Some selections from Ibn Muflih’s book, ‘Adab al-Shar’iyyah’:
Al-Hasan al-Basri: ‘Even if their horses amble and stroll with them, even if their riders flutter along with them, indeed the bitterness of disobedience still lies in their hearts. And Allah `azza wa jall refuses except to humiliate those who disobey Him.’
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Ibn Mas’ud: ‘From what I know, those who had the most firasah (intuition) are three:
1. Al-‘Aziz when he said to his wife regarding his firasah of Yusuf (`alayhisalam), “Make his residence comfortable. Perhaps he will benefit us or we will adopt him as a son…” [Yusuf: 21]
2. The wife of Musa (`alayhisalam) when she said, “O my father, hire him. Indeed the best that you can hire is the strong and trustworthy one.” [al-Qasas: 26]
3. And Abu Bakr in his firasah of ‘Umar and appointing him as a Khalif (leader).”
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Once, Yusuf ibn ‘Umar ibn Hubayrah wanted to appoint Bakr ibn ‘Abdillah al-Muzni as a judge, but he sought pardon from such a position. He (Yusuf) refused to pardon him so Bakr said, ‘May Allah rectify the Amir, I’m not fit to judge.’ He said, ‘You’re lying!’ He said, ‘If I am lying, then it’s not permissible for you to appoint the liars. And if I am telling the truth, then it’s not permissible for you to appoint someone who is not fit for such a position!’
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Ibn ‘Abbas: ‘Cowardliness, miserliness and covetousness are evil dispositions. What gathers them all together is a person’s bad opinion of Allah.‘
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Al-Hasan al-Basri: ‘If a person was to be correct all the time and never err, if he was always praised in everything that came along, then ‘ujb (being amazed at oneself) would’ve entered his soul.’
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Abu Muslim al-Khawlani: ‘Fear the thoughts and opinions of the believer for Allah has established truth upon his tongue and in his heart.’
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Sa’id ibn al-Musayyib: ‘It’s better for an Imam to err by forgiving than for him to err by punishing.’
– Aadab al-Shar’iyyah by Ibn Muflih al-Maqdisi
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh,
Jazaaki Allaahu khayran for these quotes sister.
Would you please explain the meaning of the 1st and last quotes.
Assalaamu alaykum
Salam aleikum,
I just stopped by on your blog and saw that you have great style to write wise words about Islam. I added your blog to the lionks of my blog :). Keep up the good work and may Allah bless you.
Wa `alaykumusalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
In the 1st quote, al-Hasan al-Basri is effectively saying that even if people (non-believers, oppressors/transgressors etc) were to gain the world & its materials, strength and dominance, they’re still lowly and insignificant because of the disobedience that lies in their hearts – i.e. an adversity to faith. So despite the apparent ‘izza and power in the land, they are still under humiliation from Rabb al-‘Alamin.
The last quote by Ibn al-Musayyib is a gem. It speaks about the virtue of being cautious and not rushing to punish a person for their mistakes. It’s better to forgive someone although they might deserve to be rebuked, than to punish someone and later find out that they were innocent and didn’t deserve that (hence the golden rule, particularly in unclear and doubtful situations: ‘It’s better to err in forgiveness than to err in punishment’).
Wallahu a’lam.
walekum salaam wa rahmatuallahi wa barakatuhu ukthi
JazakAllahu khair
Can you please copy this explanation in the main article so that people like me who did’nt understand may find it easy after reaing the explanation.
Especially the 1st quote..
was’salaam.
That’s deep.
Jazaaki Allaahu khayr.
jazaakulah khair