Chapters On Zuhd

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are two blessings in which many people incur loss: health and free time."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Remember the destroyer of pleasures frequently," meaning death.

Hāni’, the freed slave of ‘Uthmān (may Allah be pleased with him), reported: Whenever ‘Uthmān stood by a grave, he would cry until he would wet his beard. It was said to him: You remember Paradise and Hellfire and you do not cry, and yet you cry because of this? So he said: Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Verily, the grave is the first stage of the stages of the Hereafter. If one is saved from it, what comes after it is easier, but if one is not saved from it, then what comes after it is harder."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He who weeps out of fear of Allah, will not enter the Hell till the milk returns into the udder; and the dust raised while fighting in the path of Allah and the smoke of Hell will not come together."

Mu‘awiyah ibn Haydah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Woe to him who speaks and tells lies so as to make people laugh thereby. Woe to him! Woe to him!"

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Part of a person's excellence in Islam is his leaving what does not concern him."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Part of a person's excellence in Islam is his leaving what does not concern him."

Sahl ibn Sa‘d As-Sā‘idi (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Were this world worth a wing of a mosquito in the sight of Allah, He would not have given the disbeliever a drink of water thereof."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Indeed, this world is cursed, and everything in it is cursed, except for the remembrance of Allah, what aligns with it, and a scholar or a knowledge seeker."

Al-Mustawrid ibn Shaddād (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This world in comparison with the Hereafter is like the amount of water one of you gets when he dips his finger in the sea. Let him see what his finger returns with."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This world is a prison for the believer and a paradise for the disbeliever."

Abu Kabshah ‘Amr ibn Sa‘d (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I swear by Allah for three things which I am going to tell you about. Remember them well: The wealth of a man will not diminish by charity; Allah augments the honor of a man who endures an oppression patiently; and he who opens a gate of begging, Allah opens a gate of poverty (or he said a word similar to it)." He also said: "Remember well what I am going to tell you: The world is for four kinds of people. (1) One upon whom Allah has bestowed wealth and knowledge and so he fears his Lord in respect to them, maintains the ties of kinship, and acknowledges the rights of Allah on him; this type will have the best position. (2) One upon whom Allah has conferred knowledge but no wealth, and he is sincere in his intention and says: 'Had I possessed wealth, I would have acted like so-and-so.' He will be treated according to his intention, and his reward is the same as that of the other. (3) One whom Allah has given wealth but no knowledge and he squanders his wealth ignorantly, does not fear Allah in respect to it, does not discharge the obligations of kinship, and does not acknowledge the rights of Allah. Such a person will be in the worst position. (4) One upon whom Allah has bestowed neither wealth nor knowledge and he says: 'Had I possessed wealth, I would have acted like so-and-so (i.e. he would squander his wealth).' He will be treated according to his intention, and both will have equal sin."

Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He who is inflicted with poverty and seeks relief from people, he will not be relieved; whereras he who seeks relief from Allah, he will be given sustenance from Allah sooner or later."

Abdullāh ibn Busr al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The best of people is the one whose life is long and his deeds are good."

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) passed by us while we were repairing a hut that we owned. He said: "What is this?" We replied: "It has become weak, so we are repairing it." He said: "I foresee that the matter (meaning death) is swifter/sooner than that."

Ka‘b ibn ‘Iyad (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that he heard the Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Every Ummah has a trial, and the trial of my Ummah is wealth."

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If the son of Adam were to possess two valleys full of wealth, he would seek the third. Nothing can fill his belly except dust, and Allah accepts the repentance of whoever repents."

‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "If only you relied on Allah the way you should, He would provide for you as He provides for birds; they set out hungry in the morning and return satiated in the evening."

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: There were two brothers during the time of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). One of them used to come to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and the other used to work to earn a living. Once, the working brother complained to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) about his brother. Thereupon, he replied: "Perhaps you are granted sustenance because of him."

‘Ubaidullah ibn Mihsan al-Ansāri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever among you wakes up in the morning healthy in his body, secure in his dwelling, and has his food for the day, it is as if the whole world has been given to him."

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Successful is the one who embraces Islam, is provided with mere subsistence, and Allah makes him content with what He has given him."

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to spend consecutive nights with an empty stomach, and his household would find no supper, and their bread was mostly made of of barley.

Fudālah ibn ‘Ubayd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that when the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) led the people in prayer, some men would collapse while praying from hunger — Those were the people of the Suffah — until the Bedouins would say: "These people are mad." So when the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings upon him) finished the prayer, he would turn to them and say: "If you knew what was in store for you with Allah, the Exalted, you would love to be increased in poverty and need."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Richness is not the abundance of wealth. Rather, true richness is self-sufficiency."

‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was sleeping upon a straw mat, and then he got up, and it had left marks on his side. We said: O Messenger of Allah, we could get a mattress for you. He said: "What do I have to do with this worldly life? I am in this worldly life like a rider who seeks shade under a tree, then he goes away and leaves it."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A man follows the religion (i.e. ways and manners) of his close friend. So, each of you should carefully consider whom he takes as his intimate friend."

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The dead person is followed by three: His family, his wealth and his deeds. Then two of them return: His family and his wealth, and there remain only his deeds."

Al-Miqdām ibn Ma‘di Karib (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: "The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach. It is enough for the son of Adam to eat a few mouthfuls to straighten his back, but if he must (fill his stomach), then one-third for his food, one-third for his drink, and one-third for his breath."

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: There was a man who looked after the family and the belongings of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him); he was called Karkara. The man died and the Prophet said: "He is in Hellfire." The people then went to look at him and found in his place a cloak which he had stolen from the war booty.

Zirr ibn Hubaysh reported: I went to Safwān ibn ‘Assāl al-Murādi to ask him about wiping over leather socks. He said: What brought you here, O Zirr? I said: Pursuit of knowledge. He said: Indeed, the angels lower their wings for the seeker of knowledge out of pleasure for what he seeks. I said: I entertain some doubts regarding wiping over leather socks after defecation or urination. Now since you are one of the Prophet's Companions, I have come to ask you whether you heard him say anything about this. He replied: Yes. He used to command us, when we were on a journey or were travellers, not to remove our leather socks for three days and nights—except in the case of Janābah (major ritual impurity). In other cases such as defecation, urination, or sleep, it is sufficient to wipe over leather socks. Then I asked him: "Did you hear him say anything about love?" He replied: Yes. While we were with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on a journey, a Bedouin called out in a loud voice: O Muhammad! The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) replied in the same tone: "Here I am!" We said to him (the Bedouin): Woe to you! Lower your voice, for you are in the Prophet's presence, where you are not allowed to do so. He said: By Allah, I will not lower my voice. The Bedouin said: What about a person who loves some people but cannot catch up with them? The Prophet (ﷺ) replied: "A person shall be with those whom he loves on the Day of Judgment." He kept speaking to us, and during his speech he mentioned a gate in the direction of the west, the width of which a rider crosses its width in forty or seventy years.

An-Nawwās ibn Sim‘ān al-Ansāri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I asked the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) about righteousness and sinfulness, and he said, "Righteousness is good morals, and sinfulness is what your heart is not at ease with, and you hate that people know about it."

Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah, the Almighty, said: 'Those who love one another for the sake of My glory will have pulpits of light for which the prophets and martyrs will envy them.'"

Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take no companion except a believer and let no one eat your food except an Allah-fearing person.’"

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The greater the tribulation, the greater the reward. When Allah loves people, He tests them. So whoever is content, for him is pleasure; and whoever is discontent, for him is displeasure.”

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The believer, man or woman, will continue to be tested concerning his or her self, children, and property until they meet Allah without any sins in their record."