Do not be arrogant

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Al-A'raf (The Heights) - 7:146. From My messages shall I cause to turn away all those who, without any right, behave haughtily on earth: for, though they may see every sign [of the truth], they do not believe in it, and though they may see the path of rectitude, they do not choose to follow it-whereas, if they see a path of error, they take it for their own: this, because they have given the lie to Our messages, and have remained heedless of them,"


Do not be arrogant enough to think you are all-knowledgeable

The representative character of Muslim scholars used to be humility.  And this is something that we need to revisit. There are many proofs of this, but for now, I will only quote this story narrated by Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi in his "عارضة الأحوذي   Aridhat al-Ahwazi'" a commentary on Imam Tirmidhi's hadith collection.

A man was praying in the masjid beside Ibn al-Shihab al-Zuhri who was the leading authority on matters of jurisprudence on behalf of the government at that time.  Observing that the man did two two tasleema at the end of his prayers, Ibn al-Shihab asked him where he was from, as it was the norm to do only one tasleema at that time.

The man replied, "Kufa".

Ibn al-Shihab asked him further:
"Where do you get this second tasleema from?"

The man responded:
"Ibrahīm al-Nakha'ī told me that he heard from  'Alqamah Ibn Qays who learnt from  'Abdullāh Ibn Mas'ūd (رضي الله عنه)."

Ibn al-Shihab said :
"I have never heard of this"

The man responded:
"Are you aware of all the hadith of the Prophet  ﷺ ?"

Ibn al-Shihab replied, humbly :
"No"

The man continued :
"Then perhaps two-thirds of those?"

Ibn al-Shihab replied, again, humbly :
"No"

The man pressed on :
"Then perhaps half?"

Ibn al-Shihab said :
"Yes"

Here the narrator was in doubt that it might have been one-third.

So the man said to Ibn al-Shihab:
"Then you should place this hadith among the two-thirds that you have not seen yet"
 
Hearing this, Ibn-al-Shihab, the leading religious authority of the time (at least in the government), rather than rebuking him or getting angry, simply laughed, and left the man alone.  I am sure that nowadays we have plenty of people who know far less than Ibn al-Shihab al Zuhri, and if faced with such a situation, would have reacted rather harshly, and full of self-righteous condemnation for something different from their understanding.

What goals are you pursuing?

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Al-Imran (The Family of Imran) - 3:14  Alluring unto man is the enjoyment of worldly desires through women, and children, and heaped-up treasures of gold and silver, and horses of high mark, and cattle, and lands. All this may be enjoyed in the life of this world - but the most beauteous of all goals is with God.


What goals are you pursuing?

Once there was a farmer living in the rural outskirts, and he owned several dogs.  These dogs would laze around by the road side and would only become alert when a car or a motorbike would pass by.  Hearing the sounds of an engine, they would become instantly alert, and pursue the vehicle barking loudly and they would keep chasing it till a certain point on the road, after which they would stop and come back to their original positions and lie in wait for the next one.

A wise woman passing through the village asked the farmer:

"What do these dogs hope to achieve?"

The farmer replied:

"I know, it seems rather futile,  and a waste of time. But they have been like this since as far back as I can remember.  And is it so strange? Don't all dogs do this?"

The woman continued:

"What they do has the potential of harming the dogs themselves, or the riders, especially if it is a motorbike rider. And they do raise quite a din as well"

The farmer apologetically said:

"Is it the noise that is bothering you?"

The woman rather enigmatically quipped:

"Well yes, that, and also what will they do if they actually catch up with a vehicle?"

Do not think of yourself as being better than others

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Part of ayat An-Najm (The Star) - 53:32 He is fully aware of you when He brings you into being out of dust,  and when you are still hidden in your mothers’ wombs: do not, then, consider your­selves pure - [for] He knows best as to who is conscious of Him.


Do not think of yourself as being better than others

Once there was a diligent young man who wanted to learn Islam from the best of the best scholars. Perfect teachers. He came up with the criteria that a great scholar is one who is great in his deeds, so he will only learn from those within whom he does not find any mistakes, let alone sins.

He went up to a scholar, and requested permission to stay with him, and to learn from him with the caveat that if he finds any shortcomings, he will leave without further ado.  And it so happened that after several days he found something in the scholar that he did not like, and so he left.

Then he went looking for another scholar, and after several weeks, he found one, and repeated the process. After a few days, he left dejected due to something similar.  Finally, after several years of seeking, and spending time in the company of scholars, it is said that the number of scholars rejected by him reached ninety nine. So he was hoping against hope that the next one, that is, the hundredth one will rise up to his standard, so that he learns from him.

So, he told this hundredth fellow, a pious old wise man, the terms of his search. The old saint arranged for him to be well fed and rested, and said he will reply the next morning. Here is what he had to say:

"Son, do not wait to find one defect/flaw in me, for rest assured, I have many. You will be wasting your time. So, I have asked my family to prepare provisions for your return journey. However, since you have traveled far and wide to get here, let me offer you an idea, or an advice, if you so wish it."

The young man was open to listening to the advice. So the old man went on:

"Based on what you said, you have traveled thousands of miles and spend years in seeking out a perfect teacher or scholar, and yet, all you have to show for it is ninety-nine flaws that you found in others. Had you decided, instead, to pick one good trait from each of them, as of now, you would have been richer by ninety nine good character traits, and who knows, maybe had become a teacher in your own right. How wonderful would it have been?"

Hearing this, the youth was shocked, and was awakened to his folly and at the same time was hit with the realization that this hundredth teacher is the teacher that he was looking for.

Know your messenger peace be upon him

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

At-Taubah 9:128 Now has come unto you a Messenger from amongst yourselves: it grieves him that ye should perish: ardently anxious is he over you: to the Believers is he most kind and merciful.


Know your Messenger, and Honor him(ﷺ)


Abū Bakr Ibn Mujāhid was a scholar of Islamic studies and famous reciter, used to get up to greet Shibli, which was contrary to his usual habit for anyone else.  Once his companions protested, "You rise for ash-Shibli and you do not rise for Ibn 'Isa, even though he is the wazir?"

He replied "Shall I not rise for the one whom the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) told me to respect? I saw the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) in a dream and he said to me, 'Abu Bakr, tomorrow a man of the people of Paradise will come to you, so honour him.'"  And this was the reason that Shibli received this honorable treatment from him.

A couple of nights after this, Ibn Mujahid dreamt of the Prophet (ﷺ) again who told him, "Abu Bakr, Allah has honoured you for honouring a man of the people of Paradise."

I asked, "Messenger of Allah(ﷺ), what did he do to merit this from you?' To which the Messenger(ﷺ) replied, "Every Thursday whenever he was done with each of his five daily prayers, he would remember me after every prayer and would do salwat after reciting the verse: "A Messenger has come to you from among yourselves........" (9:128)'"

Tartib al-Madarik by Qadi 'Iyad https://bewley.virtualave.net/mad8.html 

Ibn 'Isa himself was a generous and kind person, who once was approached by a person, saying "Ibn 'Isa, I am in need and the Prophet ﷺ came to me in a dream and told me to tell you that you used to recite 4000 salawat to the Prophet ﷺ every Thursday night, but last week you did not. As a recompense, you should help settle my debt." Hearing this, Ibn 'Isa wept for this was a secret not known to anybody. He generously helped the person and gave him extra, just for bringing the blessed news to him that that the Prophet ﷺ had noticed Ibn 'Isa's salutations.

Seize the day

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

"Eat and drink with good cheer in return for all [the good deeds] that you have sent ahead in days gone by!" (Al-Haqqah (The Reality) - 69:24 )


Seize the day. Or take advantage of the time that you have.

'Abdullah Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما was once on a journey out of Medīna with some of his companions.  They stopped to eat, as the weather was rather hot. When they had spread out their tablecloth, a shepherd passed by, so they invited him to eat with them. He politely declined, stating that “I am fasting.” Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما said, “You are fasting on a hot day like this, while you are between these valleys walking behind these sheep?”

The shepherd replied, “I am taking advantage of these free days of mine.”

For if you read the ayat above, only those will eat and drink in the Hereafter, who have used their time wisely, to send good deeds up ahead.

Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما was impressed by this reply and said, “Can you sell one of your sheep to us? We will share some of it with you, with which you can break your fast and we will pay you for it.” The shepherd said, “They do not belong to me; they belong to my master.” Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما (wanting to test him) said, “What will your master say to you if you tell him it was eaten by a wolf?” The shepherd said that his master would believe if he said so, but said in a loud voice, “What about Allāh?” Ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما was so struck by this that he kept repeating this phrase of his till they reached home. When he arrived in Medīna, he went to the shepherd’s master, bought the sheep and secured the shepherd's freedom. He then gifted all the sheep to the shepherd, who was now a free man.