Part 6

5 ahmas ibn al-Hasan al-'Tamimi, the Hanafite from al-Basra, the worshipper Abi al-Hasan, one of the major figures of the trustworthy. He was a pious worshipper who died in 149. An example of his plentiful worship is that he would pray 1000 units every day, and when he got weary he would say (to his soul): ‘Get up, you abode of all evil, for by Allah I have never been pleased with you for Allah.’ (Refer to his biography: Tathkirat al-Huffaiz, 1/174, Siyar al-A lim al-Nubul@ 6/316, Khulasa al-Tabthib al-Kamal, 322, Tabthib al-Tabthib, 5498, Shatharit al-Thabab, 1/225.)

A beneficial note: It has authentically reported from the Prophet ($8) that he forbade us from completing reading the Que’an in less than three days. This can be found in the hadith of ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr: “And Allah’s Messenger (9%) said: ‘Complete reading the Qur’an every month,’ He said: ‘1 can bear more than that’ and continued saying that until he said: ‘Complete it every three days.” (al-Bukhari, 1978) He also said to ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Ame: “Read it in

Benefiting from Time and Opportunities

completely three times a day.

Forty of them would pray the morning prayer with the wudii of ‘Isha’. [i.e. they would stay up all night praying}**

seven days but not more than that.” (al-Bukhari, 5054, Muslim, 1159, 184). As for the reports that mention how our noble predecessors used to read the Que’an in less than three days, we can only comment on that by conveying the words of the Hafiz and virtuous critic al-Dhahabi when he related the words of Yahya ibn Aktham in the biography of the famous Imam al-Waki' ibn al-Jarrah (alSiyar, 9/143): “I accompanied Waki' as a resident and a traveler and found him fasting all the time and completing the Quran every day.” Al-Dhahabi said:”1 say: ‘This is very impressive worship but it is not ideal, coming from someone comparable to the Imams of Athatiyya. This is because the Prophet () has authentically been reported to have forbidden us from continuous fasting and completing the Qur’an in less than three days. The religion of Islam is ease and following the Sunnah come first. May Allah be pleased with Waki, and where in any case is someone like him?” I say: May Allah have mercy on al-Hafiz alDhahabi for he was indeed a brilliant critic and deserved to be called the Imam of fair critics. May Allah have mercy on this Imam and gather us all with the people of hadith. God knows I love him a lot for His sake.

* May Allah have mercy on Ibn al-Jaw2i who said (a/- Yawagit al-Jawziyya, p. 2829): “How excellent are the people who have abandoned sweet dreams, withdrawing from that for which they erected their feet for. Standing up to fatigue themselves in the dark, secking a portion of the blessing. When the night comes they stay up, and when the day arrives they derive lessons from it. When they look at their faults they seck forgiveness, and when they think about their sins they cry and feel dejected. O dwellings of the beloved, where are your inhabitants? O places of sincerity, where are your residents? O spots of the pious, where are your people? O places of nightly prayer, where are your visitors? I have, by Allah, traveled around and found these people extinct. Those who used to stay awake at night have gone away and the lovers of sleep are left. ‘These times have sought eating of lusts to replace fasting,”

55 Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya, Umm al-Khair bint Isma‘il, the pious, covered, ascetic and God fearing worshipper from Basra. She is said to have lived for 80 years and died in 180 AH. The narration was related by al-Hafiz.al-Dhahabi by way of Ibn Abial-Dunya: We were told by Muhammad ibn al-Husayn, I was told by sa ibn Maymun al-‘Attar, I was told by ‘Abda bint Abi Shawwal who used to serve Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya: ‘Rabi'a used to pray the whole night. When morning would come she would lay down till the sky would turn to yellow. Lused to hear her say: 'My soul, how much do you sleep and till what time do you stand up? You might sleep for just a little and never get up until the Day of Resurrection.” al-Hafiz ibn al-Jawzi: al-Muthisb, p. 211: Rabi‘a the worshipper used to get up to pray in the beginning of the night and say:

The lover has stood up for her hope And her heart is about to fly away from joy

When the night was ovet she would say: “No! It has been taken away!” and recite:

The darkness is gone with its intimacy and concord If only the night and its intimacy would come again

‘An important note: Rabi‘a al-'Adawiyya is a pious woman of worship and asceticism who has been mistreated by the people. Some accused her of believing in hulal, and Allah’s refuge is sought, some claimed she held the belief of Sbaha and others denied that she had ever existed. All of this is wrong and unjust as great Imams like Sufyan al-Thawri and Shu‘ba have related things that render all these accusations false. Al-Hafiz al-Dhahabi said (Siyar al-A'lim al-Nubula’, 232/243): ‘Abd Said ibn al-‘Arabi said: ‘As for Rabi‘a, people have learned much wisdom from her. Sufyan, Shu'ba and others have related things about her that render the things said about her futile. What she was accused of was derived from the following words she had said:

Ihave indeed put you in the heart to speak to me And have permitted my body to whoever wants to sit with me

Benefiting from Time and Opportunities

dawn came she lay down for a bit and then got up frightened, saying to herself: “Sleep in the grave is long.”

Some said she believes in huliil based on the first line and that she believes in Tbaha based on the second,’ I (al-Dhahabi) say: This is exaggeration and ignocance, It may very well be that the person who said this is himself a person who believes in these things and wanted to use this poetry to support his disbelief just like they used the hadith: ‘I will be the hearing that he hears with.” I say: From the shameful traits of today’s Hululite Safis is their attempts to support their evidently deviant beliefs by forged and contradictory poetry and made up stories attributed to her. May Allah give us refuge and not forsake us! They have even authored a book about these things and mentioned things about her life that give goose bumps to any monotheistic Sunni Muslim. Even more ridiculous than this group of people are those who made a film about her, portraying her as a dancer in the early parts of her life and other such falsehood to drive people from their religion. May Allah misguide and humiliate them with this despicable and shameless discipline of theirs that keeps twisting realities. As for those who say she never existed, we ask them to think a bit about the sources of her biographies. They are all related by the great Imams of this discipline such as al-Dhahabi (Siyar a/-A lam al-Nubula’, 8/242, al-‘Thar, 1/278), Ibn Khalakan (Wafayat al-Aan, 3/215), Ibn al-‘Imad (Shathardt al-Dhahab, 1/ 193), Ibn Kathir (a/-Biddyah wa’ l-Nihayah, 10/186), al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (Térikh Baghdad, 2/40) and Ibn al-Jawzi (Sifat al-Safwa, 4/17-19). Al-Hafiz Ibn al-Jawzi even dedicated a book for her virtues as mentioned by al-Dhahabi (Siyar a/- Alam al-Nubula’, 8/242) and also named his oldest daughter and mother of his grandson Abi al-Muzfir (the author of Mirat al-Zamdri) Rabi‘, You can also see how he mentions occasions from her life in most of his books exhortation.

What Can This Eternal Life be Bought With?

HEN A PERSON THINKS about the life of this world before entering it, he considers it long, Likewise, when he thinks about it after leaving it, he sees a long period of time and knows that the stay in the grave is long. When he thinks about the Day of Judgment, he knows that its fifty thousand years long, and when he thinks about Paradise and Hell, he knows that they will never end. Now, when he goes back to look at the time spent in this world, lets say 60 years”, he can see that

% Aba Hurayrah (radiyAUlabu ‘anbu) has been reported to have said: “Allah's Messenger (3g) said: ‘The lifespans of my nation are between 60 and 70. The minority will ive beyond that.” (al-Tirmidhi, 3550, Ibn Majah, 4236, Ibn Hibban, #2467Mamérid, al-Hakim: alMustadrak ‘ala’l-Sabibayn, 2/427) Al-Titmidhi said: ‘Hasan gharib.’ A\-Hakim said: ‘Sahth by the conditions of Muslim.’ Al-Dhahabi agreed. Al-Hafiz ibn Hajr said (Fath al-Bari, 11/240): ‘Its chain is hasan’ Truth is that this hadith is hasan li dhatibi sabib li ghayribi duc to another route with a hasan chain as well with al-Tirmidhi (2331) who said: ‘Hasan gharib.’ A wise man said: ‘Man’s age consists of four phases: childhood, youth, maturity and old age which is the last of them and usually occurs between the age of 60 and 70. During this time a man becomes evidently weak by deficiency and becom-

What Can This Eternal Life be Bought With?

thirty of it is spent sleeping, fifteen or so is spent in childhood and most of what’s left goes to chasing after desires, food and money. When he accounts for what is left, he finds that much of it is nothing but showing off and heedlessness. The price of eternal life is the hours of his life, but what is left of them for him to buy it with?!

ing geriatric, and he should seriously dedicate all his time for the afterlife as being the energetic and strong man he used to be isn’t possible anymore.’ AlHafiz mentioned this (a/-Fath, 11/240). I say: Think about the Prophet's (3) words: “May Allah pardon a man whose death He has delayed till the age of 60.” (al-Bukhari, 6419, a marfa‘ report from the hadith of Aba Hurayrah (radiyAllabu ‘anbu),