A cushion was once passed to ‘Alī – Allāh be pleased with him, upon which he sat, and said,
None but a donkey refuses good treatment (honour/respect).
Sa’īd b. Manṣūr, Al-Sunan. See Al-Albānī, Al-Ḍa’īfah 12:465, where he graded the chain of narration ṣaḥīḥ.
It is reported that Hasan b. Rabī’ asked ‘Abdullāh b. Al-Mubārak – Allāh 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-Baghdādī, Al-Faqīh wa Al-Mutafaqqih article 162.
It is reported that ‘Alī b. Al-Hasan b. Shaqīq asked ‘Abdullāh b. Al-Mubārak – Allāh have mercy on him, “What knowledge is considered obligatory upon people to learn?” He replied:
A man must not proceed to do anything except upon knowledge, He is to ask and learn. This is what is obligatory upon people as regards learning knowledge.
He explained further:
If there is a man who has no wealth, it is not obligatory upon him to learn Zakāh. When he has 200 dirham, it becomes obligatory upon him to learn how much (Zakāh) he has to pay, when he has to pay, and who he has to pay. This is also the way with everything else.
Al-Baghdādī, op. cit. article 163.
It is reported that Ibn Wahb once mentioned knowledge, to which Imām Mālik – Allāh have mercy on him – commented:
Knowledge is surely good, but look to what is binding upon you from the beginning of your day to its end, and from the end of your day to the following morning, adhere to that and do not give preference to [learning] anything else.
Al-Baghdādī, op. cit. article 165.
It is reported from ‘Abdullāh b. Ahmad b. Hanbal that he asked his father (Imām Ahmad) – Allāh have mercy on him – whether it is obligatory upon a man to seek knowledge. He replied:
As for [the knowledge] through which he can uphold his prayers, and other matters of his religion like fasting, Zakāh – and he mentioned the other main aspects of the religion – then a man should know about that.
Al-Baghdādī, op. cit. article 166.
It is reported that Ibrāhīm b. Ad-ham – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Delving into falsehood removes the ability to recognize the truth from the heart.
Abu Nu’aym, Hilyatu Al-Awliyā` 8:22.
It is reported that Wahb b. Munabbih – Allāh 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-Dunyā, Al-‘Uzlah article 99.
It is reported that Abū Hurayrah – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
Three things are from Imān: when a man has nocturnal emission during a cold night, so he gets up – only Allāh sees him – and he has a full wash (ghusl); when a person fasts on a hot day; and when a man prays in a barren land, where none but Allāh sees him.
Al-Bayhaqī, Shu’ab Al-Īmān article 51
It is reported that Ya’lā 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. ‘Atā b. Abī Rabāh once said to us:'”
Those before you used to consider idle talk to be anything other than the Book of Allāh, 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’lām Al-Nubalā` 5:86
It is reported that Yūnus b. ‘Ubayd – Allāh 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 Islām in whose company one finds peace. And they are only getting rarer.
Abu Nu’aym, Hilyatu Al-Awliyā` 3:17
Ibn Battah records that Imām Ahmad – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
No man should appoint himself to issue verdicts (fatwa) until and unless he fulfills five characteristics:
- First, he should have a [firm and good] intention; for if he does not, he will have no light upon him, and nor will his words.
- Second, he should be forbearing, tranquil and serene.
- Third, he should be strong upon what he is involved in, strong in its knowledge.
- Fourth, he should have sufficient means (wealth), otherwise the people will chew him up.
- Fifth, he should know people and their ways.
Ibn Battah, Ibtāl Al-Hiyal p24.
After quoting this statement, and before his commentary on it, Ibn Al-Qayyim states:
This is one of the proofs of the eminence of Imām Ahmad and his lofty status in knowledge and insight; for these five are the pillars of fatwā, and to the extent that there is deficiency in any of them, to that extent faults will appear in the mufti.
I’lām Al-Muwaqi’īn, 6:106
It is reported that ʿAdī b. Ḥātim – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
You will remain upon good as long as you do not start approving of what you used to repudiate and as long as you do not repudiate what you used to know (to be right), and as long as your scholar (the knowledgeable) can speak amongst you without fear.
Ibn Baṭṭah, Al-Ibānah Al-Kubrā ḥadīth 26.
Jābir b. ‘Abdillāh reports that ‘Umar b. Al-Khattāb – Allāh be pleased with them – used to say:
Abū Bakr is our sayyid (master/leader), and he freed our sayyid – meaning Bilāl.
Al-Bukhārī, Al-Sahīh, hadith 3754.