material. ‘Carriers of books’ refers to the scholars and students who occupied themselves with Islamic knowledge and hadīth.
(2) Arabic al-qamātir: covers or folders used to keep written material. ‘Carriers of books’ refers to the scholars and students who occupied themselves with Islamic knowledge and hadīth.