Part 7

He was mentioned as ‘Qa'il Ashami however it is a typing error and the correct name is ‘Natil Ashami’. Al-Nawawi said in his explanation of Sahih Muslim [4:568], “He is Natil ibn Qays al-Hazim? Ashami from Palestine. His father was a companion and Natil was the head of his clan.”

Al-Nawawi said in his explanation of this hadith the generalities that are mentioned in regards to the excellence of Jihad for the one who is sincere in it, as well as the praise of scholars and those who spend money for the sake of Allah in charity is attributed to those who do that sincerely for Allah’s sake.

Alerting Riya’ (Insincerity and Pretentiousness)

Abii Hurayrah (radiyA//abu ‘anha) narrated that the Prophet (3) narrated from his Lord that He said, “I am the best of partners, so whoever does an act of worship, committing shirk in it, 1 am free from him, and he is left to the partner he associated Me with.”*

Mahmiid ibn Lubayd (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (3%) said, “What I fear for you the most is minor Shirk!’ They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! What is that?” He said, ‘Riya’. Allah, Exalted is He, says on the Day of Judgement, after he recompenses people for their deeds: Go to those who you used to show your deeds off to and see if they have a recompense.”*

Abi Hazim said, “No servant (of Allah) betters what is between him and other servants, and he does not spoil what is between him and Allah, except that Allah spoils what is between him and the servants of Allah. Working for the sake of one face is easier than working for the sake of all faces. For if you work for the sake of that face (the face of Allah), all faces will turn to you but if you spoil it, all faces will detest you.”

“ Reported by Muslim in the Book of Zihd (Asceticism) hadith 46, Ahmad [2:301], Ibn Khuzaymah 938, Ibn Majah in the Book of Zwhd 21.

5 Reported by Ahmad {5:428).

6 Reported by Aba Nu‘aym in a/-Hihyah [3:239]. Through the chain of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal from ‘Ali ibn ‘Ayash from Muhammad ibn Matraf from Abi Hazim, he said, “No servant (of Allah) amends what is between him and Allah, except that Allah amends what is between him and other servants. And he does not spoil what is between him and Allah, except that Allah spoils what is between him and the servants of Allah.Blandishing one face is easier than blandishing all faces. For if you blandish that face (the face of Allah), all faces will curn to you and if you spoil it all faces will detest you.

Ibn Tawbah Abi Ja‘far ‘Abdullah said, “I saw Abii Bakr al-Adami, the reciter, in a dream after his death, begging. I told him, ‘What did Allah do with you?’ He said, ‘I have stood in front of Him and Thave suffered many tribulations.’ So I told him, ‘What about the nights, the good deeds, and the Qur’an?!’ He said, ‘There was nothing that was worse for me than them because I did them all for [the sake of] dunya!’ I said, ‘So what happened to you?’ He said, ‘Allah, May He be exalted, told me, ‘I took it upon myself not to torture anyone who reached eighty years of age.”

NOW THAT THINKING IS NEEDED to remember what was forgotten, and to think about future benefits. However if thinking is about that which is not

fruitful it will be harmful, and if it is excessive it will exhaust the body.

The hypocrites say, “Scholars should leave thinking for some time, lest they exhaust their bodies.” I said, a wise person should not stop thinking about what he can attain. However when a layman thinks of becoming the Caliph, that he is as knowledgeable as Abi Hanifah or Al-Shafii, that he is an ascetic exactly like Bishr al-Hafi and Ma‘rif al-Karkhi, to have the wealth of ‘Abdul Rahman ibn ‘Awf, these thoughts exhaust the body, especially if he is only thinking and is idle (instead of working hard to achieve what he wants). A person should rather think about that which is possible for him to achieve, and what he can attain from good deeds. He should also think about his struggle against evil. For many sinners reflected on their consequences and repented, many kings reflected on the vanity of this life, to became ascetic.

Ibn ‘Abbas (radiyA//ahu ‘anhuma) said, “Praying two rak‘at with contemplation is better than praying all night while the heart is heedless,”!

Umm al-Darda’ (radiyAllabu ‘anha) was asked, “What was the best deed of Abi’l-Darda’?” She said, “Contemplation and thoughtfulness.”

Malik ibn Dinar stood on his feet praying until dawn and said, “The people of the hellfire, in their chains and iron collars, kept presenting to me until dawn.”

Some wise men used to say, “Warding off thinking brings blindness.”

' Reported by Ibn ul-Mubarak in the Book of ZuAd p.403, and Muhammad iba Nasr in the Book of Qivim-ul-Layl p.60.

2 Reported by Ibn ul-Mubarak in the Book of Zuhd p.302 through the chain of ‘Awn ibn ‘Abdullah from Umm al-Darda’ that he was asked, “What was the most frequent act of Aba’l-Darda’?” She said, “Contemplation.”

Reported by Aba Nu‘aym in a/-Hilyab [1:208] “She said, ‘Contemplation and thoughtfulness.” [1:209] Abi’l-Darda’ said, “Contemplating for an hour is better than praying one whole night.”

NOW THAT (THE HEART OF) a person of sound mind cannot be free of sadness, because he remembers his previous sins, therefore becomes saddened, he thinks about his negligence, reflects on what the scholars and the

righteous have said, as a result he becomes sad for not taking heed.

Malik ibn Dinar said, “If a heart is devoid of sadness, it will become desolate. Just as a house becomes desolate if no one resides in it.”"

Ibrahim ibn ‘Isa? said, “I have not seen a person with as much sadness as al-Hasan; whenever I see him, I assume that he has just

* Reported by Abi Nu'aym in a/-Hilyab [2:360] from Malik ibn-Dinar he said, “If there is no sorrow in the heart, it will desolate, just like a house desolates if there is no resident in it.”

2 Aba Nu‘aym in a/-Hihah [10:393]. Aba Nu'aym said, “Ibrahim ibn Isa, the ascetic, he accompanied Ma'rif al-Karkhi and heard form Abii Dawad at-

‘Tayalist and Muhammad ibn al-Muqr?’.

recently been afflicted with a trial.”

Malik ibn Dinar said, “As much as you grieve for this world, the fear of the Day of Judgement leaves your heart.” Thus, as it is evident that sadness accompanies the heart of the righteous, excessive sadness thetefore should be avoided. That is because one should feel sad regarding what he has missed, and I have already clarified the way to recant.

It was mentioned in a hadith, “The test of the life of a believer is invaluable, he can recant in it what he has missed.” If sadness is related to something that cannot be recanted then it is of no use, however if it is related to a religious matter then he should make it up with the aid of hoping for the Graciousness and Mercifulness of Allah. On the other hand if one has sadness in regards to worldly matters and whatever he misses from it, then that is an evident loss, a wise person should rid himself of that.

The best of the cures for sadness is to know that one cannot bring back what he has missed, rather by feeling sad he is adding another misfortune to the already existing misfortune ultimately making two misfortunes. Also a misfortune should not be made heavier by being saddened by it, rather it should be eased and pushed away. Ibn ‘Amr said, “If Allah takes something away from you, get busy with anything that will not make you think about it.” In addition, what Allah gives you instead of what was taken away from you makes that easier. However, if there is nothing that can make the matter easier, then one should struggle to push away sadness from his heart.

Know that what calls to sorrow and sadness is Had not the mind, simply because the mind does not call to that which is not

useful. One should know that the matter, eventually, will get easier after some time, therefore he should strive to bring forward that which is supposed to happen then (i.e. comfort) so that he relaxes during the time of difficulty until such ease and comfort is achieved. One of the things that make sorrow and sadness disappear is knowing that it is useless, believing in its reward and remembering those who ate afflicted with worse misfortunes.

Averting Ghamm (Grief) and Hamm (Worry)

happened in the past while hamm occurs due to an ex-

pected misfortune in the future. When someone has the feeling of grief in regard to his past sins, his grief will benefit him, because he is rewarded for it. Whoever worries about a good deed he wishes to do, his worry will benefit him as well. However if someone grieves for something that he missed from this world, then [he should know] that the missed thing will not return and that grief harms, so practically he is adding harm to harm, as I

( HAMM OCCURS DUE TO MISFORTUNES that

have mentioned in the previous chapter.

A resolute person should protect himself from what brings about grief, and that is losing an object he loves. Therefore, whoever has many objects that he loves, his grief increases, and whoever decreases his objects of love his grief decreases accordingly. Someone may say, when I have no objects of love I also still have grief, we affirm this but we say to him; your grief over not having a loved one is not even a tenth of the grief experienced by the one

Abverting Ghamm (Grief) and Hamm (Worry)

who has lost a loved one. Have you not noticed that the one who does not have a child lives in grief but not as much as the one who lost his child?! Moreover when a person becomes accustomed to what he loves and enjoys it for a long period of time, it takes over his heart, therefore when he loses it he will feel the bitterness of his loss which will be greater than all the satisfaction he had during his lifetime. This is because the loved one is corresponding to the self just as health corresponds to it, which causes the self not to find satisfaction except in it, for its absence disturbs it. This is why the self grieves for its loss much mote than it rejoices in its presence, because the inner self believes that what it had was its given right to possess. Therefore a wise person should monitor the closeness between himself, his beloved to ensure it remains moderately balanced, however if he requires that which brings about grief [i.e. loving some object or person], this causes grief then the cure is first to believe in predestination and that whatever Allah predestines is going to happen. He should then know that life is founded on distress, all constructed buildings shall eventually be ruined, all gatherings shall eventually depart, and whoever wants the lasting of what does not last is like he who wants what does not exist to exist. Therefore he should not ask of life what it was not created for.