quotes about 'Ilm and other matters

[abdarrashid]

Imam al-'Arifin sayyidi Alî b. Abî Tâlib – Allah be pleased with him – said:

Shall I not tell you who the real faqîh is?

He is one who does not make people despair of Allah's mercy,

yet he does not give them concessions to disobey Allah.

He does not make them feel safe from Allah's plan and he does not leave the Quran.

There is no good in worship that involves no efforts to gain fiqh,

and there is no good in seeking fiqh without seeking a thorough understanding.

And there is no good in reading without contemplating.

Al-Âjurrî in Akhlâq Al-'Ulamâ' no. 45, Al-Khatîb in Al-Faqîh wa Al-Mutafaqqih Vol. 2 pp338-339.

[abdarrashid]

Commenting on 2:201 of the Quran which states:

Our Lord! Give us the good of this world and the good of the hereafter…

Imam Al-Hasan Al-Basrî – Allah have mercy on him – said:

The good of this world is knowledge and worship,
and the good of the hereafter is Paradise.

Al-Âjurrî in Akhlâq Al-'Ulamâ' no. 30 and Ibn Jarîr in his Tafsîr of this verse.

[abdarrashid]

Imam Malik ibn Anas -Allah Have mercy upon him- said:

Knowledge Allah places wherever He wills.
It does not consist in narrating a lot.

***

The saying has reached me that none renounces
the world and guards himself
except he will speak wisdom.

***
Knowledge diminishes and does not increase.
Knowledge has diminished incessantly after the
Prophets and the Books.

***

The Companions differed in the Branches (al-furû`)
and split into factions (tafarraqû),
and each one of them was correct in himself.

***
Disputation (al-jidâl) in the Religion fosters
self-display,
does away with the light of the heart
and hardens it,
and bequeaths aimless wandering.

source:htt p://www.sunnah.org/publication/khulafa_rashideen/malik.htm

[abdarrashid]

'Atâ' narrates that there used to be a young man who used to go to Mother of the Believers 'Â'ishah to ask her questions and she would narrate to him. One day, he came to her to ask her some questions.

She said,

"Son, have you put into practice what you hear from me yet?"

He replied,

"No mother, I have not."

So she said,

"Son, why do you them seek to increase Allah's proof against us and you?!"

Al-Khatîb Al-Baghdâdî in Iqtidâ' Al-'Ilm Al-'Amal no. 92.

[abdarrashid]

Abu Al-'Âliyah reports that a man once asked sayyidinna 'Ubay b. Ka'b – Allah be pleased with him – for advice. He said:

Take the Book of Allah as your leader (imâm) and be pleased with it as a judge and ruler.
It is what your Messenger left amongst you.
It will be an intercessor for you.
It is to be obeyed.
It is a witness never doubted.
In it is a mention of you and those before you,
and judgment for whatever happens amongst you.
And in it is news about you and whatever will come after you.

Al-Dhahabî in Siyar A'lâm Al-Nubalâ', in the biography of sayyidinna 'Ubay b. Ka'b radiullah anhu

[abdarrashid]

Imam Sahnun ibn Sa'id ibn Habib at-Tanukhi -Allah have mercy upon him- said:


The likeness of a little knowledge
in a virtuous man is like
the sweet spring in the sweet earth
in which its owner plants
what he will use.
The likeness of much knowledge
in the vicious man is like
the bubbling spring in the salt swamp
which is bitter both night and day
and is of no use.

***

If someone does not act by his knowledge,
his knowledge does not benefit him.

***

Whoever does not act by his knowledge,
knowledge does not benefit him.
Rather it harms him.
Knowledge is a light which Allah Almighty
places in the hearts.
When he acts by it,
Allah illuminates his heart.
If he does not act by it and loves this world,
the love of this world blinds his heart
and knowledge does not illuminate him.


http://bewley.virtualave.net/mad1.html

[abdarrashid]

Imam Al-Fudayl b. ‘Ayyâd -Allah have mercy upon him- used to be a highwayman, between Abyûrd and Sarkhas. He was in love with a girl, and the cause of his repentance was that he was once climbing a wall to meet her when he heard someone reciting the following verses:

Has not the time come for those who believe, that their hearts should be humbled and submitted (to Allah)…? [Al-Hadîd: 16]

When he heard this, Al-Fudayl said, “Indeed my Lord, it is time.” So he left, and seeking a night’s shelter he found himself at some ruins, and there he saw some travelers. Some of them said, “We should move on.” Others said, “Wait until morning, Al-Fudayl operates in this area, he will rob us.” Al-Fudayl said, “So I thought and said to myself: I spend the night in sin and there are some Muslims here who fear me; I think that Allah only led me to them so that I might take lesson and stop what I am doing. O Allah! I have repented, and as part of my tawbah I will live next to Al-Bayt Al-Harâm (in Makkah).”

Al-Dhahabî, Siyar A’lâm Al-Nubalâ` in his biography of Al-Fudayl b. ‘Ayyâd.


***

Imam Abdullah ibn Mubarak -Allah have mercy upon him- 'was asked about the beginning of his quest for knowledge.
He said,
"I was a young man who drank nabidh-wine, loved wealth and rejoiced in those foul things. I invited some brothers of mine to a garden when the apples and other fruits were ripe, and we ate and drank until we were overcome by drunkenness and sleep. I woke up at the end of the period before dawn. I took up the lute which I played and composed:

Is it not time that you had mercy on us
and defied the critics and censors?

"Then I could not make it rhyme as I wished. When I repeated it to it, the lute spoke to me as a man speaks,

'Is it not time that the hearts of those who believe should be humbled to the remembrance of Allah?' (57:15)

I said, 'Yes, Lord.' I broke the lute and spilled out the nabidh, and repentance came by Allah's favour with its realities, and I turned to knowledge and worship." '

***

The beginning of knowledge is the intention,
then listening,
then understanding,
then action,
then preservation,
and then spreading it.

***

Fight your tongue. The tongue is quick to kill a man.
The tongue is the posting of the heart. It shows man his intellect.

***

People's enjoyment of worship and taqwa is the sweetest bliss,
not the pleasure of the wine.

Their sources enjoy it for all their lives, and they, by Allah,
have provision until they reach the graves.

In a moment they obtain might and taqwa.
Does not the enjoyment of life lie in piety and steadfastness?



http://bewley.virtualave.net/mad10.html

[abdarrashid]

Imam Abu Sulayman al-Darani -Allah have mercy upon him- said:

Whoever does good by day is rewarded at night, and whoever does good by night is rewarded by day. If someone is sincere in abandoning a desire, God will make it disappear from his heart, for God Most High is too noble to punish a heart with a desire that was given up for Him.

***
Sometimes one of the subtle sayings of the Sufis stays in my heart for days, but I will not accept it save on [the testimony of] two just witnesses: the Qur'an and the Sunna.

Imam al-Qushayri, Risala

[abdarrashid]

It is reported from Imam Al-Fudayl b. ‘Ayyâd -Allah have mercy upon him- that he said:

If you can be unknown, do so;
it doesn’t matter if you are not known and it doesn’t matter if you are not praised.
It doesn’t matter if you are blameworthy according to people if you are praiseworthy with Allâh the Mighty and Majestic.

Al-Bayhaqî, Al-Zuhd Al-Kabîr p100.

***

It is reported from Imam Al-Awzâ’î – Allâh have mercy on him – that he said:

I have been told that it used to be said,

“Woe to those who study [their religion] for a purpose other than worship,
and those who seek to permit what is forbidden through doubts and specious arguments.”

Al-Khattîb Al-Baghdâdî, Iqtdâ Al-‘Ilm Al-‘Amal, p77.

[abdarrashid]

Imam al-Junayd al-Baghdadi (Allah have mercy upon him):

A sincere person changes forty times a day,
while the hypocritical show-off stays as he is forty years.

Imam Muhy al-Din al-Nawawi (Allah have mercy upon him):

The meaning of this is that the sincere person moves
with what is right,
wherever it may lead,
such that when prayer is deemed better by the Sacred Law,
then he prays,
and when it is best to be sitting with the learned,
or the rightous,
or guests,
or his children,
or taking care of something a Muslim needs,
or mending a broken heart,
or whatever else it may be,
then he does it,
leaving aside what he usually does.
And likewise for fasting,
reciting the Koran,
invoking Allah,
eating or drinking,
being serious or joking,
enjoying the good life or
engaging in self-sacrifice,
and so on.
Whenever he sees what is preferred by the Sacred Law
under the circumstances,
he does it,
and is not bound by a particular habit
or kind of devotion
as the show-off is.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace)
did various things,
of prayer,
fasting,
sitting for Koran recital
and invocation,
eating and drinking,
dressing,
riding,
lovemaking with his wives,
seriousness and jest,
happiness and wrath,
scathing condemnation for blameworthy things,
leniency in pushing those who deserved it
and excusing them,
and so on,
according to what was possible
and preferable for the time and circumstances.

(Imam al-Nawawi, al-Majmu':sharh al-Muhadhdhab, 1.17-18 ]