Yūnus reports: Maymūn b. Mihrān once wrote to me saying:
Beware of dispute and argumentation about the religion, and do not argue with a scholar nor an ignoramus. As for the scholar, he will withhold his knowledge from you, and will not be concerned with what you do. As for the ignorant person, he will only cause roughness in your heart and he will not obey you [anyway].
Al-Dārimī, Al-Sunan no. 302.
It is reported that Sufyān Al-Thawrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
I have not seen less zuhd (abstinence) in anything than leadership; you can see a man renouncing food, drink, wealth and clothing, but if his leadership is contested, he vehemently defends and has enmity over it.
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar ʾAʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 7:262.
Nāfiʿ reports:
ʿAbdullāh b. ʿUmar once sacrificed an uḍḥiyah in Al-Madīnah. He told me to buy a horned ram for him, and then to slaughter it on the Day of Aḍḥā at the people’s prayer place (muṣallā), so I did that. Then it was taken to ʿAbdullāh b. ʿUmar, and he shaved his head once the ram was slaughtered. He was ill at the time and had not witnessed the ʿEid with the people.
Nāfiʿ said:
And ʿAbdullāh b. ʿUmar used to say: “Shaving the head is not obligatory upon the one who sacrifices an uḍḥiyah.” But Ibn ʿUmar had himself done it.
Al-Imām Mālik, Al-Muwaṭṭā, Book of Sacrificial Slaughters, Chapter on What is Recommended of the Sacrifices.
It is reported that Al-Ḥasan (Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī) used to shave his head on the Day of Naḥr (ʿEid Al-Aḍḥā) in Basra.
Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf no. 13893.
Ibn ʿAwn asked Muḥammad (Ibn Sīrīn), “Did they used to recommend that a man should take off some of his hair on the Day of Naḥr?” He replied, “Yes.”
Op. cit. 13894.
It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Whoever is happy (satisfied) with what Allāh has apportioned for him, it will suffice him and Allāh will bless it for him, but whoever is not satisfied, then [what is apportioned for him] will not suffice him and it will not be blessed.
Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Kitāb Al-Riḍā ʿan Allāh bi Qaḍāʾihi article 95.
It is reported from Sālim b. Abī Ḥafṣah:
I asked Abū Jaʿfar and his son Jaʿfar (Al-Ṣādiq) about Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, so he replied, “O Sālim, love and ally yourself with them, and dissociate yourself from their enemy, for they were imāms of guidance.” Then he said, “O Sālim, would a man revile his own grandfather? Abū Bakr is a grandfather of mine. May the intercession of Muḥammad ﷺ not reach me on the Day of Resurrection if I do not love and ally myself with them and disassociate from their enemy.”
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar ʾAʿlām Al-Nubalāʾ 6:258.
Saʿīd b. Abī ʿArūbah – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
Whoever has not heard the differences of opinion, then do not consider him a scholar.
Ibn ʿAbd Al-Barr, Jāmiʿ Bayān Al-ʿIlm wa Faḍlihī no. 1521.
It is reported that Sufyān b. ʿUyainah – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
The most audacious people in giving verdicts (fatwā) are those who know the least about the differences of opinion amongst the scholars.
Op. cit. 1527.
It is reported that Imām Mālik – Allāh have mercy on him – was asked:
“Which kind of person is allowed to give verdicts (fatwā)?” He replied, “It is not allowed to give verdicts except for the person who knows what people have differed over.” He was asked, “Do you mean the differences of the people of (mere) opinions?” He replied, “No, the different opinions of the Companions of Muḥammad ﷺ, and the one who also knows the abrogating from the abrogated [texts] in the Qurān and in the ḥadīth of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ – such a person can give fatwā.”
Op. cit. 1529.
It is reported that Yaḥyā b. Sallām – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
It is not right for the one who does not know differences of opinion to give verdicts, and it is not allowed for the one who does not know about the various statements [of the scholars] to say: I prefer such-and-such opinion.
Op. cit. 1534.
It is reported that ʿUmar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
Do not expose yourself to what does not concern you, stay away from your enemy, beware of [taking as] your friend anyone except the trustworthy amongst people – and there is no one who is trustworthy except one who fears Allāh; and do not accompany the sinner in case you learn his sinfulness, and do not let him know your secrets, and consult those who fear Allāh for your affairs.
Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf 34476.
It is reported that Ayyūb Al-Sakhtiyānī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
A man does not become noble until he has two qualities: he is undesirous of what other people possess, and he pardons and overlooks them.
Ibn Ḥibbān, Rawḍatu Al-ʿUqalāʾ p167.
It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:
A man remains upon good as long as he knows what things spoil his deeds.
Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, Al-Zuhd p339.
ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib – Allāh be pleased with him – said:
Do not be from those who are hasty, who broadcast (what should not be broadcast), who plant trouble by divulging what should be secret, for you will face severe, prolonged and heavy tribulations.
Al-Bukhārī, Al-Adab Al-Mufrad no. 327. Its chain of transmission was graded ṣaḥīḥ by Al-Albānī in Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Adab Al-Mufrad no.250.