Introduction
All Praise is due to Allaah, we praise Him, seek His aid and
His Forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allaah from the evils of our souls and the
evils of our actions. Whomsoever Allaah guides there is none to misguide and
whomsoever Allaah misguides there is none to guide. I bear witness that there is
none worthy of worship except Allaah, alone, without any partners and I bear
witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.
To proceed: This is Imaan Builder 4: Increasing and Purifying
One’s Imaan by an Abundance of Sincerity in All of One’s Speech and Ones’ Action
and One’s Actions of the Heart.
And this is by looking at the sincerity of the  Salaf in their
words and deeds, all of whom
understood the statements of Allaah’s Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam)
and which
were settled and firmly established in their hearts.
Mahmood bin Lubaid also reports that the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alaihi
wasallam) said: “The thing which I fear for you the most is the Minor Shirk.”
They said:
And what is the Minor Shirk O Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam)?
He said:
“Riyaa’, Allaah Azzawajall will say when He rewards people for their actions: Go
to those
to whom you used to show off in the world and see if you can find any reward
from them.”
(Saheeh Targheeb ut-Tarheeb of Al-Albaani.)
Rabeeh bin Abdur-Rahmaan reports from his grandfather Abu
Sa’Eed al-Khudree that he
said: We went out with the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) and
we were
talking about Maseeh ud-Dajjaal. The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alaihi
wasallam)
said: “Shall I not inform you about something which I fear more for you than
Maseeh ud-
Dajjaal?” We said: Of course O Messenger of Allaah. He said: “The Hidden Shirk,
a man
stands for prayer and beautifies his prayer to those who are watching him.” (Saheeh
Targheeb ut-Tarheeb.
Abu Hurairah also reports: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu
alaihi wasallam)
say: “Allah (glorified and exalted be He) said: Iam so self-sufficient that I am
in no need of
having an associate. Thus he who does an action forsomeone else’s sake as well
as Mine
will have that action renounced by Me to him whom he associated with Me.”
(Reported by
Muslim).
The Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) also said:
“Whoever learnt knowledge by
which the Face of Allaah Azzawajall should be sought, and did not learn it
except to gain a
portion of the world will not find the fragrance of Paradise on the Day of
Judgement.”
(Reported by Abu Daawood with a Saheeh isnaad.) Chapter: The Salaf And Ikhlaas (Sincerity) And Sidq
(Truthfulness)1
1. From Bakr bin Maazigh who said: “Ar-Rabee’ was never seen by his people in
the
Masjid performing supererogatory prayer except on only one occasion.” (Sifat us-
Safwah 3/61).
2. From Sufyaan who said: “Murriyat ur-Rabee’ bin Khuthaim
informed me, saying: All
of the action of ar-Rabee’ was in secret. Indeed a man would come towards him,
while he had a Mushaf (copy of the Qur’an) open, and he would then cover it up
with his Thawb (i.e. to hide what he was doing).” (Sifat us-Safwah 3/61).
3. From Mundhir who said: “From Rabee’ bin Khuthaim, who
said: “Everything by
which Allaah’s face is not sought will disappear.” (Sifat us-Safwah 3/61).
4. From Abu Hamzah ath-Thumaali who said: “Alee bin Hussain
used to carry bags of
bread over his back during the night and would give it in charity. And he would
say:
“Verily, hidden charity extinguishes the anger of the Lord, Mighty and
Majestic”.”
(Sifat us-Safwah 2/96, and this wording is raised, marfoo’, to the Prophet (sallallaahu
alaihi wasallam) and which al-Albaani authenticated on accounted of all of its
routes
of transmission. See as-Silsilah as-Saheehah no. 1907).
5. From Amr bin Thaabit who said: “When Alee bin Hussain
died, and when they
washed his body, they were looking at the black marks on his back. So they said:
What is this? And others amongst them replied: He used to carry bags by the
night
on his back and would give to the poor of the people of Madinah”. (Sifat us-Safwah
2/96).
6. From Ibn Aa’ishah who said, “I heard my father say: I
heard the people of Madinah
saying, “We did not lose hidden charity until Alee bin Hussain died”.” (Sifat
us-
Safwah 2/96).
7. From Jubair bin Nufair who said that he heard Abu ad-Dardaa,
while he was at the
end of his prayer, having finished the tashahhud, seeking refuge in Allaah from
Nifaaq (hypocrisy), and he exceeded in seeking refuge from it. So Jubair said:
And
what is it with you O Abu ad-Dardaa, and with nifaaq? So he said: Leave us
alone,
leave us alone. For by Allaah, a man turns away from his Deen in just a single
hour,
and so he becomes totally devoid of it (i.e. loses it altogether).” (Siyar
A’laam in-
Nubulaa 2/383 and ad-Dhahabee said “Its Isnaad is Saheeh”.).
8. Al-Fudayl bin ‘Iyaad said, “O Miskeen! You are an
evil-doer and you think yourself
to be one who does good. Your are an ignoramus and you think yourself to be a
scholar. You are a miser and you think yourself to be generous. O foolish one!
You
see that you are intelligent. Your time is short, but your hope is long.”. [Adh-
Dhahabi]: I say: Yes, by Allaah, he has spoken the truth. And you are an
oppressor
and you think yourself to be the one who is oppressed. And you eat what is
unlawful
and you think that you are cautious and fearful (in this regard). And you are a
sinner
and you think yourself to be just and upright. And you seek the knowledge (of
the
religion) for the world, and yet you think that you seek it for Allaah”. (Siyar
8/440).
9. ‘Awn bin ‘Umaarah said: I heard Hishaam ad-Dustuwaaee
saying: “By Allaah, I am
not able to say that I went for a single day to seek hadeeth by which I sought
the Face
of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic.” [Adh-Dhahabee]: I say: And by Allaah,
neither
am I. For the Salaf used to seek knowledge for the sake of Allaah, and they were
ennobled and then became Imaams of Guidance, whom the people guided
themselves by. And a people amongst them also sought knowledge first, but not
for
the sake of Allaah. Then they became upright, and called their souls to account,
and
then this led them to sincerity in traversing upon the path, as has been said by
Mujaahid and others, “We sought this knowledge while we had no great intention
concerning it (i.e. behind seeking it), then Allaah bestowed us with
(purposeful)
intention afterwards.”. And another one says, “We sought this knowledge for
other
than Allaah, but Allaah refused except that it should be for his sake”. And this
is
good as well. Then, after this, they spread this knowledge with a righteous
intention.
And there were also a people who sought knowledge with the corrupt intention,
for
the sake of the world, and so that praises may be showered upon them. Hence,
they
will have what they intended… [hadeeth whose authenticity is not clear omitted
here]… And so you will see this faction (of people) not being illuminated by the
light
of knowledge, and nor does it have any effect in their souls, and nor does their
knowledge have any great result in action, for the scholar is the one who has
fear and
awe of Allaah. And then there were another people who acquired knowledge so that
they could acquire positions (of authority) by it, and then they oppressed
(themselves) and left being bound and tied by this knowledge. Hence, they
committed the sinful and shameful deeds and the major sins. So destruction be to
them! They are not scholars! And then some of them did not fear Allaah with
respect
to their knowledge, but they devised stratagems, gave lenient verdicts, reported
the
shaadh (obscure, rejected) narrations, and some of them had the audacity in
front of
Allaah, to fabricate ahaadeeth, and so Allaah exposed him, and then his
knowledge
went, and his provision became the Hellfire. And all of these groups reported a
great
deal of knowledge, and in general they gained mastery over it. But then their
came
those after them whose deficiency in both knowledge and action was clear, and
then
another people followed them who ascribed themselves to knowledge outwardly, but
were not exact and precise in it, except for a small part of it, and then on
account of
this they were made to think that they are esteemed scholars, and never does it
occur
in their minds that they are seeking nearness to Allaah by it. This is because
they
never saw a scholar who the people guide themselves by in knowledge, and hence
they became a rowdy, offensive mob, the objective of a teacher amongst them was
to
acquire books which were expensive and then to hoard them (like treasure), and
then
perhaps look at them on some day, and then he would change what he would
narrated because of lack of verification and corroboration. So we ask Allaah for
deliverance and pardon, as some of them said, “I am not a scholar, and never
have I
seen a scholar”.” (Siyar 7/152-153).
10. From Abdullaah Ibn al-Mubaarak who said: “It was said to
Hamdoon bin Ahmad:
Why is it that the speech of the Salaf was more beneficial than ours?”. He said,
“Because they spoke for the honour of Islaam, and for the deliverance of their
own
souls, and for the pleasure of ar-Rahmaan, and we speak for the honour of our
souls,
for seeking the world, and for the pleasure of the creation”.”
Supplementary Notes
1. Ikhlaas, sincerity, is one of the pillars of Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah. No
action is accepted
without it.
2. All of the Messengers called to Ikhlaas in the religion and making the
religion purely
and sincerely for Allaah alone – and that is to direct all worship to Allaah
alone, singling
out Allah in all of that, and then intending nothing but the pleasure of Allaah
behind this
worship, seeking Him as the one who rewards, and seeking the pleasure of seeing
His
Face.
3. This is a great topic which involves other matters and cannot be covered
here, but in
short, sincerity is attained, inshaa’allaah, by the following matters, by way of
example
only:
a) Knowing the great rewards for the action one is embarking upon, knowing
that it is
Allaah who rewards (and who punishes), and studying the various ahaadeeth
which mention the virtues of the actions (that is the authentic ahaadeeth,
checked
and verified by the reputable scholars of hadeeth, and not the books of the
Innovators on “the virtues of the actions”, most of which contain fabricated and
weak narrations and much of shirk and bid’ah!), such as the virtues for certain
types of Dhikr, for the prayer, for fasting, for Zakaah, for seeking knowledge,
for
being patient, for charity, for good manners, and so on – and the authentic
Sunnah is full of this knowledge. And this helps one’s aspersion in seeking this
reward when embarking upon speech or action.
b) Increased awareness of the Day of Judgement and what it contains of being
called
to account, and the granting of rewards for the actions, and that the first of
those
who are judged are those who used to show off in the life of this world – but
thinking they were acting for the sake of Allaah – and then being dragged on
their
faces into the Hellfire, we seek refuge in Allaah from that and from being from
amongst them, and the various types of people (the people of the left, the
people of
the right, those foremost, etc.), the setting up of the scales and all the
various other
affairs that pertain to the judgement.
c) Following the way of the Salaf in calling one’s soul to account and
suspecting it and
checking it at every moment and every instance, and scrutinising one’s
intentions
when embarking upon speech and action. (Refer to
“I Want to Fight
My Soul So What Is the Way?”).
d) Developing the actions of the heart, such as love, fear, hope, reliance
and so on, so
that collectively, they direct the heart in the direction of Allaah, and
sincerity to
Him and so that whenever an action is performed, the likelihood of falling into
riyaa’ diminishes, by the permission of Allaah.
|
