Abu Zur’ah Al-Rāzī wrote to Ishaq b. Rahawaih: “Do not be alarmed by falsehood, as falsehood makes its rounds, then disappears.”

Introduction of al-Jarh wa al-Ta’deel

Maymoon bin Mihraan said:

“O' Ja'far, say to my face what I dislike, for a man has not advised his brother until he says to his face what he dislikes”

[Kitaab Al Sunnah - Abe Bakr Al Marwazee, statement 73]

Ibn Battaal said:

❝Verily, greeting people with a smile and a happy face is from the prophetic manners, it removes arrogance, and attracts love.❞

[From Explanation of Saheeh Bukhari, (5/193) | Translated By Abbas Abu Yahya Miraath Al-Anbiyya]

Younis bin Abdul-Ala said:
Al-Shafi'i used to speak to us as much as we understand from him, and if he spoke to us according to his understanding, we would not understand about him.

Al-Ahnaf ibn Qays رحمه الله said,

“Five are as I say, there is no rest for the envious, there is no manhood for the liar, there is no loyalty for kings, there is no escape for the miser, and there is no respect for bad character.”

[Shu’ab al-Imān 6123]

Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “Do not resent the calamities that come and the disasters that occur, for perhaps in something that you dislike will be your salvation, and perhaps in something that you prefer will be your doom.”

Wahb bin Munabbih (رحمه الله) said:

“The example of the dunya (worldly life) and hereafter is like the example of a man who has two wives. If he pleases one of them, the other one will be displeased.”

- Kitab Dham Ad-Dunya, 1/119.

Hātim al-Asam, [may Allāh bestow mercy upon him]:

“Always remember that Allāh is watching you. And always remember that Allāh can hear you.”

“Keep in mind at all times that Allāh is observing your actions, and remain mindful that your words are heard by Allāh.”

Siyar A’lām an-Nubalā’a, 11/475 | Al-Imām adh-Dhahabi [may Allāh have mercy on him]

Translation: Authentic Quotes

Imām Ash-Shāfi’ī (رحمه الله) said:

“Humility is from the characters of the noble while arrogance is from the attributes of the depraved. Humility brings about love, and contentment brings about comfort.”

[Siyar A’lām An-Nubalā’ (10/99) | Translated by Rpubs Editorial

Al-Awzaa’ee (d. 157) said:

I asked Az-Zuhree (50H-124H) and Makhool about the ayaat pertaining to the sifaat (Attributes of Allaah), so they said "Leave them as they are"

[Usoolul I’tiqaad, of al-Laalikaa’ee, 3/430]

Abdulrahman Ibn Abza رحمه الله said:

"A righteous woman with a man is like a great gold-leafed crown on the head of a king...

...and a bad woman with a man is like a heavy weight upon an old man.

Ibn Abī Al-Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf 17428

Abu Hāzim Salama ibn Dinār, [may Allāh have mercy on him], said:

“When you witness your Lord's persistent bestowal of blessings upon you, despite your disobedience, exercise caution [and reflect on your actions].”

Siyar A’lām an-Nubalā’a, 6/101 | Al-Imām adh-Dhahabi, [may Allāh have mercy on him]

Translation: Authentic Quotes

Ibn al-Jawzī mentions in his work, Sayyid al-Khātir pg, 129:

Beware my brothers of allowing yourself to engage in that which you can not assure your (religious) safety from. For indeed the Shaytān will beautify the permissible matter at first, and then haul in with it sin.

So detect the outcome and understand the situation. Perhaps the devil might show you a innocent objective but the path towards it is a type of disobedience.

A sufficient lesson in this case is what occurred with our father (when the Shaytān said to him):

{هَلْ أَدُلُّكَ عَلَى شَجَرَةِ الْخُلْدِ وَمُلْكٍ لا يَبْلَى}

Shall I lead you to the Tree of Eternity and to a kingdom that will never waste away?

Adam considered the objective, which was eternal life, but erred in the path towards it

Imam al-Ajurri رحمه الله said:

"Dont get sad over knowledge that was beyond your grasp. Be sad over knowledge that you have but do not act upon."

Akhlāq al-'Ulamā, p. 116

*O’ You Who Encounters a Delay in the Response to a Prayer, Consider this a Message from a Respected and Noble Scholar.*

Al-Imām, al-Hāfidh ibn Rajab al-Hambali, [may Allāh bestow mercy on him], said:

“When a Believer experiences a delay in relief, despite the abundance and earnestness of prayers, and the signs of a response do not manifest, they introspectively blame themselves, saying: ‘I come from you, and if goodness resided in me, I would have been answered.’

This self-blame is more beloved to Allāh than many acts of obedience, as it leads to humility before the Master and Protector (Allāh), acknowledging deserving trials and recognising the unworthiness of answered prayers. In this state, Allāh, Exalted be He, hastens to respond, alleviating the distress, for He is close to those with broken hearts.”

Jāmi’ al-‘Ulūm wal-Hikam, 1/494 | Al-Imām ibn Rajab al-Hambali, [may Allāh have mercy on him].

Translation: Authentic Quotes

I want to secure my children's future!

Abdul Rahman bin Qasim, may Allah have mercy on him, entered upon al-Mansur, may Allah have mercy on him, on the day he was pledged for the caliphate. Al-Mansour said to him:

Advise me, O Abdul Rahman.
He said: Should I advise you based on what I saw or what I heard?
He said: Rather, according to what you saw.

He said: O Commander of the Momineen! Umar bin Abdul Aziz gave birth to eleven children and left behind eighteen dinars. He was shrouded for five dinars, a grave was bought for him for four dinars, and the rest was distributed among his children (that is, nine dinars remained for eleven children!!)

Hisham bin Abdul Malik gave birth to eleven children, and each son’s share of the estate was one thousand dinars (one million dinars each)

By Allah... O Commander of the Momineen:
One day, I saw one of Umar bin Abdulaziz’s sons give one hundred horses in charity for Jihad for the sake of Allah and saw one of Hisham's sons begging in the markets

People asked Umar bin Abdulaziz on his deathbed:
What did you leave for your children, Umar?

He said: “I left them the fear of Allah.”
If they are righteous, then Allah the Almighty takes care of the righteous.

If they are otherwise, I will not leave them what helps them to disobey Allah the Almighty

Consider, many people work hard and exert great effort to secure the future of their children, thinking that having money in their hands after their death is a security for them.

They overlooked the great security that Allah the Almighty mentioned in his book:

وَلْيَخْشَ الَّذِينَ لَوْ تَرَكُوا مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّةً ضِعَافًا خَافُوا عَلَيْهِمْ فَلْيَتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلْيَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا

And let those (executors and guardians) have the same fear in their minds as they would have for their own, if they had left weak offspring behind. So let them fear Allâh and speak right words
Surat An-Nisa (9).

Source: Biography of Umar bin Abdul Aziz by Ibn al-Jawzi (33)

Ibrahim bin Adham رحمه الله said:

"Whoever wants to relax then let him remove the people from his heart, till he is relaxed."

[سير السلف الصالحين (477)]

It was narrated that a man came from Sham to Umar, may Allah be pleased with him.

He said: “What made you come?!”

He said: “I came to learn the tashahhud!”

Umar cried until his beard got wet!

Then he said: “By Allah, I hope that Allah will never punish you.”

بدائع الصنائع (1/2)

"An intelligent person doesn't build a palace whilst destroying an entire country". Ibn Taymiyyah
(Majmūʿ Al-Fatāwā, 17/420)

Hatem Al-Asam, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The value of wellbeing is not known except by the people afflicted with trials

تنبيه الغافلين, p. 39

The Two Wonderful Hammad's

Al-Imaam adh-Dhahabi in his Siyar mentioned their biography one after the other, they were both scholars of Basrah - in the south of Iraq. They both shared a number of teachers as well as students.

Two wonderful people from among the Seventh Level of narrators according to Al-Imaam adh-Dhahabi in his corpus.

The first Hammad was Hammad Ibn Salamah while the second one was Hammad bn Zayd.

The grandfather of the first was Deenar while the grandfather of the second was Dir'ham. Hence they were Hammad bn Salamah bn Deenar and Hammad bn Zayd bn Dir'ham respectively.

Scholars of old would joke about them that the superiority of Ibn Salamah to Ibn Zayd is like the superiority of Deenar (gold coin) over Dir'ham (silver coin).

Ibn Salamah was superior to Ibn Zayd in a perspective the same way Ibn Zayd was superior to Ibn Salamah in another perspective.

Ibn Salamah was stronger in matters of Aqeedah than Ibn Zayd while the former was stronger than the latter in retentiveness.

Al-Imaam Ahmad would say that Ibn Zayd was more beloved to him but whoever speaks ill of Ibn Salamah would have his Deen queried. He said Ibn Salamah was severer on the heretics, an act so cherished by Al-Imaam Ahmad.

Ibn Salamah and Ibn Zayd both had narrations from Thaabit al-Bunaanee and Ayyoob as-Sakhtiyaanee but Ibn Salamah was more reliable with his reports from Thaabit (from Anas bn Maalik) while Ibn Zayd was more reliable with his reports from Ayyoob (from Naafi Maula Ibn Umar, for example).

So much similarities between both that Al-Imaam adh-Dhahabi - rahimahullah - had to dedicate a section to look into that after mentioning both. So complex that when Abdurrahman bn Mahdee or Wakee bn Jarrah, for instance, say 'Haddathanaa Hammad...'then you need a qareenah to know which is which.

Reports of people such as Alee bn Madeenee, Ahmad bn Abdah, Khalaf bn Hisham etc from a Hammad posseses no problem because those people didn't meet Ibn Salamah.

(Al-Imaam Adh-Dhahabi made a similar comparison between the students who both shared Sufyaan ath-Thauree and Sufyaan Ibn Uyaynah as teachers, whenever any of them says 'Haddathanaa Sufyaan...'then be on the alert. May Allaah reward the scholars of hadeeth best, everything is well explained.)

While all the Six Collectors had the records of Ibn Zayd in their collections not so Ibn Salamah. Al-Bukhari just had one report in Kitaab Raqaaiq from Ibn Salamah while Muslim had some, Ibn Maajah was the other person.

Ibn Salamah was said to suffer from memory loss at old age.

Ibn Salamah was a devout worshipper of Allaah. Always reciting the Qur'aan, doing dhikr and mawaafil. It was in his habit that before he would narrate a hadeeth to anybody he would first recite about a hundred verses of the Qur'aan. He knew Qiraa'ah Aasim (teacher of Hafs bn Sulayman) and Abdullah ibn Katheer ad-Daaree so well.

Ibn Salamah was regarded as someone who used to check his intention well. Ibn Zayd said they used to consider Ibn Salamah as someone who had a good intention for learning.

Ibn Salamah once said: 'Whoever learns hadeeth for other than Allaah, he would suffer from disgrace.'

Ibn Salamah was granted with the karamah of having his supplications answered yet he got married to about seventy women at different times yet Allaah did not grant him an offspring.

As for Ibn Zayd, classify him with Al-Imaam Maalik in terms of knowledge.

He said: I sat with Ayyoob as-Sakhtiyaanee for twenty years (learning).

He was blind so he used to narate hadeeth from his memory (just Ibn Salamah), he was said never to have made a mistake.

Ibn Mubaarak - rahimahullah - composed about him:

'O seeker of knowledge/go and meet Hammad bn Zayd

You will gain forbearance and knowledge/then put that into action.'

Abdurrahman bn Mahdee, in his view, said: 'I have never seen anyone as knowledgeable as Hammad bn Zayd not even Sufyaan or Maalik'.

Hammad bn Salamah died 167AH, a report said at Sujood in the masjid. Hammad bn Zayd died 179AH.

May Allaah bestow His mercies on both.

Majorly adapted from As-Siyar 7: 103-117

Al-Imām Ibrāheem An-Nakha‘Ee, [May Allāh Bestow Mercy Upon Him], Said:
“A Clear Sign Of Hypocrisy Is When An Individual Resides Near The Mosque Yet Is Rarely Seen Within Its Premises.”
Fath Ul-Bāri, 5/458 | Al-Imām Ibn Rajab Al-Hambali, [May Allāh Bestow Mercy Upon Him]

Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamaan (ra) said:

“Do not perform any act of worship that was not practised by the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, for the earlier generation did not leave any room for the latter to add anything (to the religion). Fear Allah, O’ readers, seekers of knowledge, and follow the path of those who came before you.”

[Narrated by Ibn Battah in Al-Ibaanah]