Sufyān Al-Thawrī

Whoever hears of a bidʿah, let him not tell it to those who are with him, lest he cast it into their hearts.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar ʾAʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 7:261.

Safety lies in not wanting to be known.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar Aʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 7:258.

I have not seen less zuhd (abstinence) in anything than leadership; you can see a man renouncing food, drink, wealth and clothing, but if his leadership is contested, he vehemently defends and has enmity over it.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar ʾAʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 7:262.

I was young during the time of Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ and I had memorised things he had said; nothing stopped me from speaking except for the fact that there were amongst us men who were older than me.

Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Kitāb Al-Janāʾiz #964.

Whoever takes leadership quickly (too early) will harm a lot of [his] knowledge (will not learn what he needs); and whoever does not take leadership can continue to seek knowledge until he reaches [where he needs to be].

Al-Dārimī, Al-Sunan #554.

The people will not cease to be well as long as they take knowledge from their seniors. When they take it from their juniors and their bad people, they will be destroyed.

Ibn ʿAbd Al-Barr, Jāmiʿ Bayān Al-ʿIlm article 1057.

Knowledge is only learned to [apply it and] put into practice the Taqwā of Allāh the mighty and sublime.

Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-ʿIlm article 943.

When you learn knowledge, preserve it, and do not mix it with laughter and falsehood, such that the hearts refuse (dislike) it.

Al-Khaṭīb Al-Baghdādī, Al-Jāmiʿ li-Akhlāq Al-Rāwī wa Ādāb Al-Sāmiʿ 1:232

There is nothing that corrupts a person or rectifies him more than [his] companion. Ibn Battah, Al-Ibānah Al-Kubrā article 504.

Ibn Battah, Al-Ibānah Al-Kubrā article 504.

I sat in the circle of Abū ‘Abdillāh Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal for twelve years while he read the Musnad to his children, and I never wrote a single ḥadīth, I only looked at his behavior, character and etiquette. Ibn Al-Jawzī, Manāqib Aḥmad, article 210. It is reported that Al-Ḥasan b. Ismā’īl said, ‘I heard my father say: There would gather in the circle of Aḥmad five thousand people or more; less than five hundred would write, the rest would learn from him good manners and behavior.’ Ibid. It is reported that Sufyān Al-Thawrī said: A man who wanted to write ḥadīth would [learn] manners and worship for twenty years before starting. Abū Nu’aym, Ḥilyatu Al-Awliyā`, 6:361.

Abū Nu’aym, Ḥilyatu Al-Awliyā`, 6:361.

I would rather die and be resurrected, die and be resurrected, and again die and be resurrected than to see the private part of a Muslim’s body or for a Muslim to see mine. Imām Aḥmad, Al-Zuhd p192. 1st ed. 1983. Dār Al-Kutub Al-‘Ilmīyah. Beirut, Lebanon. It is reported that ‘Abdullāh b, ‘Umar – Allāh have mercy on him – said: Verily, part of disregarding the trust upon you is to look inside [other people’s] apartments and houses. Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Kitāb Al-Wara’ article 71. It is reported that Anas b. Mālik – Allāh be pleased with him – said: If a woman passes in front of you, lower your eyes until she has passed by. Ibid. article 72. It is reported that Al-‘Alā b. Ziyād – Allāh have mercy on him – said: Let not your sight follow the nice looking back of a woman [as she passed], for indeed the look causes the desire in the heart. Ibid. article 77. It is reported on the authority of Al-Wakī’ b. Al-Jarrāḥ: We went out one Eid with Sufyān Al-Thawrī and he said, “The first thing we will do on this day of ours is to lower our gaze.” Ibid. article 66. It is reported that Ḥassān b. Abī Sinān – Allāh have mercy on him – went out one Eid and when he returned home his wife said, “How many beautiful women have you looked at today?” After she kept asking him, he said, “Woe to you! I have looked at nothing but my toe from when I went out to when I returned to you.” Ibid. article 68.

Ibid. article 68.

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.

If you loved a man for Allāh and then he innovates in Islām and you don’t hate him for it, you never [truly] loved him for Allāh. Abū Nu’aym, Hilyatu Al-Awliyā` 7:34.

Abū Nu’aym, Hilyatu Al-Awliyā` 7:34.

Al-Bayhaqī, Al-Madkhal ilā Al-Sunan Al-Kubrā 2:74.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā`, Vol. 7 p243.

Al-Lālakā`ī, Sharḥ Usūl I’tiqād Ahl Al-Sunnah wa Al-Jamā’ah Vol.1 p120. It is reported that ‘Uthmān b. Ḥāḍir said, “I said to Ibn ‘Abbās: ‘advise me.’ He replied, ‘It is upon you to be upright, follow al-athar, and beware of innovating [in religion].’” Ibn Battah, Al-Ibānah Al-Kubrā Vol. 1 p214. It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Mubārak said, “Let it only be the narrations (al-athar) that you rely upon, and take from reasoning and opinion that amount that will help you to understand and explain ḥadīth.” Ibn ʿAbd Al-Barr, Jāmi’ Bayān Al-‘Ilm wa Faḍlihi Vol. 3 p329. It is reported that Sufyān Al-Thawrī said, “The narrations (al-āthār) are the religion.” And it is reported that he also said, “A man should not even scratch his head except based on a narration.” Al-Harawī, Dhamm Al-Kalām wa Ahlihī Vol. 2 p264. It is reported that Al-Musayyib b. Rāfi’ Al-Asadī said, “We only follow, we do not innovate; we follow behind and do not start anything [in the religion], and we will never stray as long as we adhere to the narrations.” Al-Harawī, Dhamm Al-Kalām wa Ahlihī Vol. 2 p265.

Al-Harawī, Dhamm Al-Kalām wa Ahlihī Vol. 2 p265.

I asked Sufyân Al-Thawrî, “When a man stands to pray, what should he intend by his recitation and prayer?” He replied, “He should intend that he is personally entreating his Lord.” Muhammad b. Nasr Al-Marwazî, Ta’dhîm Qadr Al-Salâh Vol. 1 p199.

Muhammad b. Nasr Al-Marwazî, Ta’dhîm Qadr Al-Salâh Vol. 1 p199.

A person who sits with a heretic (an adherent of bid’ah) will not escape one of three things: Either he will become a trial (fitnah) for others, or some deviation will occur in his heart and he will slip and be cast into the Fire by Allah, or he will say to himself, ‘By Allah, I don’t care what they say, I am confident about myself;’ but whoever feels secure from Allah about his religion even for the blinking of an eye, Allah will take his religion away from him. Ibn Waddāḥ, Al-Bida’ p125.

Ibn Waddāḥ, Al-Bida’ p125.

It is also reported that Sufyān – Allah have mercy on him – said: I sometimes see something I feel I am obliged to speak out about, but when I don’t say anything I urinate blood. And in another report: I sometimes see an evil being done, but if I don’t speak out about it I urinate blood. Al-Dhahabī , Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` in his biography of Imām Sufyān Al-Thawrī .

Al-Dhahabī , Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` in his biography of Imām Sufyān Al-Thawrī .