Sayings of the Salaf

Celebrating the Festivals of the Unbelievers

It is reported that ʿUmar b. Al-Khattāb – Allāh be pleased with him – said, “Stay well away from the enemies of Allāh during their festivals.”

He is also reported to have said, “Do not learn the speech of the non-Arabs (unbelievers) and do not enter upon the polytheists in their churches during their holidays, for the wrath [of Allāh] descends upon them then.”

It is also reported that ʿAbdullāh b. ‘Amr b. Al-‘Āṣ – Allāh be pleased with him – said, “Whoever takes residence in the lands of the non-Arabs (unbelievers) and takes part in their Nayrūz and their Mahrijān (two Persian festivals) and copies them until the day he dies will be resurrected and gathered with them on the Day of Resurrection.”

Al-Bayhaqī, Al-Sunan Al-Kubrā Vol. 9 p234. Ibn Taymīyah (see reference below) states that the chain of transmission for the second statement of ʿUmar is ṣaḥīḥ.

Commenting on these narrations, Shaykh Al-Islām Ibn Taymīyah (Majmū’ Al-Fatāwā Vol. 23 p325) states, “So ʿUmar forbade the learning of their language and merely entering upon them in their churches on their festivals, so what about one who does what they do? Or what about someone who wants to do something that is part of their religion? Isn’t agreeing with them in actions even more serious than agreeing with them in their language? Isn’t doing some of the things they do in their festivals even more serious than just entering upon them during their festivals? And if the wrath [of Allāh] descends upon them during their festivals because of the things they do, isn’t the person who partakes in their actions or some of their actions exposing himself to the punishment for this? And the statement of [ʿUmar], ‘Stay well away from the enemies of Allāh during their festivals,’ isn’t this a prohibition from meeting with them and getting together with them? So what about a person who actually does what they do?”

ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAmr ʿUmar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb

Manners and Conduct ʿAqīdah
Accept the truth, whoever it comes from

It is reported that a man came to ʿAbdullāh b. Mas’ūd – Allāh be pleased with him – and asked, “Teach me some comprehensive and beneficial words.” He replied, “Worship Allāh and do not associate any partners with Him, and be with the Qur’ān wherever it is. And whoever comes to you with some truth – whether he is young or old, even if he is hated by you – then accept [that truth]. And whoever comes lying to you – even if he is beloved and close – then reject it from him.”

Abū Bakr Al-Kharā`iṭī, Masāwī Al-Akhlāq wa Madhmūmihā p72.

ʿAbdullāh b. Masʿūd

Advice Character Qurān ʿAqīdah
If you care for your religion

It is reported that Ibn Mas’ūd – Allāh be pleased with him – said, “Whoever wants to honor his religion and do good to it should avoid mixing with the ruler or sitting with the followers of desires (heretics, people of bid’ah), for sitting with them is more contagious than scabies.”

Ibn Waddāḥ, Al-Bida’ p136.

ʿAbdullāh b. Masʿūd

Bidʿah Fitnah
The Borrowed Pen [trustworthiness]

It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Mubārak said, “I once borrowed a pen in Al-Shām (Transjordan) and went to return it. But when I came back to Marwu (Eng. Merv , in Central Asia) I saw that I still had it, so I went back to Al-Shām to return it to its owner.”

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā`, Vol. 8 p395.

ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Mubārak

Character
The Disease of this Ummah and its Doctor

It is reported that Sufyān Al-Thawrī – Allāh have mercy on him – said, “Wealth is the disease of this Ummah, and the scholar is the doctor of this Ummah. So if the doctor brings the disease to himself, how will he cure the people?”

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā`, Vol. 7 p243.

Sufyān Al-Thawrī

Affairs of the Ummah Dunyā Knowledge Zuhd
At the deathbed of Umm Habibah

It is reported that ‘Ā`ishah – said, “Umm Ḥabībah called for me on her deathbed and said, ‘There used to occur between us the kinds of things that happen between co-wives (al-ḍarā`ir), so may Allāh forgive me and you those things.’ I said, ‘May Allāh forgive you all those things and release you from [all liability] for that.’ She replied, ‘You have made me happy, may Allāh make you happy.’ And she sent for Umm Salamah and said the same things to her.”

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` Vol. 2 p223.

Umm Ḥabībah ʿĀʾishah

Character Death Family Supplication
Ali on fear, hope, knowledge and patience

It is reported that ‘Alī b. Abī Ṭālib – Allāh be pleased with him – said, “The servant [of Allāh] should not fear except his sins, and should not hope except in his Lord. The ignorant should not be ashamed to ask, and the knowledgeable should not be ashamed to say – if he does not know something – ‘Allāh knows best.’ Patience (al-ṣabr) to faith (Al-Īmān) is like the head to the rest of the body: if the head is cut off, the body will rot. And one who has no patience, has no faith.”

Al-Baihaqī, Shu’ab Al-Īmān, Vol.12 p195.

ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib

Īman Knowledge Patience Sins
Supplicating for an Unbeliever

‘Uqbah b. ‘Āmir Al-Juhanī – Allāh be pleased with him – once passed by a man who looked like a Muslim, so he greeted him with salām, and he replied, “And upon you [be peace] and the mercy of Allāh and His blessings.” A boy informed him, “He is a Christian!” So ‘Uqbah got up and followed the man, caught up with him and said, “The mercy of Allāh and His blessings are upon the believers; however, may Allāh give you a long life, and make plentiful your wealth and offspring.”

Al-Bukhārī, Al-Adab Al-Mufrad. Shaykh Al-Albānī grades its chain of narration ḥasan in Saḥīḥ Al-Adab Al-Mufrad p444, and notes, “In this narration this illustrious Companion indicates that it is permissible to supplicate for someone to have a long life, even if he is an unbeliever, and so [this can be done for] a Muslim a fortiori…However, the supplicant should make sure that the unbeliever is not an enemy of the Muslims. It is also taken from this [narration] that such an unbeliever can be commiserated with what has been mentioned therein [i.e. the believers are the ones who will receive the mercy of Allāh and His blessings].”

ʿUqbah b. ʿĀmir Al-Juhanī

Daʿwah Manners and Conduct Supplication
The Weight of the Quran

It is reported that Ibn ʿUmar – Allāh be pleased with him – said, “We were the beginning [the heads] of this Ummah, and perhaps a man from the best of the Companions of Allāh’s Messenger – Allāh’s peace and blessings be upon him – and the most righteous amongst them could maintain only one chapter of the Qur`ān or thereabouts. For the Qur`ān was weighty upon them, and they were given knowledge of it or action based on it. But the last of this Ummah will find the Qur`ān light [and easy] – the child and the non-Arab will recite it, without possessing any knowledge about it.”

Al-Harawī, Dhamm Al-Kalām wa Ahlihī Vol. 5 p144.

ʿAbdullāh b. ʿUmar

Knowledge Qurān The Companions
The Narrations are the Religion

It is reported that Muḥammad b. Sīrīn said, “They used to consider themselves on the [right] path as long as they followed al-athar (guidance of the Sunnah and Salaf as passed down in the narrations).”

Al-Lālakā`ī, Sharḥ Usūl I’tiqād Ahl Al-Sunnah wa Al-Jamā’ah Vol.1 p120.

It is reported that ‘Uthmān b. Ḥāḍir said, “I said to Ibn ‘Abbās: ‘advise me.’ He replied, ‘It is upon you to be upright, follow al-athar, and beware of innovating [in religion].’”

Ibn Battah, Al-Ibānah Al-Kubrā Vol. 1 p214.

It is reported that ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Mubārak said, “Let it only be the narrations (al-athar) that you rely upon, and take from reasoning and opinion that amount that will help you to understand and explain ḥadīth.”

Ibn ʿAbd Al-Barr, Jāmi’ Bayān Al-‘Ilm wa Faḍlihi Vol. 3 p329.

It is reported that Sufyān Al-Thawrī said, “The narrations (al-āthār) are the religion.”

And it is reported that he also said, “A man should not even scratch his head except based on a narration.”

Al-Harawī, Dhamm Al-Kalām wa Ahlihī Vol. 2 p264.

It is reported that Al-Musayyib b. Rāfi’ Al-Asadī said, “We only follow, we do not innovate; we follow behind and do not start anything [in the religion], and we will never stray as long as we adhere to the narrations.”

Al-Harawī, Dhamm Al-Kalām wa Ahlihī Vol. 2 p265.

Al-Musayyib b. Rāfiʿ Al-Asadī Muḥammad b. Sīrīn Sufyān Al-Thawrī ʿAbdullāh b. Al-Mubārak ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAbbās

Bidʿah Ḥadīth Law Sunnah