Some Narrations about the Reality of Zuhd & Dispraise of the Dunyaa
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Collected & Translated by Abbas Abu Yahya
1- From Maymoon who said:
‘I entered upon Ibn Umar –Radi Allaahu anhu– and I added up everything that was in his house from a bed or a blanket or a rug and I found that it was only equivalent to one hundred Dirham! !’
[Zuhd – by Abu Dawood / 294]
2- From Abu Hamza who said:
‘I said to Ibraheem, verily Farqad as-Subkhee does not eat meat, and he does not eat such and such food.’ Ibraheem said: ‘The Companions of Muhammad -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- were better than him and they used to eat meat and clarified butter, and such and such food.’
[al-Mussanaf – 7/236]
3 – From Sha’abee who said:
‘No one leaves a thing in the Dunyaa for the sake of Allaah except that Allaah gives him that which is good for him in the Hereafter.’
[al-Hileeyah – 4/312]
4- From Jafar who said: ‘I heard Malik bin Dinaar saying:
‘Concern for the Hereafter leaves your heart due to the amount you grieve over the Dunyaa and concern for the Dunyaa leaves your heart due to the amount that you grieve over the Hereafter.’
[Zuhd – by Ahmad /387]
5 – From al-Hasan al-Basari who said:
‘Indeed the believer in this Dunyaa is like a stranger, he does not surrender to the humiliation of the Dunyaa, nor does he compete with the people of the Dunyaa for the honour of this Dunyaa.
The people according to him are relaxing, while his soul according to himself is busy (with the Hereafter). As a result Toobah (a tree in Paradise) is for the slave of Allaah who earns goodness and submits a virtuous action for a day when he will be poor and in need. (i.e. the Day of Judgment.)
[Zuhd by Ahmad 333/Muhasib an-Nafs by Ibn Abi Dunyaa 78]
6 – From Yahya bin Mu’adh who said:
‘We will not achieve everything that we wish from the Dunyaa however, we just submit our good actions for the Hereafter, as for the Day of Judgment, we do not know what our condition will be.’
[al-Hileeyah – 10/56]
7 – From Bilal bin Sa’ad who said:
‘O people of piety, you have not been created in order to become extinct, however you will transfer from one land to another land, just as you transferred from the loins to wombs, and from wombs to this Dunyaa, and from the Dunyaa to graves and from the graves to the area of standing (Day of Judgment) and from that area to eternity in Paradise or Fire.’
[Seera ‘Aalaam 5/91]
8 – From Malik bin Dinaar who said:
‘The worldly people leave this Dunyaa without having tasted the best thing in the Dunyaa.’ It was asked and what is that thing?
He answered: ‘Knowing Allaah.’
[Seera ‘Aalaam 5/236]
9 – From Malik bin Dinaar, that a thief entered upon Malik bin Dinaar but did not find anything to steal, whereby Malik called out to him:
‘You won’t find any worldly thing to take, however, do you desire something for the Hereafter?’
The Thief answered: ‘Yes.’
Malik said: ‘Make Wudu and pray two Rakah.’
So he did likewise, then Malik sat for a while and went out to the Masjid and the thief went with him.
Malik was asked: ‘Who is this?’
He said: ‘He came to steal from us but we ended up stealing him.’
[Seera ‘Aalaam 4/190]
10 – From Hatim al-Assam who said:
‘Sadness has two aspects: Sadness that is in your favour and Sadness that is against you, as for the sadness which is against you, then it is for everything which passed you by of the Dunyaa and you were saddened as a result of that, therefore this is against you. As for everything that passed you by of the Hereafter and you were Saddened as a result of that, then that is in your favour.
The explanation of this is; if you had two Dirham and you lost both of them, and you were saddened as a result of that, then this is a sadness for the sake of the Dunyaa, and if an error, shortcoming or jealousy is committed or something causing sadness and regret (due to that error etc.) then that is in your favour.’
[al-Hileeyah – 8/77]
11 – From Rabee’a who said: Shafi’ee said to me:
‘Adhere to Zuhd, since Zuhd for a Zahid is better than jewelry on a mature woman!’
[Seera ‘Aalaam 10/36]
12 – From Wahab bin Munabbih who said: Malik ibn Dinaar said:
‘A man asked a person who was higher in status in terms of knowledge than himself: ‘How big shall I build my home? The person answered: ‘That which is sufficient to shelter you from the sun and protect you from a lot of rainfall.
The man asked: ‘How much food should I eat?’
He answered: ‘Enough not to remain hungry and less than being satisfied.’
The man asked: ‘How much shall I laugh?’
He answered: ‘Enough to bring colour to your face but not enough to hear your voice.’
The man asked: ‘How much shall I cry?’
He answered: ‘Enough that you do not get bored from crying from the fear of Allaah.’
The man asked: ‘How many of my good actions should I hide?’
He answered: ‘So much so that the people think that you do not do any good actions.’
The man asked: ‘How many of my good actions shall I make known?’
He answered: ‘Just enough to encourage a miser to do good actions (based on your example).’
[al-Hileeyah – 4/45]
13 – From al-Fudayl who said:
‘General Zuhd amongst people means that a person does not love people’s praise of him, nor does he not concern himself with their criticism.’
He continued:
‘If you are capable of not being known then do so, and do not look to the people if the people do not praise you. And it is not upon you that you are criticized if you are praised by Allaah.’
He continues:
‘Whoever loves to be mentioned then he is not mentioned, and whoever dislikes to be mentioned then he is mentioned.’
[al-Hileeyah – 8/88]
14 – From Ayoob Sakhteeyani who said:
‘A man should fear Allaah – Subhana wa Ta’ala- if he has Zuhd then he should not make his Zuhd as a punishment upon the people, indeed it is better for a man to hide his Zuhd than to announce it.’
[al-Hileeyah – 2/6]
15 – From al-Hasan al-Basari who used to say, when a person who was attached to the Dunyaa was mentioned:
‘ I swear by Allaah, he did not remain for the Dunyaa, nor did the Dunyaa remain for him, nor did he secure himself from its trials nor from its evil nor from its account, rather he left the Dunyaa in rags (a shroud).’
[al-Hileeyah – 2/144]
16 – From al-Hasan who said:
‘O you youth, adhere to seeking the Hereafter, we have often seen a person seek the Hereafter and he achieves the Hereafter along with the Dunyaa, however we have not seen anyone who seeks the Dunyaa and by that he also gains the Hereafter along with the Dunyaa.’
[Zhud al-Kabeer /12]
17 – From al-Hasan who said:
‘Indeed I met many people who were not overjoyed with what they received from the Dunyaa, nor would they grieve over what passed them by of the Dunyaa.’
[al-Hileeyah 6/270]
18 – From Abdullaah bin al-‘Aayzaar who said: Umar bin AbdulAziz gave us a Khutbah in Shaam standing on a Mimbar made of mud, and he praised and glorified Allaah and then he said:
‘O you believers rectify your secret actions and your manifest actions will be rectified, work for the Hereafter in order to protect the affair of your religion.’
[al-Hileeyah 5/298]
19 – From Abdullaah bin Wahhab who said: I heard Sufyaan at-Thawri say in Makkah:
‘Pleasing the people is a goal which cannot be achieved, and seeking the Dunyaa is a goal which cannot be achieved.’
[al-Hileeyah 6/386]
20 – From Sufyaan bin Uayainah who said:
‘Seeking from the Dunyaa what is necessary for yourself is not considered loving the Dunyaa.’
[al-Hileeyah 7/273]
21 – From Sufyan at-Thawri who said:
‘Zuhd of the Dunyaa is Zuhd of the people, and the foremost of that is Zuhd of yourself.’
[Seera ‘Aalaam 7/268]
22 – From Abdullaah bin ‘Awn who said:
‘Indeed those who were before us would give to the Dunyaa that which was left over after from their Hereafter, and you give to the Hereafter that which is left over from your Dunyaa.’
