35 Statements From the Salaf Regarding Sincerity
In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
By At-Tibyan Publications
1 -
Bishr al-Haafi said:
"That I seek the world with a wind instrument is more beloved to me
than that I seek it with my Deen." 2 - Ibraaheem an-Nakha'i said: "When Shaytaan comes to
you while you are in prayer and says: 'You are showing off,' make it
longer."
3 - One of the Salaf said: "Direct me to an action
by which I will never cease to be performing for Allaah the Exalted." It
was said to him: "Always intend good, because you will never cease to
be performing even if you do not perform any actions. The intention is made
even in the absence of any actions. Whoever intended to pray at night and then
slept, the reward for what he intended will be written for him."
4 - One of them said: "I love that I have an intention for every
single thing; even my eat, drink and sleep."
5 - It was said to Sahl: "What is the hardest thing for the soul
(to achieve)?" He said: "Sincerity, when there is no other
desire in it."
6 - Ya'qoob al-Makfoof said: "The sincere person is the one who
hides his good deeds just like he hides his evil deeds."
7 - One of them wrote to his brother: "Make your intention
sincere in all of your actions, and little action will suffice you."
8 - Ayyoob as-Sakhtiyaani said: "Purifying the intention
is harder than all other actions for those who act."
9 - Yahyaa bin Mu'aadh said: "Sincerity separates good
actions from faults like the separation of milk from dung and blood."
10 - as-Soosi said: "What Allaah desires from the actions
of His creation is sincerity and nothing else."
11 - al-Junayd said: "To Allaah belong servants who
understand, and when they understand they act, and when they act they make
their actions sincere. Their recalling of sincerity at the time of doing
righteousness is what accumulates the greatest good for them."
12 - Hawshab used to cry and say: "My name has reached
the large Mosque (meaning, the people will know who I am)!"
13 - as-Soosi said: "Sincerity is to lose the vision of
sincerity in oneself."
14 - One of them said: "Whoever sees sincerity in his
sincerity, his sincerity is itself in need of sincerity. The destruction of
every sincere person lies in his sincerity to the extent that he sees sincerity
in himself. When he abandons seeing sincerity in himself he will be sincere and
purified."
15 - Abu 'Uthmaan said: "Sincerity is to forget about the
creation by constantly looking at the Creator (in terms of gaining admiration
for your deeds)."
16 - Ibraaheem bin Adham said: "The one who loves fame is
not truthful to Allaah."
17 - Sufyaan ath-Thawri said: "They (the Salaf) used to hate
fame and reputation due to wearing nice garments because eyes would stretch
towards them."
18 - Na'eem bin Hammaad said: "'Abdullaah ibn al-Mubaarak
frequently used to sit in his house for long periods of time, so it was said to
him: 'Don't you feel lonely and isolated?' He said: 'How can I feel isolated
while I am with the Prophet (saw)?'."
19 - Ja'far bin Hayyaan said: "The foundations of these actions
are the intentions. Indeed a man reaches with his intentions a position he does
not reach with his actions."
20 - One of the people of wisdom used to say: "When a man
is speaking in a gathering and his speech amazes him, let be silent. When he
keeps silent and his silence amazes, him let him speak."
21 - Mutraf bin 'Abdullaah ash-Shakheer said: "That I
spend the night sleeping and wake up remorseful is more loved to me than that I
spend the night standing in prayer and wake up in admiration."
22 - an-Nu'maan bin Qays said: "I never saw 'Abeedah
performing any voluntary prayers in the mosque of al-Hayy."
23 - 'Ali said: "The one who shows off has three
charactersistics: he is lazy when by himself, he is lively and energetic when
with others and he increases in his actions when he is praised and decreases in
them when he is criticised."
24 - al-Hasan said: "The one who shows off desires to overcome
what Allaah has decreed for him. He is an evil person who desires to inform the
people that he is righteous in order to hear what they would say. He has
obtained a position of vileness and wickedness from his Lord. It is therefore
essential for the hearts of the believers to recognise him."
25 - Sahl bin 'Abdullaah said: "There is nothing which is
tougher upon the soul than acheiving sincerity. How many times have I tried to
remove the inclination to show off from my heart except that it sprouted in a
different colour?"
26 - Ibn Mas'ood said: "Do not learn knowledge for three
reasons: to amaze and confound the foolish, to argue with the learned and to
make people's faces turn towards you. Rather, seek what is with Allaah with
your hearts and actions, since only that will remain and whatever is besides it
will go."
27 - Abu Sulaymaan ad-Daarini said: "Glad tidings for the one
who took a single step desiring nothing but the face of Allaah by it."
28 - Some of the Salaf said: "Whoever had a single
instance in his lifetime which was purely and sincerely for the sake of Allaah
- the Exalted - will be saved, and this is due to the greatness of
sincerity."
29 - Abu Sulaymaan ad-Daarini said: "When the servant is
sincere, the inclination to show off and the many whisperings (of the Devils)
are cut off from him."
30 - It has also been said: "Sincerity is that the servants
inward and outward actions are equal. Riyaa' is when the outward appearance is
better than the inner self and truthfulness in one's sincerity is when the
inner self is better cultivated and more flourishing than the outward
appearance."
31 - Some of the Salaf have said: "Sincerity is that you
do not seek a witness over your action besides Allaah or one who gives reward
besides Him."
32 - Makhool said: "Never does a servant maintain sincerity for
forty days in succession except that the streams of wisdom from his heart
appear on his tongue."
33 - 'Adiyy ibn Haatim said: "The people destined for the Fire
will be ordered towards Paradise until they come close to it and smell its
fragrance, see its palaces and what Allaah has prepared in it for its people.
Then an announcement will be made that they be turned away from it. There will
be no portion for them in it. They will return in loss and ruin just like the
ones before them. Then they will say: 'O our Lord! If you had entered us into
the Fire before You showed us what You have shown us from Your reward and what
You have prepared for your friends and allies, it would have been easier upon
us.' Then the Exalted will say: 'This is what I intended with you. When you
used to be alone you would combat me (or show boldness to Me) with grave sins
and when you used to meet people you would meet them with humility. You would
show to the people other than that which you used to give Me from your hearts.
You feared people but you did not fear Me. You honored the people but you did
not honor Me, you abandoned actions for the people but you did not abandon them
for Me. This day, will I make you taste a tormenting punishment as well as
prevent you from receiving that reward."
34 - It has been said: "The damage caused to every servant lies
in his being pleased with himself. Whoever looks at his soul and sees something
in it which he deems to be good has caused its destruction. And whoever does
not suspect his soul at every single moment is one who is deceived."
35 - Ibn al-Qayyim said: "Sincerity is the unification of one's
wish and intent."
[Collected by Shaykh Husayn al-'Awaa'ishah from 'Ihyaa' 'Uloom ud-Deen'
of al-Ghazaali, 'Mukhtasar Minhaaj ul-Qaasideen' of Ibn Qudaamah and 'az-Zuhd'
of 'Abdullaah Ibn al-Mubaarak]