Ramadan Articles - Ramadhan: the Month of Qur'an

The first part of this is based on an extract from Ibn Rajab
al-Hanbali's Lata'if al-Ma'arif (pp. 179-182), quoted by Fahdbin
Sulaiman in Kayf Nastafeed min Ramadan (pp. 48-50).
Ramadan has a special relationship with the Qur'an, of course:
"The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur'an was sent down, a
guidance for mankind, clear proofs for the guidance, the Criterion; so
whoever amongst you witnesses this month, let him fast it."(cf. Surah
al-Baqarah 2:185)
The word 'so' (fa) in this ayah leads to the following paraphrase of
one aspect of its meaning:
"Fast this month because it is the one in which the Qur'an was sent down."
Ibn 'Abbas narrates that"the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him
and grant him peace) was themost generous person, and he would be at
his most generous in Ramadan because Jibril would come to him
everynight and he would rehearse the Qur'an with him." (Sahih
al-Bukhari, Eng. trans. 6/486)
This hadith contains recommendation of the following:
*.Studying the Qur'an in Ramadan;
*.Coming together for this purpose;
*.Checking (one's memory/knowledge of)the Qur'an with someone who has
preserved it better;
*.Increasing recitation of the Qur'an in Ramadan;
*.That the night time is the best time to recite, when other
preoccupations decrease and it is easierto concentrate, as in Surah
al-Muzzammil 73:6.
Further, Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated from her
father (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who told her
thatJibril would rehearse the Qur'an with him (in Ramadan) once every
year, and he did so twice in the year of his death. (Bukhari 6/485)
After mentioning the above aspects of the Sunnah, Ibn Rajab talks
about the situation of theSalaf (the early Muslims) during Ramadan:
"... Some of the Salaf would complete reciting the whole Qur'an during
the night prayer of Ramadan every 3 days, others every 7 days e.g.
Qataadah, othersin 10 days e.g. Abu Rajaa' al-Atardi. The Salaf would
recite Qur'an in Ramadan in Prayer as well as outside it. Al-Aswad
would finish the Qur'an every 2 nights in Ramadan; Ibrahim an-Nakh
would do likewise in thelast 10 nights specifically, & every 3 nights
during the rest of the month. Qataadah would regularlyfinish the
Qur'an in 7 days, but in 3 days during Ramadan, when he would study
the Qur'an especially, and every night duringits last 10 days.
Al-Zuhri would say when Ramadan began, 'It is recitation of the Qur'an
and feeding of people.'
When Ramadan began, Imam Malik would cease narrating Hadith and
sitting with the people of knowledge, and stick to reciting the Qur'an
from its pages, while Sufyan al-Thawri would leave other acts of
worship and stick to reciting the Qur'an. 'Aishah would recite fromthe
pages of the Qur'an at the beginning of the day in Ramadan (i.e. after
Dawn), until when the sun had risen, she would sleep. Zayd al-Yaami
would bring copiesof the Qur'an when Ramadan began and gather his
companions around him. ..."
Ibn Rajab later continues,
"The forbiddance of completing recitation of the Qur'an in less than 3
days applies to this being made a regular practice, but as for
favoured times such as Ramadan, esp. the nights in which Laylat
al-Qadr is sought, or favoured places such as Makkah for the visitor,
it is recommendedto increase reciting the Qur'an to avail the time and
place. This is the view of Ahmad, Ishaq and other Imams, and the
practice of others indicates this too."
The purpose here is not to discuss whether or notthe latter view is
correct or not, since that is purely academic for mostof us, as we do
not get anywhere near reciting the whole Qur'an in threedays! However,
the practice of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace),
his Companions, and those who followed their path, should be clear
enough. As a further example, Bukhari (3/79) quotes from the noble
Companion Zaid bin Thabit who answered thequestion, "How much time was
there between the pre-dawn meal and the Dawn Prayer?" by saying,
"Enough time to recite fifty ayat." Since the practice of the Arabs
was to measure time in terms of everyday actions, this shows that the
Sahabah were preoccupied with the Qur'an, especially in Ramadan.
Compare all this with our sad state, when we talk so much about
establishing Islam, implementing the Qur'an,etc. and yet have such
little contact with it, maybe not completing itsrecitation ever at all
sincechildhood, or perhaps never! Hence we become unbalanced in our
understanding of Islam, because there are ayat which we rarely or
never hear or think about; we repeat only certain selected ayat over
and over again; we lost the context of the verses, the overall flow,
argument and balance of the Qur'an, all of which is beautiful &
miraculous. Because of this ignorancewe go astray from the Straight
Path, split up into sects, lose the blessings of Allah...
"We took a covenant from those who said: we are Christians, but they
forgot part of the message with which theyhad been reminded, so we
ingrained amongst them enmity and hatred until the Day of
Judgment..."(Surah al-Ma'idah 5:14)
In Sahih Bukhari (6/521), there is an amazing pieceof advice from the
Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace):"Recite the Qur'anas
long as your hearts agree on it; if you disagree about it, stop
reciting it (for the time being)."Studying the Qur'an should bring
people together!
In Surah al-Mu'minoon (23:53), there is mention of the people before
us (in whose footsteps we would follow), who broke up their Deen into
sects (zuburan), each party rejoicing in what it had. One
understanding of this, from the word zuburan meaning literally
'books', is that each sect left the Book of Allah and concentrated
solely on the books of its own sect, so "they split their deen up into
books"!
The most twisted, ridiculous, shallow ideas, innovations and
superstitions are propagated amongst Muslims when they are away from
the Qur'an, because any little knowledge of the Qur'an would be enough
to dispel them.
Hence, O servant of Allah, leave aside secondary books and concentrate
on studying the blessed Book of Allah in this blessed month (use a
good translation/commentary if needed), for it is the source of all
knowledge in other books, and keep away from wasting time, especially
in futile discussions and arguments which lead nowhere, for that is a
sure sign of being misguided, as the Prophet (may Allah bless him and
grant him peace) said,"Whenever a people went astray after they had
been on guidance, they were given to argumentation (jadl)."(Ahmad,
Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah - Sahih al-Jami'al-Saghir, no. 5633)
Finally, remember that the Messenger (may Allahbless him and grant him
peace) will complain to Allah on the Day of Judgment that his
peopleneglected the Qur'an (Surah al-Furqan 25:30). Neglect of the
Qur'an is of different levels, as Ibn al-Qayyim writes:
Not reciting or listening to it;
Not studying and understanding it;
Not conveying its message;
Not judging by it in personal and communal matters, at all levels of society;
Not believing in it.
All Praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.

Attire and adornment – I

Allaah Says what means:"O children of Aadam! We have bestowed upon you
clothing to conceal your private parts and as adornment. But the
clothing of righteousness — that is best. That is from the signs of
Allaah that perhaps they will remember."]Quran 7: 26[
One of the visible favours of Allaah upon His slaves is that He has
created for them different materials by which they can conceal their
private parts.
Allaah also Says what means:"So We said: 'O Aadam! Indeed this is an
enemy to you and to your wife. Then let him not remove you
fromParadiseso you would suffer. Indeed, it is ]promised[ foryou not
to be hungry therein or be unclothed."]Quran 20: 117-118[
Hunger is internal humiliation whilst nakedness is external
humiliation, but neither of these two exists inParadise. The dwellers
ofParadiseenjoy wearing different garments one on top of the other.
Allaah Says what means:"And when you lookthere ]inParadise[, you will
see pleasure and great dominion. Upon them ]i.e., the inhabitants[
will be green garments of fine silk and heavy silk..."]Quran 76:
20-21[
Thus, clothing is a blessing from Allaah that He has bestowed upon us,
as Allaah Says in the abovementioned verse, what means:"O children of
Aadam! Wehave bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your private
parts…"
Concealing one's private parts is mandatory, but this is not all;
rather, Allaah has, in addition, bestowed upon us adornment. Following
this adornment is the inner adornment, which is the spiritual one, as
Allaah Says in thesame verse what means:"But theclothing of
righteousness — that is best. That is from the signs of Allaah that
perhaps they will remember."
If the clothing of piety is lost then one's faults are exposed; and if
the clothing of the body is gone, then his private parts become
exposed, which results in great trials, leaving Satan to open an arena
in which to lure mankind. This is why Allaah
Says in the aforementioned verse of Chapter Taa Haa what means:"So We
said: 'O Aadam! Indeed this is an enemy to you and to your wife. Then
let him not remove you fromParadiseso you would suffer. Indeed, it
is]promised[ for you not to be hungry therein or be unclothed."]Quran
20: 117-118[
Unclothing is a plot of Satan, and the first sin that was ever
committed resulted in unclothing, as Allaah Says what means:"O
children of Aadam! Let not Satan tempt you as he removed your parents
from Paradise, stripping them of their clothing )i.e., the garments
ofParadise( to show them their private parts…"]Quran 7: 27[
Satan initiated his war against the children of Aadam by trying to
entice them to expose their private parts, and this battle continued
until it has reached its peak in our time when people have actually
exposed their private parts and there are nude clubs, nude beaches,
and channels on satellite television for nudity, fornication and
'summer fashions', which is practical nudity. All these things, which
the sinners among the children of Aadam thought up with the help of
Satan, are vividly shown on TV screens.
Moreover, there are so many magazines and internet websites that
feature nudity that it has become something that many feel no shame in
publishing or viewing, because the plot of Satan is to corrupt mankind
by exposing people's private parts.
This is why Allaah warns us by saying what means:"O children of Aadam!
Let not Satan tempt you…"]Quran 7: 27[ Satan does this by all means
possible: movies, magazines, fashion shows, beauty contests, scanty
clothing that women wear to weddings, satellite television channels,
and so on. Immorality has become readily available and people are
constantly exposed to it.
Imaam At-Tabaristated when commenting on this verse: "It means: Let
not Satan deceive you into obeying him and therefore exposing your
private parts to others, thus depriving yourselves from entering
Paradise, which is exactly what resulted in your father )i.e. Aadam(
being expelled from Paradise."
This is a very dangerous issue because it could result in one being
deprived of entering Paradise, and this is why Islam mandates
concealing one's private parts and defines the 'Awrah )i.e., the parts
of the bodythat one is Islamically obliged to cover( and how to cover
it. The 'Awrah is defined precisely and indetail for people of all
ages and every phase: for infants up to twoyears of age, then for
childhood, and then for the phase that lasts up to and beyond puberty.
Islam obligates clothing because nakedness is a dispraised matter.A
man once entered into the presence of the Prophetwhilewearing improper
clothing, so heasked:"Do you have money?"The man replied: "Yes, from
all means. Allaah has granted me camels, sheep, horses and slaves."
Thereupon, the Prophetsaid to him:"Then let the favour and blessings
of Allaah be apparent on you."Imaam Ibn Hajarcommented on this
narration stating: "This means: wear the clothing that suits the level
of bounties of Allaah upon you, and which is clean and pleasant, so
that needy people would recognise a person's status and know to ask
from himcharity. However, in order to judge this issue in light of all
relevant texts, one must be moderate in this regard and not
extravagant."
This is how real scholars are: theyjudge an issue in light of all the
relevant texts related to it, and do not focus on an isolated piece of
evidence. This is an advice to all students of knowledge who seek the
truth, this is how you should be, too - never take one text in
isolation when there are other texts related to the issue that you are
judging, so that you can have a complete picture before making your
final judgment.
An example to illustrate this is if one states that the
Prophetsaid:"Indeed Allaah is Jameel)which implies beauty( and He
loves beauty"and therefore concludes that it is permissible for the
woman to expose her beauty, since beauty is something that Allaah
loves. We ask such a person: Are you aware of the other texts that
specificallyprohibit the woman to expose here beauty in front of
marriageable men and the texts that command her to adhere to Hijaab
)i.e. Muslim woman's outfit in Islam(?
Some scholars who were wealthywould wear the best clothing that they
possessed during seasons such as Ramadan so thatthe poor could
recognise them and ask them for charity, but as soon as these seasons
were over they would wear modest clothing as a sign of their humility
and knowledge of the narration that they were well aware of, which is
that of Mu`aathwho reported that the Messenger of Allaahsaid:"Whoever
voluntarily forsakes wearing elegant and expensive garments out of
humbleness, Allaah will call him on the Day of Resurrection and give
him, in front of all )His( creation, the choice to wear whichever
garment of Belief he wishes."]At-Tirmithi[
The clothing of the Messenger of Allaahwas whatever he couldfind; he
would wear wool at times and cotton at others - according to what was
available for him at the time and without any extravagance; hewould
always thereby be acting in accordance with the commands of Allaah.
One can eat, wear or drink anything )that is lawful( as long as it is
without extravagance or boasting. Men may not wear silk because there
is a specific text that prohibits silk for men.

Do not kill your time

The Quran and Sunnah both emphasize the importance of time in the life
of a Muslim. Allaahswears in the beginning of many Soorahs )chapters(
by time or moments in time, for example Allaah Says )what means(:"By
the dawn and the ten nights )i.e. the first ten days of the month
ofThul-Hijjah(..."]Quran 89: 1-2[
And also Says )what means(:"By the night when it covers, and by the
day when it appears..."]Quran 92:1[
And also Says )what means(: "By the morning brightness and by the
night when it covers with darkness..."]Quran 93:1[
And also Says )what means(:"By the time..."]Quran 103:1[
When Allaah swears by something of His creation, it directs our
attention to the benefit of that thing. The Prophetfurther emphasized
the value of time in many authentic Hadeeths. For example, Mu'aath bin
Jabalrelated that the Prophetsaid:"The slave will not go forward on
the Day of Judgment until he is asked four questions: about his age
and how he spent it, about his youth and how he used it, about his
wealth and how he acquired it and spent it, and about his knowledge
and what he did with it."
Youth is considered the peak stage in human life, because young people
have the capacity and energy to accomplish many good deeds, but when
they get older, they cannot do as much. These are stages of
development as mentioned in the Quran, for example in Soorah Ar-Room
)The Romans(, Allaah Says )what means(: "Allaah is He Who created you
in )a state of( weakness, then gave you strength after weakness, then
after strength gave )you( weakness and grey hair ..."]Quran 30:54[
If we do not use our time effectively for something good, then we will
definitely use it for something bad, which destroys our rewards and
our lives. For example, if you do not make Thikr )mentioning Allaah
and praising Him(, then you will be saying something else, perhaps
backbiting or perhaps talking about your children, your work, your
neighbors, your friends or your enemies. What counts for you is using
the time for something useful, doing good deeds and saying good
things.
Try to make a short revision at the end of each day about what you did
during that day. Ask yourself: What did I do today? What did I do that
was bad today? Make repentance for the bad things that you have done
and said, sincerely determining not to repeat such things. With the
good, determine to do it again, do it more often and do it in a better
way.
Our lives are judged according to what we did, not according to how
many years we lived. We know that life is very short, and at the end
of it comes death. We do not know when we are going to die, so we have
to make sure that we do many good deeds before we pass into the next
life and we are unable to return to repent from our bad deeds, or to
do more good deeds. Time passes very quickly as Allaah Says)what
means(:"The Day they see it, )it will be( as if they had not tarried
)in this world( except an afternoon and a morning."]Quran 79:46[
And also Says )what means(: "And on the Day when He shall gather
)resurrect( them together,)it will be( as if they had not stayed )in
the life of this world and graves, etc( but an hour of a day."]Quran
10:45[
Time is very precious and if it passes, you cannot make use of
itagain. If yesterday passed without the performance of gooddeeds,
then it is gone; you cannotreclaim any benefit from yesterday's time.
For example, if you came to travel from one city to another and you
found that the airplane that you were supposed to travel on has
alreadyleft, do you think that it will be back to pick you up? Or if
you were traveling by train and you missed the train, do you think
that the train will reverse to come back to get you?
When it is time for a person to die, he may ask for more time to do
good deeds, as Allaah Says)what means(:"Therein they will cry: 'Our
Lord! Bring us out, we shall do righteous good deeds, not what we used
to do.' )Allaah will reply(: 'Did We not give you long enough lives so
that whosoever would receive admonition could receive it, and the
warner came to you? So tasteyou )the evil of your deeds(. For the
wrongdoers, etc, there is no helper."]Quran 35:37[
We say that we are so busy with our work and our children, but Allaah
warns us against this saying )what means(: "O you who believe! Let not
your properties or your children divert you from the remembrance of
Allaah. And whoever does that, then they are the losers. And spend )in
charity( of that which We have provided for you before death comes to
one of you and he says: 'My Lord! If only you would give me respite
for a little while )i.e. return to the worldly life(, then I should
give sadaqah)i.e. Zakaah( of my wealth, and beamong the righteous
)i.e. perform Hajj(. And Allaah grants respite to none when his
appointed time )death( comes. And Allaah is All-Aware of what you
do."]Quran 63: 9-11[
Many people before us used their time effectively by performing good
deeds, teaching, doing something for the benefit of the Muslims, their
families and their relatives, or by advising others to be good, and
calling others to Allaah and Islam, etc. They considered every day
that passed which they did not use effectivelyfor the sake of Allaah
as denying the favors of Allaah.
Today we have those who "kill time." These people gather to talk about
things that are not related to Islam or the Muslims' affairs; they
play around or talk about others. These people are not killing time,
but they are committing slow suicide becausethey are killing their
time -- and their time is their lives! So they are slowly killing
themselves and after they die, what good deeds have they done?
The Prophetsaid: "There are two favors )or bounties( of Allaah's
bounties, and in them many people are cheated )or deceived(: health
and free time."
People underestimate the value of these two favors, and thus, they are
cheated. This is like a person who has a house that he wants to sell.
Someone comes and offers him 50,000 dollars for it. He isn't sure of
its value, so he hesitates. Finally, he agrees and sells it for that
amount. Later he finds out that his house was actually worth a million
dollars. Imagine how cheated he feels; imagine that feeling that if he
had only known beforehand what it was really worth, he could have
gotten more!
It is the same with our time. We underestimate its great value, and
then when it is gone, we feelthat we have been cheated because we
didn't get everything out of it that we could have. But just as the
one who sold his house below its value cannot get it back and sell it
at its true value,we also cannot go back and do more with the time
that is already gone. At the end of our lives, we will not be able to
go back and live our lives over again and we will not be given more
time to do good deeds, to try to make up for the time we wasted.
So we must organize our time wisely, being very careful about what we
use it for. We must treat the free time that we have, in which we
could do good deedsas a precious resource, guarding it against waste
or misuse.

Spite

Spite is a heavy burden that the person carries which results in his
own misery, occupies his thinking, ruins his mind and adds to his
grief and anxiety. The strange thing is that ignorant people insist on
carrying this heavy evil load, until they satisfy their ego andtake
revenge from the one whom they hate and envy.
Spite eats much of the virtue that might be in person's heart and
increases by growing on such virtue and thus causing it to eventually
vanish.
The meaning of spite:
Looking at spite, we see that it consists of severe hatred and the
desire to take revenge added together in the heart of amalicious
person until the time comes when he can attack the one against whom he
holds a grudge. Therefore, spite is to conceal enmity in the heart and
await the opportunity to get back at the one towards whom malice is
felt.
Allaah praised the believers whose hearts are pure and free from
bearing hatred towards other believers when He Says )what means(:"For
thepoor emigrants who were expelled from their homes and their
properties, seeking bounty from Allah and ]His[ approval and
supporting Allah and His Messenger, ]there is also a share[.Those are
the truthful. And ]also for[ those who were settled in the Home ]i.e.
Al-Madeenah[ and]adopted[ the faith before them)before the settlement
of the emigrants )Muhaajireen( among the Ansaar, for whom a share is
delegated as well(. They love those who emigrated to them and find not
any want in their breasts of what they ]i.e. the emigrants[ were given
but give]them[ preference over themselves, even though they arein
privation. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul —
it is those who will be the successful. And ]there is a share for[
those who came after them, saying, "Our Lord, forgive us and our
brothers who preceded us in faith and put not in our hearts ]any[
resentment toward those who have believed. Our Lord, indeed You are
Kind and Merciful."]Quran: 59: 8-10[.
One's heart might get weak and thus he might dislike or even hate a
certain person sometimes. Nonetheless, this feeling does not remain
permanently in the heart of the believer to the extent that it turns
into spite. Rather, such feelings pass on, as a wayfarer passes
through a village during his journey, but soon these feelings
disappear and vanish, because a believer is bonded to other believers
by the strong bond of "Brotherhood in Faith". The believer's emotions
of brotherhood gush forth with love and mercy towards his brothers in
faith … thus, could it be imagined thatsuch nice feelings would
coexist with spite in one person's heart?
The ruling of spite:
Some scholars consideredspite to be one of the inner great major sins
which one must be far above committing and must repent to Allaah.
The cure of spite:
Treating spite lies in getting rid of the main reason that causes it,
which is anger. When you become angry and can not control your anger
by being tolerant or by reminding yourself with the virtue of
suppressing your anger, then you are harboring feelings of spite which
require struggle against yourself.
A person must warn himself against the consequences of taking revenge,
and he must remember that The Power of Allaah and ability are, by far,
greaterthan his. One must remind himself that the command is in The
Handsof Allaah and no one can escape His command or decree.
If it happens that a person cannot suppress his feelings and they
reached the state of spite, then he must force himself to act contrary
to the implications of these feelings. Thus, he could praise the
person whom he hates instead of dispraising him and be humble with him
instead of being arrogant. Furthermore, one must put himself in the
other person's place and remember that he would like people to deal
with him gently and must thusstrive to deal with the other person in
the manner that he would like to be dealt with.
One of the useful means by which this disease may be cured is for the
hated person )if he transgressed( to refrain from his evil and reform
himself. He must remember that he will never be able to eradicate this
ill feeling)spite( from the other person's heart towards him unless he
does what makes that person feel secure and relaxed towards him.
Additionally, he must try to reconcile and ease the heart of the other
party who feels spiteful.
On the other hand, the wronged person who harbors spite must, in
return, accept the apology and excuse of the one who wronged him …
this is how spite and ill feelings die out and fade away, and love
comes in its place.
The evil consequences of spite:
Some scholars said: "The corruption of the heart by means of hatred is
a lethal inveterate disease, and faith escapes such hearts just as
liquid leaks from a cracked jug".
Satan might despair frommaking a wise man worship idols, but he is
keen to divert and misguide man and lead him to destruction. Satan
will not fail to distance a person from his Lord, to the point that
such a person becomes more ignorant of his Lord's right than an
idolater.
To keep a person away from his Lord, Satan uses tricks like enflaming
hatred in the heart towards his fellow Muslims. Once this fire is
ignited, Satan sits back and enjoys watching this fire burn his
present life and future, and eating away his virtues. This is so,
because when evil controls the spiteful heart, the person becomes
hardhearted and stubborn, and he severs the ties which Allaah
commanded to be maintained and spreads corruption upon the earth.
Spite is the source for many evil acts that Islam has warned against.
Falsely accusing the innocent is a crime that only extreme hatred
stimulates and Islam has considered this to be oneof the worse acts of
falsehood.
Backbiting is the way a spiteful person releases his hatred, and that
reflects the lack of mercy in his heart. Moreover, Islam has
prohibited and warned against all the implications of spite, such as,
ill-thinking of others, tracing their faults, mocking and defaming
them.
Spiteful people's hearts boil with hatred because they look in this
life to see that they have missedout on what they wished to have while
others possessed it. This is the greatest problem that continuously
gives them the feeling of apprehension. By doing so, such people
follow in the footsteps of Satan, who envied Aadam because he was
granted the position which he)i.e. Satan( desired for himself.
This satanic feeling is what boils in the hearts of spiteful people
and corrupts their hearts to the point that they lose their
determination. It would have been better for them to turn towards
their Lord and ask Him from His bounties and strive to attain what the
others have attained. Theblessings of Allaah are endless and they are
limited to certain people,and hoping to attain what Allaah has whilst
utilizing all permissible means, is the only lawful thing to do when
one sees others blessed with favors from Allaah … There is a big
difference between envy and ambition.
Having a pure heart … the way toParadise:
Allaah Has described the people of Paradise who will have an eternal
pleasure as people who are free from spite and envy, and if they had
ever experienced any such feelings in this life, then they will be
purifiedfrom these feelings before being admitted into Paradise, as
Allaah says )what means(;"And We will have removed whatever is within
their hearts of spite )i.e. ill will or sense of injury for what was
inflicted upon them during worldly life(".
This quality of having pure hearts when dealing with others, was one
reason for which some of the companions of the Prophetwere given glad
tidings ofParadise. Anas Ibn Maaliknarrated: "We were sitting with the
Prophetonce when he said:"A man from the dwellers of Paradise will
walk in now"so a man from the Ansaar )i.e. residents of Madeenah(
walked in whose beard was dripping from the effect of ablution and who
held his slippers with his left hand. The next day the Prophetsaid the
same thing, and the same man walked in. On the third day the
Prophetsaid the same thing, and the same man once again walked in.
When the Prophetleft the gathering, 'AbdullaahIbn 'Amr followed that
man and said to him: `I had a misunderstanding with my father and
swore not to stay in his house three nights, so if you permit me I
would like to spend these three nights with you` The mansaid: `Yes, I
permit you`" Anasadded: "'Abdullaah Ibn 'Amr told us that he spent
three nights and did not noticethat the man prayed the optional night
prayers during any of these nights, but if he woke up during the
night, he would simply mention Allaah. Nonetheless, I never heard him
utter except good things, so when the three nights finished, I almost
belittled his deeds )as they were insignificant( and I said to him: `O
slaveof Allaah! There was not dispute between me and my father or
anger, but I heard the Prophetsaying thrice:"A man from the dwellers
of Paradise will walkin now"and you walked in all three times, so I
wanted to sleep in your place to see what you do in order to imitate
you, but I did not see that you exert extra effort in performing any
extra deeds. How did you reach such status to deserve what the
Prophetsaid about you?` He replied: `My deeds are nothing more than
what you saw` Thenwhen I left, he called me back in and said: `My
deeds are nothing more than what you saw, but the only thing I do is
that I do not hold any grudge against any Muslim nor envy anyone for
what bounties Allaah as granted them`" thereupon 'Abdullaah Ibn'Amr
said to him: "This is what granted you this rank".
Beloved Muslim brother! Ponder upon the following words that were
stated by one of thescholars: "There is nothing more relaxing and
relieving to one's grief, and there is nothing more comfortingto him
than living whilst having a pure heart that is clear from all whispers
and spite. If he sees a bounty being granted to others he shows
content with what he has, and realized the need of humans for their
Lord. If he sees evil afflicting others, he expresses sympathy and
supplicatesAllaah to relieve them from their hardship and forgive
their sins. This is how a Muslim lives his life with his record of
deeds clear from evil, pleased with what Allaah has granted him,
content with his life, relaxed in his heart, free from spite that
blinds people from seeing the truth".