The Salaf

Posted May 10, 2011 by Aboo Thaabit with 35 Comments

al-Qalshaanee: 

as-Salaf as-Saalih (the pious predecessors) are the first generation (and the other two who came after) who were well grounded in knowledge. Those who followed the guidance of the Prophet, safeguarding his Sunnah. 

Allaah selected them to become companions of His Prophet, and chose them to aid this religion, they struggled for the sake of Allaah in its truest sense and never tired in advising the Muslim Ummah, sacrificing themselves in order to please Allaah. 

And Allaah praised them in His book:  

مُّحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ أَشِدَّاء عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَاء بَيْنَهُمْ 

Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah, and those who are with him (his companions) are firm against the non believers (yet) merciful amongst each other. [al-Fat-h v. 29] 

And His statement: 

 لِلْفُقَرَاء الْمُهَاجِرِينَ الَّذِينَ أُخْرِجُوا مِن دِيارِهِمْ وَأَمْوَالِهِمْ يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانًا وَيَنصُرُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ أُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الصَّادِقُونَ  

For the poor emigrants who were expelled from their homes and their properties, seeking bounty from Allaah and [His] approval and supporting Allaah and His Messenger, [there is also a share]. Those are the truthful. [al-Hashr v. 8] 

And Allaah mentioned the Muhajireen and the Ansaar in those verses (and the following ones) praising those who came after them and showing that His pleasure lies in following their footsteps. 

Similarly He warned against a severe punishment against those who go against their way (the way of the companions) Allaah said: 

وَمَن يُشَاقِقِ الرَّسُولَ مِن بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ الْهُدَى وَيَتَّبِعْ غَيْرَ سَبِيلِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ نُوَلِّهِ مَا تَوَلَّى وَنُصْلِهِ جَهَنَّمَ وَسَاءتْ مَصِيرًا

And whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him, and follows other than the way of the believers – We will make him responsible for his choice and drive him into Hell, and evil it is as a destination.  [an-Nisaa v. 115] 

So it is upon us to follow them with regards to what they taught us about the religion. And we practise Islaam the way they practised it whilst making du’aa for them as Allaah commanded us: 

وَالَّذِينَ جَاؤُوا مِن بَعْدِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا وَلِإِخْوَانِنَا الَّذِينَ سَبَقُونَا بِالْإِيمَانِ وَلَا تَجْعَلْ فِي قُلُوبِنَا غِلًّا لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا رَبَّنَا إِنَّكَ رَؤُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ  

As for those who came after them, they say, O our Lord forgive us our sins and (the sins of) our brothers who preceded us in faith, and do not place in our hearts any resentment towards those who have believed, our Lord, verily You are Kind and Merciful. [al-Hashr v. 10] 

[an-Nubad al-Waafiyyah p. 11]

‘Aashooraa

Posted Dec 15, 2010 by Aboo Thaabit with No Comments

When is the day of ‘Aashooraa?

It is the tenth day of the Islamic Month Muharram.

What is so important about it?

The Prophet and the Companions used to fast this day.

The month of Muharram is from amongst the blessed months and the holy months in Islaam. The Prophet said:

The best fasting after Ramadaan is the month of Allaah Muharram, and the best prayer after the obligatory prayer is prayer at night.

And in particular the day of ‘Aashooraa. Since the Messenger of Allah reached Madeenah he saw the jews fasting this day of ‘Aashooraa and upon enquiring they informed him that this day was the day Allah saved His Messenger Moosa and destroyed Fir’awn and his army. Whereupon the Messenger of Allah replied that verily we have more right to Moosa then you and thus the fasting of ‘Aashooraa was made obligatory in the early stages in Islaam. Later on when the fasting of Ramadan was made compulsory the fasting of ‘Aashooraa was made a Sunnah Mu-akkadah.

Shaykh ibn ’Uthaymeen says in his explanation of Riyaadh-as-Saaliheen regarding how to fast:

The Prophet orderd the fasting of ‘Aashoora but orded us to go against the Jews at the same time. This is why he orded the fasting of the ninth day with the tenth or the eleventh day with the tenth and not the tenth day alone [like the jews used to do]

And the best thing to do is to fast ninth and tenth of Muharram.

Virtues of  ‘Aashooraa.

The Messenger of Allah said:

Fasting the day of ‘Arafah I hope Allaah will expiate thereby for the year before it and the year after it, and fasting the day of ‘Ashoora’ I hope Allaah will expiate thereby for the year that came before it. 

Ibn ‘Abbas said that the fasting of Ramadan can be made up for any other day, but when will one who missed this blessed day make up for ‘Aashooraa?

He also said this is the day when the Prophet Aadam was sent down to earth and the day when Allah accepted his repentance.

As a last word, and this is of great importance. There have been many innovations added to this blessed month and blessed day in particular and it is upon every muslim to stay away from any kinds of innovations with regards to the religion since this is considered a lie against Allah and His Messenger.

Names and attributes of the People of the Sunnah

Posted Sep 08, 2010 by Aboo Thaabit with 4 Comments

Some names and attributes of the People of the Sunnah

Narrated by Thoowbaan – May Allaah be pleased with him – that he said, the Messenger of Allaah – May Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him – said:

“A portion of my Ummah will never cease to be upon the truth, aided, until the decree of Allaah comes.”

 [Muslim 1920, and the wording belongs to Ibn Hibbaan 109/15]

Narrated by Anas bin Maalik – May Allaah be pleased with him – he said, the Messenger of Allaah – May Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him – said:

“Verily the Children of Israel divided into 71 sects and verily my Ummah will divide into 72 sects, all of them in the Hell fire except one. He (Anas) said, so it was said, o Messenger of Allaah, what is this one (saved sect)?

He (Anas) said, so the Messenger of Allaah closed his hand and said; al-Jamaa’ah.”

وَاعْتَصِمُواْ بِحَبْلِ اللّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلاَ تَفَرَّقُواْ

And hold firmly onto the rope of Allaah and do not become divided

 [Ahmad 145/3, Ibn Maajah 1322/2, declared saheeh by al-Albaanee in Dhilaal al-Jannah 27/1]

And Ahmad bin Hanbal said regarding the hadeeth:

“The Ummah has divided into 70 odd sects, all in the Hell fire except one sect”

(If they are not the People of Hadeeth then I do not know who they are)

[Al-Khateeb in Sharaf as-haab al-hadeeth 57]

Ibn al-Mubaarak and Ahmad bin Hanbal and ‘Alee bin al-Madeenee and al-Bukhaaree along with others said with regards to the hadeeth:

“A portion of my Ummah will never cease to be supported by the truth”

(They are the People of Hadeeth)

[Al-Khateeb in Sharaf as-haab al-hadeeth 59-62]

Al-Barbahaaree said:

“So fear Allaah with regards to yourself! And upon you is (to follow) the athar and the People of athar.”

[Sharh as-Sunnah p. 55]

And al-Lalkaa’ee said in the introduction of his book Osool ‘itiqaad ahl-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah, in describing the ahl-Sunnah:

“So they are the aided party, and the saved sect and the just Jamaa’ah which holds firmly to the Sunnah.” [24/1]

Ibn Tayymiyyah said in the beginning of al-‘Aqeedah al-Waasitiyyah:

“Then this is the creed of the saved sect, the one aided until the end of time, ahl-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah.”

[Majmoo’ al-Fataawa 129/3]

Ibn Baaz said:

“The saved sect is the aided party and its attributes are that they follow the salaf and that they thread upon the path of the Sahaabah  – May Allaah be pleased with them all and those who follow them in goodness”-

 [Fataawa Noorun ‘ala ad-Darb 136/3]

Benefits:

Firstly: From the names of the ahl-Sunnah wa al-Jamaa’ah are (but not limited to), ahl al-Hadeeth (the People of Hadeeth), as-Haab al-Athar (the People of Athar), at-Taa-ifah al-Mansoorah (the aided party), al-Firqah an-Naajiyah (the saved sect).

Secondly: The aided party and the saved sect are two names for the same group of people.

Thirdly:  They are saved with regards to the hereafter and aided with regards to this life.

Fourthly: Nullification of those who separate between the saved sect and the aided party.

The Sunnah and its People

Posted Sep 08, 2010 by Aboo Thaabit with No Comments

The Sunnah and its People

Allaah the Most High said:

وَأَنَّ هَـذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَن سَبِيلِهِ ذَلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُم بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

And this is my path, straight, follow it and do not follow other paths lest you should deviate from His path. That is what has been ordained for you so that you may achieve Taqwa. [Surah al-An’aam, verse 153]

And He said:

قُلْ هَـذِهِ سَبِيلِي أَدْعُو إِلَى اللّهِ عَلَى بَصِيرَةٍ أَنَاْ وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَنِي وَسُبْحَانَ اللّهِ وَمَا أَنَاْ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ

Say; this is my path, I call unto Allaah upon firm knowledge, me and those who follow me. Glory by to Allaah and I am not from amongst the Mushrikeen. [Surah Yoosof, verse 108]

Narrated by al-‘Irbaadh bin Saariyah – may Allaah be pleased with him – that the Prophet – may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him – said:

“Verily whoever amongst you lives after me will see a lot divisions, so stick to my Sunnah and the sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs, hold on to it with your molar teeth and beware of newly invented matters because every new thing is an innovation and verily every innovation is misguidance.”

 [Ahmad 126/4, Aboo Daawood 200/4, at-Tirmidhi 44/5, Ibn Maajah 18/1, authenticated by al-Albaanee in as-Saheeh 2735]

Narrated by Aboo Hurayrah – may Allaah be pleased with him – he said that the Prophet – may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him – said:

“I have left behind me amongst you two things, you will never go astray after them – the book of Allaah and my Sunnah – and they will never be separated until I come to the Hawd (pond)”

[ad-Daaraqutnee 245/4,  authenticated by al-Haakim 172/1, al-Bayhaqiy in as-Sunan al-Kubraa 114/10, declared Hasan by al-Albaanee in Manzilat as-Sunnah fee al-Islaam p. 18 and in Saheeh al-Jaami’ 2937]

And the pillar of the Sunnah, Abul Qaasim at-Teemee al-Asbahaanee said:

“The scholars of the Arabic language said: as-Sunnah means a path or a way. So when they say such and such person is upon the Sunnah or from the people of the Sunnah it means that he is following the evidence both in his speech and action. Because it is not possible to follow the Sunnah whilst going against Allaah or going against His Messenger.” [al-Hujjah fee bayaan al-Mahajjah 384/2]

Ibn Rajab said:

“as-Sunnah is a path that is threaded upon which includes everything that the Prophet – may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him – and his righteous companions either believed in or spoke or acted according to, and this is the complete Sunnah. And this was the practice of the salaf in old times; they did not use the term as-Sunnah except to mean every aspect of it. This is what has been reported from al-Hasan, al-Awzaa’ee, al-Fudayl bin ‘Iyyaadh.

Whilst many recent scholars use the term to refer to the aspect of the creed since this is the essence of the religion and whoever objects to the creed is in grave danger.” [Jaami’ ‘Uloom wal Hikam 263/1]

Ibn Hazm said:

So the ahl as-Sunnah are the People of the truth and whoever goes against them is from the ahl-Bid’ah (people of innovation) because they (the ahl as-Sunnah) are the companions – may Allaah be pleased with them all – and everyone who threads upon the same path from the pious Taabi’een – may Allaah have mercy upon them – and the People of Hadeeth and whoever followed them from amongst the scholars, generation after generation until our day. Including whoever strives to be like them from among the common folk in the lands of the Far East and to the west – may Allaah have mercy upon them all – [al-Fasl  fee al-Milal wa al-Hawa wa an-Nahl 90/2]

Benefits:

Firstly: The Sunnah is the way shown by the Prophet – may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him – both in speech and action.

Secondly: The actions of the companions fall underneath the definition of as-Sunnah.

Thirdly: The People of the Sunnah are those who follow the evidence of the Prophet – May Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him – and follow his companions in all matters of the religion.

Fourthly: Linking the Qur’aan with Sunnah, and the Sunnah with the Qur’aan.