Sayings of the Salaf

Some of the Best and Worst People in Society

It is reported that Imām ‘Abdullāh b. Al-Mubārak – Allāh have mercy on him – was asked:
“Who are the [best] people?”
He replied, “The scholars.”
He was asked, “Who are the [real] kings?”
He replied, “the ascetics.”
He was asked, “And who are the dregs [of society]?”
He replied, “Those who use their religion as a means of devouring [wealth].”
He was asked, “Who are the rabble?”
He replied, “Khuzaymah b. Khāzim and his companions.”
And he was asked, “And who is the low person?”
He replied, “The one who talks about the rise in prices to his guest.”

Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm 2:181.

ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Mubārak

Character Knowledge Manners and Conduct Zuhd
Knowledge on the Mind

It is reported that Imām Abū Dāwūd Al-Sijistānī – Allah have mercy on him – said:

Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal never used to involve himself in the things of this world that people involved themselves in; but when knowledge was mentioned, he would speak.

Ibn Al-Jawzī Ṣifatu Al-Ṣafwah 2:519.

It is reported that Al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad said:

Muḥammad b. Ismā`īl Al-Bukhārī was distinguished with three qualities – in addition to the rest of his praseworthy traits: He never spoke much, he never yearned for what people had. He would never occupy himself with other people’s affairs; all his attention was towards knowledge.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 12:449

Imām Aḥmad Imām Al-Bukhārī

Knowledge Zuhd
The Movements of a Believer

It is reported that Al-Fuḍayl b. ‘Ayyāḍ – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

The believer speaks little and does alot, whereas the hypocrite (munāfiq) speaks a lot and does little. When the believer speaks, it is with wisdom, when he is silent, it is in deep thought, when he sees, he takes lessons, and when he acts, it is a cure. If this is the way you are, then you are in the constant worship [of your Lord.]

Abū Nu’aym, Ḥilyatu Al-Awliyā` 8:98.

Al-Fuḍayl b. ʿAyyāḍ

Character Good Deeds Hypocrisy
Righteous Fear vs. Sinful Delusion

It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

The believer does the best deeds yet is most fearful [that his deeds will not be accepted]. If he were to spend a mountain of wealth [in charity], he would not feel sure [of the reward] until he sees it. The more righteous and pious he becomes, the more he fears. But the hypocrite (munāfiq) says, ‘There are so many people, I will be forgiven, no problem.’ So he does wrong and evil deeds, yet holds foolish wishes about Allāh.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 4:586.

Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī

Fear Good Deeds Hypocrisy Reward
The Hunger of the Salaf and its Merits

It is reported from Ibn Sīrīn – Allāh have mercy on him – that a man once said to Ibn ‘Umar – Allāh be pleased with him:

Can we offer you some Jawārish? He inquired, “And what is Jawārish?” The man replied, “It is something that will help you digest your food if you get too full up.” Ibn ‘Umar said, “I have not eaten my fill for four months – not because I cannot find food, but because I have lived with people who used to eat their fill at times and go hungry at others.

Abū Dāwūd, Al-Zuhd article 325.

It is reported that Al-Hasan Al-Basrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

By He in whose Hand is my soul, I have lived amongst people who never ordered food to be prepared for themselves If [food] was presented to one of them, he would eat, otherwise, he would be silent; and he would not care if it was hot or cold.

Abū Nu’aym, Hilyatu Al-Awliyā` 6:270.

It is also reported that he said:

By Allāh, I have lived amongst people who when taking lunch, if they were about to be full, would stop eating.

Ibid.

It is reported that Al-Fudayl b. ‘Ayyād – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

Two things harden the heart, too much talking and too much food.

Ibn Hibbān Al-Bustī, Rawdatu Al-‘Uqalā` p45, Matba’ah Al-Sunnah Al-Muhammadīyah 1949.

It is reported that Mālik b. Dīnār – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

It is unfitting for a believer that his belly becomes his greatest concern, or that his desires dominate him.

Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Al-Jū’ (The Book of Hunger) article 105.

It is also reported that he said:

Whoever controls his belly controls all good deeds.

Ibid. article 99.

It is reported that the Tābi’ī (Successor) ‘Uqbah b. Wassāj – Allāh have mercy on him – was once at a wedding reception where many kinds of dishes were offered and people started trying one dish after another. He started to cry, and said:

“I found the first part of this Ummah fearing all this upon themselves.” And he ate only from one dish.

Ibid. article 261.

It is reported that Muhammad b. Sīrīn – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

A man from the Companions of the Prophet – praise and peace of Allāh be upon him – would sometimes go three days without finding anything to eat, so he would grill some animal skin and eat that. If he couldn’t find anything at all, he would [tie] a rock to himself to straighten his back.

Ibid. article 61.

Al-Fuḍayl b. ʿAyyāḍ Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī Mālik b. Dīnār ʿAbdullāh b. ʿUmar ʿUqbah b. Wassāj

Dunyā Food Zuhd
Opinionated Enemies of the Sunnah

‘Umar b. Al-Khattāb – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

Verily, the followers of opinion are the enemies of the Sunan (the teachings of Allāh’s Messenger as passed down in hadith): they were unable to preserve them and their meanings escaped them, and when asked [questions] they were too embarrassed to say ‘We don’t know,’ so they opposed the Sunan with their opinions.

Ibn Abī Zamanīn, Uṣūl Al-Sunnah article 8; Al-Lālakā`ī, Sharḥ Uṣūl I’tiqād Ahl Al-Sunnah article 201 et al.

ʿUmar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb

Bidʿah Ḥadīth Knowledge Sunnah ʿAqīdah
Who can give a Fatwa?

It is reported that Imām Mālik – Allāh have mercy on him – was asked, “Who is allowed to give religious rulings (fatwā)? He replied:

Issuing fatwā is not allowed except for a person who knows what the people have differed in. It was said, ‘Do you mean the different views of the people of opinions (those who depend more on analogy and speculation)? He replied, “No, [I mean] the different views of the Companions of Muḥammad – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him. And he must also know the textual evidence that abrogates [other rulings] and that which is abrogated [by other texts], both in the Quran and the ḥadīth of Allah’s Messenger – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him. Such a person can issue fatāwā.

Ibn ‘Abd Al-Barr, Jāmi’ Bayān Al-‘Ilm wa Faḍlihī article 1529.

It is reported that ‘Abdullāh b. Al-Mubārak – Allāh have mercy on him – was asked, “When can a person issue an edict (fatwā)?” He replied, “When he is knowledgeable about the narrations (hadith and traditions of the Salaf), and has insight into [juristic] opinion.

Ibid. article 1532.

Imām Mālik ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Mubārak

Ḥadīth Knowledge Law Qurān
Lowering the Gaze

It is reported that Salmān Al-Fārsī – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

I would rather die and be resurrected, die and be resurrected, and again die and be resurrected than to see the private part of a Muslim’s body or for a Muslim to see mine.

Imām Aḥmad, Al-Zuhd p192. 1^st ed. 1983. Dār Al-Kutub Al-‘Ilmīyah. Beirut, Lebanon.

It is reported that ‘Abdullāh b, ‘Umar – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

Verily, part of disregarding the trust upon you is to look inside [other people’s] apartments and houses.

Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Kitāb Al-Wara’ article 71.

It is reported that Anas b. Mālik – Allāh be pleased with him – said:

If a woman passes in front of you, lower your eyes until she has passed by.

Ibid. article 72.

It is reported that Al-‘Alā b. Ziyād – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

Let not your sight follow the nice looking back of a woman [as she passed], for indeed the look causes the desire in the heart.

Ibid. article 77.

It is reported on the authority of Al-Wakī’ b. Al-Jarrāḥ:

We went out one Eid with Sufyān Al-Thawrī and he said, “The first thing we will do on this day of ours is to lower our gaze.”

Ibid. article 66.

It is reported that Ḥassān b. Abī Sinān – Allāh have mercy on him – went out one Eid and when he returned home his wife said, “How many beautiful women have you looked at today?” After she kept asking him, he said, “Woe to you! I have looked at nothing but my toe from when I went out to when I returned to you.”

Ibid. article 68.

Al-ʿAlā b. Ziyād Anas b. Mālik Ḥassān b. Abī Sinān Salmān Al-Fārsī Sufyān Al-Thawrī ʿAbdullāh b. ʿUmar

Love Manners and Conduct Sins Women Zinā
The Four Eyes

It is reported that Khālid b. Ma’dān – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

There is not a person except he has four eyes: two in his head with which he sees the matters of this worldly life, and two in his heart with which he looks to the matters of the hereafter. So if Allāh wants good for his servant, He opens his heart’s eyes, and so he perceives what he has been promised in the unseen world. Thus he is saved from the unseen [punishment] through the unseen [reward for the obedient].

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 4: 543

Khālid b. Maʿdān

Īman The Heart The Hereafter ʿAqīdah
A Treatment for Egotism

It is reported that Imām Al-Shāfi’ī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

If you fear becoming deluded and impressed by your deeds then remember whose pleasure you are seeking, and the joy (Paradise) in which you want to be, and what punishment you fear. Whoever thinks about these things will diminish his deeds.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 10:42.

Imām Al-Shāfiʿī

Character Good Deeds Paradise Remembrance of Allāh