TEN Useless Matters

TEN Useless Matters


1. Knowledge that is not acted on.

2. The deed that has neither sincerity nor is based on following the righteous examples of others.

3. Money that is hoarded, as the owner neither enjoys it during this life nor obtains any reward for it in the Hereafter.

4. The heart that is empty of love and longing for Allah, and of seeking closeness to Him.

5. A body that does not obey and serve Allah.

6. Loving Allah without following His orders or seeking His pleasure.

7. Time that is not spent in expiating sins or seizing opportunities to do good.

8. A mind that thinks about useless matters.

9. Serving those who do not bring you close to Allah, nor benefit you in your life.

10. Hoping and fearing whoever is under the authority of Allah and in His Hand; while he cannot bring any benefit or harm to himself, nor death, nor life; nor can he resurrect himself.

However, the greater of these matters are wasting the heart and wasting time. Wasting the heart is done by preferring this worldly life over the Hereafter, and wasting time is done by having incessant hope. Destruction occurs by following one’s desires and having incessant hope, while all goodness is found in following the right path and preparing oneself to meet Allah.

How strange it is that when a servant of Allah has a (worldly) problem, he seeks help of Allah, but he never asks Allah to cure his heart before it dies of ignorance, neglect, fulfilling one’s desires and being involved in innovations. Indeed, when the heart dies, he will never feel the significance or impact of his sins.

– Al-Fawa’id, Ibn Qayyim Al Jaaziyyah

Stories of Salaf

"Whoever does not read the stories of the Salaf and the path that they tread, he can never tread that path. It is befitting for a person to know and understand that the nature of an individual (character) is a thief. If a person leaves his nature with the people of his time, his nature will steal from theirs and he will become similar to them. But if he reads into the lives of the Salaf his nature will join theirs and he will learn from their character…." Ibn al-Jawzi

Excess of Knowledge

Hudhaifah Ibn al-Yaman (ra) narrated, the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

The excess of ilm (knowledge) is better than the excess of ‘Ibadah (worship), and the best of your religion is the wara’ (piety, self restrain).”

(At-Tabarani, Al-Awsat; Al-Bazzar)

Allah takes care

‘Whosoever rectifies what he does in privacy, Allah will rectify for him his public image. Whosoever rectifies his relationship with Allah, Allah will rectify his relations with the people. Whosoever strives for his Hereafter, Allah takes care of his worldly matters.’

– Kitab Az-Zuhd, Hannad Bin As-Sari, vol. 1, pg. 300

Dead Hearts and Empty Supplications

Dead Hearts and Empty Supplications

It is reported that Ibrâhîm b. Adham (d162H) – Allâh have mercy on him – once passed through the market of Basrah. People gathered around him and asked:

O Abû Ishâq, Allâh the Exalted says in his Book. ‘Call on me, I will answer your prayers’, but we have been calling on Him for a long time and He does not answer our prayers. [Ibrâhîm] replied, “O people of Basrah, your hearts have died in respect to ten things:



First, you know Allâh but you do not give Him His rights;

Second, you have read Allâh’s Book but you do not act by it;

Third, you claim to love Allâh’s Messenger – Allâh’s peace and blessings be upon him – yet you abandon his Sunnah;

Fourth, you claim to be enemies to Shaytân but you conform to [his ways];

Fifth, you say you love Paradise yet you do not work for it;

Sixth, you say you fear The Fire yet you put yourselves closer to it [by sinning];

Seventh, you say death is true but you do not prepare for it;

Eighth, you busy yourselves with the faults of others and disregard your own;

Ninth, you consume the favors of your Lord but are not grateful for them; and

Tenth, you bury your dead but take no lesson from them.”
Abû Nu’aym, Hilyah Al-Awliyâ’ 8: 15, 16.

Hardship a Blessing

"Knowledge knocks on the door of action. If it receives a reply, it stays, otherwise it departs."

"In our view, a person does not have an understanding of the religion until he thinks of a hardship as being a blessing, and a comfort and luxury as being a hardship."
Sufyaan ath-Thawri رحمه الله

Useful Knowledge

Useful knowledge is that which makes you

grow in the fear of Allah,

increases you in awareness of your defects,

deepens your knowledge of the worship of your Lord Most High,

decreases your desire for this world and increases your desire for the life to come,

and opens your eyes to the defects of your actions so that you guard against them."


-Imam Ghazali

Supplicating Earnestly

This is one of the most beneficial medicines.

Ibn Maajah reported in his Sunan, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (radiyallaahu ‘anhu) who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said: ‘He who does not ask Allaah, earns His Anger.’”(3)

Al-Hakim reported in his Sahih book, on the authority of Anas (radiyallaahu ta’aala anhu) that the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said: “Do not under-estimate supplication, for no one perishes with it.”

Al-Awza’i reported from az-Zuhari, from ‘Urwah, from ‘Aishaah (radiyallaahu ‘anha) who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said: ‘Allaah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) loves those who persist in supplicating to Him.”


In the book, Zuhd, by Imaam Ahmad, on the authority of Abu Qatadah who said: “Muwariq said: ‘I could not find a better example of a believer but that of a man clinging to a piece of wood at sea, praying: ‘O Lord…O Lord…’ asking Allaah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) to save him.”
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Footnotes:

3) Recorded by At-Tirmidhee in the “Book of Supplications”, (chapter 24) and Ahmad in his Musnad (2/442).

Transcribed from: Spiritual Disease and its Cure, Ibn Qayyim, rahimahullaah

Forgiveness

Hadith Qudsi, Allah said:
O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall
forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind.
O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were
you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you.
O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the
earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I
would bring you forgiveness nearly as great at it.
- Saheeh. Related by at-Tirmidhi

Advice of Sufyaan Ath-Thawri

Sufyaan once wrote to one of his Muslim brothers:
Posted: 31 Aug 2010 04:51 PM PDT


May Allaah, with His Mercy, protect both me and you from the Hellfire.



I advise both you and myself to fear Allaah. And I warn you not to turn to ignorance after you have learned, not to turn to destruction after you have seen and recognized the truth, and not to leave the (Straight) Path after it has been made clear to you.





Do not become deceived by worldly people, and do not become unduly impressed by the way they strive for and greedily gather worldly things, for the terror (that will envelop them on the Day of Resurrection) is severe indeed. The danger (of the Day of Resurrection) is grave indeed, but what is more, it is near at hand.





So occupy yourself exclusively with the Hereafter, and empty your heart of all other thoughts; once you have done that, work hard! Do not waste time! And flee from the world and its temptations! Travel to the Hereafter (with your worship) before you are taken there…I have indeed given you the same advice that I gave myself.





And understand that success comes from Allaah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala). The key to gaining His help is supplication, prayer, feeling remorse for past negligence, and complete submission to Him. Your days and nights are numbered, so use the time you have left wisely, and do not be negligent in fulfilling the rights of your Lord.





I ask Allaah, Who has blessed us to know Him, not to entrust us and you to our ownselves; and I ask Allaah to be our Guardian and Helper, just as He is the Guardian and Helper of His beloved, righteous slaves.





Beware of doing that which will spoil your deeds, and know that it is showing off that spoils a person’s deeds; and if it is not showing off, then it is conceitedness – for you to imagine that you are better than one of your Muslim brothers, when in reality he performs more good deeds than you do; or perhaps he performs his deeds with a purer intention than you do.





And even if you are not conceited, beware of developing a love for praise. Be ever so careful not to come to love other people’s praise of your good deeds, or the respect they feel for you and bestow upon you because of your good deeds. And beware of desiring that others should help you in your personal affairs just because they have become impressed with your good deeds. You surely claim (as does everyone else), after all, that you are doing good deeds only for the sake of Allaah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala); well, then turn that claim into a reality.





If you want to be less desirous of this world – its things, wealth, and pleasures – and more desirous of the Hereafter — Paradise and its bliss – then remember death frequently.





And know that you have long term hopes for this world – which one should not have — if you fear Allaah only a little or if you recklessly perpetrate sins.





And one will be sufficiently regretful and wretched on the Day of Resurrection if he has knowledge but does not apply it.





Transcribed from: The Biography of Sufyaan Ath-Thauree, rahimahullaah, page 181-183