It is reported that Abū Bakr Al-Maṭū’ī said: I sat in the circle of Abū ‘Abdillāh Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal for twelve years while he read the Musnad to his children, and I never wrote a single ḥadīth, I only looked at his behavior, character and etiquette. Ibn Al-Jawzī, Manāqib Aḥmad, article 210. It is reported […]
‘Abdullāh b, ‘Abbās reports that ‘Umar b. Al-Khattāb – Allāh be pleased with them – said: I used to have a neighbor from the Anṣār who lived in the area of Banī Umayyah b. Zayd, which is in the ‘Awālī of Medinah, and we used to take turns attending [the gatherings] of Allāh’s Messenger – […]
It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said: One who acts without knowledge is like one who travels off the path; and the one who acts without knowledge corrupts more than he rectifies. So seek knowledge in a way that does not harm your worship, and seek to worship […]
It is reported that Imām Muḥammad b. Sīrīn – Allāh have mercy on him – said: There were people who abandoned knowledge and sitting with the scholars, and [instead] took to their chambers and prayed until their skin dried [from exertion in worship]. Thereafter they began to contradict the Sunnah and thus were destroyed. By […]
A description of some of the best and worst types of people. An example of how the Salaf warned about social corruption, even by mentioning names.
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 […]
‘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 […]
Some qualifications for issuing religious edicts (fatwa).
It is reported that Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said: The intelligent person’s tongue is behind his heart: when he wants to speak, he first thinks. If [his words] will be in his favor, he says them, and if they will be against him, he does not speak. And the ignorant […]
It is reported that Imām Al-Awzā’ī – Allāh have mercy on him – said: At the time of Fajr, or a while before it, the Salaf would be as if birds were sitting on their heads: (still ) concentrating on themselves [and their worship], so much so that even if one of their closest friends […]