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April 15 - June 29, 2025
We must be mindful that the finest example of a zāhid is the Prophet . The Companions were unsettled when the Prophet told them that a person’s deeds cannot save him, that even the Prophet’s deeds could not save him! But then he reassured them of Allah’s mercy, and said, ‘Seek what is balanced and correct! Worship Allah in the morning and the evening and in a portion of the night. Be moderate! Be moderate and you will reach your destination.’ (Bukhārī 6463 and Muslim 2818).
‘The Messenger of Allah forbade ʿUthmān ibn Maẓʿūn from being celibate. Had he permitted it, we would have had ourselves castrated.’ (Bukhārī 5073 and Muslim 1402).
Three people came to the houses of the Prophet’s wives to ask about how the Prophet worshipped. When they were told, it was as if they thought it little and said, ‘We are nowhere near the status of the Prophet ! He has been forgiven his past and future wrong actions.’ Consequently, one of them said, ‘I will pray all night every night.’Another said, ‘I will fast all the time and not break the fast.’ The other said, ‘I will withdraw from women and never marry.’ Later, the Messenger of Allah came to them and said, ‘Are you the ones who said such-and-such?’ By Allah, from all of you, I am the one
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‘Be in the world as if you were a stranger or someone passing through.’ (Bukhārī 6416).
Rejection of disliked and lawful superfluous matters also becomes easy when you consider the ever-lasting bliss you stand to lose by indulging in them. And rejection of the world is easy when you know what comes after it.
The third, which is the highest level, is to willingly reject the world and to reject one’s rejection, thereby giving no worth to the object of his rejection.
The world is Shayṭān’s wine. Whoever is intoxicated by it will not recover from it until he is dead, filled with regret among the losers. The least harm it can do is to distract one from Allah’s love and His remembrance. When the heart is distracted from Allah’s remembrance, Shayṭān settles there and directs it wherever he wishes. One of his evil schemes is that he keeps a person content with few good actions, just to appease him and show him that he is doing good deeds.
The essence of zuhd is to remove the world from the heart while still holding it in your hand.
When a man asked Abdullāh ibn al-Mubārak, ‘What is humility?’ he answered, ‘To be proud in front of the rich.’
Ibn al-Mubārak said, ‘We sought knowledge for the sake of the world, but knowledge told us to abandon the world.’
Ibn ʿAbbās narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, ‘There are two blessings which many people are deceived in: health and free time.’ (Bukhārī 6412, Tirmidhī 2304 and Ibn Mājah 4170).
‘Son of Adam, beware of procrastination. You are involved in today and not tomorrow. If you reach tomorrow, then be wise tomorrow as you are today and if you have no tomorrow, then you will not regret what you missed today.’
‘The Messenger of Allah took hold of me and said, “Be in the world as though you are a stranger or a traveller, and count yourself from the inhabitants of the graves.”’
‘If you reach the morning, do not think about the evening, and if you reach the evening, do not think about the morning. Make the most of your health before your sickness and your life before your death, for you do not know, slave of Allah, what your reputation will be tomorrow.’
‘They perform whatever good actions they perform while they still fear that it will not save them from the punishment of their Lord .’
‘A believer has no comfort except in [the thought of ] meeting Allah . Whoever feels comfort in meeting Allah then it will be as though it is so.’
‘The superiority of the night prayer over the day prayer is like the superiority of secret charity over public charity.’ (Ṭabarānī in Kabīr 8998 and Abū Nuʿaym in Ḥilyah 4:166).3
Abū Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, ‘There is no one who dies who does not have regrets.’ They asked, ‘What does he regret, Messenger of Allah?’ He answered, ‘If he did good, he regrets that he cannot do more. If he did evil, he regrets that he cannot remove it.’ (Tirmidhī 2403).
‘At the end of time, men who prefer this world to the religion will appear. They will wear sheep’s clothing in front of people, and they will speak with soft tongues which are sweeter than honey, while their hearts are the hearts of wolves. Allah Almighty says about them, “Are you deluded, or just emboldened against Me? I swear that I will send on them a test which will leave the strong among you bewildered.”’ (Tirmidhī
‘Three things are among the Signs of the Final Hour. One of them is that knowledge is sought from the young.’ (Ṭabarānī in Kabīr 908).
Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī narrated that the Prophet said, ‘The metaphor of the believer and the metaphor of faith is that of a horse tethered to a rope which lunges and is restrained by the rope. So too the believer, when he forgets, he returns to faith. So feed the God-fearing your food and bestow your favours upon the believers.’ (Aḥmad 11526, Ibn Ḥibbān 616 and Abū Yaʿlā 1106).
Yaḥyā ibn al-Mukhtār narrated that Ḥasan said, ‘Judge people by their actions and ignore their words. Allah will not leave any statement without a proof of action which confirms or denies it. When you hear good words, then wait and observe the speaker. If his words and actions agree, this is excellent and a blessing in itself, so take him as a brother, love him and have affection for him. But if his words and actions differ, something is unclear to you or hidden from you about him, so be wary of him. Do not let him deceive you as the son of Adam was deceived. You have both words and actions,
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Hishām narrated that Ḥasan said, ‘When a man seeks knowledge, it will very swiftly become apparent in his humility, his sight, his tongue, his hands, his prayer, his speech and his self-discipline. When a man obtains one of the areas of knowledge and he practices it, it will be better for him than the whole of this world and all it contains, if he were to have it and put it in the Next World. (Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr 315).
Ḥasan said, Ṣaʿṣaʿah (i.e. the uncle of Farazdaq, or his grandfather) came to the Prophet , (or he said, ‘I went to the Prophet ’) and heard him recite this verse: Whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it. Whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it (99:7–8). He said, ‘It is enough for me! It is enough for me! I do not care if I do not listen to anything else.’ (Aḥmad 20593, Nasāʾī in as-Sunan al-Kubrā 11630, Ṭabarānī in Kabīr 7411 and Ḥākim 6571).
Zayd ibn Aslam narrated that a man asked: ‘Messenger of Allah, will every person see the atom’s weight of good he does and will every person see the atom’s weight of evil he does?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ The man then left, saying, ‘Oh how unfortunate!’ The Prophet...
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Ḥumayd ibn Bilāl narrated that ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr would say, ‘Leave that which has nothing to do with you, do not speak about what does not concern you and guard your tongue as your guard your silver.’ (Abū Nuʿaym in Ḥilyah 1:288 and Ibn Abī Shaybah 34713).5
Hammām narrated than Qatādah said, ‘It used to be said that a hypocrite does not spend the night [in worship].2
Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah said, ‘The Messenger of Allah stood until his feet were swollen. The people said, “Messenger of Allah, Allah has forgiven you your future and past wrong actions!” So he replied, “Should I not then be a grateful slave?”’ (Bukhārī 4836).
Muṭrif narrated that his father said, ‘I came to the Prophet while he was praying, and a wheezing sound like a boiling pot emanated from his chest.’ Meaning he was weeping. (Nasāʾī 1214 and Bayhaqī in as-Sunan al-Kubrā 3357).
‘The world is a prison for the believer and a garden for the unbeliever.’ (Muslim 2956).
Sālim ibn Abī ’l-Jaʿd narrated that ʿĪsā ibn Maryam said, ‘Blessed is the one who guards his tongue, whose house is enough for him and who weeps over his mistakes.’ (Dīnawarī in Mujālasah 1224).1
Ḥasan said, ‘Allah is not worshipped with anything better than long-lasting sorrow.’3
Sufyān said, ‘Sorrow is commensurate with insight.’4
ʿArfajah narrated that Abū Bakr aṣ-Ṣiddīq said, ‘Anyone who is able to weep should weep. If you cannot, then you should pretend to weep.’ (Bayhaqī in Shuʿab 785).
‘Sit with those who repent. They have the softest hearts.’ (Ibn Abī Shaybah 34465 and Abū Nuʿaym in Ḥilyah 1:51).
Mālik ibn Anas said, ‘I heard that ʿĪsā ibn Maryam said to his people, “Do not speak much without mentioning Allah Almighty, or you will harden your hearts. A hard heart is far from Allah, but you are ignorant of this. Do not look at the sins of people as if you were lords, but rather as if you were slaves. People are of two kinds: those who are being tested and those who are enjoying ease. Show mercy to the people of affliction and praise Allah for ease.” (Mālik 3615).
‘I have accompanied men such as the one who would avoid speaking about some wisdom which he learnt that would benefit him and his companions, only because he feared fame, and another who would see something harmful on the road and refrain from moving it, only because he feared fame.’ (Abū Nuʿaym in Ḥilyah 2:271)7
There is a man who has memorised the Qur’an, yet his neighbour is not aware of him. There is a man with immense understanding of the Religion, yet people are not aware of him. There is a man who prays long prayers in his house, and people visit him but are not aware of it. We have met such people who never did any action in public if they could do it in secret. The Muslims used to strive in supplication, yet no sound was heard from them except a whisper between them their Lord . That is because Allah Almighty says, ‘Call on your Lord humbly and secretly’ (7:55). Allah Almighty mentioned a
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‘Seek refuge in Allah from hypocritical humility.’Abū Yaḥyā was asked, ‘What is that?’ and he answered, ‘When the body seems humble, but the heart is not.’ (Ibn Abī Shaybah 35711).
‘The Prophet’s laugh was only a smile, and he always turned towards others with his whole body.’ (Ibn Abī Shaybah 26675).3
‘When one of you fasts a day, he should oil his head and beard and wipe his lips, so that people will not see that he is fasting. When he gives with his right hand, he should conceal it from his left hand. When he prays, he should draw the curtain over his door. Allah Almighty shares out praise as He shares out provisions.’ (Bayhaqī in Shuʿab 6498).5
‘One does not draw near to Allah Almighty with anything better than prostration in private.’ (Quḍāʿī in Musnad ash-Shihāb 1294).
‘I saw Abū Umāmah go to a man in the masjid who was prostrating and weeping in his prostration and supplicating to his Lord. Abū Umāmah said, “You! This should be done in your home!”’ (Baghawī 4:130).
‘Allah said, “By My Might, I will not combine two fears for My slave nor will I combine two securities for him. When I make him secure in this world, I make him fearful on the Day of Rising. When he fears Me in this world, I give him security on the Day of Rising.”’ (Ibn Ḥibbān 640, Abū Nuʿaym in Ḥilyah 6:98 and Bayhaqī in Shuʿab 2:223).
A person’s sins will be presented before him on the Day of Rising. He will pass by one of his sins and say, “I was afraid you would show up.” Then he will be forgiven.’ (Dīnawarī in Mujālasah 2464).
‘A person commits a sin which causes him such distress that he enters the Garden by it.’ (Abū Nuʿaym in Ḥilyah 2:158).
‘Allah Almighty says, “My slave devotes himself to Me with nothing I love more than wishing good for others.”’ (Aḥmad 22191).
‘The first of those called to the Garden will be those who praise Allah in every state,’ or he said, ‘both in good times and in bad.’ (Ṣaghīr 288, Awsaṭ 3033 and Kabīr 12345).5
‘I love for Allah to be obeyed, and that I am His own slave.’ (Abū Nuʿaym in Ḥilyah 4:380).
Budayl said, ‘Whoever recognises his lord loves Him. Whoever recognises this world renounces it. The believer does not amuse himself to the point of heedlessness. If he reflects, he becomes sad.’ (Abū Nuʿaym in Ḥilyah 3:108 and Ibn Abī Shaybah 35673).
