The Spirit and Wisdom of the Early Muslim

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ taught that the best individuals are those of his generation, followed by the next and subsequent generations. Eventually, there will be individuals who prioritize truthfulness and integrity over formal oaths.

Al Firdous LTD

• Abdulaziz Ibn Nasir Al-Jalil & Baha Addin Ibn Fatah Aqeel

Page:01The Spirit and Wisdom of the Early Muslims Abdulaziz Ibn Nasir Al-Jalil & Baha Addin Ibn Fatah Aqeel
Page:02Table of Contents Waiting for Title of Page... Introduction...... Salaf, Sincerity and Truth 6 .11 The Salaf and the Fear of Allah 21 The Salaf and the Hatred of Fame. .......26 The Salaf and the Fear of Conceit ...... 28 The Salaf and Asceticism .31 The Salaf and their Renunciation of Leadership........... 35 The Salaf and their Knowledge of Figh The Salaf and their Adherence to Truth The Salaf and Fatwa' The Salaf and the Qur'an The Salaf and their Worship 38 .40 43 45 ...48 The Salaf and Enjoining Good and Forbidding Evil .... 53 The Salaf and Jihad in Allah's Cause ........... 56 The Salaf and their Forbearance of Misfortunes............ 60 The Salaf and Fitan in Deen....... 19 61 3
Page :03The Salaf and Their Reaction to Fitan Among Muslims...... 63 The Salaf and their Reaction to the Rulers' Fitnah...... 65 The Salaf and the Fitnah of Women 67 The Salaf and Kindness to their Mothers 69 The Salaf and People's Due 70 The Salaf and their Dealing with Mistakes 72 The Salaf and their Respect of Scholars The Salaf and their Manners in Speech ...... 74 .....................76. 79 The Salaf and the way they Valued Time The Salaf and Moderation in Laughter and Joking....... 81 Conclusion .83 4
Page:04 The true meaning of the early Muslims The Early Generations, i.e 'As Salaf As Salih'; 'The Righteous Predecessors', Islamically speaking, means the first 3 generation of Muslims, as stipulated in the Hadeeth of Rasulullah SAAW: ، حَدَّنَا عَبْدَانُ، عَنْ بِهِي حَمْزَةَ، عَنِ الْأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ إِرَايمَ عَنْ عَيدَةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ـ رضى الله ع ه - عَنِ النَّبي صلى ، الله فيه وسل حقالَ " غَيْرُ النَّاسِ قَرْنِي ثُمَّ لَا فِي نَولُونَ هُمْ ثمَّ لِلَّفِي نَولُ مِنَ هُمْ شُتَيَ جِيءُ مِنْ بَعْدِ مِنْقَوْمٌ سَنقُشَ هَلَكَهُمْ في حَلَ هُمْ وَفِي حَلُ مُمْشَ وَ لَكَ هُمْ ". Narrated 'Abdullah: The Prophet () said, "The best people are those of my generation, and then those who will come after them (the next generation), and then those who will come after them (i.e. the next generation), and then after them, there will come people whose witness will precede their oaths, and whose oaths will precede their witness." 1 Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 6429, Book 81, Hadith 18 5
Page:05Salaf, Sincerity and Truth Bakr Ibn Ma'iz said: "Ar-Rabi' has only once been seen performing voluntary prayers in the local mosque."7 Sufyan said: "Murayyah ar-Rabi' Ibn Khuthaim said: "Ar- Rabi' has always kept his good deeds secret; if he had an unexpected guest while reciting the Qur'an he would rush to cover it with his coat.' 8 Mundhir transmitted that ar-Rabi' Ibn Khuthaim said: "Any deed which is not done for the Sake of Allah melts away."9 Abu Hamzah ath-Thuma'li said: 'Ali Ibn al-Husein used to cany a bag of bread on his back at night and give it as charity to the poor,' he used to say, "Secret charity extinguishes the anger of the Lord.""10 Amru' Ibn Thabit said: "When Ali Ibn al-Husein died, people who washed him saw black spots on his back and asked, 'What's this?' The reply came: "He used to carry bags of bread on his back during the night and distributed it among the poor and needy in Madinah."11 Ibn al-Jawzi, "Sifat as-Safwah", 3/61. * Ibid. Ibid. 10 Ibid: 2/96, and the Hadith, "The secret charity extinguishes the anger of the Lord is classified as Marfu', Sheikh Albani classified it as Sahih, see "As- Silsilah as-Sahihah", 1908. 11 Ibid, 2/96. 11
Page:06The Salaf and their Dealing with Mistakes Maymun Ibn Mahraan said: "I heard Ibn Abbas say: 'Whenever something bad reaches me from a brother I put him in one of three positions: If he is above me in knowledge, I respect his position; if he is my equal, I make myself superior to him and if he is below me in knowledge, I pay no attention to him. This is how I deal with people, so anyone who does not like it, Allah's land is vast."" 153 Humaid at-Tawil reported that Abu Qulabah said: "If anything bad that you hate reaches you from your Muslim brother, you should forgive him. If you find no excuse for him, you should say to yourself, 'Maybe my Muslim brother has an excuse that I do not know."" 154 Sufyaan Ibn Uyainah reported that Saeed Ibn al- Musayyib said: "This world is depraved and it leans towards any corrupt person. However, worse than this depraved world is someone who illegally takes what is not his, seeks to rule it by unlawful means or judges among its people unjustly."155 153 Ibn al-Jawzi, "Sifat as-Safwah": 1/754. 154 Ibid: 3/238. 155 Ibid: 2/81. 12 72
Page :07The Salaf and Moderation in Laughter and Joking and said: Anas reported that a man came to the Prophet "Messenger of Allah! give me a mount." The Prophet said: "We shall give you a she-camel's child to ride on." The man said: "What shall I do with a she- camel's child?" The Prophet replied: "Do any others than she-camels give birth to camels?" 175 Abdur Rahman Ibn Abu Laila, quoting Usaid Ibn Hudair, a man of the Ansar, said that while he was given to jesting and was talking to the people and making them laugh, the Prophet poked him under the ribs with a stick. Usaid said: "Let me take retaliation." The Prophet said: "Take retaliation." Usaid said: "You are wearing a shirt but I am not." The Prophet then raised his shirt and the man embraced him and began to kiss his side. Then he said: "This is what I wanted, Messenger of Allah!" 176 Mu'awiya Ibn Jayda al-Qushairi said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah saying: "Woe to him who tells things, speaking falsely, to make people laugh thereby. Woe to him! Woe to him!"177 175 This Hadith is reported by Abu Dawud in his Sunan: 4998, 5/270 and Tirmidhi: 1992,6/207. 176 This Hadith is reported by Abu Dawud in his Sunan: 5224. 177 This Hadith is reported by Abu Dawud in his Sunan: 4990. 81
Page:08About the Book The Early Generations, i.e 'As Salaf As Salih'; 'The Righteous Predecessors', Islamically speaking, means the first 3 generation of Muslims, as stipulated in the Hadeeth of Rasulullah SAAW: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدَانُ، عَنْ أَبِي حَمْزَةَ، عَنِ الْأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، عَنْ عَبيدَةَ، عَنْ عَبْد الله : رضى الله عنه ـ عَن النَّبيِّ صلى خَيْرُ النَّاسِ قَرْنِي، ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ، الله عليه وسلم قال ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ، ثُمَّ يَجِيءُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ قَوْمٌ تَسْبِقُ شَهَادَتْهُمْ أَيْمَانَهُمْ وَأَيْمَانُهُمْ شَهَادَتَهُمْ Narrated Abdullah: The Prophet () said, "The best people are those of my generation, and then those who will come after them (the next generation), and then those who will come after them (i.e. the next generation), and then after them, there will come people whose witness will precede their oaths, and whose oaths will precede their witness." الفردوس ISBN 978-1-874263-91-3 AL-FIRDOUS AL-FIRDOUS LTD. www.al-firdous.co.uk 9781874 263913