The Last Drops of this World

Khâlid b. ‘Umayr Al-’Adawî reports, ‘Utbah b. Ghazwân – Allâh be pleased with him – once gave us a sermon. He praised Allâh, then said:

The life of this world has announced its departure and is quickly turning away, and nothing remains of it save the likes of the last drop of water in a vessel as its possessor tries to catch it. You are moving on to an abode that has no end, so move on with the best [deeds] that you have. For it has been said to us that a rock can be dropped from the edge of Hell and fall for seventy years without reaching the bottom. Yet, by Allâh, it will be filled. Do you not then wonder? And it has been said to us that a single entrance to Paradise is as wide as a journey of forty years, yet there will come a day when it will be crowded.

I have seen myself as the seventh of seven [followers of] Allâh’s Messenger – Allâh’s peace and blessings be upon him; we had no food save the leaves of trees which put sores round our mouths. I once got a cloak which I tore in half to share with Sa’d b. Mâlik: I used half as my waist-wrap and he used the other. And yet today, there is not one of us except he has become a governor over some city – and I seek refuge with Allâh that I consider myself great and important when I am small in front of Allâh. Verily there was never prophet-hood except that it gradually changed until it ended up being a kingship, and verily you will see what the governors after us are like.

Sahîh Muslim no. 7624

February 23, 2010 - الثلاثاء 10 ربيع الأول 1431 | Good deeds, Paradise, The Fire, dunyâ, the hereafter

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True Goodness

It is reported that ‘Alî b. Abî Tâlib – Allâh be pleased with him – said:

Goodness is not in your wealth and offspring being plentiful; true goodness is when your [good] deeds are plenty and you have great understanding and forbearance, and when you compete to worship your Lord. If you do good you praise Allâh and thank Him, and if you sin you beg Allâh’s forgiveness. There is no good in this life except with two types of men: A man who sins but then corrects himself through repentance, and a man who strives and hastens to get [the good] of the hereafter.

Ibn ‘Asâkir, Al-Tawbah article 13.

February 18, 2010 - الخميس 05 ربيع الأول 1431 | Character, Good deeds, dunyâ, repentance

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The Sunnah v. what people do

It is reported that ‘Abdullâh b. Al-Hasan used to often sit with Rabî’ah. One day they were revising and studying various practices from the Sunnah when a man in the gathering said, “[But] this is not what is practiced [by the people].” ‘Abdullah said, “So if the ignorant become so numerous that they become the rulers and judges, will they then be a proof over the Sunnah?” Rabî’ah said, “I bear witness that these are the words of the sons of the Prophets.”

Al-Khatîb Al-Baghdâdî, Al-Faqîh wa Al-Mutafaqqih article 384

February 11, 2010 - الخميس 27 صفر 1431 | Sunnah, fiqh

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The Complete Man

Imâm Al-Buwaytî – Allâh have mercy on him – reports:

I heard Al-Shâfi’î say, “A man does not become complete in this life except when he has four [qualities]: religiousness (al-diyânah), trustworthiness (al-amânah), safeguarding [from sin] (al-siyânah) and sobriety (al-razânah).”

Al-Bayhaqî, Manâqib Al-Shâfi’î 2:189.

February 5, 2010 - الجمعة 21 صفر 1431 | Character, Good deeds, sins

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