Stories of the Salaf preserving their tongues pt. 3/3

11)  ‘Umar bin ‘Abdul-’Aziz once said: “whoever knows and realize that his words, which he utters, are part of his deeds, he, surely will speak only with what concerns him”.

12)  al-Hasan bin Salih said: “We searched into where Wara’ (refers to the status where a person avoid doing what is Halal fearing that it has a suspicion of Harâm) can be found, and we realized that Wara’ is rarely can be found and if it is found it will be the least of it in tongues”.

13) ‘Abdullah al-Khaiyâr used to say when he sits with people: “O Allâh save us and protect us and save the believers from the evilness of our tongues”.

14) Some of the Salaf used to say: “every hour which son of Adam lived will be viewed and screened to him. And every hour he lived and did not mention or remembered Allâh in that hour, he will weep on himself for wasting such an hour”.

15) Al-Hasan bin Bashshâr once said: “I observed my tongue for thirty years so that I never uttered a word that require me to apologize for”.

16) Basher bin Mansur once said: “we were once sitting with Ayyub al-Sakhtiyânî and we talked and backbitten others. Consequently, stop it for if I wished to tell you all what I have talked about today I would have done already, but I will not”.

17) Ash-Sha’bî used to draw a circle and ask his servant to put her finger in the middle of it, if someone asked for him and he disliked going out, then he would tell his servant say: ” he is not in here” ( referring to where she put her finger).

Note: This is used only when it is in need and necessarily otherwise it is not allowed because this is a form of a lie although the words are not. However, it is disliked to do so in general. Ash-Sha’bî did it out of necessity so that he did not lie.

18) A man once told al-Fudayl bin ‘Iyad: “A man backbitten me”. Al-Fudayl replied: “He benefited you rather than harmed you” (referring to the fact that he will take from the good deeds of the one who backbitten him in judgment day as a result of this).

19) ‘Abdur-Rahman bin Mahdî once said: “I dislike people to disobey Allâh otherwise I would have wished every one in this world to backbite me. There is no equal joy to finding in your scale in the judgment day a deed you did not know about or even did”.

20) A man once said to Bakr bin Muhammad: “I was told that you are talking about me behind my back”. Bakr replied: “If I did then you are more precious to me than myself”.

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Stories of the Salaf preserving their tongues pt. 2/3

4)  Jubair bin ‘Abdullah said: I saw a man approaching Wahhab bin Manbah saying to him: “There is someone who backbites you” so Wahhab replied: “Did not the Shaytaan find anyone else but you to muck with and make him look like a fool?” Then it was just moments after that and the man came so he welcomed him and treated him kindly.

5) Hatim bin al-’Asim said: “If a respectable good man sits with you, you would be watching every word you utter so that you do not say something wrong. Yet, you know that your words are watched by Allâh but you still do not watch the words you utter!

6) Abû Haiyân at-Tamimi narrated from his father saying: “I saw the daughter of ar-Rabî’ bin Khaytham asking his permission to go and play so he replied to her: “go and utter nothing but goodness.”

7)  A man backbitten someone while he was in the presence of Ma’rûf al-Karkhî so Ma’rûf said, warning the man about the danger of backbiting: “keep in mind, always, the time when they put pieces of cotton in your eyes, referring to his death”

8. A man told Amr bin al-’Ubaid: al-Aswârî still backbites you and mentions you with no good, so Amr replied: “You did not fulfill the trust of the man when he let you sit with him since you told us what he said furthermore, you did not fulfill my rights upon you when you told me what I dislike to hear about one of my brothers. However, advise him that death will happen to all of us, the grave will hold us inside and the judgment day will gather us and then Allâh will be the judge between us and he is, truly, the most just wise judge.

9) Al-Mu’âfî bin Maran once was asked: “what do you say of a man who writes poetry?” He replied: “it is his life so let him waste it if he wishes the way he likes!”

10) Ibn ‘Abbas (RA) said: There is no word that son of Adam utters without being written, even the pain humming he makes because of his sickness. So when Imam Ahmad was sick he was told that Tâwûs disliked pain humming of sickness so Imam Ahmad stopped doing so, although the pain was great.

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Stories of the Salaf preserving their tongues pt. 1/3

Stories of the Salaf Preserving Their Tongues

Shaykh ul-Islâm Ibn Taymiyyah said in his writings explaining the situations of many people: “It is much surprising to find a person who easily preserves himself from committing sins i.e. earning money from Harâm sources, being unjust, stealing, drinking alcohol or looking at what is unlawful for him to look at, while he still finds it difficult to preserve his tongue. It happens to see someone who is known with his righteousness, all time worshipping and piety but he utters words that cause Allah’s wrath, while he is not aware of such consequences. You may see a person who preserves himself from approaching what leads to injustice or any filthy action yet his tongue is not stopping from backbiting live and dead people alike without even caring about

1)  It was stated that if someone asked to see Ibrahim An-Nakha’î, while he was at home, but he disliked to go outside to meet him, he would tell his servant: “tell him to ask for me in the Masjid and do not say: I am not here, so that it does not count as a lie”.

2)  It was narrated that a wise man used to say if he ever finds a person who talks much and rarely is silent: “Allâh created for you two ears and one tongue so that what you hear is double to what you talk”.

3) Ar-Rabî’ bin Subaih narrated that a man said to al-Hasan: O Abû Sa’îd I see something I dislike, Abû Sa’îd replied: what is that? He said:” I see people attending your place looking for any mistake you make so they can spread it amongst people to ruin your reputation. Al-Hasan replied: O’ My nephew: Do not let this matter be heavy on your chest and bother you. I will tell you what is greater and surprising than that. The man replied: what is that, uncle? He said: “I obeyed myself in every aspect that gets me closer to Allâh, hoping to enter Jannah, be saved from hell-fire and to be with the prophets. However, I never obeyed myself when it comes to listen to what people has say i.e. backbiting, slandering or whatever is evil. You need to know that if anyone has to be preserved from people’s tongues evilness then it has to be the creator who created them. Thus, knowing that, the created is normally to be never protected from their evil tongues.

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