The Prophet (pbuh) said: "The two feet of the son of Adam will not move from near his Lord on the day of Judgement until he is asked about five (matters) about his life - how he spent it; about his youth - how he took care of it; about his wealth - how he earned it; and where he spent it and about that which he acted upon from the knowledge he acquired."
(at Tirmidhi)
The Prophet (pbuh) said:"Verily Allah says: O son of Adam, free yourself for my worship, I will (in turn) fill your chest with satisfaction and remove your poverty, and if you don't I will fill your hands with distraction and will not remove your poverty." In another narration, "I will fill your chest with distraction."
(Ahmad, at Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ibn Hibban and others)
And we should hasten in the implementation:
The Prophet (pbuh) said: "There is hesitation in everything except in the actions of the Hereafter."
(Abu Dawud)
And do the actions with perfection and this is achieved by leaving that which don't concern him:
The Prophet (pbuh) "From a man's perfecting his religion is his leaving alone that which does not concern him".
(Ahmad in his Musnad, at-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah and others)
In Fayd ul Qadeer, the author [al Manaawee] writes in explaining this hadith: “It is understood from this that from a man's deficiency in his religion is his indulging in that which does not concern him. This includes everything of secondary importance, whichever form it may take. What should concern him is all that relates to the essentials of his livelihood, that which fulfills his need for sustenance, clothing, keeping himself chaste thereby, and the like thereof from the necessities of life, excluding those things relating to his own personal pleasures. He should be concerned with all that relates to his salvation in the Hereafter, that being Islaam, imaan, and ihsaan. In this way he stays safe from ruin, all forms of evil and from argumentation. This is part of perfecting his religion, firm establishment of his piety and keeping away from following his desires. Whereas striving to accomplish other than this is loss of irreplaceable valuable time, in doing what he was not created for. So whoever worships his Lord, with realization of his closeness to his Lord, and of his Lord's closeness to him, has perfected his religion, as has proceeded".
With this brief post, I would like to say, Jazakumullah Khair, may Allah reward you all for visiting this blog. As from now on I will be not able to put up posts as regularly as I would like to do so due to some commitments. Until next time, I will end with the greetings of Jannah, may Allah (SWT) make us from amongst them! Ameen!
All praise belongs to Allah (SWT) who has guided us to Islam. For many of us who had being brought up in the West, the concept of Islam and being a practicing Muslim was indeed a strange and abnormal thing. Many of the people who had come out from the thickness of Western jahiliyyah into Islam have their respective stories to tell about how they came in to Islam, how it felt at the beginning as a practicing Muslim, about their struggles, theirhigh’s and their lows and etc. I am sure that those brothers and sisters who left the ugliness of the jahiliyyah felt a sense of relief, comfort and enjoyment after discovering the beauty and the splendour of Islam – even though that person may have been born into a Muslim family! I am sure many of the brothers and sisters who left jahiliyyah – remember purchasing their first Islamic book, or that first thobe or their head-gears, and the bliss they use to feel soon as they did anything Islamic! They would have a tremendous amount of zeal to implement the Deen or try to get close to the Deen, whether it’s by trying to grow a ‘trendy’ beard, leaving the rap and R‘n’B tracks for the jihaadi nasheed, or just moving from cigarettes to she’shaa’s!!
For many people, it was that Islamic awakening, the yearning to do more as a newly practicing Muslim after experiencing a bad past, tasting that sweetness of Islam and Emaan – which made them very zealous and keen about the Deen. But unfortunately, few years down the line, this zeal is no longer present. The motivation, the aspiration, the eagerness and the zeal is void; to the extent it becomes very difficult for a person to perform the waajib prayers or to attend the masjid and the person remains in that state for many years after becoming a ‘practicing’ Muslim. And we seek refuge in Allah (SWT), some people start to reminisce and bring to mind their jahiliyyah and some people stop practicing totally!
So the question at hand is: How does one move up in their Deen and remain steadfast?
This is such a great issue for all of us. Scholars of the past have written volumes and volumes just on this topic, an article like this will do justice to such a great matter. The aim of this article is just to highlight some problems that we should pay attention to, not for a detailed discussion of the question at hand.
Most of the people after becoming a ‘practicing’ Muslim, naturally concentrate on doing those outer actions more. Islam, the Prophet (pbuh) explained it as the outer actions of the limbs such as words and deeds, so this includes the shahaada, the prayers, the zakat, the fasting and etc. As for Emaan, the Prophet (pbuh) explained in Hadith Gibreel as inward beliefs; comprised under emaan are the inner actions of the heart. Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali says in Jaami al-‘Uloom, “Comprised under emaan there is trembling of the hearts at the remembrance of Allah and their humility at hearing His mention and His Book, and increasing in emaan from that, making reliance on Allah (SWT) a reality, fear of Allah (SWT) secretly and openly, contentment with Allah as Lord, Islam as Deen and with Muhammad (pbuh) as Messenger, preferring destruction with the greatest types of pain over kufr, being conscious of Allah’s nearness to slave...” – then he goes on to list many other actions of the heart. Emaan is higher in grade than Islam.
Allah (SWT) said, “The desert Arabs say, ‘We have Emaan.’ Say: ‘You do not have Emaan.’ Say rather, ‘We have become Muslims’, for Emaan has not yet entered into your hearts.” Surah al-Hujuraat (49), Verse 14
Ibn Kathir regarding this verse said, “This honourable Ayah provides proof that Emaan is a higher grade than Islam, according to the scholars of the Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jama`ah. This is also demonstrated in the Hadith of Jibril, peace be upon him, when he questioned the Prophet about Islam, then Emaan then Ihsan. Thus, moving the general matter to one more specific, then even more specific; [so] emaan is a more exclusive grade than Islam.”
So knowing this, a person should aim be to move up as Islam is at the basic level. A person cannot just jump from one level to another without first establishing himself firmly on that level, perfecting that level, being steadfast at that level, being musataqim. People at times feel at times a ‘rush’ of emaan, i.e. when coming into Deen – this feeling in itself is not enough for a person to move up and be upright in Islam.
So firstly, it is about being istaqim – being upright.
Ali ibn Abi Talhah narrated from ibn Abbass concerning His words, “Those who say, ‘Our Lord is Allah!’ and they go straight [istaqaamoo’]...” Surah al-Ahqaaf, Verse 13, that he said, “They unswervingly continue with the discharge of His obligations...’ [Reported in at-Tabari 24/115]
Sufyaan ibn Abdullah said, I said, ‘Messenger of Allah, say to me something in Islam about which I will not ask anyone other than you?’ He (pbuh) said, “Say, ‘I have emaan in Allah.’ Then go straight [isataqim].” [Reported by Muslim, 38] Different explanations has been for the term ‘istiqaamah’ from the Salaf – but Ibn Rajab summarizes it in these words, “Istiqaamah [upright] is travelling the straight path [as-siraat al-mustaqeem] and it is the correct Deen [ad-deen al-qayyimah] without turning away from it to the right and left. It comprises doing all acts of obedience, those which are outwards and those which are inwards and similarly giving up all acts which are forbidden...”
Istiqaama upon Islam, Insha-Allah will help a person to move up in the Deen. So it is the continuation of worshiping Allah (SWT), and increasing upon that and not falling short in that. This is what is lacked among the newly ‘practicing’ Muslims; they may be doing certain actions for a period of time such a praying in jama’ah, seeking knowledge, doing extra voluntary deeds etc and then they stop or start to decrease in it until they do the bare minimum – even which becomes difficult for them. Such a person at this stage does not find sweetness in Islam and just wants to do the minimum and eventually the person starts to move away from the righteous people and try to find comfort elsewhere, i.e. in the thoughts, the events and the people from their jahiliyyah days and in Allah (SWT) we seek refuge!
Secondly, the thing that aids this istiqaamah is seeking knowledge and being continuous.
By seeking knowledge, the person is taken out from the darkness into the light, by it the person’s mind opens, by it the person’s hearts is illuminated,by it many other doors of goodness opens, by it the person becomes reformed. The best of those in Jahaliyyah are the best in Islam – that is, if they seek the knowledge. This is a very important driving factor for a person to do righteous deeds, keeping away from the forbidden – being mustaqim.
Al-Hasan said, “There is two types of knowledge: knowledge on the tongue, and that is proof of Allah (SWT) against the son of Adam, and the knowledge in the heart, and that is the useful knowledge.”The scholars fear Allah (SWT) the most because of the [useful] knowledge [in the hearts], thus they worship Allah (SWT) more – it inspires to act more. The useful category of knowledge which drives a person to act is the knowledge of Allah (SWT), and of His Names, Attributes and actions which necessarily require that one fear Him, have awe of Him, magnify Him, submit to Him, love Him...and so on, as mentioned by Ibn Rajab al-Hanabali.
As long as knowledge remains on the earth people will be guided. The remaining of knowledge is the existence of those who bear it. In our time, the ‘thirst’ for knowledge has increased with the increased numbers of those who bear it; this is a great opportunity for us especially living in the West to seek and move forward. Due to people leaving this path of knowledge, many people do not progress in their Deen as a whole – and they remain stagnant or they ‘burn-out’ after a period of time.
Thirdly, paying attention to ‘actions of the heart’ and working on them as well.
This was alluded to earlier on; the actions of the heart include: fear, hope and longing, trust and reliance, awe, and love of Allah and etc. All of this is inter-linked with the outer actions of the limbs and istiqaamah.
It is important to have a sound heart also. Ibn Rajab said, “If a heart is sound and there is nothing but love in it but love of Allah and love of what Allah loves, and fear of Allah and fear of falling into what He dislikes, then all of the actions of the limbs will be right, and there will arise from that his avoidance of all forbidden things...If the heart is corrupt and it is overcome by fallowing whims and his seeking what he loves even if Allah dislikes it, then all of the limbs’ movement will be corrupt, and will give rise to every act of disobedience...”
This is established in the Qur’an and the Sunnah. The Prophet (pbuh) used to say his supplication: “O Allah! I ask you for a sound heart [qalbann-saleem].” [Reported in Ahmad 4/125]. The sound heart is one which is safe from all defects and disproved things.
Al-Hasan said, “Tend you heart, for what Allah needs from the slave is soundness of their hearts.”
Abu Ya’qub an-Nahrajuri said, “Everyone who claims to love Allah (SWT) and does not comply with Allah’s Commandments, then his claim is false.”
If the ‘actions of the heart’ is not paid attention to, this will mean that the ‘bodily actions’ will not flow consistently and thus there will be no istiqaamah.
Insha-Allah, if a person can do all that was mentioned, a new leaf will turn – meaning, they will not wish not to incline towards the jahiliyyah days due to the sweetness of Allah (SWT) as their Lord, Islam as their Deen and Muhammad (pbuh) as their Messenger.
The ‘book therapy’ is a must for the seekers of knowledge. Some scholars have stated that the dire need for books due their great benefits, are more than the need to breathe. Many have also written books just about how to treat one’s books. The students of knowledge are filled with the passion for knowledge and always had a strong passion for books. Unfortunately, due to some people not understanding the importance of this matter, many people withhold from spending their money on books. And those people who actually have a passion for knowledge and books are ridiculed. So, you might have a person saying to them, ‘You are a book worm!’ or they say to them, ‘Is this all you do, just read?!’ and the likes of that due to their ignorance of the matter.The books written by the great scholars of Islam are instruments of knowledge, through it one gains access to understanding the Deen, through it the Deen is preserved, through it one expands his chest and opens his mind.
The Salaf dealt with their book with great manners and would excel and strive in gaining the right collection of books. To attain abook, a person should not hold back due to ‘tight-fistedness’ – and it is amazing how we can waste so much money on food, friends, going out etc, but when it comes to books; one of the instrument that will help you to worship Allah (SWT) better – we tend to hold back! When it comes to Deen; we have become in a state where we want every thing to be for free, and anything to do with the Deen has to be attained without any effort! Due to great benefits of books, if one needs a book – one should not hold back and try to attain that book, whether that is through buying, borrowing or loaning.
The issue about borrowing and lending books out. I am sure many of us have experienced that when we have lent a book to a person, that book was never seen again. Or it could be that, one of us borrowed a book from someone but that book is sitting on our bookshelves for many years [I am sure we are all guilty of this!]! So, should one borrow out their books to anyone?
The books are indeed tools by which one attains knowledge, and one should not limit the understanding and spreading of his knowledge by just collecting and accumulating all the books. It is encouraged to lend your books to those who will not damage them; although some scholars have said that, even knowing this, one should still loan out his books since it is a form of assisting each other in gaining knowledge, and due to the virtue and reward of lending out books. There are many statements from the Salaf, regarding lending book and not withholding:
And al-Khatib (may Allah have Mercy on him) reported that Waki’ said: “The first blessing of Hadith is that you lend out your books.”
Sufyan ath-Thawri said: “Whoever is stingy with his knowledge will be tested with one of three things: he will forget and be unable to memorize, or he will not benefit from it, or he will find himself losing his books.”
Yunus narrated that Yazid said to him that az-Zuhri said: “O Yunus, beware of the treachery of books.” So, Yunus asked: “And what is the treachery of books?” He said: “That you keep them from their owners.”
al-Fudayl bin ‘Iyad (may Allah have Mercy on him) said: “It is not from the actions of the cautious or the scholar that you take a man’s hearing and books and keep them with you. Whoever does this has wronged himself.”
But there were scholars from the Salaf who refrained from lending out their books such as Sufyaan and ar-Rabi ibn Sulaymaan.
If one borrows a book, he should immediately give it back if the owner requests it. Obviously, the one who borrowed the book should return it as soon as he is done with it and thank the lender and reward him with good; perhaps buy a little present or so. It is useful sometimes just to write your name, in the corner of the book – why? We all have a tendency to forget. I remember a brother telling me story, that how he lent a book out to a brother, and he saw that brother with that book, and when he said to the borrower, ‘That’s my book!’, the other brother rejected this claim! Obviously, this is due to forgetfulness, and these kinds of situations and conflicts can be avoided, perhaps by just writing you name in the books. This will avoid any ill-feelings, regrets, hate etc and Allah (SWT) knows best.
Other basic etiquette regarding books:
If you purchase a book do not put it into your library until you have had a browse through it, or read its forward, its index and a few extracts from it.
It is best that the book not be placed directly on the ground in order to avoid getting it dirty or wet and keeping it away from the reach of the little ones.
One should pay special attention to how he organizes his books, and should do so in accordance with the virtue, importance, and significance of each book. So, he should place the noblest book above all the others, and then work his way down gradually. So the Qur’an would come first, followed by books of Hadith, then comes the explanations of the Qur’an, then the explanations of Hadith, then the books regarding the principles (usul) of the Religion, then the principles of Fiqh, then Fiqh, then grammar and language, then Arabic poetry, then general poetry.
If one is going to write footnotes, then one shouldn’t write except the important points related to that particular book, such as a point of confusion, a parable, an example, a mistake, etc as mentioned by Muhammad Sa’ad Raslan.
One should not write between the lines. Although some did this by writing in red between the lines, it is better to leave this totally.
Just an addition side point; Being a student of knowledge one should not forget the responsibility [towards ones] classes. After the actual class, one must revise, memorise and have questions ready for the next class. If a person just attends classes and do not do anything thereafter, there is something wrong with the person or his intensions. If one does not have layers of knowledge through summarization, memorisation etc, it is just information. Whatever one learns, one should summarise, memorise, and ask questions [about what was studied previously]. If one does not ask while studying a book, such a person will not be able to teach that book.
Allah (SWT), said, “And hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of Allah [i.e. Allah's covenant] and do not separate.” Surah Aal-Imraan (3), Verse 103
Regarding the verse Ibn Katheer said: “[It] orders sticking to the community of the believers and forbids division. There are several Hadiths that require adhering to the Jama`ah (congregation of believers) and prohibit division. Muslim recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said, “It pleases Allah for you to acquire three qualities and displeases Him that you acquire three characteristics. It pleases Him that you worship Him Alone and not associate anything or anyone with Him in worship, that you hold on to the Rope of Allah altogether and do not divide…”
Just wanted to write about this brief issue that was on my mind for a little while.
Indeed we are living in a time, where there is much confusion and mystification about Islam, amongst the people in general. We find that around us there many grey areas and many things that seem gloomy and may not be clear to the common folk. There is no doubt that within these confusing times, the Muslims are witnessing an awakening to knowledge by the grace of Allah (SWT). If Allah (SWT) has made easy for you the doors to seeking knowledge, then know that He (SWT) has made it easy for you worship Him on insight.
In saying this, we still face much confusion and conflict amongst the people who have started to practice and those who have embarked on the path to knowledge in many issues, some, which we can even call it fundamental issues. Due the lack of supervision and the correct nourishment, these differences between them cause’s enmity and hatred to flair among them, to the extent that one group will dissociate from another group or an individual from another individual. There are so many different cases like this.
For example, some people try to separate the act of Jihaad and Seeking Knowledge. These ideas amongst some people, who are seekers of knowledge, assume that if you are on the path of knowledge – there is no Jihaad. This is obviously wrong; to assume that there is Jihaad without knowledge, this is incorrect, and to assume that the scholar or the seekers of knowledge can’t do Jihaad, then this is also wrong. Some people claim that we need to be strong first before Jihaad, but in reality the strength is through Jihaad. This is indeed a major issue at hand, which is causing divisions amongst the Muslims, on large and small scale.
So, it ever so important, if Allah (SWT) has made easy for you the path to seek knowledge, that you are overlooked, nourished, supervised, throughout this journey in order to safeguard and protect yourself from stumbling in the midst of seeking and acting upon the knowledge.
One must protect one’s self from, intellectual, ideological, behavioural, divisional, and partisanl as mentioned by Sheikh Bakr Abu Zayd.
Indeed, no walaa’ and baraa’ should be pledged in sectarianism and partisanship. The people servitude to Allah (SWT) [al-uboodiyyah], are not renowned to people with names which they are know by i.e. ‘He is a salafee!’and similarly they are not known bound to any one activity i.e. ‘He is a jihaadi!’In fact, as mentioned by Ibn Al-Qayyum in his explanation of the commentary of the Sufi text ‘Manaazil As-Saa’ireen’ by Abdullah al-Ansaari al-Haruwi covering tazkiyyah said, “...for indeed this a defect in servitude and it is restricted servitude. As for unrestricted servitude, it is where a person is not know by a specific name from amongst its meanings because he answers all the call of servitude regardless of the type [of worship], and her participates in all activities of all the people of servitude...”.
In the path of knowledge, whilst studying and learning, one should have humbleness and keep that humbleness; out of humbleness, do not give fatwaa’ or reject fatwaa’ – whilst seeking knowledge, there is more input. Seeking knowledge is different, it changes your character, and not it changes you. One should be distinguished in worship and in ones closeness to Allah (SWT). One should observe sincerity, seek knowledge to follow the Truth, [the path of the Salaf], to please Allah (SWT), to lift ignorancefrom one’s self and others, and to understand the Deen deeply to defend it. Indeed the Saved Sect are distinguished and known for their knowledge, fighting for the sake of Allah (SWT), love of Allah (SWT) and forsaking the Dunya. May Allah (SWT) make us from amongst them! Ameen!
I just wanted to address two important features a student of knowledge should have to become a serious seeker which Insha-Allah will make a world of difference in the approach to Knowledge. Much of this was advice given to us by Ustad Abul-Hasan which I wanted to share; I hope you benefit from it.
Memorising the Qur’an and the branches of Knowledge
Know that, memorising is from Allah (SWT) and forgetting it is from Satan. Allah (SWT) ‘opens’ the breasts so that they can memorise. The Prophets (as) memorised the revelation. The whole Qur’an was memorised by the Prophet (pbuh). The Prophet (pbuh) was the greatest of the Qari’s and the greatest of the Muhad’dith! Is there anyone better than him in hadith?? No! We forget this sometimes; he was the best of the Qari’s, best of the Muhad’dith, best of the Fuqaha’ – he was great in everything. So Allah (SWT) ‘opened’ his breasts for this memorisation to take place.
Memorising problems:
Memory problem could be a result of many things such as ‘ayn, hasad’, sihr’ or it could be just a natural cause. All these can be taken care by some means. A lot of people are concerned when they can not memorise or can’t retain the Qur’an and the other branches of Knowledge. When someone is concerned about their memory, it is a good sign. Why is this a good sign? We should know that Allah (SWT) will not even get us in this situation of thinking about ‘bad memory’ if we are not the right people to memorise. The person who is not meant to memorise, will not come to the conclusion that: ‘I have to memorise.’ The person who Allah (SWT) does not want him to memorise; he will not memorise. Such a person will not come to the conclusion and say or even think that: ‘I have a bad memory.’ Whoever of us is memorising, Allah (SWT) has brought us this far so that we can memorise! He (SWT) makes it difficult so that you try again and again.
Remember Allah (SWT) made the Qur’an very easy to memorise than any other book in the world. Allah (SWT) said: “And We have indeed made the Quran easy to understand and remember, but is there any that will remember?” Surah al-Qamar, Verse 17. Regarding this verse Al-Qurtubi said, “This means ‘We have made it easy for Hifdh and we will aid whoever wishes to memorise it so is there anyone who seeks to memorise it that We may help him?”
We should aim to memorise the Qur’an, it gets easy day after day – the main thing is to be consistent at it even if it means memorising one verse a day. The problem with us is we try one day and the next day we don’t! The one who loves it will memorise it; one must have love for the Qur’an. The virtues of memorising of the Qur’an are numerous as you all know, in fact books have been written on it! The one I came across and found it beneficial was ‘Al-Asbab al-Meeena alal-Hifdh’ by Sheikh Mahmood al-Misri (Abu ‘Ammar) – and All Praise belongs to Allah (SWT), this has been translated by sister Farhia Yahya in English, entitled: ‘Causes that aid in the memorisation of the Noble Qur’an’. I am not sure if it’s been published, but it can be obtained from islamicawakening.com.
Writing down the Knowledge!
Know that: ‘Knowledge is like hunting and writing is like tying your prey.’ – if you do not tie it, it will get away, so write your knowledge down.
Writing! Why should one write or take notes in the Circles of Knowledge? The memory does not does not retain everything. How easy do we forget what we exactly did few days ago or even few hours ago – so what about Knowledge, which needs to be accurate and precise! Knowledge is written down for preservation and revision, leading to do ‘ibaadah with that knowledge. One may say: ‘We have many books and audios in this so and so topic.’ The reply to this is: Seeking knowledge with the use of all the senses, such as hearing, seeing and along with writing the knowledge down – one is more likely to understand the topic when he goes back to his notes many years later, rather than just reading from a book or listening to an audio lecture. It is well known that seeking knowledge in presence of the scholars is the best way to learn and to understand knowledge due the interaction and the focus of all senses towards the knowledge and the scholars. Sheikh Bakr Abu Zayd [d.1429AH] said: ‘Bind the knowledge with writing…’ – there is also a hadith to this meaning from the Prophet (pbuh). It is reported that Imam Malik never let anyone in his class without a pen and paper. One must write in class. If one does not write in class, it shows that you know: which leads to ar-Riyaa’ – which kills sincerity and if you have riyaa’, it shows you have a disease in your heart. If you do not write it shows either you know or you are arrogant. Be attentive in knowledge. The teacher tells you to write – to benefit you, so reap the benefits. And Allah (SWT) knows best.
That is what Allah (SWT) has allowed me write, may Allah (SWT) make us among the preservers of the Deen. I will end with a fawaaid’:
“Learn whatever you want to learn, yet Allah will not make your learning worthwhile unless you practice what you have learned…”
How great are the fruits of sincerity, and how are the Muslims, the righteous, the worshipers who seek Allah and the Hereafter and know the worthlessness of the life of this world in dire need of purifying their actions to be solely for Allah so that they can see these fruits and blessings for themselves, and so that they can see things that nobody would believe could happen within the normal limits of the human perspective!
From these is that the scholars who wrote and sought knowledge sincerely for Allah were granted blessing in their time, lives, and knowledge by Allah, and many people benefited from them.
Take ‘Sahih al-Bukhari’ as an example. How many books have been written and authored? However, the author of this book was sincere towards Allah, and he would not write in it a single hadith except after making ablution and praying two units and making istikharah to Allah, and there was the worship and zuhd that was known in the life of Imam al-Bukhari. When this was the case, Allah blessed him in his time, and He blessed him in his deeds, and He gave this book the position and degree that it has. It is the most authentic book after the Book of Allah, and the Muslims of every era until the Day of Resurrection have accepted it wholeheartedly. This is indeed a great miracle, as how many books have been written that do not have what this book has?
Such is the case with the life of Imam Ahmad, may Allah be Pleased with him and he with Him. Look at the acceptance in the hearts of the people that Allah granted him - it is incredible! When Ahmad would simply point at someone with his finger and said ‘Yes,’ or if he were to mention someone and just say ‘Yes,’ - he praised him by simply saying ‘Yes,’ or ‘He is a good man,’ etc. - Allah would raise the status of that particular man in the eyes of all the Muslims. So, this man would become exalted, and this word of praise would spread from Baghdad to Khurasan to Egypt to Andalusia to everywhere else, and it would be recorded in the books that Ahmad said about such and such a man that he is good or that he praised him. So, this would be a tazkiyah for him and a means for the acceptance of his narrations and knowledge, and a confirmation of the soundness of his beliefs.
And the Khalifah al-Mutawakkil - from his intense keenness to be seen in a good light in front of his people as is the case with the rulers of every era - requested of Imam Ahmad to visit him because the people knew that Imam Ahmad only ate what was halal. So, he wanted him to come and eat from his food so that the people would take note of this and al-Mutawakkil would be praised by the people just because Imam Ahmad ate from his food, even if Ahmad himself did not praise him with a single word!
So, Imam Ahmad refused, and when al-Mutawakkil begged him - and he is al-Mutawakkil, the one through whom Allah revived the Sunnah and destroyed innovation, and Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah are indebted to him, and he is a leader of the Muslims - he saw that he had no other option but to obey him. So, he went to him while he was fasting. His sons ‘Abdullah and Salih said: “We were worried about our father that he would die, as he was continually fasting through the days and nights, and he would only drink water, as water was not something that could be considered a favor from anyone.” All the while, al-Mutawakkil assumed that he was eating from his food because they were not sitting and eating at the same table.
Why did they have this prestige? It was only because of their sincerity towards Allah.
In terms of the blessing in their time, look to the writings of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, the writings of adh-Dhahabi, the writings of Ibn Kathir, and the writings of an-Nawawi. You will see the most amazing things when you see these books despite the expulsion, prison, beating, inquisition, having their books burned, and prevention from any writing instruments that they suffered - especially Ibn Taymiyyah - and that despite this, the preoccupation with worship and Jihad that they displayed. Ibn Taymiyyah performed Jihad against the Batinis and the Tatars. Jihad and knowledge, collecting and researching knowledge from the books, worship, and he is still able to write all these books. How was this possible?!
Today, as you can see - we ask Allah to bless our time and our lives, and to grant us sincerity that will make us deserving of this - a student will spend five years preparing his doctorate, and he will then produce a book that will be nothing more than quotations. If he worked a little harder, he would finish it in a few months, and if he was one of the Salaf, he would have compiled it in a matter of days or weeks, as it is nothing more than quotations. What was all of this time spent doing?
This all has to do with how much sincerity we have. How?
Some even said that if you were to take the lifespan of one of them and divide it between the books that he wrote, you would find that he would write twenty pages a day. Is it possible for anyone to write this much? When would he have the time to check it over? When would he publish it?
If we ask a brother to prepare an article just one page long, he would spend the entire night writing it, and would then spend the entire next day reviewing and revising it. In fact, entire weeks might go by without him producing anything. Subhan Allah!! How did these people write so much? If they were able to write twenty pages that were reviewed, revised, fully and accurately referenced, and filled with precisely derived rulings, this could not have been possible except due to the blessing that Allah had placed in their knowledge, and this was all due to their sincerity to Allah.
This is why they had high determination and aspirations.
When at-Tabari told his students: “I will provide you with the ‘Tafsir’ in 300 volumes,” they said: “This is too long” - three hundred volumes was too long, and they couldn’t handle it - he replied: “Allahu Akbar! The aspirations have weakened!” So, he wrote it in thirty volumes instead of the 300. These thirty volumes were in accordance with the strength of their aspiration, as the vastness of ‘Tafsir at-Tabari’ - with all of its narrations, chains, linguistic commentaries and explanations - was written by at-Tabari for those with weak determination. Today, we say that at-Tabari should have summarized it, and it actually has been summarized, because the aspirations and determination that exists today is only a tenth of what existed during the days of at-Tabari’s students.
This is how it was. So, how does one’s determination become weak?
Determination weakens when there is little sincerity, and it increases when there is more sincerity and certainty. When a person combines the qualities of sincerity, certainty, love, and all the other actions of the heart that I have mentioned and will mention, he will reach the ultimate level of determination.
When the Companions reached this state, they gave no consideration whatsoever to the powers on Earth, no matter who or what they were. Rather, they would send armies to the East and West, land and sea, and they would not care in the least, and they would not look to the enemy as having any worth. Yes, they would make the necessary preparations, study the enemy in as much detail as possible, and engage in strategic research and military intelligence. However, they knew that they were fighting for Allah. So, no power was able to stand before them. They were victorious because of their faith, righteousness, sincerity, and truthfulness with Allah.
There is just one more issue to address that I will close with, and it is that having sincerity results in you being considered from the sincere, and this is because what goes around comes around. So, if you are sincere and truthful with Allah, Allah will make you from the sincere, and the sincere ones are the best of Allah’s Creation. They are the ones who know Allah, and this is the most important of their many characteristics. This is mentioned in ‘as-Saffat’ after Allah mentions the condition of the polytheists and their likes who ascribed a son to Allah and kinship between He and the jinn. So, at the end of these verses, He Said: {“Allah is Glorified above what they ascribe to Him”} [as-Saffat; 159] {“…except the sincere slaves of Allah.”} [as-Saffat; 40].
So, He is free of everything that He is described with with except what those who know Him and give Him His proper due describe Him with, and they describe Him with the attributes of perfection and praise.
