quotes of the salaf thread

[eesa the kiwi]

It is reported that a man once wrote to Ibn ʿUmar – All�h be pleased with them:
Please write down all knowledge for me. Ibn ʿUmar replied: Knowledge is vast, but if you can meet All�h having kept your back light of the burden of people’s blood, your stomach void of people’s wealth and having kept your tongue from [disparaging] their honour, then do so.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar ʾAʿl�m Al-Nubal�ʾ 3:222

[eesa the kiwi]

It is reported that Abū Muslim Al-Khawl�nī – All�h have mercy on him – said:
The example of the scholars on earth is that of the stars in the sky: when they appear, the people are guided (they navigate using the stars), but when they disappear, the people get confused and lost.

Al-Bayhaqī, Al-Madkhal il� Al-Sunan Al-Kubr� #287

[eesa the kiwi]

Abu Bakr and Umar with The Prophet Today

It is reported from Sufy�n b. ʿUyainah – All�h have mercy on him – that a man once asked ʿAlī b. Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī b. ʾAbī Ṭ�lib – All�h have mercy on him, What was the status of Abū Bakr and ʿUmar with Rasūlull�h – All�h’s praise and peace be upon him? He replied, Their place with him is like their place with him today (i.e. where they are in their graves).

Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Muj�lasah wa Jaw�hir Al-ʿIlm 4:254

[eesa the kiwi]

Never Give Up ReÂpentÂing It is reported that a man came to Ê¿AlÄ« – AllÄ�h be pleased with him – and asked, What do you think about a man who committed a sin? He replied, He must seek AllÄ�h’s forgiveness and repent to Him. [The man] said, He did that, but then sinned again? [Ê¿AlÄ«] said, He must seek AllÄ�h’s forgiveness and repent to Him. The man again said, He did that, but returned to sin. [Ê¿AlÄ«] said, He must seek AllÄ�h’s forgiveness and repent to Him. The man said for the fourth time, He did, but then sinned again. Ê¿AlÄ« then said, Until when? Then he said, He must seek AllÄ�h’s forgiveness and repent to Him; and not give up until it is Shayá¹Ä�n who is defeated [overcome].

Hun�d b. Al-Sarī, Kit�b Al-Zuhd article 910

[eesa the kiwi]

It is reported that Hasan b. Rabī’ asked ‘Abdull�h b. Al-Mub�rak – All�h have mercy on him – about the meaning of the hadith, “Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every Muslim�. He replied:

It is not [the expert knowledge of hadith and fiqh] you are seeking. Seeking knowledge is an obligation when a man comes to something concerning his religion (dīn): he is to ask about it until he knows it.

Al-Khatīb Al-Baghd�dī, Al-Faqīh wa Al-Mutafaqqih article 162.

[eesa the kiwi]

Delving into Falsehood (I’ll take what’s good) It is reported that Ibr�hīm b. Ad-ham – All�h have mercy on him – said: Delving into falsehood removes the ability to recognize the truth from the heart. Abu Nu’aym, Hilyatu Al-Awliy�` 8:22.

[eesa the kiwi]

It is reported that Wahb b. Munabbih – All�h have mercy on him – used to say:
The believer mixes with others in order to learn, keeps quiet to keep safe (from sinning), speaks in order to understand, and secludes himself for the attainment (of good).

Ibn Abī Al-Duny�, Al-‘Uzlah article 99.

[eesa the kiwi]

It is reported that Ya’l� b. ‘Ubayd said, “We entered upon Ibn Sūqah, who said: ‘O nephew, let me relate to you something that will hopefully benefit you; for it benefited me. ‘At� b. Abī Rab�h once said to us:'�
Those before you used to consider idle talk to be anything other than the Book of All�h, or the enjoining of good, or the forbidding of evil, or speaking for the sake of your basic living needs. Do you deny that there are recording angels appointed over you? Sitting on your right and your left? Never is a word said except there is an observer prepared to record? Are you not afraid (ashamed) that your record of words and deeds be spread open only to discover that there is nothing of the hereafter in it?

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’l�m Al-Nubal�` 5:86

[eesa the kiwi]

Two Rare Things in Decline


It is reported that Yūnus b. ‘Ubayd – All�h have mercy on him – said:

I do not know anything rarer than a good dirham (money earnt lawfully) whose owner spends it on something right, or a brother in Isl�m in whose company one finds peace. And they are only getting rarer.

Abu Nu’aym, Hilyatu Al-Awliy�` 3:17

[eesa the kiwi]

Who are The Jama’ah (Main Body of the Muslims)?


It is reported that Isḥ�q b. R�huway – All�h have mercy on him – said:

If you ask the ignorant: ‘Who are Al-Saw�d Al-Aʿẓam (Main Body of the Muslims)?’ they will say, ‘All the people (together).’ But they do not know that The Jam�’ah (Main Body) is a scholar who follows the footsteps of the Prophet – All�h’s praise and peace be upon him – and his way. So whoever is with him and follows him is [one of] The Jam�’ah, but whoever contradicts him in it leaves The Jam�’ah.

Abū Nu’aym, Ḥilyatu Al-Awliy�` 9:238,239 et al

[eesa the kiwi]

The Revival of Knowledge It is reported that Im�m Al-Zuhrī – All�h have mercy on him – said:

Those of our scholars who went before us used to say,�Adherence to the Sunnah is salvation, but knowledge is taken away quickly, so the revival of knowledge means the stability of religion and worldly affairs, and the loss of knowledge means the loss of all that.�

Al-L�lak�`ī, Sharh Usūl I’tiq�d Ahl Al-Sunnah article 136

[eesa the kiwi]

Umar b. Al-Khatt�b once entered upon Abū Bakr – All�h be pleased with them both – and found him pulling at his tongue. He said, “Oh, what are you doing?� Abū Bakr replied, “It is this (i.e my speech) that has brought me so much trouble.�
M�lik, Al-Muatta 2:988

[eesa the kiwi]

The Highest Standard It is reported that Sufy�n b. ‘Uyainah – All�h have mercy on him – said:
Verily, the Messenger of All�h ﷺ is the highest standard; things are measured by him: his character, lifestyle and behavior. Whatever agrees with [these] is true and correct, and whatever contradicts [them] is wrong.

Al-Khatīb Al-Baghd�dī, Akhl�q Al-R�wī wa Ād�b Al-S�mi’ article 8.

[eesa the kiwi]

It is reported that Muhammad b. Sīrīn – All�h have mercy on him – said:

If the Dajj�l appears, I believe the heretics (People of Desires, Bid’ah) will follow him.
Al-L�lak�`ī, Sharh Usūl I’tiq�d Ahl Al-Sunnah 1:131

[eesa the kiwi]

M�lik b. Mighwal said:
Al-Sha’bī once said to me, “When these [people] report to you from All�h’s Messenger – praise and peace of All�h be upon him, adhere to it; but when they merely opine, throw it in the trash.�

Al-D�rimī, Al-Sunan 1:78.