The Salaf's love of Reading Books-Imam Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr (ra)

The Virtue of Reading Books

[Anecdotes from the lives of the Salaf]

Imam Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr (ra) from - Jami’ Bayan al-’Ilm wa Fadlih

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

2414: Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad bin Isma’il al-Bukhari was asked:
“What is it that strengthens one’s memory?”
He replied: “Constantly looking through books.”

2415: Ahmad bin Abi ‘Imran said:
“I was with Abu Ayyub Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Shuja’, and he was staying in his house. So, he sent one of his sons to Abu ‘Abdillah bin al-A’rabi to invite him over.
The boy returned, saying: “I asked him this, and he said to me: “I am with a group, and when I am done being taught by them, I will be over,” and I did not see a single person at his house. Rather, he had in front of him books that he was looking through. He would look in this book for some time, and then look in another book for some time.”
Shortly thereafter, he arrived. So, Abu Ayyub said to him: “O Abu ‘Abdillah! Glory be to Allah, the Mighty! You stayed behind and prevented us from your presence, and my son said that he did not see anyone with you, and that you said you were with a group, and that you would come as soon as you were done being taught by them!”
So, Ibn al-A’rabi said:

We have company who sit with us and do not bore us * Loyal ones who can be trusted while they are present or away;
They benefit us from their knowledge of what happened in the past * And intelligence, manners, and opinions that are correct;
With no fear of conflicts or bad companionship * And one does not fear from their tongue or hand;
So, if you say that they are dead: nay! You are a liar * And if you say they are alive, you are not far from the truth…

Translator’s note: He did not lie, as he was referring to his books as his companions, and this is from the ma’arid (metaphoric speech) that do not count as lies, as was narrated authentically from ‘Imran bin Husayn, ‘Umar bin al-Khattab, and Ibn ‘Abbas.
2416: It was said to Abi al-’Abbas Ahmad bin Yahya (Tha’lab):
“The people have greatly missed you. If only you could leave your house for just a bit and show yourself to the people so that they could benefit from you, and you could benefit from them.”
So, he stayed silent for an hour, and said:

If we accompanied the kings, they would act arrogantly with us * And would belittle the rights of those they were accompanying;
Or if we accompanied the merchants, we would become sorrowful * And would become mere counters of money;
So, we remained in our homes, extracting knowledge * And filling with it the stomachs of these pages…

2419: From what was memorized in the past:

What a great speaker and companion the book is! * You can seclude yourself with it if your friends bore you; It does not reveal your secrets, and is not arrogant * And you can gain from it wisdom and uprightness…

2420: Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Ahmad recited to me:

And the sweetest that a youth can desire after piety * Is knowledge that is beautified for him to seek it; And for every seeker, there is a pleasure that he desires * And the pleasure of the scholar is his books…

2421: And he asked me to add to the above, and I immediately followed up with this in his presence:

The book relieves the concerns of its reader * And when he reads, his exhaustion disappears; What a great companion it is if you seclude yourself with it * You do not fear it plotting against you, or causing commotion…

2424: Abu ‘Amr bin al-’Ala’ said:
“I never entered upon a man or passed by his door – seeing him with a book in his hand, and his companion doing nothing – except that I judged him to be the more intelligent one.”
2425: ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abd al-’Aziz bin ‘Umar bin ‘Abd al-’Aziz said:
“I never saw a better admonisher than the grave, or anything more satisfying than a book, or anything safer than lack of socialization.”
2426: al-Hasan al-Lu’lu’i said:
“Forty years of my life have passed in which I never awoke or went to sleep except that a book was resting on my chest.”

Translated by Abu Sabaayaa

(Taken from Ilmgate.org)

Allah's power can change us!

Imam Ibn ‘Ata’illah said in the 'Hikam': ‘Whoever finds it astonishing that God should save him from his passion or yank him out of his forgetfulness has deemed the divine Power of Allah (al-qudra al-ilahiyya) to be weak. “And God has power over everything [Qur'an 18:45]“‘ (as translated by Victor Danner, in the Aphorisms of Ibn ‘Ata’illah). 

Likewise, the appalling negativity that one perceives in the current Muslim landscape – and in particularly within our souls – should not make one forget the indomitable power of God to change the worst of states into the most noble, and make the Muslims a credit to this age. Wa ma dhalika ‘ala Allah bi’aziz – and that is not difficult for God! 

The reality of Sins

‎"Sins are seeds of disaster that will soon grow and bear bitter fruits. They are like time-bombs. We have to save ourselves by responding to the call of Allah with sincere and total repentance (Tawba) before we are made to reap the bitter fruits of our many faults here and in the Aakhirah (Hereafter)."

The POWER Of DHIKR (Remembrance of Allah)

Conquest with The POWER Of DHIKR (Remembrance of Allah ) in war -

In Sahih Muslim, Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet Muhammad inquired:
― "Have you heard of a city, of which part is in the sea? Yes, they said (understanding him to mean Constantinople). He said: ―The Last Hour shall not occur until 70,000 of the children of Isaac shall attack it. When they will come to it they will land down, but they will not fight with arms, nor shower it with arrows. They will only say: ‘There is no god but Allah, and Allah is the Greatest', and one of its sides will fall. They will recite it for the second time: ‘There is no god but Allah, and Allah is The Greatest', and another side of the city will fall. Afterwards they will recite for a third time: ‘There is no god but Allah, and Allah is the Greatest’, and then it will be opened to them, and they will enter it and acquire booty. While they will be dividing the spoils, a proclaimer will come to them and say: Verily Dajjal/Anti-Christ has come out. Then they will leave everything and return.”

            *               *                *               *           *             *

The famous commander of the Muslims, Habib Ibn Musallama, whenever encountered with the enemy or attacked a stronghold of the enemy, he recited (Lahawla Wala quwwata illabilla).
One day he stormed a Byzantinian Castle and when he and all the Muslims recited these words with loud voice, the walls of the castle fell down. [source-'al Wabil as sayyib' by Ibn AlQayyim R.A.]

Avoiding What is of No Concern -Shaikh 'Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilani

Avoiding What is of No Concern 

Shaikh 'Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilani 
Source: Purification of the Mind (Jila' Al-Khatir) 

* The Prophet SAWS is reported to have said: “One result of the excellence of the person’s practice of Islam is neglecting what does not concern him.” [Related by Imam Ahmad, Malik & Tirmidhi]

 Every person who practices Islam and applies it is interested in what is really relevant to him and turns away from what is irrelevant to him. Being busy with what is of no concern to you is the business of those who are idle and in illusion. The person who is deprived of the pleasure of His Master is he who did not act on what he was commanded but instead occupied himself with irrelevant things. This is deprivation itself, resentment itself, and banishment itself. Woe to you! Obey the commandments, refrain from the prohibitions, show acceptance at times of affliction, and then surrender yourself to the hand of destiny without asking “why” or “how.” Allah’s (mighty and glorified is He) care for you combined with His knowledge of you are better than your care for yourself combined with your ignorance of your Lord. Be satisfied with what He gives and occupy yourself with offering thanks for it. Do not ask Him for more, for you do not know where your best interest lies. 

* Give up the involvement in much babble and idle gossip and squandering money. Do not spend much time in the company of relatives, neighbors, friends, and acquaintances without good reason, for that is an illusion. Most of the telling of lies takes place between two, and disobedience does not happen but between two. None of you should go out of his home except to pursue essential personal and family interests. Make every effort not to be the first to speak and that your speech is only in answer to a question. When a person asks you about something, answer him only when there are benefits for both of you in doing so, otherwise do not answer him. When you see a Muslim brother do not ask him “where are you going to?” or “where are you coming from?” He may be unwilling to tell you about his personal affairs and thus he would lie, so it would be you who forced him to lie.

Feel a sense of shame from the Honorable Recording Angels (Al‑Kirām Al‑Kātibīn)[1] Do not dictate to them what you should not be saying. Dictate to them what would make you happy on the Day of Resurrection, words of glorification of Allah, recitation of the Qur’an, and words that relate to your and other creatures’ interests. Increase their ink with your tears and strengthen their pens with your belief in the oneness of God, then leave them sitting at the door and enter into the presence of your Lord (mighty and glorified is He).

Curtail hopes. Keep death in front of your eyes. When anyone of you comes across his brother, he should greet him and bid him farewell as if he is about to depart from this world. Similarly, when he leaves his home, he should greet his family with his heart, for the Messenger of Death may summon him and thus prevent him from returning to them. His final moment may be on the road. Therefore, the Prophet (Allah’s blessings and peace be on him) has said: “None of you should sleep the night unless his will is written and placed under his head.” If one of you has a debt and is capable of paying it back, he should repay it and not postpone the repayment, for he does not know whether or not he will have the opportunity to repay later. The person who is capable of repaying the debt but does not do is thus involved in wronging himself, because the Prophet (Allah’s blessings and peace be on him) has said: “The postponement [of repayment] by the affluent person is an act of wrongdoing.”

* O young man, do not occupy yourself with what is irrelevant to you so you miss what concerns you! Thinking of the states of another person and his faults is of no concern to you, whereas reflecting on your states is of concern to you. All of the speech of the person with a lower self, passion, and natural inclination will be against him rather than in his favor. He is like the person who collects firewood by night so he does not know what he is gathering. When the lower self has calmed down and the fire of passion and natural inclination has subsided so that it cannot reach the lower self, the faculty of reason will grow, faith will strengthen, tranquility will arrive, and the differentiation between the truth and falsehood will come, so the person will refrain from falsehood and speak the truth. The Law will then come to him and he will act according to it, so he will become a servant of the Law. He will obey the Messenger (Allah’s blessings and peace be on him) with regard to his commandments and prohibitions because he has heard the True One (mighty and glorified is He) say: “And what the Messenger gives you, take; and what he forbids you, abstain from” (from 59.7). He has come to know that this verse applies to all the commandments and prohibitions brought by the Messenger (Allah’s blessings and peace be on him). He will, thus, perform the works of obedience that he commanded and refrain from committing the sins he (Allah’s blessings and peace be on him) prohibited. At this stage, he will become a pious Muslim. If he continues like this, he will become a knower of Allah (mighty and glorified is He) and knowledgeable of Him. He will have tranquility, silence, and ability to listen to what is spoken to him in his heart. He will be continuously spoken to and he will be in permanent happiness. O Allah, grant us the pleasure of Your nearness, the delight of Your private conversation, and feeling happy with You, and “give us good in this world and good in the hereafter and protect us from the torment of the Fire.”

* Be sensible and do not talk about things that do not concern you. Occupy yourselves with what you have been commanded to do and do not waste your time on irrelevant things. Be pious to your Lord (mighty and glorified is He) and repent to Him. When someone shows piety to Him, He protects him; and when He protects someone, He elevates him to the door of His nearness. He elevates him to everlasting life. He elevates from the stars to the Seventh Heaven. You will soon see the Resurrection. You will see how Allah (mighty and glorified is He) will gather those who are pious to Him in the shade of His Throne and seat them at tables on which there is white honey, whereas the other people are immersed in heat and sweat. While sitting at those tables, they will see the creatures and their states; some people will be taken to the gardens of Paradise and others will be carried away to the Fire. They will be sitting there and their houses in Paradise are in front of them. Their wives and their youths of Paradise will be visible to them. They will see the things that have been assigned to them before they reach them.


* O you who are forgetful! Take little from what leaves you and take in abundance from what stays with you and does not leave you. Do many righteous works. Fast and be sincere in fasting. Perform prayer and be sincere in your prayer. Make the pilgrimage and be sincere in that. Pay the obligatory alms and be sincere in it. Remember your Lord (mighty and glorified is He) and be sincere in remembering Him. Serve the righteous, draw near to them, and be sincere in your service to them. Occupy yourself with your own faults and do not pay attention to the faults of others. Command the practice of what is right and prohibit what is wrong. Do not expose the private affairs of people and keep them secret. Disapprove any wrongdoing that is apparent but do not concern yourselves with what may be hidden. Focus on yourselves and do not pay attention to others. Do not speak a lot about things that are of no concern to you, for the Prophet (Allah’s blessings and peace be on him) has said: “One result of the excellence of the person’s practice of Islam is neglecting what does not concern him.” Your faults are your business but the faults of others are of no concern to you.


* O young man, talk about things that concern you and give up discussing matters that are irrelevant to you. When you know Allah (mighty and glorified is He), your fear of Him will increase and your speech in His presence will decrease. This is why the Prophet (Allah’s blessings and peace be on him) has said: “When someone comes to know Allah, his tongue becomes exhausted,” meaning that he becomes mute. The tongue of His lower self, passion, natural inclination, habit, telling of lies, slander, and falsehood will become dumb, whereas the tongue of his inward will speak, and the tongue of his heart, innermost being, essences, truthfulness and his purity will speak. The tongue of his falsehood will become dumb, but the tongue of his truth will speak. The tongue of his talking about things that are of no concern to him will become incapable of speech, whereas the tongue of his heart will speak about things that concern him. The tongue of his quest for his lower self will become dumb, whereas the tongue of his quest for the True One will speak. In the early stage of acquiring knowingness, speech will stop and the person’s whole existence will melt away. He will become extinct to himself and to everyone else. Then, if the True One (mighty and glorified is He) wills, He will resurrect him. If He wants him to speak, He will create for him a tongue with which He enables him to speak. He will cause him to speak what He wants of words of wisdom and secrets. His speech will be a remedy within a remedy, a light within a light, a truth within a truth, a rightness within a rightness, and a purity within purity, for he will speak only at the command of Allah (mighty and glorified is He), by means of his heart. If he speaks without being commanded to do so, he will perish. He will not speak unless he is given a command, or as a result of an irresistible thing that overcomes him. If this was the case, the True One (mighty and glorified is He) is far too generous to call someone to task because of an irresistible motive that has no lower self, passion, natural inclination, devil, and willfulness, as He does not call the dead to task for making some utterance, or a dreamer for his wet dreams and for what he sees and does in his sleep. The words of those whose lower selves have died were heard only after the death of their lower selves. As for someone who speaks before reaching this stage, his silence is better than his speech. No one should advance to the first row save the brave. The person who advances to the first row without having bravery and expertise will perish. 

The full book is available on quranicstudies.com site.

THE NIGHT PRECEDING ‘EID-UL-FITR & sunnahs of Eid day

THE NIGHT PRECEDING ‘EID-UL-FITR

by Shaykh Fayaz Tilly

Even though this night has been named Lailatul Jaiza, it is unfortunate that us Muslims do not take advantage of such an oppurtunity to gain reward and blessings. Rather, at times we get so engaged in renting cars, shopping for nice clothes, applying henna etc., that we become negligent of the commands of Allah (swt).

Prophetic traditions have stated that Allah (swt) rewards His fasting slaves on this very night, by accepting one's du‘as. Thus a person's every wish and prayer will be granted. Therefore one should perform nafl, recite Qur'an and perform zikr on this night.

The Holy Prophet (saw) is also reported to have said: "Whoever stands up (in worship) in the night preceding the two eids expecting reward form Allah, his heart will not die when other hearts will die," (Ibn Majah).

In order to benefit and gain blessings from this night one should strive to perform a great number of good deeds on this sacred occasion.

ON THE DAY OF ‘EID-UL-FITR

To perform the following on the day of ‘Eid are Sunnah:

1. To wake up early.
2. To use Miswak.
3. To take a shower.
4. To put on one's best clothes.
5. To use ‘Itr (Scent).
6. To eat something sweet, preferably dates before the ‘Eid prayer.
7. To recite Takbir-ut-Tashriq (Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, La Ilaha Illallahu, Wallahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar wa lillahilhamd) in a soft voice while going to the ‘Eid prayer.
8. To proceed to the ‘Eid prayer one way and to return home from another way.

DUA for LAYLATUL QADR (Shab-e-Qadr) and it's importance

SuNNAH DUA FOR LAYLATUL QADR

Aisha Siddiqah [RA] asked the Prophet [SAWS], “what if I knew which night Laylatul Qadr was, then what should I say in it?”

The holy Prophet [SAWS] said, “Say:

[Reported by Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah]

Transliteration:

Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun
tuhibbul ‘afwa fa’fu ‘annee

Translation:

"O Allah, You are Oft-Pardoning and You love to pardon, so pardon me."

About the LAYLATUL QADR:

In al-Sahihayn it is reported from the hadeeth of ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that when the last ten days of Ramadhan came, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would stay up at night, wake his family and gird his loins. (al-Bukhari, 1920; Muslim, 1174). Muslim added: he strove hard and girded his loins.

The Muslim should follow the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), for he is the best example, and he should strive hard in worshipping Allah. He should not waste the hours of these days and nights. For we do not know, perhaps this time will never come again, for the spoiler of pleasures, i.e., death, which must come to all men, may come and snatch him and his life will end; then he will feel regret at the time when regret will be of no avail.

Among the unique virtues of these special nights is that Laylat al-Qadr is among them. Allah described it as being better than a thousand months, as He said (interpretation of the meaning): “The night of al-Qadr is better than a thousand months” [al-Qadr 97:3].

Allah forgives the previous sins of the one who stays up and prays during this night out of faith and in hope of earning the reward from Him. It was reported in the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever fasts the month of Ramadhan out of faith and in the hope of earning reward, all his previous sins will be forgiven, and whoever stays up (in prayer) during Laylat al-Qadr out of faith and in the hope of earning reward, all his previous sins will be forgiven.” (Agreed upon). 

The phrase “out of faith and in the hope of earning reward” means, believing in Allah’s promise of reward for this, and seeking the reward, with no other aim or purpose, such as showing off etc.” (Fath al-Baari, 4/251).

We should seek it especially in the last 10 days of Ramadhan in it's odd-numbered nights, i.e., on the twenty-first, the twenty-third, the twenty-fifth, the twenty-seventh and the twenty-ninth. It was reported in al-Sahihayn that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Seek it in the last ten nights, on the odd-numbered nights.” (Narrated by al-Bukhari, 1912, see also, 1913. Also narrated by Muslim, 1167, see also 1165).