Part 10

1. Sooratul-Baqarah (2):284 2. surah Aali-"Imraan (3):92

Sufyaan ath-Thawri (inna used to be overjoyed if he saw a beggar at his door saying, "Welcome to'the one who has come to

Fudhayl ibn ‘Tyaad (amino, Said, "Beggars are such good people! They carry our provision to the Afterlife without payment until they place it on the scale in front of Allaah the Most High."

From the morals and manners of the Salaf was that they would not take as brothers anyone except those who they know would fulfil their dues towards them. If your brother does not fulfil his rights towards you then he is not concerned with your

Ameer-ul-Mu'mineen ‘Ali naisuanimnmy) USed to say, "You should all have brothers since they are provision for you in the world and the Hereafter. Have you not heard the call of the People of

Hell? Now we have no intercessors nora close friend!"

Imaam ash-Shaafi'ee jonas USed to say, "If it was not for:conversing with brothers in this world and night prayers I would

have preferred not to have remained alive."

One of the Salaf said, "An intelligent person should refrain from brotherliness with three: the daft, the liar, and the corrupt. As for the daft, he never talks good about you nor can you expect him to aid you against misfortune. His silence is better than his speech, his distance is better than his closeness. As for life with

the liar, it can never be comfortable. He spreads news about you

1, Sooratush-Shoo‘arah (26):100-101 100

to others. They fix hatred and enmity between you and the people. The corrupt pretends that he wants to do good for you and

does not help you in any matter in the religion."

Realise this brother and search your soul. See if you have fulfilled your brother’s rights and have you refrained from being concerned about their welfare. Do you accompany them for the sake of Allaah or for personal reasons? Anything that is not devoted to Allaah is harmful for the worshipper in the world and the Hereafter. So demand that you fulfil your brother’s rights

and do not demand your own rights, neither openly nor secretly.

Tmaam ash-Shaafi’ee jon recited the following:

“A friend who does not help on a troublesome day;

Is closer to an enemy in my calculation; In every time friend and brothers;

Are sought only for mutual comforting;

I have taken effort to search the people thoroughly;

For a brother reliable; But continuous evenings have made me tired; Lands to me becoming hostile in my strangeness;

As if the people there were not from the human race."

From the morals and manners of the Salaf was that they would not show enmity to the people being compliant with them. They would not face anyone with bad conduct even if the

people showed animosity towards him.

It has been related that Dawood cun-amm Said to his son, "Do not consider even one-enemy as béing too few. Do not think that

one thousand friends are too many."

Ash-Shaafi'ee nnimnian Decited: A thousand friends to a person is not plenty;

But one enemy verily is too many;

It is reported that Ayyoob (sous. Was asked, "What was the most harmful thing to you during your days of hardship?” He replied, "My enemies’ gloating at my misfortune."

One of the Salaf recited this on his behalf: All the worlds gains are temporary deceptions, No happy man’s happiness remains; So say to those pleased at our indisposition,;

Prepare! Since one’s roles in the world alternate;

Muhammad ibn Magaatil (ums) WOuld say, "Beware of the harm of the one to whom you do good and excuse your brother the way you excuse yourself." Then he would say: You pardon yourself if you:do wrong; But other than you are left unpardoned; You see in his eye a speck of dust;

Whilst in yours a tree trunk you see not!

Isolation from the sinners:

From the morals and manners of the Salaf was their frequent isolation from the sinners. Allaah the Most High said stating that Tbraheem ¢ssns0em Said, "And I shall turn away from you and those you pray to besides Allaah. I shall call on my Lord and I hope that my call to my Lord will not be unblessed. When he turned away from them and from those whom they worshipped besides Allaah, We granted him Ishaaq and Ya’qoob, making both of the prophets."

The Messenger of Allaah (aussi wi ut) Said, "People will come across a time when the best possession of a Muslim will be sheep which he will take to the top of mountains and places

of rainfall so as to flee with his religion from calamities."

Hassan ibn Saalih (simnum used to say, "We coincided witha people who would love each other from far away, disliking to

Rabee’ ibn Khuthaym (armiua Said, "No one should isolate himself in worship except after studying the religion deeply, because imaam Maalik used to say : Study deeply and then seclude yourself.”

1. Sooratul-Maryam (19):48-49 2. Reported by al-Bukhaari (11/331) in ar-Rigaag

Sufyaan ath-Thawri (arm used to say, “This is the time of silence and remaining in the homes and being pleased with one’s possession until one dies." He also used to say, "We met a people who were medicines by which one could be cured. Now people

have become incurable sicknesses."

It was said, “Secluding oneself from the general public is

from the completeness of morals.” Know this brother and interact with people who obey Al-

laah, but abandon this if they are sinners or excessive in the permitted things. All praise be to Allaah the Lord of the worlds.

Relative increase in humility:

From the morals and manners of the Salaf was that every time one of them increased in closeness to Allaah he would increase in humility and humbleness. From the signs of the true alliance with Allaah and closeness to Him is that every time Allaah increased His beloved or ally in glory, hé would increase in hum-

Allaah said, "That is the home of the Hereafter we bestow for those who did not seek any highness in the world nor any

corruption. The good end is for the pious."!

The Messenger of Allaah (unin uoiw auny Said, "The one who has an atom’s weight of arrogance in his heart will not enter

Abu Muslim al-Khawlaanii (inns Said, "Only the vile are arrogant, and only the base boast, and no one is zealous to false-

hood except those of low origin."

While Abu Hurairah (asiauunsnmi Was ameer of Madeenah dur-

1. Sooratul-Qasas (88):83 2. Reported by Muslim (2/89) in al-Imaan, Abu Dawood (4073) in al-Libaas and at-Tinmidhi (8/164, 165) in al-Birr:

ing the time of the khaleefah (caliph) Marwaan, he used to carry a bundle of wood on his head from the market and (while passing through) would say, "Make way for your ameer to pass!"

Abu Ayyoob as-Sakhtiyaani (orimnme Used to say, "The scholar should put earth on his head out of humility to Allaah.”

Al-Hasan (hon mentioned this verse, “Those who walk upon the earth with humility"! and said, “The believers are the people described here. By Allaah, their eyes, ears and body become humbled until the ignorant person regard them as being ill, but I swear by Allaah they are not ill, but rather they are the possessors of real hearts. Fear has entered them like it had not entered anyone else. Their knowledge of the Hereafter has prevented them from the world. They would say, "All praise be to Allaah Who removed sadness from us." I swear by Allaah that they would not be saddened by what saddened most people.

Fear from the fire made them weep."

1. Sooratu]-Furgaan (25):63 107

Not neglecting any goodness:

From the morals and manners of the Salaf was that they would not neglect any goodness which the sharee’ah (Law) had encouraged us to do. They would not think that they had any optional (nawaafil) deeds, since deeds become optional when one finishes his obligatory actions as Allaah the Most High said to His Messenger (uutinisnn wan, " " [Sooratul-Isra (17): 79]. It was therefore made optional for the Messenger who had completed his compulsory deeds.

The Messenger of Allaah ¢uuatuastivnsnm Said, "Do not belittle

any good thing, even meeting your brother with a smile."!

The Messenger of Allaah (ai ssivaum Said, "The good word

Hasan al-Basri rimmmn used to do good deeds excessively saying, "For the likes of me there are no optional deeds, but the optional deeds are for the one who has finished his obligatory deeds."

1. Narrated by Muslim (17/177) in al-Birr. 2. Narrated by Ahmad (2/316), al-Bukhaari (6/85) in al-Jihaad with the same meaning and Muslim (7/95) in az-Zakaah.

Salmaan al-Faarsee (mar) WOuld say, "The one who does optional deeds excessively and. does not complete the obligatory actions is like a trader who lost his capital but he still seeks profit."

Yoonus ibn ‘Ubaid (ain Said, "Whoever belittles the non-

optional deeds has belittled the obligatory actions.”

Know this brother, increase in nawaafil (extra) and virtuous deeds and do not become bored with them. After doing that do not think you have established the obligatory thanks due on even one of the favours of Allaah. All praise be to Allaah the Lord of the worlds.

Awareness of being sinful:

From the morals and manners of the Salaf was that they would have abundant repentance (tawbah) and the seeking of forgiveness (istighfaar) throughout the day and night because of their realisation that they were not free from sins even in their good deeds. So they would seek forgiveness because of the deficiency or lack of awe and sublime fear in the prayer (salah) and callousness of Allaah the Most High Who is ever watching.

Allaah the Most High said, "All of you repent to Allaah O

believers, so that you might be successful.”

The Messenger of Allaah jamtem'ssiiw sum Said, "By Allaah I seek the forgiveness of Allaah and repent to Him more than seventy

One of the Salaf said, “Whoever does not repent in the morning and evening is from the wrongdoers. Allaah said : Whoever

does not repent then he is of the wrongdoers”"

Sooratun-Noor (24):35 2. Reported by al-Bukhaari (11/101), and Muslim (17/24) with the wording, "For indeed.I turn to Him (in repentence) a hundred times every day". 3. Sooratul-Hujuraat (39):11

Yahya ibn Mu’aadh (atimsunay WOuld say, "One mistake after re-

pentance is uglier than seventy mistakes before it."

Sufyaan ibn Uyainah intimauasy Was asked, "What are the indications of a sincere repentance?" He replied, "Four things: Taking little of the world, a humble soul, seeking many ways of closeness to Allaah with obedience, and seeing one’s deficiency and