ANCESTOR’S SAYINGS

Caliph Umar said, "He whose intention is pure, Allah shall defend his cause with people"

Anas said, "He who makes peace between two disputants, will be rewarded by Allah for each word as if he had liberated a slave"

Jacob Al Makfouf said, "The pure is the person who hides his good deeds such as he hides his bad deeds"

Caliph Ali said, "I wonder at a person who lets himself be destroyed while he has got the rescue". He was asked, "What is the rescue?” He replied, "Asking Allah for forgiveness"

Caliph Umar said, "Admire not a person for his resounding voice. A real man is only the one who restores deposits and refrains from dishonoring people"

Caliph Umar said, "Should a beast stumble in Iraq I fear to be accounted for it by Allah why I had not paved the road for it"

Hudaifa was asked what type of person would be dead when still alive, he replied, "It is the one who does deny indecency neither by his hand, nor by his tongue, nor by his heart"

A sage was once asked who was the most generous, he replied, "He who gives when he himself has but little, and safeguards the dignity of the beggar"

Ibn Oyaina said, "Whoso performs the five daily prayers is paying gratitude for Allah, and whoso prays for his parents after each prayer is paying gratitude to them"

Caliph Umar said, "Whoso is humble unto Allah, Allah shall augment his wisdom"

Caliph Umar said, "Cheer up so that Allah may raise your rank"

Caliph Umar said, "I care not what state I am in, whether agreeable or disagreeable to me, for I know not what is good in what I like or dislike"

Ibn Abbas said, "The pre Islamic Arabs had commendable characteristics which the Muslims were worthier of: if any of their neighbours incurred a debt, suffered a distress, or a hardship, they would endeavour until they settle his debt for him, get him out of distress, or straighten his hardship"

Al Hasan al Basri said, "Good neighbourhood is not merely to keep a neighbour harmless, but to tolerate any harm from your neighbour"

Caliph Umar said, "Lonliness is better than having a bad companion"

Aktham Ibn Seify said, "Meeting with those whom one loves consoles one's sorrows"

"The believer admires and envies not, but the hypocrite envies and admires not"

Al Fudheil said, "The company of a good natured wrong-doer is better for me than that of a bad natured worshipper"

Amr Ibn Al Aas said, "Talking resembles medicine, little of it cures and too much of it kills!"



Jaber said, "There is an hour at night, if siezed by a Muslim asking Allah during which for anything thatis good for this world and the hereafter, it would be afforded to him by Allah; and thatis for every night"

Abu Osama said, "Walk for even a mile to visit a patient; walk for even two miles to visit a brother for Allah's sake; walk for even three miles to make reconcilliation between two people"

Caliph Ali said, "Among the justifications of forgiveness by Allah is causing delight to one's Muslim brother"

Al-Shafi said, "A characterising sign of a true friend is that he would accept one's excuses, repair his failures, and forgive his faults"

Khaled Ibn Safwan said, "The most disabled of people is one who fails to seek brethren. Still more disables is that who loses of them whom he has acquired"

Caliph Umar said, 'Acquire knowledge, and for acquiring knowledge learn to be calm and clement'

Ibn Masud said, 'Everyone is in the world as a guest, and his money is but a loan. The guest must go sooner or later and the loan must be returned'

Hassan said, 'If common sense could be purchased, people would pay a lot of money for it. So I wonder about those people who buy with their own money the things which spoil/affect their common sense'

Caliph Ali said, 'Bounty is not to have much wealth and many children, but bounty is to have much knowledge and clemency, and not to pride oneself above others for worshipping Allah. Praise Allah if you do good, and ask for the forgiveness of Allah if you do wrong'

Muwaiyah said, 'One cannot attain discretion until his clemency overcomes his violence, and his self-restraint overcomes his lust, and that can only be achieved by the power of learning'

Abu Al-Qasim said, 'Whoso fears something escapes from it, but whoso fears Allah, escapes to Him'

Fudheil said, 'Whoso fears Allah, his fear would guide him to all goodness'

Anas ibn Malik said, 'Do not fail to call upon Allah for no one with prayers has ever been destroyed'

Ibn Alhanafeyah said, 'He who guards his dignity will find this world of little importance'

Imam Shafi said, 'He whose lust for life gains the upper hand over him will be held in slavery to it's people, and he who is satisfied with little gets rid of humiliation'

Muadh ibn Jabal said, 'Those who are fortunate to enter paradise will regret the hours in which they did not remember Allah'

Hasan said, 'Remembrance of Allah is of two kinds: To remember Allah within yourself for which act you will be highly rewarded. What is even better is to remember Allah when one is about to commit what Allah the Almighty has forbidden'

Caliph Ali said, 'He who went into trade without becoming fully versed in religion (i.e. the rules of trade) is likely to fall into usury and to wallow in it until her gets drowned'

Caliph Umar said, 'No one except people who are well versed in (the rules of) the religion and who give full measure shall be allowed to sell at our markets'

Sufyan al Thawry said, 'I wouldn't opt to be held to account by my own parents on the day of judgement as I know that Allah is more merciful to me than they would be'

Junaid said, 'If Allah was to show His bounty, then the evil doers would switch over to being good'

Hasan al Basri said, 'If people pretended learning, wasted labour, and showed their love by mere words but severed their kins, they will be cursed by Allah who will render them deaf and blind'

Wahb ibn Monabeh said, 'Kindness is synonymous with clemency'

Abdullah ibn Masud said, 'Bribery in judgement (i.e. legal court) is disbelief, and between people is seeking illegal gains'

Qatada said, 'If one of God's servants acts hypocritically Allah will say, "Look at my servant and see how he mocks me"'

Ikrama said, 'Allah rewards a person for his intention rather than on his
action as hypocrisy cannot affect intentions'

Hasan said, 'A servant of Allah is good so long as he knows what may spoil
his work'

Kaab said to Ibn Abbas, 'If you see an epidemic break loose then know that
adultery is widespread'

Caliph Ali said, 'Do not accompany in your travels a man who does not
appreciate you as you appreciate him'

Abu Hatem said, 'Shyness safeguards one's chastity, bury his defects, and
spreads out his merits; and whoso lacks shyness loses delight, and whoso
loses delight would be disregarded and hated by people, and whoso is hated
would be hurt, and whoso is hurt would get depressed, and whoso is depressed
would lose reason, and whoso loses reason would be most disadvantaged rather
than advantaged by whatever he says. There is no remedy for one who lacks
shyness, and no shyness for one who lacks faithfulness, and no faithfulness
for one who lacks brotherly friendship. In a word, whoso lacks shyness would
do whatever he desires and say whatever he likes to say'

Qatada said, 'The Quran indicates both ills and remedies: your ills are your
sins, but your remedies are by asking for Allah's forgiveness'

Amr ibn Yasser said, 'If you adhere to the following three principles you
would have completed your faith: Do justice even if against yourself, greet
everybody with peace, and be generous though having little'

Hasan al Basri said, 'Shaking hands augments friendship'

Abdullah ibn Masud said, 'To be less abiding of the sunnah is better than
ijtihad for towards an innovation'

Hasan al Basri said, 'Allah grants His Blessings to whom He pleases. If he
does not show proper gratitude (for what he has) then Allah would turn his
blessing into a torture'

Hasan said, 'Mention blessings as much as you can, for to mention them is a
way of expressing thanks'

Caliph Umar said, 'Men are of three types: A man who decides wisely on
matters according to his opinion; a man who seeks counsel when things get
complicated and follows the advice of people of good counsel; and a confused
man who is at a loss neither wise nor obeying good counsel'

Fadl said, 'Consultation is a blessing. I would consult anyone, even this
Abyssinian woman who does not know how to speak Arabic'

Caliph Ali said, 'Know that patience, if viewed against one's affairs is
like the head to the body. If the head leaves the body the whole body will
be spoiled, likewise, if patience leaves, all affairs will be spoiled'

Ibn Masud said, 'Patience is of two halves, one half is patience, the other
half is thanking Allah'

Abu Hatem said, 'Patience is the summit of all virtues, the regulator of
firmness, the support of reason, the seed of all goodness and the means of
the guileless'

Caliph Uthman said, 'I found all goodness condensed into four things: The
first is endearing oneself to Allah for extra worship, and the second is to
be patient with Allah's injunction, the third is to be content with what
Allah decides for you, and the fourth is to feel shy from the look of Allah
the Sublime, the Exalted'

Caliph Umar said, 'Stick to truth even if it kills you. If saying the truth
would demote me is more favourable to me that to be upgraded by lying.
though lying rarely does so'

Al Jahez said, 'Truth and faithfulness are twins; Patience and Lenience are
twins; they ensure the perfection of religion and the soundness of the
world. Their opposites are the cause of every schism and the origin of every
corruption'

Shaby said, 'Abide by the truth even if you think it will harm you, for, in
fact it will benefit you'

Ahmad said, 'The believers will be shaded on the day of judgement by his
charity'

Bukhari said, 'Provide for yourself by giving charity'

Yahya Ibn Muath said, 'I know no gain that weighs as heavy as the mountains
of the world put together as a grain given in alms'

Ibn Masud said, 'He whose prayers will do not prompt him to do good deeds
and refrain from the forbidden, then his prayers will drive him further away
from Allah'

Aisha said, 'Successful are those whom Allah has bestowed with understanding
'

Caliph Ali said, 'Perfect manliness requires one to attend to his guest the
way out father Abraham waited upon his guests by himself together with his
wife'

It is said, 'He who is hospitable to a guest who he knows is as if he has
been hospitable to the Prophet. And he who is hospitable to a man who he
doesn't know is as he is being hospitable to Allah'

Ibn Masud said, 'Whoever aids a wrong-doer in his injustice or prompted him
with an argument with which to swindle a Muslim's right, he will draw upon
himself the wrath of Allah and will be held to account for it'

Ibn al Jawzi said, 'An injustice involves two offences: Usurping someone's
right by illegal practices, and fencing away Allah by dissention and
disobedience'

Sufyan al Thawry said, 'To meet Allah the Exalted with seventy offences
between you and Him is less grave for you than meeting Him bearing one guilt
you committed against another of His bondsmen'

Maymoon Ibn Mahram said, 'If a man did someone an injustice and wanted to be
absolved but missed the means to realise his intention, then, instead, he
asks forgiveness for him from Allah after performing his prayers, he will be
absolved'

Caliph Ali said, 'The top of justice is to help the injusticed'

Caliph Ali said, 'He who wrongs the slaves of Allah will have Allah opposed
to Allah's slaves as his enemy'

Omar Ibn AbdulAziz said, 'If your power induces you to oppress people, then
remember the power of Allah over you'

Caliph Abu Bakr said, 'The strongest of you is the weakest until I restore
to him his right. And the weakest is the mighty until I make him give up the
right he has usurped'

Caliph Umar said, 'Be equitable among people with your countenance, fair
judgement and proximity of your council so that no nobility may aspire for
your favouritism and no weak one may despair of your justice'

It was said, 'To do justice for one day is likened to 40 years worship'

Caliph Umar said, 'A wise man is not the one who can only distinguish
between good and evil, but rather he who can identify the least of two evils
'

Hasan said, 'A man's religion will not be complete until his mind ha
smatured; and Allah has never given a man a brain without saving him (from
doing wrong) with it one day'

Ibn al Mubarik was once asked about the best thing bestowed upon a man, he
replied. 'An intuitive mind'. And if the person didn't have this? 'Good
manners' And if the person didn't have this? 'A good friend whom he could
consult' And if the person didn't have this? 'Keeping long silence' And if a
person didn't have this? 'Instantaneous death!'

Bishr al Hafy said, 'Learn that all blight arises from your passions and
lusts, and your salvation rest sin disobeying them'

Caliph Ali said, 'Knowledge is better than money. As learning knowledge
guards you, while you guard money. Knowledge controls, while money is
controlled. Money diminishes by spending while knowledge increases by
distribution. A learned man is better than one who fasts, performs prayers,
and fights for the cause of Allah. If a learned man dies, Islam will suffer
a wound that nobody will heal except another learned man who would succeed
him'

Abu al Aswad said, 'There is nothing more valuable than knowledge. Kings
rule people while men of knowledge rule kings'

Luqman said to his son, 'My son sit with the mean of learning, for Allah
revives the hearts with wisdom just as he revives the earth with rain'

It is said that, 'Learning is the lantern of it's time as every man of
learning is the focus of light which illuminates his generation'

Caliph Umar said, 'Everything has a top, and the top of kindness is to offer
it promptly'

Caliph Umar said, 'Successful amongst you are those hwo safeguard against
greed, bias and wrath'

Abdullah ibn Masud said, 'Look out for a man's lenience when he is angry and
his honesty when under temptation for greed. For how can you know about his
lenience if he is not angry, and how can you judge his honesty when he is
not tempted by greed?

Luqman said to his son, 'My son: three things are known only through three
other things. A lenient man is known as such only when he is angered, a
brave man is identified only at war, and a brother is known only when he is
needed'

Ibn Abbas said, 'Accursed is he who honours people for their mere riches and
abuses them for their poverty'

Ibn Adham said, 'We sought poverty but received riches, and other people
sought wealth and were encountered with poverty'

Thu al Noon said, 'The nearest to the loss of faith, is a poor man who is
devoid of patience'

Ibn Atta said, 'A grateful and dutiful rich man is better than a patient
poor man'

Ibn Adham invited some people to dine. When they sat at the table they
started slandering someone. Ibn Adham said to them, 'People before us used
to start with bread before eating meat, but you have started to eat flesh
(i.e. backbiting and eating the flesh of the person) before bread'

Abdullah Ibn Masud said, 'Relief and comfort are to be found in certainty
and contendness; while concern and melancholy are the outcome of uncertainty
and discontent'

Hasan al Basri said, 'Pure goodness that has no trace of evil lies in being
grateful when in health and patient at times of hardship; for many a blessed
person who feels no gratitude and many an afflicted person who would show no
patience'

Muadh ibn Jabal said, 'To fall into debt is a real shame'

Sufyan al Thawry said, 'A debt is a worry at night and humiliation by day;
and if Allah wants to humiliate a bondsman, He will girdle his neck with
debt'

Caliph Abu Bakr said, 'Let no one scorn a Muslim, for a Muslim even of small
standing is esteemed highly by Allah'

Al Ahmaf Ibn Qais said, 'Thinking too highly of oneself emanates in fact
from a feeling of inferiority'

Caliph Abu Bakr sent to Kisra (the Persian Monarch) an ultimatum in which he
said, 'Do you feel haughtier than Allah?!? How dare you be so arrogant to
Allah when you came down the urinary tract twice' (the first time when he
came as sperm from his father and the second time when his mother gave birth
to him)

Caliph Ali said, 'Your secret is your prisoner, until you release it and you
become it's prisoner'

Amr ibn al Aas said, 'I have never blamed a man for disclosing a secret
which I had entrusted with him, for it was myself who failed to keep the
secret in the first place'

Akham Ibn Safy said, 'Your secret is part of your blood, so be careful where
you spill it'

Malek ibn Dinar said, 'Truth and falsehood wrestle in a persons heart until
one diminishes the other'

Luqman said to his son, 'Oh my son, be careful of false telling: It is like
sparrow's meat, at first it is too delicious, but it is soon detested'

Al Shaby said, 'Beware of falsehood, as while you think it would avail you,
it is actually harmful'

Caliph Ali said, 'If the world smiles to you spend your money without fear,
for it would not then be depleted! But if it turns it's back, still spend
your money, for you wouldn't then be able to keep it'

Hasan said, 'Generosity is o give voluntarily before being asked, to offer
food readily, to be kind to the needy and to give donations'

Sufyan ibn Oyayam was asked, 'What is munificence?' He answered, 'To be
dutiful to brothers and lavish with money'

Abu Hatem said, 'Utmost generosity is offering one's money, and refraining
from looking at other people's money, he who is generous will prevail and he
who closes his fist will be looked down upon'

Sufyan al Thawry said, 'Money is the believer's weapon in these days'

Hasan said, 'By Allah, no one ever over-graded money but was down-graded by
Allah'

Ibn Masud said, 'Sickness itself incurs no reward, but it atones for sins.
Reward is only for deed'

Muadh ibn Jabal said, 'If a pious person is afflicted with sickness, Allah
would command the left side Angel not to record his faults and would command
the right-side angel to re-record his best deed which he used to do while
healthy, for he would be in Allah's custody throughout his entire sickness'

Sufyan al Thawry said, 'The foolishness of some visitors may be more painful
to the patient than his sickness. For they drop in at (an inconvenient) time
and prolong their visit'

Bakr ibn Abdullah said to some people who came to visit him and sat with him
for along time, 'The patient is to be attended to, and the healthy is to be
visited'

Caliph Umar said, 'Mosques are the houses of Allah on earth and the
worshiper therein is a guest of Allah. And the visiter is entitled to be
honoured by the visited'

Nazal ibn Sabrah said, 'A hypocrite in a mosque is like a bird in a cage'

Wahb ibn Monheb said, 'Mosques will be brought on the day of judgement like
ships decked with pearls and rubies to intercede for the frequenters'

Kaab said, 'He who knows death will think very lightly about this world's
misfortunes and concerns'

Yahya ibn Maath said, 'It is only the doubtful who would hate to encounter
death, for it brings the Believer nearer to Allah Whom he loves'

Ibn Abbas said, 'If hell-fire was shown to the people, anyone who saw it
would die at once (out of fear)'

Suffyan ibn Oyayamah said, 'Allah created hell-fire out of his Mercy, so
that His bondsman, under such menace, would refrain from committing
atrocities'
It is said, 'Women are honoured only by the honourable, and humiliated only
by the wicked'

Caliph Ali said, 'The tale bearer may provoke in one hour what may last for
months'

Anas ibn Malik said, 'The best of the houses is the one in which an orphan
is being dealt with kindly. And the worst of the houses is that in which an
orphan is offended. The most beloved person to Allah is a person who does a
good deed to an orphan or a widow'


Abu Darda said, 'If you want I shall advise you: The nearest to Allah are
those who endear Allah to His bondsman and propagate (good) advice on earth'

This is the last in the series of Ancestor's sayings.