Fourth step To Taqwa:Adopting the company of Pious & Reading/listening to their exhortations

On The Road To Taqwa: Step Four

STEP FOUR

Listening to the quotations of the pious

O servant of Allah! The best thing to do after all of these steps is to frequent the company of pious and to adopt their manners. This will lead you to taqwa. 

(O you who believe! Fear Allah and be with those who are truthful.- Quran, 9:119)

We have chosen a few of their beneficial quotations.

Abu Bakr Siddiq says: 'Whoever enters his grave without any provisions is like the one who mounts the sea without a ship.'

Uthman says: 'Concern for the world is a darkness for the heart and concern for the Hereafter is light for it.'

Ali says: 'Whoever seeks knowledge, Paradise seeks him and whoever seeks sin, Hell seeks him.'

Shaqeeq Balkhi (rh) says: 'Hold firm to five issues: worship Allah as much as you need to worship Him; take from the world according to your stay in it; sin according to your stamina to absorb its punishment; take provisions from the world according to your stay in the grave and work for Paradise as much as your desire to stay there.'

Hasan Basri (rh) says: 'The heart becomes corrupt through six means: committing a sin in the hope of repenting; seeking knowledge and not applying it; practice without sincerity; eating the sustenance of Allah without appreciating Him; not being pleased with Allah's allocation (destiny) and burying the dead but not learning from them.

lbn Qayyim (rh) says: 'The sign of taqwa is to engage in worship and the sign of worship is to refrain from doubtful issues. The sign of hope is to obey and the sign of forbearance to shorten false hopes.

These are four steps towards taqwa. You should look into yourself and see how far away you are from these four steps. Only Allah can reconcile our intentions with action.'

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 Extract from 'The Provision of the Believers'. Originally published in Arabic as: Zadul Mumineen Al-Taqwa, published by Maktabul Sahaba, Egypt.

Compilation of statements on "taqwa" (fear of God), taken from classical Muslim scholars such as al-Ghazali, Ibn al-Qayyim, and Ibn Rajab.

Translated by Maulana Mohammed Amin Kholwadia, compiled by Abu Maryam Majdi Fathi Al-Sayed.

Source http://balagha.net/taqwa-provision-of-believers/road-to-taqwa-step-four