‘Urwah b. Al-Zubayr – Allah have mercy on him – said:
‘Ā’ishah – Allah be pleased with her – gave seventy thousand (dirham) in charity, while her own skirt used to be patched.
‘Abdullah b. Mubārak in Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqā’iq Vol. 1 p588, no.705.
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Advice from Abu Darda on Thinking and Remembering
A man once asked Abū Al-Dardāʾ – Allāh be pleased with him – for advice. He said:
Remember Allāh in good times and He will mention you in hard times. When you remember those who have passed away, consider yourself like one of them. And when you think of involving yourself in some worldly matter, consider first what it will lead to in the end.
Al-Dhahabī in Siyar Aʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ, under the biography of Abū Al-Dardāʾ.
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Ibn Umar on Bidah [Hasanah]
‘Abdullah b. ‘Umar – Allah be pleased with them both – said:
Every bid’ah (religious innovation) is misguidance, even if people think it is good.
Al-Lālakā’ī in Sharh Usūl I’tiqād Ahl Al-Sunnah wa Al-Jamā’ah Vol 1. P134, no.111; and Ibn Battah in Al-Ibānah Al-Kubraa Vol.1 p219, no. 213
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The Sound of Your Own Voice
Nu’aym b. ‘Abdillah, the scribe of the righteous Caliph ‘Umar b. ‘Abd Al-‘Azīz – Allah have mercy on him, narrates that ‘Umar b. ‘Abd Al-‘Azīz said:
The fear of showing off and vying with others prevents me from saying much of what could be said.
Abdullah b. Mubārak in Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqā’iq Vol. 1 p193, no. 126.
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Relative Values
Anas b. Mālik – Allah be pleased with him – said:
You people do things today that you regard as less significant than a strand of hair, whereas we, during the time of the Prophet – peace and blessings be upon him – used to consider them destructive sins.
Al-Bukhārī in his Ṣaḥīḥ, Chapter on sins that are seen as insignificant but which should be kept away from.
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Loftier Goals in Life
Commenting on 2:201 of the Quran which states:
Our Lord! Give us the good of this world and the good of the hereafter…
Al-Hasan Al-Baṣrī – Allah have mercy on him – said:
The good of this world is knowledge and worship, and the good of the hereafter is Paradise.
Al-Ājurrī in Akhlāq Al-‘Ulamā’ no. 30 and Ibn Jarīr in his Tafsīr of this verse.
Scholars of tafsīr like Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Kathīr point out that ‘the good of this world’ is general and includes all those things which have been allowed for us to enjoy and which are considered useful by people for day-to-day living. And they point out that above this; the good of this world includes those things which will lead to success in the hereafter. This narration reminds us of these loftier things we should ask Allah for, and that the good of this life embraces what is required or recommended for a worshipper of Allah to acquire on this Earth, like knowledge of his religion and good deeds.
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The Real Faqīh
‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib – Allah be pleased with him – said:
Shall I not tell you who the real faqīh 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-Ājurrī in Akhlāq Al-‘Ulamā’ no. 45, Al-Khaṭīb in Al-Faqīh wa Al-Mutafaqqih Vol. 2 pp338-339.
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Worse than not knowing
Imām Muslim reports in the introduction to his Saḥīḥ that Yaḥya b. Saʿīd once said to Al-Qāsim b. ʿUbaydillāh:
“Abu Muḥammad! It feels horrible and grave that you should be asked a question about this religion and not have knowledge about it or a way to get out [and not look like you don’t know].” He replied, “And why is that?” Yaḥya replied, “Because you are the son of two great Imāms of Guidance, Abu Bakr and ʿUmar.” Al-Qāsim said, “Even more horrible than this – to those who understand what Allāh has taught us – is that I should say something without knowledge or report a narration from someone who is not reliable.”
Al-Qāsim b. ʿUbaydillāh was the great grandson of Abu Bakr Al-Ṣiddīq on his mother’s side and the great grandson of ʿUmar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb on his father’s side. His grandfather was ʿAbdullāh b. ʿUmar – Allāh be please with them all.
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Intentions First
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:
Actions are but by intentions, and everyone will have what he intended. So whoever migrated to Allah and His Messenger, he migrated to Allah and His Messenger. But whoever migrated for some worldly benefit, or to take a woman in marriage, then his migration was only to what he migrated to.
Al-Bukhāri, Muslim and others.
Traditionally, Muslim scholars chose to begin their works by quoting this ḥadīth, or report, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Here is a brief commentary taken from Ibn Rajab’s Jāmiʿ Al-ʿUlūm wa Al-Ḥikam, in which he explains the entire Forty Ḥadīth collection of Al-Nawawi:
Imām Al-Bukhārī (as Al-Nawawi later did in his Forty Ḥadīth) begins his Ṣahīh collection with this ḥadīth, reminding us that any deed through which Allāh’s pleasure is not sought is futile; it will bear no fruits in this life or the hereafter.
ʿAbd Al-Raḥmān b. Mahdī, the great scholar of ḥadīth, said:
If I were to compile a work in chapters, I would place this ḥadīth at the beginning of each one.
He also said:
Whoever wishes to author a book, he should begin with the ḥadīth about intentions.
This ḥadīth forms a fundamental principle of Islām and an axis around which it revolves.
It is reported that Imām Al-Shāfiʿī said:
This ḥadīth constitutes a third of all knowledge, and it relates to seventy areas of fiqh (correct understanding of the religion).
It is reported from Imām Aḥmad that he said:
The foundations of Islām are upon three ḥadīth: the one reported by ʿUmar – ‘Actions are but by intentions’, the one reported by ʿĀʾishah – ‘Whoever does a deed that does not conform to our commands will have it rejected’ and the one reported by Al-Nuʿmān b. Bashīr – ‘The ḥalāl and ḥarām are clear…’
This ḥadīth teaches us the principle that acceptance of our deeds and whether or not they are regarded as righteous depends primarily on what the intention behind them is. If the intention is good and pure – to receive Allāh’s pleasure and reward, the deed is righteous. Otherwise the deed is futile and false. This is the first thing that needs to be dealt with.
The second condition which needs to be met for our deeds to be accepted by Allāh is that they should be in conformity with Islām’s true teachings as taught to us by the Prophet ﷺ and as understood and applied by the Righteous Predecessors (The Salaf). Hence, the Prophet stated:
Whoever does a deed that does not conform to our commands will have it rejected.
Al-Bukhārī and Muslim.