2. Al Makasib : Earnings by Al Muhasibi part 2

الْمَكَاسِبُ وَالْوَرَعُ وَالشُّبْهَةُ

Al-Makāsibu wa-al-Waraʿu wa-al-Shubhatu

Earnings, Scrupulousness, and the Doubtful

الْحَارِثُ بْنُ أَسَدٍ الْمُحَاسِبِيُّ

Al-Ḥārithu bnu ʾAsadin al-Muḥāsibiyyu

Al-Ḥārith ibn Asad al-Muḥāsibī

Source page 133

بَابُ تَرْكِ الْحَرَكَةِ فِي الْكَسْبِ وَمَا فِي ذَلِكَ مِنْ مَحْمُودِهِ وَمَذْمُومِهِ

Bābu tarki al-ḥarakati fī al-kasbi wa-mā fī dhālika min maḥmūdihi wa-madhmūmihi

Chapter on refraining from earning, and what is praiseworthy and blameworthy in it

وَقَدْ تَرَكَ الْحَرَكَةَ فِي الْكَسْبِ أَقْوَامٌ، عَلَى أُمُورٍ مُخْتَلِفَةٍ، وَأَنَا وَاصِفٌ بَعْضَهَا إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: فَمِنْ ذَلِكَ مَا زَعَمَ شَقِيقٌ، وَاتَّبَعَهُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ أَقْوَامٌ. زَعَمَ شَقِيقٌ فِيمَا يُرْوَى، عَنْهُ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ: إِنَّ الْحَرَكَةَ فِي الْكَسْبِ مَعْصِيَةٌ. وَذَلِكَ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: لَمَّا ضَمِنَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى الرِّزْقَ وَالْكِفَايَةَ، كَانَتِ الْحَرَكَةُ شَكًّا فِيمَا ضَمِنَ.

Wa-qad taraka al-ḥarakata fī al-kasbi ʾaqwāmun, ʿalā ʾumūrin mukhtalifatin, wa-ʾanā wāṣifun baʿḍahā ʾin shāʾa Allāhu taʿālā: fa-min dhālika mā zaʿama Shaqīqun, wa-ittabaʿahu ʿalā dhālika ʾaqwāmun. Zaʿama Shaqīqun fīmā yurwā, ʿanhu ʾannahu kāna yaqūlu: ʾinna al-ḥarakata fī al-kasbi maʿṣiyatun. Wa-dhālika ʾannahu qāla: lammā ḍamina Allāhu taʿālā al-rizqa wa-al-kifāyata, kānati al-ḥarakatu shakkan fīmā ḍamina.

Various groups have refrained from earning for different reasons. I will describe some of them, if God Most High wills. One example is what Shaqīq claimed and others followed him in claiming. According to what is related from him, Shaqīq used to say that working to earn was disobedience. His reasoning was that, since God Most High guaranteed provision and sufficiency, activity expressed doubt about His guarantee.

فَحَمَلَ الْأَمْرَ فِي ذَلِكَ عَلَى رَأْيِهِ، وَقَالَ فِيهِ بِزَلَلِهِ، فَخَالَفَ الْكِتَابَ وَالسُّنَّةَ، وَمَا عَلَيْهِ أَكَابِرُ أَصْحَابِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَجِلَّةُ التَّابِعِينَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ.

Fa-ḥamala al-ʾamra fī dhālika ʿalā raʾyihi, wa-qāla fīhi bizalalihi, fa-khālafa al-kitāba wa-al-sunnata, wa-mā ʿalayhi ʾakābiru ʾaṣḥābi rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama, wa-jillatu al-tābiʿīna min baʿdihim.

He judged the matter by his own opinion and spoke erroneously about it, contradicting Scripture, the Sunna, and the practice of the leading Companions of God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, and the eminent Successors after them.

وَجَلَسَ أَقْوَامٌ تَعَرَّضُوا لِلْكَسْبِ قَبْلَ جُلُوسِهِمْ، فَلَمْ يُمْكِنْهُمْ إِقَامَةُ الْحَقِّ فِي كَسْبِهِمْ وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَطَالِبُ فِي ذَلِكَ، فَجَلَسُوا، فَطَعَنُوا فِي الْمُتَكَسِّبِينَ، وَجَعَلُوا ضَعْفَهُمْ عَنِ الْقِيَامِ بِالْحَقِّ فِيمَا جُعِلَ الْفَضْلُ فِيهِ لِأَهْلِهِ إِذَا قَامُوا بِأَحْكَامِهِ. وَأَخَذُوا مِنْ كَسْبِ الْمُخَلِّطِينَ، وَالْمُقْدِمِينَ عَلَى الشُّبْهَةِ، وَجَعَلُوا الْأَخْذَ مِنْ أَهْلِ هَذِهِ الصِّفَةِ أَفْضَلَ عِنْدَهُمْ مِنَ التَّحَرِّي فِي الْمَكْسَبِ، وَأَخْذِ الْأَمْرِ حَتَّى يَبْلُغَهُمُ الْإِجْهَادُ.

Wa-jalasa ʾaqwāmun taʿarraḍū li-al-kasbi qabla julūsihim, fa-lam yumkinhum ʾiqāmatu al-ḥaqqi fī kasbihim wa-ḍāqat ʿalayhimu al-maṭālibu fī dhālika, fa-jalasū, fa-ṭaʿanū fī al-mutakassibīna, wa-jaʿalū ḍaʿfahum ʿani al-qiyāmi bi-al-ḥaqqi fīmā juʿila al-faḍlu fīhi li-ʾahlihi ʾidhā qāmū bi-ʾaḥkāmihi. Wa-ʾakhadhū min kasbi al-mukhalliṭīna, wa-al-muqdimīna ʿalā al-shubhati, wa-jaʿalū al-ʾakhdha min ʾahli hādhihi al-ṣifati ʾafḍala ʿindahum mina al-taḥarrī fī al-maksabi, wa-ʾakhdhi al-ʾamri ḥattā yablughahumu al-ʾijhādu.

Others stopped working after previously trying to earn. They could not maintain right conduct in their earnings and found its demands difficult. They stopped and criticized those who earned, making their own inability to uphold what is right [their criterion, as the incomplete construction seems to imply] in an activity that brings merit to those who observe its rules. They took from the earnings of people who mixed right and wrong and ventured into doubtful matters. In their judgment, taking from such people was better than conscientious care in earning and applying themselves until the effort exhausted them.

فَكَانَ مَقَامُهُمْ فِي ذَلِكَ مَقَامَ مَنْ تَنَزَّهَ عَنْ شَيْءٍ مِنْ كَسْبِهِ، وَأَخَذَ مِنْ كَسْبِ غَيْرِهِ مَا هُوَ أَشَرُّ مِنْهُ وَأَخْبَثُ فِي الطُّعْمَةِ، فَغَلِطُوا فِيمَا أَقَامُوهُ دُنْيَا. أَمَّا الْحُجَّةُ عَلَى شَقِيقٍ وَأَصْحَابِهِ فَمِنْ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى، وَسُنَّةِ رَسُولِهِ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ، وَالنَّبِيِّينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ، وَخِيَارِ أَصْحَابِهِ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ، رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ.

Fa-kāna maqāmuhum fī dhālika maqāma man tanazzaha ʿan shayʾin min kasbihi, wa-ʾakhadha min kasbi ghayrihi mā huwa ʾasharru minhu wa-ʾakhbathu fī al-ṭuʿmati, fa-ghaliṭū fīmā ʾaqāmūhu dunyā. ʾAmmā al-ḥujjatu ʿalā Shaqīqin wa-ʾaṣḥābihi fa-min kitābi Allāhi taʿālā, wa-sunnati rasūlihi ʿalayhi al-salāmu, wa-al-nabiyyīna min qablihi, wa-khiyāri ʾaṣḥābihi min baʿdihi, raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhum.

Their position was that of someone who scrupulously avoids something in his own earnings, then takes from another’s earnings what is worse and more corrupt as food. They erred in what they established as “worldly life” [the printed word is uncertain in context]. The evidence against Shaqīq and his followers comes from God Most High’s Book, the Sunna of His Messenger, peace be upon him, the prophets before him, and the finest of his Companions after him, may God be pleased with them.

فَأَمَّا الْحُجَّةُ مِنْ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ، فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى قَالَ: «يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُلُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ» [الْبَقَرَةِ: 172].

Fa-ʾammā al-ḥujjatu min kitābi Allāhi, fa-ʾinna Allāha taʿālā qāla: «yā ʾayyuhā alladhīna ʾāmanū kulū min ṭayyibāti mā kasabtum» [al-Baqarati: 172].

As for the evidence from God’s Book, God Most High said: “You who believe, eat of the good things you have earned” [Al-Baqara: 172, as cited; the printed wording again differs from 2:172 and 2:267].

وَقَالَ سُبْحَانَهُ: «يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَأْكُلُوا أَمْوَالَكُمْ بَيْنَكُمْ بِالْبَاطِلِ إِلَّا أَنْ تَكُونَ تِجَارَةً عَنْ تَرَاضٍ مِنْكُمْ» [النِّسَاءِ: 29].

Wa-qāla subḥānahu: «yā ʾayyuhā alladhīna ʾāmanū lā taʾkulū ʾamwālakum baynakum bi-al-bāṭili ʾillā ʾan takūna tijāratan ʿan tarāḍin minkum» [al-Nisāʾi: 29].

He, glory be to Him, said: “You who believe, do not consume one another’s wealth wrongfully, but let it be trade by mutual consent among you” [Al-Nisāʾ: 29].

وَقَالَ جَلَّ ثَنَاؤُهُ: «رِجَالٌ لَا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ» [النُّورِ: 37]. فَمَدَحَ إِقَامَتَهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ، فِي وَقْتِ التِّجَارَةِ.

Wa-qāla jalla thanāʾuhu: «rijālun lā tulhīhim tijāratun wa-lā bayʿun ʿan dhikri Allāhi» [al-Nūri: 37]. Fa-madaḥa ʾiqāmatahum lidhikri Allāhi, fī waqti al-tijārati.

He, exalted be His praise, said: “Men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of God” [Al-Nūr: 37]. He praised their maintaining remembrance of God while engaged in trade.

وَقَالَ جَلَّ وَعَزَّ: «يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِيَ لِلصَّلَاةِ مِنْ يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَ» [الْجُمُعَةِ: 9]. فَأَمَرَهُمْ بِتَرْكِ الْبَيْعِ فِي وَقْتٍ مَحْدُودٍ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ.

Wa-qāla jalla wa-ʿazza: «yā ʾayyuhā alladhīna ʾāmanū ʾidhā nūdiya li-al-ṣalāti min yawmi al-jumuʿati fa-isʿaw ʾilā dhikri Allāhi wa-dharū al-bayʿa» [al-Jumuʿati: 9]. Fa-ʾamarahum bitarki al-bayʿi fī waqtin maḥdūdin yawma al-jumuʿati.

He, glorious and mighty is He, said: “You who believe, when the call to prayer is made on Friday, hasten to the remembrance of God and leave off trade” [Al-Jumuʿa: 9]. He commanded them to leave off selling at a specified time on Friday.

Source page 134

وَقَالَ تَعَالَى: «يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا تَدَايَنْتُمْ بِدَيْنٍ إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى فَاكْتُبُوهُ» [الْبَقَرَةِ: 282] فَعَلَّمَهُمْ كَيْفَ يَصْنَعُونَ فِي مَتَاجِرِهِمْ، وَبَصَّرَهُمْ فِي مَكَاسِبِهِمْ.

Wa-qāla taʿālā: «yā ʾayyuhā alladhīna ʾāmanū ʾidhā tadāyantum bidaynin ʾilā ʾajalin musamman fa-uktubūhu» [al-Baqarati: 282] fa-ʿallamahum kayfa yaṣnaʿūna fī matājirihim, wa-baṣṣarahum fī makāsibihim.

He, exalted is He, said: “You who believe, when you contract a debt for a stated term, write it down” [Al-Baqara: 282]. He thus taught them how to conduct their trade and gave them insight into earning.

وَأَمَّا الْحُجَّةُ مِنْ سُنَنِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَوْلُ النَّبِيِّ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ: «أَفْضَلُ مَا أَكَلَ الرَّجُلُ مِنْ كَسْبِهِ». وَقَدْ ذَكَرْنَا مَا كَانَ عَلَيْهِ أَكَابِرُ أَصْحَابِ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَفِي هَذَا آيَاتٌ كَثِيرَةٌ مِنْ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ، وَأَخْبَارٌ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مُتَوَاتِرَةٌ، وَفِي أَقَلَّ مِمَّا ذُكِرَ يَتَبَيَّنُ خَطَأُ هَذِهِ الْمَقَالَةِ.

Wa-ʾammā al-ḥujjatu min sunani rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama fa-qawlu al-nabiyyi ʿalayhi al-salāmu: «ʾafḍalu mā ʾakala al-rajulu min kasbihi». Wa-qad dhakarnā mā kāna ʿalayhi ʾakābiru ʾaṣḥābi Muḥammadin ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama, wa-fī hādhā ʾāyātun kathīratun min kitābi Allāhi, wa-ʾakhbārun ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama mutawātiratun, wa-fī ʾaqalla mimmā dhukira yatabayyanu khaṭaʾu hādhihi al-maqālati.

The evidence from the practices of God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, is the saying of the Prophet, peace be upon him: “The finest thing a man eats is from his own earnings.” We have described the practice of the leading Companions of Muḥammad, may God bless him and grant him peace. There are many verses in God’s Book on this and extensively transmitted reports from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace. Less than what has already been mentioned suffices to show the error of this position.

وَأَمَّا الْمَقَالَةُ الثَّانِيَةُ، فَإِنَّ الْحُجَّةَ عَلَيْهِمْ فِي ذَلِكَ أَخْذُهُمُ الَّذِي تَرَكُوهُ مِنْ أَيْدِي غَيْرِهِمْ، فَإِنْ كَانَ أَخْذُهُمْ لِذَلِكَ مِنْ أَيْدِي الْأَقْوِيَاءِ الَّذِينَ كَسَبُوا الشَّيْءَ عِنْدَهُمْ عَلَى حُكْمِ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، وَسُنَّةِ نَبِيِّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، فَقَدْ سَقَطَ عَنْهُمُ الْعُذْرُ فِي الْقُعُودِ، وَعَلَيْهِمْ طَلَبُ الشَّيْءِ مِنْ حَيْثُ طَلَبَهُ هَؤُلَاءِ.

Wa-ʾammā al-maqālatu al-thāniyatu, fa-ʾinna al-ḥujjata ʿalayhim fī dhālika ʾakhdhuhumu alladhī tarakūhu min ʾaydī ghayrihim, fa-ʾin kāna ʾakhdhuhum li-dhālika min ʾaydī al-ʾaqwiyāʾi alladhīna kasabū al-shayʾa ʿindahum ʿalā ḥukmi kitābi Allāhi ʿazza wa-jalla, wa-sunnati nabiyyihi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama, fa-qad saqaṭa ʿanhumu al-ʿudhru fī al-quʿūdi, wa-ʿalayhim ṭalabu al-shayʾi min ḥaythu ṭalabahu hāʾulāʾi.

As for the second position, the evidence against them is that they take from other people’s hands the very thing they abandoned. If they take it from capable people who, in their judgment, acquired it according to the Book of God, mighty and exalted, and the Sunna of His Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, they have no excuse for sitting idle. They must seek it in the way those people sought it.

وَإِنْ كَانَ الْأَمْرُ عِنْدَهُمْ لِضَعْفٍ عَنِ الْقِيَامِ بِإِحْكَامِهِ غَيْرِهِمْ، فَقَدْ أَخَذُوا مَا تَرَكُوا، مِنْ أَيْدِي أَقْوَامٍ يُمْكِنُ عَلَيْهِمُ التَّعَدِّي فِي الطَّلَبِ، وَالتَّجَاوُزُ لِلْحَدِّ فِي الْكَسْبِ. فَأَيُّ الْحَالَتَيْنِ كَانَتْ حَالُهُمْ فَهُوَ خَطَأٌ، وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ.

Wa-ʾin kāna al-ʾamru ʿindahum liḍaʿfin ʿani al-qiyāmi bi-ʾiḥkāmihi ghayrihim, fa-qad ʾakhadhū mā tarakū, min ʾaydī ʾaqwāmin yumkinu ʿalayhimu al-taʿaddī fī al-ṭalabi, wa-al-tajāwuzu li-al-ḥaddi fī al-kasbi. Fa-ʾayyu al-ḥālatayni kānat ḥāluhum fa-huwa khaṭaʾun, wa-Allāhu ʾaʿlamu.

If, in their judgment, others too are too weak to observe it properly [the printed construction is difficult], they have taken what they abandoned from people who may transgress in seeking it and exceed the limits in earning. Whichever of these two situations is theirs, it is an error. God knows best.

وَجَلَسَ قَوْمٌ آخَرُونَ، وَزَعَمُوا أَنَّ الْجُلُوسَ عَنِ الطَّلَبِ أَفْضَلُ عِنْدَهُمْ مِنَ الْحَرَكَةِ. وَاحْتَجُّوا فِي ذَلِكَ بِأَنْ قَالُوا: لَمَّا ضَمِنَ اللَّهُ لِلْخَلْقِ أَرْزَاقَهُمْ، وَتَوَلَّى فِي ذَلِكَ كِفَايَتَهُمْ وَأَخْبَرَ بِقَسْمِ الشَّيْءِ فِي الْأَوْقَاتِ الَّتِي قَدَّرَ إِيصَالَهَا إِلَيْهِمْ فِيهَا، كَانَ انْتِظَارُ الْوَقْتِ، وَتَرْكُ الْحَرَكَةِ أَفْضَلَ، وَكَانَتِ الْحَرَكَةُ إِبَاحَةً لِضُعَفَاءِ الْخَلْقِ.

Wa-jalasa qawmun ʾākharūna, wa-zaʿamū ʾanna al-julūsa ʿani al-ṭalabi ʾafḍalu ʿindahum mina al-ḥarakati. Wa-iḥtajjū fī dhālika bi-ʾan qālū: lammā ḍamina Allāhu li-al-khalqi ʾarzāqahum, wa-tawallā fī dhālika kifāyatahum wa-ʾakhbara biqasmi al-shayʾi fī al-ʾawqāti allatī qaddara ʾīṣālahā ʾilayhim fīhā, kāna intiẓāru al-waqti, wa-tarku al-ḥarakati ʾafḍala, wa-kānati al-ḥarakatu ʾibāḥatan liḍuʿafāʾi al-khalqi.

Another group refrained from working and claimed that, in their view, refraining from seeking provision was better than activity. Their argument was this: Since God guaranteed His creatures’ livelihoods, undertook to provide enough for them, and declared that He apportioned things for the times He determined they would reach them, waiting for the appointed time and abandoning activity were better. Activity was merely a permission for the weak among creation.

وَالْحُجَّةُ عَلَيْهِمْ فِي ذَلِكَ بَيِّنَةٌ بِمَا بَيَّنَّا مِنْ فِعْلِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَمَا كَانَ أَكَابِرُ الصَّحَابَةِ عَلَيْهِ، وَذَلِكَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ جَلَّ ثَنَاؤُهُ جَعَلَ رَسُولَهُ فِي أَعْلَى الدَّرَجَاتِ، وَأَرْفَعِ الْمَنَازِلِ، وَأَتَمِّ الْمَعَارِفِ، وَأَكْمَلِ الْعِلْمِ، وَخَصَّهُ مِنْ جَزِيلِ خُصُوصِيَّتِهِ، وَرَفِيعِ هِبَاتِهِ، وَسَنِيِّ عَطَايَاهُ، مَا بَيَّنَ بِهِ فَضْلَهُ عَلَى أَكْبَرِ الْأَوْلِيَاءِ، وَكَذَلِكَ حَرَكَاتُهُ وَسَائِرُ أَعْمَالِهِ، جَعَلَهَا اللَّهُ عَلَى قَدْرِ الْمَوْضِعِ الَّذِي جَعَلَهُ فِيهِ.

Wa-al-ḥujjatu ʿalayhim fī dhālika bayyinatun bimā bayyannā min fiʿli al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama, wa-mā kāna ʾakābiru al-ṣaḥābati ʿalayhi, wa-dhālika ʾanna Allāha jalla thanāʾuhu jaʿala rasūlahu fī ʾaʿlā al-darajāti, wa-ʾarfaʿi al-manāzili, wa-ʾatammi al-maʿārifi, wa-ʾakmali al-ʿilmi, wa-khaṣṣahu min jazīli khuṣūṣiyyatihi, wa-rafīʿi hibātihi, wa-saniyyi ʿaṭāyāhu, mā bayyana bihi faḍlahu ʿalā ʾakbari al-ʾawliyāʾi, wa-ka-dhālika ḥarakātuhu wa-sāʾiru ʾaʿmālihi, jaʿalahā Allāhu ʿalā qadri al-mawḍiʿi alladhī jaʿalahu fīhi.

The evidence against them is clear from what we have explained of the conduct of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and the practice of the leading Companions. God, exalted be His praise, placed His Messenger at the highest degrees and loftiest stations, with the fullest understanding and most perfect knowledge. He singled him out with abundant distinction, lofty gifts, and splendid favors that made his superiority to even the greatest of God’s friends clear. Likewise, God made his activities and all his deeds proportionate to the position in which He placed him.

وَكَذَلِكَ أَصْحَابُهُ رِضْوَانُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِمْ، عَلَى فَضْلِهِمْ، وَمَا ذُكِرَ مِنْ تَقْدِمَتِهِمْ، كَانَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ عَلَى قَدْرِ مَوَاضِعِهِمْ. وَفِيمَا وَصَفْنَا مِنْ ذَلِكَ، وَاحْتَجَجْنَا بِهِ، مَا يَتَبَيَّنُ مِنْهُ خَطَأُ أَصْحَابِ هَذِهِ الْمَقَالَةِ.

Wa-ka-dhālika ʾaṣḥābuhu riḍwānu Allāhi ʿalayhim, ʿalā faḍlihim, wa-mā dhukira min taqdimatihim, kānat ʾaʿmāluhum ʿalā qadri mawāḍiʿihim. Wa-fīmā waṣafnā min dhālika, wa-iḥtajajnā bihi, mā yatabayyanu minhu khaṭaʾu ʾaṣḥābi hādhihi al-maqālati.

Similarly, his Companions, may God’s good pleasure rest upon them, possessed excellence and the precedence we have described, and their deeds were proportionate to their stations. What we have explained and cited as evidence makes the error of those who hold this position clear.

Source page 135

وَكَانَ مَا احْتَجَّتْ بِهِ هَذِهِ الطَّائِفَةُ الَّتِي زَعَمَتْ أَنَّ الْقُعُودَ عَنِ الْحَرَكَةِ أَفْضَلُ عِنْدَهُمْ وَإِنَّمَا الْحَرَكَةُ فِي ذَلِكَ رُخْصَةٌ لِضُعَفَاءِ الْخَلْقِ عَنِ الْعُقُودِ، حَتَّى يَكُونَ الْوَقْتُ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَرَادَا بِمَا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ، فَقَدَّمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ بِخَطَإِ التَّأْوِيلِ، وَبِزَلَلِ الْهَوَى وَالرَّأْيِ عَلَى أَصْحَابِ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَعَلَى سِيرَةِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ.

Wa-kāna mā iḥtajjat bihi hādhihi al-ṭāʾifatu allatī zaʿamat ʾanna al-quʿūda ʿani al-ḥarakati ʾafḍalu ʿindahum wa-ʾinnamā al-ḥarakatu fī dhālika rukhṣatun liḍuʿafāʾi al-khalqi ʿani al-ʿuqūdi, ḥattā yakūna al-waqtu ʿalayhim wa-ʾarādā bimā fī ʾanfusihim, fa-qaddamū ʾanfusahum bikhaṭaʾi al-taʾwīli, wa-bizalali al-hawā wa-al-raʾyi ʿalā ʾaṣḥābi Muḥammadin ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama, wa-ʿalā sīrati al-mursalīna.

Such was the argument of the group who claimed that refraining from activity was preferable, and that activity was merely a concession for creatures too weak to maintain conviction until the appointed time was arriving [reading uncertain] with what they desired. Through mistaken interpretation and the errors of desire and personal opinion, they placed themselves above the Companions of Muḥammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, and above the way of the messengers.

وَأَقَامُوا الْأَكَابِرَ مِثْلَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ وَعَلِيٍّ رِضْوَانُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِمْ مَقَامَ الضَّعْفِ وَالْوَهْنِ، تَقْدِيمًا مِنْهُمْ لِأَنْفُسِهِمْ، وَإِيمَانًا مِنْهُمْ - بِخَطَإٍ مِنْهُمْ - بِصِحَّةِ رَأْيِهِمْ، بِلَا خَبَرٍ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَلَا آيَةٍ مِنْ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ. وَهَذَا قَوْلٌ قَدْ تَبَيَّنَ خَطَؤُهُ، مِنْ وُجُوهٍ شَتَّى:

Wa-ʾaqāmū al-ʾakābira mithla ʾAbī Bakrin wa-ʿUmara wa-ʿUthmāna wa-ʿAliyyin riḍwānu Allāhi ʿalayhim maqāma al-ḍaʿfi wa-al-wahni, taqdīman minhum li-ʾanfusihim, wa-ʾīmānan minhum - bikhaṭaʾin minhum - biṣiḥḥati raʾyihim, bilā khabarin ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama wa-lā ʾāyatin min kitābi Allāhi ʿazza wa-jalla. Wa-hādhā qawlun qad tabayyana khaṭaʾuhu, min wujūhin shattā:

They assigned great figures such as Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī, may God’s good pleasure rest upon them, a position of weakness and frailty, promoting themselves and wrongly believing their own opinion correct, without a report from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, or a verse from the Book of God, mighty and exalted. The error of this position is evident in several ways.

فَأَمَّا أَوَّلُهَا: فَمَا بَيَّنَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مِنْ ذَلِكَ فِي كِتَابِهِ، فَأَمَرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَنْ يَكُونَ مَأْكَلُهُمْ مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا يَكْسِبُونَ. وَأَمَّا الْمَعْنَى الثَّانِي: فَمَا ثَبَتَ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «أَنَّ أَطْيَبَ مَا أَكَلَ الرَّجُلُ مِنْ كَسْبِهِ». وَأَمَّا الْوَجْهُ الثَّالِثُ: فَمَا كَانَ عَلَيْهِ مُحَمَّدٌ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَأَكَابِرُ أَصْحَابِهِ، رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ.

Fa-ʾammā ʾawwaluhā: fa-mā bayyana Allāhu ʿazza wa-jalla min dhālika fī kitābihi, fa-ʾamara al-muʾminīna ʾan yakūna maʾkaluhum min ṭayyibāti mā yaksibūna. Wa-ʾammā al-maʿnā al-thānī: fa-mā thabata ʿan rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama: «ʾanna ʾaṭyaba mā ʾakala al-rajulu min kasbihi». Wa-ʾammā al-wajhu al-thālithu: fa-mā kāna ʿalayhi Muḥammadun ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama, wa-ʾakābiru ʾaṣḥābihi, raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhum.

First is what God, mighty and exalted, explained in His Book when He commanded believers to eat from the good things they earn. Second is the established report from God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace: “The best thing a man eats is from his own earnings.” Third is the practice of Muḥammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, and his leading Companions, may God be pleased with them.

وَأَمَّا الْوَجْهُ الرَّابِعُ: فَمَا دَلَّ عَلَيْهِ الْعِلْمُ، وَثَبَتَتْ عَلَيْهِ الْمَعْرِفَةُ، وَذَلِكَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ جَلَّ ثَنَاؤُهُ لَمَّا دَعَا إِلَى الثِّقَةِ بِهِ، وَالتَّوَكُّلِ عَلَيْهِ، بَيَّنَ الْعِلْمُ عَمَّا أَرَادَهُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ، وَالَّذِي بَيَّنَ الْعِلْمُ عَنْهُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ مِنْ مَعْنَى الثِّقَةِ: أَنْ تَكُونَ الْقُلُوبُ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مُصَدِّقَةً، وَتَكُونَ بِوَعْدِهِ مُوقِنَةً، وَتَكُونَ إِلَيْهِ فِي كُلِّ حَالٍ سَاكِنَةً، قَدْ أَغْنَاهَا بِضَمَانِهِ عَنِ النَّظَرِ إِلَى شَيْءٍ دُونَهُ.

Wa-ʾammā al-wajhu al-rābiʿu: fa-mā dalla ʿalayhi al-ʿilmu, wa-thabatat ʿalayhi al-maʿrifatu, wa-dhālika ʾanna Allāha jalla thanāʾuhu lammā daʿā ʾilā al-thiqati bihi, wa-al-tawakkuli ʿalayhi, bayyana al-ʿilmu ʿammā ʾarādahu min dhālika, wa-alladhī bayyana al-ʿilmu ʿanhu min dhālika min maʿnā al-thiqati: ʾan takūna al-qulūbu li-llāhi ʿazza wa-jalla muṣaddiqatan, wa-takūna biwaʿdihi mūqinatan, wa-takūna ʾilayhi fī kulli ḥālin sākinatan, qad ʾaghnāhā biḍamānihi ʿani al-naẓari ʾilā shayʾin dūnahu.

Fourth is what knowledge indicates and recognition confirms. When God, exalted be His praise, called people to confidence in Him and trust in Him, knowledge clarified what He intended. It clarified that confidence means hearts believe God, mighty and exalted, are certain of His promise, and rest in Him in every condition. His guarantee has freed them from looking toward anything besides Him.

فَإِذَا مَلَكَ خَاصَّةَ الْقُلُوبِ ذَلِكَ، وَأَقَرَّتْ بِهِ الْأَلْسِنَةُ، وَحَذَّرَهُ الْعِلْمُ بِاللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَالْمَعْرِفَةُ بِهِ جَلَّ وَعَزَّ مِنْ أَنْ يَمِيلَ إِلَى شَيْءٍ دُونَهُ، فَأَمِنَتِ الْقُلُوبُ فِي التَّوَكُّلِ فِي حَقِيقَةٍ مِنْ حَقَائِقِهِ، وَفِي مَقَامٍ شَرِيفٍ مِنْ مَقَامَاتِهِ.

Fa-ʾidhā malaka khāṣṣata al-qulūbi dhālika, wa-ʾaqarrat bihi al-ʾalsinatu, wa-ḥadhdharahu al-ʿilmu bi-Allāhi taʿālā wa-al-maʿrifatu bihi jalla wa-ʿazza min ʾan yamīla ʾilā shayʾin dūnahu, fa-ʾaminati al-qulūbu fī al-tawakkuli fī ḥaqīqatin min ḥaqāʾiqihi, wa-fī maqāmin sharīfin min maqāmātihi.

When this possesses the innermost heart, tongues acknowledge it, and knowledge and recognition of God Most High, glorious and mighty is He, warn a person against inclining toward anything besides Him, hearts become secure in trust, established in one of its realities and one of its noble stations.

فَإِنْ أَوْجَدَهَا اللَّهُ جَلَّ ثَنَاؤُهُ فَضْلًا مِنْهُ فِي سَعْيِ جَارِحَةٍ، أَوْ دَلَّهَا الرَّسُولُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَأَنَّهَا إِلَى اللَّهِ تَعَالَى مُقَرِّبَةٌ، وَفِي حَالِ السَّعْيِ بِسَعْيِهَا زَائِدَةٌ بِمَا تُعُبِّدَتْ بِهِ، أَوْ نُدِبَتْ إِلَيْهِ أَسْرَعَتْ إِلَى ذَلِكَ لِمَا مَلَكَهَا مِنْ مُوَافَقَةِ سَيِّدِهَا، وَجَلَّ عِنْدَهَا مِنْ قَدْرِ مَا أَشَارَ إِلَيْهِ مِمَّا يُقَرِّبُ مِنْهُ.

Fa-ʾin ʾawjadahā Allāhu jalla thanāʾuhu faḍlan minhu fī saʿyi jāriḥatin, ʾaw dallahā al-rasūlu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama, wa-ʾannahā ʾilā Allāhi taʿālā muqarribatun, wa-fī ḥāli al-saʿyi bisaʿyihā zāʾidatun bimā tuʿubbidat bihi, ʾaw nudibat ʾilayhi ʾasraʿat ʾilā dhālika limā malakahā min muwāfaqati sayyidihā, wa-jalla ʿindahā min qadri mā ʾashāra ʾilayhi mimmā yuqarribu minhu.

If God, exalted be His praise, lets such hearts discover merit from Him in a bodily activity, or the Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, directs them to it, and [shows] that it draws them near to God Most High and increases them through the service required or recommended to them, they hasten to it. Conformity to their Lord has possessed them, and they hold in great esteem whatever He indicates as a means of drawing near to Him.

فَكَانَ السَّعْيُ عَنْ تَمَكُّنِ الرَّغْبَةِ فِي الطَّاعَةِ الْجَامِعَةِ لِلْقُلُوبِ، مِنْ غَيْرِ سَآمَةٍ مِنْهَا، لِمَا شَمِلَ فَاقَتَهَا مِنْ خَالِصِ الْمَوْهِبَةِ، وَجَزِيلِ سَنَاءِ الْخُصُوصِيَّةِ، وَكَانَ السَّعْيُ فِي ذَلِكَ لِصَفَاءِ مَا فِي الْقُلُوبِ مِنْ تَمَكُّنِ السَّكِينَةِ، وَحَقَائِقِ الثِّقَةِ.

Fa-kāna al-saʿyu ʿan tamakkuni al-raghbati fī al-ṭāʿati al-jāmiʿati li-al-qulūbi, min ghayri saʾāmatin minhā, limā shamila fāqatahā min khāliṣi al-mawhibati, wa-jazīli sanāʾi al-khuṣūṣiyyati, wa-kāna al-saʿyu fī dhālika liṣafāʾi mā fī al-qulūbi min tamakkuni al-sakīnati, wa-ḥaqāʾiqi al-thiqati.

Their striving thus arises from a firmly rooted desire for obedience that gathers their hearts, without weariness, because pure divine gift and the abundant radiance of special favor have encompassed their need. Their activity springs from the purity within their hearts, from firmly established tranquility and the realities of confidence.

Source pages 135–136

وَكَانَتِ الْقُلُوبُ بِسَعْيِ الْجَوَارِحِ فِي ذَلِكَ زَائِدَةً بِسَعْيِهَا، مُتَمَكِّنَةً فِي مَرْتَبَتِهَا، لَا يَنْقُصُ السَّعْيُ عَلَيْهَا حَالَهَا، وَلَا يَجُرُّهَا ذَلِكَ إِلَّا إِلَى مَا يَقْدَحُ فِي ذِكْرِهَا، فَكَانَ هَذَا السَّعْيُ عَلَى مَا وَصَفْنَا زَائِدًا لَهَا فِي مُوَاصَلَتِهَا، فِي الْقُرْبِ إِلَى عُلُوِّ الدَّرَجَاتِ فِي قُرْبِهَا، وَكَانَ السَّعْيُ عَلَى مَا بَيَّنَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ مِنْ فَضْلِ السَّعْيِ عَلَى مَا وَصَفْنَا، مِمَّا افْتَرَضَ عَلَى الْخَلْقِ وَنُدِبُوا إِلَيْهِ عَلَى مَعَانِي:

Wa-kānati al-qulūbu bisaʿyi al-jawāriḥi fī dhālika zāʾidatan bisaʿyihā, mutamakkinatan fī martabatihā, lā yanquṣu al-saʿyu ʿalayhā ḥālahā, wa-lā yajurruhā dhālika ʾillā ʾilā mā yaqdaḥu fī dhikrihā, fa-kāna hādhā al-saʿyu ʿalā mā waṣafnā zāʾidan lahā fī muwāṣalatihā, fī al-qurbi ʾilā ʿuluwwi al-darajāti fī qurbihā, wa-kāna al-saʿyu ʿalā mā bayyana Allāhu wa-rasūluhu min faḍli al-saʿyi ʿalā mā waṣafnā, mimmā iftaraḍa ʿalā al-khalqi wa-nudibū ʾilayhi ʿalā maʿānī:

Through the limbs’ activity, hearts increase and remain secure in their rank. Activity does not diminish their state, and “draws them only toward what impairs their remembrance” [this clause contradicts the surrounding argument as printed]. Such striving, as we described it, increases their connection, bringing them toward higher degrees of nearness. In light of what God and His Messenger explained about the excellence of striving, the obligatory and recommended activities we have described involve several possibilities:

Source page 136

أَحَدُهَا: أَنْ يَكُونَ السَّعْيُ بِالْجَوَارِحِ بَعْدَمَا وَصَفْنَا مِنْ قِيَامِ الثِّقَةِ فِي الْقُلُوبِ، وَتَمَكُّنِ السَّكِينَةِ مُنَغِّصًا عَلَيْهَا حَالَ الْقَلْبِ، مُوجِدًا لَهَا النُّزُولَ عَنْ مَرْتَبَتِهَا، فَيَكُونُ تَرْكُهَا لِلسَّعْيِ لِمَا تَجِدُ مِنَ النَّقْصِ. فَهَذِهِ حَالٌ دُونَ حَالِ الْأَقْوِيَاءِ، الَّذِينَ سَعَوْا فِي ذَلِكَ، وَهُمْ يَجِدُونَ فِي ذَلِكَ الزِّيَادَاتِ، وَالتَّعَالِيَ فِي الْحَالَاتِ، وَهَذَا ضَعْفٌ بَيِّنٌ فِي الْحَالِ.

ʾAḥaduhā: ʾan yakūna al-saʿyu bi-al-jawāriḥi baʿdamā waṣafnā min qiyāmi al-thiqati fī al-qulūbi, wa-tamakkuni al-sakīnati munaghghiṣan ʿalayhā ḥāla al-qalbi, mūjidan lahā al-nuzūla ʿan martabatihā, fa-yakūnu tarkuhā li-al-saʿyi limā tajidu mina al-naqṣi. Fa-hādhihi ḥālun dūna ḥāli al-ʾaqwiyāʾi, alladhīna saʿaw fī dhālika, wa-hum yajidūna fī dhālika al-ziyādāti, wa-al-taʿāliya fī al-ḥālāti, wa-hādhā ḍaʿfun bayyinun fī al-ḥāli.

One possibility is that, after confidence has been established in hearts and tranquility has taken root as described, bodily striving disturbs their inward state and causes them to descend from their rank. They then abandon striving because of the loss they experience. This state is below that of the strong, who strive and find increase and ascent in their states through it. This is a clear weakness in one’s state.

وَإِمَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ مَا وَصَفْنَا مِنْ حَالِ الْقُلُوبِ ثَابِتًا، وَهُمْ فِيهِ مُتَمَكِّنُونَ، وَالسَّعْيُ زَائِدٌ لَهُمْ فِي أَحْوَالِهِمْ، فَيَكُونُ التَّرْكُ لَهُمْ بِذَلِكَ لِأَنَّ حَالَ الْفَضْلِ فِيهِمْ لَمْ تَثْبُتْ عِنْدَهُمْ، وَحَالَ الْقُرْبَةِ فِي ذَلِكَ لَمْ تَبْلُغْهُمْ. فَهَذَا تَقْصِيرٌ فِي الْعِلْمِ.

Wa-ʾimmā ʾan yakūna mā waṣafnā min ḥāli al-qulūbi thābitan, wa-hum fīhi mutamakkinūna, wa-al-saʿyu zāʾidun lahum fī ʾaḥwālihim, fa-yakūnu al-tarku lahum bi-dhālika li-ʾanna ḥāla al-faḍli fīhim lam tathbut ʿindahum, wa-ḥāla al-qurbati fī dhālika lam tablugh-hum. Fa-hādhā taqṣīrun fī al-ʿilmi.

Alternatively, the state of heart we described is firm, they are secure in it, and striving increases their states. They nevertheless abandon it because its excellence has not become established in their understanding and they have not learned how it brings them near. This is a deficiency in knowledge.

أَوْ تَكُونُ الْحَالُ قَدْ ثَبَتَتْ عِنْدَهُمْ، وَالْعِلْمُ بِالْفَضْلِ فِي السَّعْيِ قَدْ بَلَغَهُمْ، وَهُمْ يُؤْثِرُونَ الْقُعُودَ. فَهَذَا حَالُ تَكَلُّفٍ وَخِلَافٍ لِمَا بَيَّنَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى مِنَ الْفَضْلِ، وَدَلَّ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ وَالسُّنَّةُ وَكَانَ عَلَيْهِ أَصْحَابُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَمَا بَيَّنَهُ الْعِلْمُ، وَدَلَّتْ عَلَيْهِ الْمَعْرِفَةُ. فَقَدْ تَبَيَّنَ فَضْلُ السَّعْيِ وَالْحَرَكَةِ عَلَى مَا وَصَفْنَا، وَهِيَ أَعْلَى الدَّرَجَاتِ فِي كُلِّ حَالٍ عِنْدَنَا، وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ.

ʾAw takūnu al-ḥālu qad thabatat ʿindahum, wa-al-ʿilmu bi-al-faḍli fī al-saʿyi qad balaghahum, wa-hum yuʾthirūna al-quʿūda. Fa-hādhā ḥālu takallufin wa-khilāfin limā bayyana Allāhu taʿālā mina al-faḍli, wa-dalla ʿalayhi al-kitābu wa-al-sunnatu wa-kāna ʿalayhi ʾaṣḥābu Muḥammadin ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama, wa-mā bayyanahu al-ʿilmu, wa-dallat ʿalayhi al-maʿrifatu. Fa-qad tabayyana faḍlu al-saʿyi wa-al-ḥarakati ʿalā mā waṣafnā, wa-hiya ʾaʿlā al-darajāti fī kulli ḥālin ʿindanā, wa-Allāhu ʾaʿlamu.

Or the state is established for them and knowledge of the merit of striving has reached them, yet they prefer inactivity. This is affected behavior and opposition to the excellence God Most High has explained, Scripture and the Sunna indicate, and the Companions of Muḥammad, may God bless him and grant him peace, practiced, as well as what knowledge explains and recognition indicates. The excellence of striving and activity as described is therefore clear. In our judgment it is the highest degree in every condition. God knows best.

فَإِذَا أَرَدْتَ أَنْ تَأْتِيَ سُوقَكَ، أَوْ شَيْئًا لِمَعَاشِكَ، أَوْ صَنْعَةً، أَوْ وَكَالَةً، أَوْ غَيْرَ ذَلِكَ، لِطَلَبِ الْحَلَالِ وَالِاتِّبَاعِ لِسُنَّةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَلِلثَّوَابِ فِي نَفْسِكَ وَعِيَالِكَ، وَالِاكْتِسَابِ عَلَيْهِمْ، وَالِاسْتِغْنَاءِ عَنِ النَّاسِ، وَالتَّعَطُّفِ عَلَى الْأَخِ وَالْجَارِ، وَأَدَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ، وَكُلِّ حَقٍّ وَاجِبٍ، فَأَمِّلْ فِي ذَلِكَ أَنْ تَلْقَى اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَوَجْهُكَ كَالْقَمَرِ لَيْلَةَ الْبَدْرِ.

Fa-ʾidhā ʾaradta ʾan taʾtiya sūqaka, ʾaw shayʾan limaʿāshika, ʾaw ṣanʿatan, ʾaw wakālatan, ʾaw ghayra dhālika, liṭalabi al-ḥalāli wa-al-ittibāʿi lisunnati rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama, wa-li-al-thawābi fī nafsika wa-ʿiyālika, wa-al-iktisābi ʿalayhim, wa-al-istighnāʾi ʿani al-nāsi, wa-al-taʿaṭṭufi ʿalā al-ʾakhi wa-al-jāri, wa-ʾadāʾi al-zakāti, wa-kulli ḥaqqin wājibin, fa-ʾammil fī dhālika ʾan talqā Allāha ʿazza wa-jalla wa-wajhuka ka-al-qamari laylata al-badri.

When you intend to go to your market, pursue your livelihood, practice a craft, act as an agent, or do anything similar, seek what is lawful and follow the Sunna of God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace. Seek reward in caring for yourself and your dependents, earning for them, avoiding dependence on others, showing kindness to your brother and neighbor, paying alms, and fulfilling every obligatory claim. Hope through this to meet God, mighty and exalted, with your face like the moon on the night of its fullness.

Source pages 136–137

كَمَا رَوَى أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «مَنْ طَلَبَ حَلَالًا اسْتِعْفَافًا عَنِ الْمَسْأَلَةِ، وَكَدًّا عَلَى عِيَالِهِ، وَتَعَطُّفًا عَلَى جَارِهِ لَقِيَ اللَّهَ وَوَجْهُهُ كَالْقَمَرِ لَيْلَةَ الْبَدْرِ». وَتَنْوِي الْوَرَعَ فِي سُوقِكَ، وَأَنْ تَدَعَ كُلَّ رِبْحٍ أَوْ أَجْرٍ أَوْ إِصَابَةٍ تَعْرِضُ لَكَ فِيهِ، وَلَوْ كَانَتِ الدُّنْيَا كُلَّهَا، إِنْ عَرَضَ لَكَ فِيهَا مَا كَرِهَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى.

Kamā rawā ʾAbū Hurayrata ʿani al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama qāla: «man ṭalaba ḥalālan istiʿfāfan ʿani al-masʾalati, wa-kaddan ʿalā ʿiyālihi, wa-taʿaṭṭufan ʿalā jārihi laqiya Allāha wa-wajhuhu ka-al-qamari laylata al-badri». Wa-tanwī al-waraʿa fī sūqika, wa-ʾan tadaʿa kulla ribḥin ʾaw ʾajrin ʾaw ʾiṣābatin taʿriḍu laka fīhi, wa-law kānati al-dunyā kullahā, ʾin ʿaraḍa laka fīhā mā kariha Allāhu taʿālā.

As Abū Hurayra related from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, who said: “Whoever seeks lawful provision to preserve himself from begging, works hard for his dependents, and shows kindness to his neighbor will meet God with his face like the full moon.” Intend scrupulousness in your market, and intend to forgo every profit, wage, or gain offered there, even if it were the whole world, whenever something God Most High dislikes presents itself in it.

Source page 137

وَتَنْوِي الْإِخْلَاصَ فِي وَرَعِكَ فِي تِجَارَتِكَ، وَمَنْ تَشْتَرِي مِنْهُ، أَوْ تُعَامِلُهُ فِي صَنْعَةٍ أَوْ وَكَالَةٍ. وَتَنْوِي عَوْنَ الْمُسْلِمِ فِي تِجَارَتِكَ، إِذَا اسْتَعَانَ بِجَاهِلٍ أَوْ بِنَصْرِكَ، أَوْ غَيْرِ ذَلِكَ. وَأَنْ تَذْكُرَ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى فِي سُوقِكَ مُحْتَسِبًا كَمَا جَاءَ فِي الْحَدِيثِ: «إِنَّ اللَّهَ جَلَّ وَعَزَّ تَعَجَّبَ مِنَ الَّذِي يَذْكُرُهُ فِي السُّوقِ».

Wa-tanwī al-ʾikhlāṣa fī waraʿika fī tijāratika, wa-man tashtarī minhu, ʾaw tuʿāmiluhu fī ṣanʿatin ʾaw wakālatin. Wa-tanwī ʿAwna al-muslimi fī tijāratika, ʾidhā istaʿāna bijāhilin ʾaw binaṣrika, ʾaw ghayri dhālika. Wa-ʾan tadhkura Allāha taʿālā fī sūqika muḥtasiban kamā jāʾa fī al-ḥadīthi: «ʾinna Allāha jalla wa-ʿazza taʿajjaba mina alladhī yadhkuruhu fī al-sūqi».

Intend sincerity in your scrupulousness throughout your trade and your dealings with anyone from whom you buy or with whom you work in a craft or agency. Intend to assist a Muslim in your trading when he seeks the help of “an ignorant person,” or your support, or something else [the printed phrase is unusual]. Intend to remember God Most High in your market, seeking His reward, as the report says: “God, glorious and mighty is He, marveled at the one who remembers Him in the market.”

بَابُ صِفَةِ الْوَرَعِ

Bābu ṣifati al-waraʿi

Chapter on the nature of scrupulousness

قُلْتُ: رَحِمَكَ اللَّهُ، مَا الْوَرَعُ؟ قَالَ: الْمُجَانَبَةُ لِكُلِّ مَا كَرِهَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مِنْ مَقَالٍ، أَوْ فِعْلٍ، بِقَلْبٍ أَوْ جَارِحَةٍ، وَالْحَذَرُ مِنْ تَضْيِيعِ مَا فَرَضَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَلَيْهِ فِي قَلْبٍ أَوْ جَارِحَةٍ.

Qultu: raḥimaka Allāhu, mā al-waraʿu? Qāla: al-mujānabatu likulli mā kariha Allāhu ʿazza wa-jalla min maqālin, ʾaw fiʿlin, biqalbin ʾaw jāriḥatin, wa-al-ḥadharu min taḍyīʿi mā faraḍa Allāhu ʿazza wa-jalla ʿalayhi fī qalbin ʾaw jāriḥatin.

I asked, “May God have mercy on you, what is scrupulousness?” He replied, “Avoiding everything God, mighty and exalted, dislikes, in word or deed, in heart or bodily faculty, and taking care not to neglect anything God, mighty and exalted, has made obligatory upon one, in heart or bodily faculty.”

قُلْتُ: وَبِمَاذَا يُنَالُ؟ قَالَ: بِالْمُحَاسَبَةِ. قُلْتُ: وَمَا الْمُحَاسَبَةُ؟ قَالَ: التَّثَبُّتُ فِي جَمِيعِ الْأَحْوَالِ قَبْلَ الْفِعْلِ وَالتَّرْكِ، مِنَ الْعَقْدِ بِالضَّمِيرِ، أَوِ الْفِعْلِ بِالْجَارِحَةِ، حَتَّى يَتَبَيَّنَ لَهُ مَا يَتْرُكُ وَمَا يَفْعَلُ.

Qultu: wa-bimādhā yunālu? Qāla: bi-al-muḥāsabati. Qultu: wa-mā al-muḥāsabatu? Qāla: al-tathabbutu fī jamīʿi al-ʾaḥwāli qabla al-fiʿli wa-al-tarki, mina al-ʿaqdi bi-al-ḍamīri, ʾawi al-fiʿli bi-al-jāriḥati, ḥattā yatabayyana lahu mā yatruku wa-mā yafʿalu.

I asked, “How is it attained?” He replied, “Through self-examination.” I asked, “What is self-examination?” He replied, “Careful assessment in every condition before acting or refraining, whether forming an inward resolve or acting with a bodily faculty, until it becomes clear what one should leave and what one should do.

فَإِنْ تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ مَا كَرِهَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ جَانَبَهُ بِعَقْدِ ضَمِيرِ قَلْبِهِ، وَكَفِّ جَوَارِحِهِ عَمَّا كَرِهَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، وَمَنَعَ نَفْسَهُ مِنَ الْإِمْسَاكِ عَنْ تَرْكِ الْفَرْضِ، وَسَارَعَ إِلَى أَدَائِهِ.

Fa-ʾin tabayyana lahu mā kariha Allāhu ʿazza wa-jalla jānabahu biʿaqdi ḍamīri qalbihi, wa-kaffi jawāriḥihi ʿammā kariha Allāhu ʿazza wa-jalla, wa-manaʿa nafsahu mina al-ʾimsāki ʿan tarki al-farḍi, wa-sāraʿa ʾilā ʾadāʾihi.

When he recognizes what God, mighty and exalted, dislikes, he avoids it through his inward resolve and restraining his faculties from what God, mighty and exalted, dislikes. He keeps himself from ‘refraining from abandoning the obligation’ [a defective phrase in the printed text] and hastens to fulfill it.”

قُلْتُ: وَمَا يَتْرُكُ، وَمَا يُجَانِبُ؟ قَالَ: أَرْبَعَةُ أَشْيَاءَ: شَيْئَانِ وَاجِبٌ تَرْكُهُمَا، وَشَيْئَانِ تَرْكُ أَحَدِهِمَا اسْتِبْرَاءٌ، خَوْفَ أَنْ يَكُونَ مِمَّا كَرِهَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، وَالْآخَرُ يُتْرَكُ احْتِيَاطًا وَتَحَرُّزًا.

Qultu: wa-mā yatruku, wa-mā yujānibu? Qāla: ʾarbaʿatu ʾashyāʾa: shayʾāni wājibun tarkuhumā, wa-shayʾāni tarku ʾaḥadihimā istibrāʾun, khawfa ʾan yakūna mimmā kariha Allāhu ʿazza wa-jalla, wa-al-ʾākharu yutraku iḥtiyāṭan wa-taḥarruzan.

I asked, “What does he leave, and what does he avoid?” He replied, “Four things. Two must be abandoned. Of the other two, one is left to clear oneself of liability, for fear it may be something God, mighty and exalted, dislikes; the other is left as a precaution and safeguard.

Source pages 137–138

فَأَمَّا الشَّيْئَانِ الْوَاجِبُ تَرْكُهُمَا، فَأَحَدُهُمَا: مَا نَهَى اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَنْهُ، مِنَ الْعَقْدِ بِالْقَلْبِ عَلَى الضَّلَالِ وَالْبِدَعِ، وَالْغُلُوِّ فِي الْقَوْلِ عَلَيْهِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ، وَلَا يَعْتَقِدُ إِلَّا الصَّوَابَ. وَالْآخَرُ: مَا نَهَى اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَنْهُ مِنَ الْأَخْذِ وَالتَّرْكِ، مِنَ الْحَرَامِ، بِالضَّمِيرِ وَالْجَوَارِحِ.

Fa-ʾammā al-shayʾāni al-wājibu tarkuhumā, fa-ʾaḥaduhumā: mā nahā Allāhu ʿazza wa-jalla ʿanhu, mina al-ʿaqdi bi-al-qalbi ʿalā al-ḍalāli wa-al-bidaʿi, wa-al-ghuluwwi fī al-qawli ʿalayhi bighayri al-ḥaqqi, wa-lā yaʿtaqidu ʾillā al-ṣawāba. Wa-al-ʾākharu: mā nahā Allāhu ʿazza wa-jalla ʿanhu mina al-ʾakhdhi wa-al-tarki, mina al-ḥarāmi, bi-al-ḍamīri wa-al-jawāriḥi.

“Of the two that must be abandoned, one is what God, mighty and exalted, has forbidden, in the heart’s commitment to error and innovations, and in going to extremes by speaking untruthfully about Him. One should believe only what is right. The other is the unlawful taking and refraining that God, mighty and exalted, has forbidden, inwardly and through the bodily faculties.

Source page 138

وَأَمَّا أَحَدُ الشَّيْئَيْنِ الْآخَرَيْنِ: فَتَرْكُ الشُّبُهَاتِ خَوْفَ مُوَاقَعَةِ الْحَرَامِ وَهُوَ لَا يَعْلَمُ، اسْتِبْرَاءً لِذِمَّتِهِ، لِتَمَامِ الْوَرَعِ، كَمَا قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «مَنْ تَرَكَ الشُّبُهَاتِ اسْتَبْرَأَ لِذِمَّتِهِ وَدِينِهِ وَعِرْضِهِ، مَنْ وَاقَعَ الشُّبُهَاتِ، فَكَأَنَّمَا وَاقَعَ الْحَرَامَ».

Wa-ʾammā ʾaḥadu al-shayʾayni al-ʾākharayni: fa-tarku al-shubuhāti khawfa muwāqaʿati al-ḥarāmi wa-huwa lā yaʿlamu, istibrāʾan lidhimmatihi, litamāmi al-waraʿi, kamā qāla al-nabiyyu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama: «man taraka al-shubuhāti istabraʾa lidhimmatihi wa-dīnihi wa-ʿirḍihi, man wāqaʿa al-shubuhāti, fa-kaʾannamā wāqaʿa al-ḥarāma».

“One of the remaining two is abandoning doubtful things for fear of falling into the unlawful without knowing it, to clear one’s liability and complete one’s scrupulousness. As the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘Whoever leaves doubtful things safeguards his liability, religion, and honor. Whoever falls into doubtful things is as though he had fallen into the unlawful.’

وَقَالَ زَكَرِيَّا، عَنِ الشَّعْبِيِّ، عَنِ النُّعْمَانِ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، زَادَ عَلَيْهِ غَيْرُهُ، فَقَالَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «فَقَدْ وَاقَعَ الْحَرَامَ، كَالرَّاعِي حَوْلَ الْحِمَى، يُوشِكُ أَنْ يَقَعَ فِيهِ».

Wa-qāla Zakariyyā, ʿani al-Shaʿbiyyi, ʿani al-Nuʿmāni, ʿani al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama, zāda ʿalayhi ghayruhu, fa-qāla ʿani al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama: «fa-qad wāqaʿa al-ḥarāma, ka-al-rāʿī ḥawla al-ḥimā, yūshiku ʾan yaqaʿa fīhi».

“Zakariyyā transmitted from al-Shaʿbī, from al-Nuʿmān, from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. Another transmitter added to it, reporting from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: ‘He has fallen into the unlawful, like a shepherd around a protected pasture who is on the verge of entering it.’

وَأَمَّا الشَّيْءُ الرَّابِعُ: فَتَرْكُ بَعْضِ الْحَلَالِ الَّذِي يُخَافُ أَنْ يَكُونَ سَبَبًا وَذَرِيعَةً إِلَى الْحَرَامِ، كَمَا رُوِيَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: «لَا يَكُونُ الْعَبْدُ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ حَتَّى يَدَعَ مَا لَا بَأْسَ بِهِ، حَذَرًا لِمَا بِهِ بَأْسٌ».

Wa-ʾammā al-shayʾu al-rābiʿu: fa-tarku baʿḍi al-ḥalāli alladhī yukhāfu ʾan yakūna sababan wa-dharīʿatan ʾilā al-ḥarāmi, kamā ruwiya ʿani al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama ʾannahu qāla: «lā yakūnu al-ʿabdu mina al-muttaqīna ḥattā yadaʿa mā lā baʾsa bihi, ḥadharan limā bihi baʾsun».

“The fourth is abandoning some lawful things that one fears may become a cause or avenue to the unlawful. It is related from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, that he said: ‘A servant will not be among the mindful of God until he leaves what is harmless out of caution against what is harmful.’

وَذَلِكَ كَتَرْكِهِ فُضُولَ الْكَلَامِ، لِئَلَّا يُخْرِجَهُ ذَلِكَ إِلَى الْكَذِبِ وَالْغِيبَةِ، وَغَيْرِهِمَا مِمَّا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى الْقَوْلَ بِهِ، وَيَتْرُكُ بَعْضَ الْمَكَاسِبِ، مِمَّا تَقِلُّ فِيهِ السَّلَامَةُ لِلْمُكْتَسِبِينَ، وَيَدَعُ طَلَبَ الْإِكْثَارِ مِنَ الْمَالِ، خَوْفًا أَلَّا يَقُومَ بِحَقِّ اللَّهِ جَلَّ وَعَزَّ فِيهِ، إِذَا عَزَّتْ فِيهِ أَسْبَابُ الْحَلَالِ، وَقَلَّ الْعَامِلُونَ بِالْوَرَعِ وَالتَّقْوَى.

Wa-dhālika katarkihi fuḍūla al-kalāmi, liʾallā yukhrijahu dhālika ʾilā al-kadhibi wa-al-ghībati, wa-ghayrihimā mimmā ḥarrama Allāhu taʿālā al-qawla bihi, wa-yatruku baʿḍa al-makāsibi, mimmā taqillu fīhi al-salāmatu li-al-muktasibīna, wa-yadaʿu ṭalaba al-ʾikthāri mina al-māli, khawfan ʾallā yaqūma biḥaqqi Allāhi jalla wa-ʿazza fīhi, ʾidhā ʿazzat fīhi ʾasbābu al-ḥalāli, wa-qalla al-ʿāmilūna bi-al-waraʿi wa-al-taqwā.

“For example, he abandons unnecessary speech lest it lead him to lying, backbiting, or other speech God Most High has forbidden. He leaves some kinds of earning in which earners seldom remain safe and abandons the pursuit of increased wealth for fear of failing to fulfill the right of God, glorious and mighty is He, in it, when lawful means become scarce and few people practice scrupulousness and mindfulness of God.

وَتَرْكِهِ مُخَالَفَتَهُ مَنْ قَدْ جَرَّبَ أَنَّهُ لَا يَسْلَمُ مَعَهُ، وَفِرَارِهِ مِنَ الشُّبْهَةِ، خَوْفًا أَلَّا يَسْلَمَ، وَيُقِلُّ مِنْ مَعْرِفَةِ النَّاسِ خَوْفًا أَلَّا يَسْلَمَ، وَيَغُضُّ عَنْ بَعْضِ الْمَطْعَمِ إِذَا أَحَسَّ مِنْ نَفْسِهِ أَنَّ ذَلِكَ يُبْطِرُهَا.

Wa-tarkihi mukhālafatahu man qad jarraba ʾannahu lā yaslamu maʿahu, wa-firārihi mina al-shubhati, khawfan ʾallā yaslama, wa-yuqillu min maʿrifati al-nāsi khawfan ʾallā yaslama, wa-yaghuḍḍu ʿan baʿḍi al-maṭʿami ʾidhā ʾaḥassa min nafsihi ʾanna dhālika yubṭiruhā.

“He also refrains from opposing someone with whom experience has shown he cannot remain safe, flees doubtful matters for fear of not remaining safe, limits his acquaintances for the same reason, and passes over some food when he senses that it makes his lower self insolent.

Source page 139

فَهَذِهِ الْخَلَّةُ عَوْنٌ عَلَى الْوَرَعِ، لَا وَاجِبٌ عَلَيْهِ تَرْكُهَا وَمُجَانَبَتُهَا، وَكَمَا قَالَ عَوْنُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ بَعْضُ الْحُكَمَاءِ: «دَعْ أَنْ تَحْلِفَ صَادِقًا، وَهُوَ لَكَ حَلَالٌ، مَخَافَةَ أَنْ تُعَوِّدَ لِسَانَكَ الْيَمِينَ، فَتَحْلِفَ كَاذِبًا. وَدَعِ النُّصْرَةَ مِمَّنْ ظَلَمَكَ، مَخَافَةَ أَنْ تَعْتَذِرَ».

Fa-hādhihi al-khallatu ʿawnun ʿalā al-waraʿi, lā wājibun ʿalayhi tarkuhā wa-mujānabatuhā, wa-kamā qāla ʿAwnu bnu ʿAbdi Allāhi, qāla baʿḍu al-ḥukamāʾi: «daʿ ʾan taḥlifa ṣādiqan, wa-huwa laka ḥalālun, makhāfata ʾan tuʿawwida lisānaka al-yamīna, fa-taḥlifa kādhiban. Wa-daʿi al-nuṣrata mimman ẓalamaka, makhāfata ʾan taʿtadhira».

“This practice supports scrupulousness, though abandoning and avoiding such things is not obligatory. As ʿAwn ibn ʿAbd Allāh related, one of the sages said: ‘Refrain from swearing even truthfully, although it is lawful, for fear of accustoming your tongue to oaths and then swearing falsely. Forgo retaliation against someone who wronged you, lest you have to apologize.’

وَقَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: «وَلَا تَسْتَوِي الْحَسَنَةُ وَلَا السَّيِّئَةُ ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ» [فُصِّلَتْ: 34] فَقَدْ سَمَّى الْعَفْوَ حَسَنَةً، وَالنُّصْرَةَ لِلنَّفْسِ سَيِّئَةً. فَمَا زَالَتِ التَّقْوَى بِالْمُتَّقِينَ حَتَّى تَرَكُوا الْكَثِيرَ مِنَ الْحَلَالِ، مَخَافَةَ الْحَرَامِ.

Wa-qāla Allāhu ʿazza wa-jalla: «wa-lā tastawī al-ḥasanatu wa-lā al-sayyiʾatu idfaʿ bi-allatī hiya ʾaḥsanu» [Fuṣṣilat: 34] fa-qad sammā al-ʿafwa ḥasanatan, wa-al-nuṣrata li-al-nafsi sayyiʾatan. Fa-mā zālati al-taqwā bi-al-muttaqīna ḥattā tarakū al-kathīra mina al-ḥalāli, makhāfata al-ḥarāmi.

“God, mighty and exalted, said: ‘Good and evil are not equal. Repel [evil] with what is better’ [Fuṣṣilat: 34]. He thus called forgiveness a good deed and retaliation for oneself an evil deed. Mindfulness of God continued to lead the mindful until they abandoned much that was lawful for fear of the unlawful.

وَأَهْدَى رَجُلٌ لِابْنِ عُمَرَ أَثْوَابًا مَرْوِيَّةً، فَرَدَّهَا، وَقَالَ: «مَا رَدَدْنَاهَا عَلَيْكَ إِلَّا مَخَافَةَ الْكِبْرِ». وَكَانَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ، رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ، يُسْرِعُ الْمَشْيَ، وَيَقُولُ: «هُوَ أَبْعَدُ لِي مِنَ الزَّهْوِ».

Wa-ʾahdā rajulun li-ibni ʿUmara ʾathwāban Marwiyyatan, fa-raddahā, wa-qāla: «mā radadnāhā ʿalayka ʾillā makhāfata al-kibri». Wa-kāna ibnu ʿUmara, raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu, yusriʿu al-mashya, wa-yaqūlu: «huwa ʾabʿadu lī mina al-zahwi».

“A man gave Ibn ʿUmar garments from Merv. He returned them, saying, ‘We returned them to you only for fear of pride.’ Ibn ʿUmar, may God be pleased with him, used to walk quickly and say, ‘It keeps me further from conceit.’

وَعُمَرُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ طَلَّقَ امْرَأَتَهُ، وَكَانَتْ أَحَبَّ النَّاسِ إِلَيْهِ حِينَ وَلِيَ الْخِلَافَةَ، مَخَافَةَ أَنْ يُطِيعَهَا فِي غَيْرِ الْعَدْلِ، فَلَمَّا قَوَّاهُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، أَرْسَلَ يَخْطُبُهَا، فَوَجَدَهَا الرَّسُولُ قَدْ مَاتَتْ. وَغَيْرُ ذَلِكَ تَرَكْنَا ذِكْرَهُ لِكَثْرَتِهِ.

Wa-ʿUmaru raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu ṭallaqa imraʾatahu, wa-kānat ʾaḥabba al-nāsi ʾilayhi ḥīna waliya al-khilāfata, makhāfata ʾan yuṭīʿahā fī ghayri al-ʿadli, fa-lammā qawwāhu Allāhu ʿazza wa-jalla, ʾarsala yakhṭubuhā, fa-wajadahā al-rasūlu qad mātat. Wa-ghayru dhālika taraknā dhikrahu likathratihi.

“When ʿUmar, may God be pleased with him, became caliph, he divorced his wife, although she was the person dearest to him, for fear of obeying her in something unjust. When God, mighty and exalted, strengthened him, he sent to ask for her hand, but the messenger found that she had died. We have left many other examples unmentioned because they are so numerous.

وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ أَصْلَ أُمُورِكَ كُلِّهَا وَتَمَامَهَا، وَالَّذِي يَرْتَفِعُ بِهِ الْعَمَلُ وَيَزْكُو، هُوَ أَصْلَانِ: أَحَدُهُمَا: سَلَامَةُ الصَّدْرِ لِجَمِيعِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ. وَالثَّانِي: إِصْلَاحُ الْكِسْرَةِ، وَالْمَعْرِفَةُ مِنْ أَيْنَ قُرْصَتُكَ.

Wa-iʿlam ʾanna ʾaṣla ʾumūrika kullihā wa-tamāmahā, wa-alladhī yartafiʿu bihi al-ʿamalu wa-yazkū, huwa ʾaṣlāni: ʾaḥaduhumā: salāmatu al-ṣadri lijamīʿi al-muslimīna. Wa-al-thānī: ʾiṣlāḥu al-kisrati, wa-al-maʿrifatu min ʾayna qurṣatuka.

“Know that the foundation and completion of all your affairs, through which deeds rise and become pure, consist of two principles. One is a heart free of ill will toward all Muslims. The second is making your morsel sound and knowing where your loaf comes from.

وَالْآثَارُ فِي تَصْحِيحِ هَذَيْنِ الْأَصْلَيْنِ تُرْوَى مِنْ طُرُقٍ شَتَّى كَثِيرَةٍ، وَلَكِنْ أَرَدْنَا الِاخْتِصَارَ، فَتُجَّارُ هَذَا الزَّمَانِ كَأَنَّهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِيَوْمِ الْحِسَابِ، مِنَ الدُّخُولِ فِي كُلِّ مَا لَا يَجُوزُ، وَالتَّسَارُعِ إِلَى كُلِّ مَأْثَمٍ، وَإِلَى كُلِّ مَا لَا يَجُوزُ مِنَ الْمَكَاسِبِ، وَتَرْكِ مَا تَعَهَّدُوا بِهِ، وَرُكُوبِ مَا نُهُوا عَنْهُ، لَا يَتَوَرَّعُونَ عَنْ مَكَاسِبِ أَمْوَالِ الظَّالِمِينَ، وَلَا يُجَانِبُونَ أَهْلَ الرِّيَاءِ، وَلَا أَهْلَ قَطْعِ الطَّرِيقِ وَالسَّلْبِ.

Wa-al-ʾāthāru fī taṣḥīḥi hādhayni al-ʾaṣlayni turwā min ṭuruqin shattā kathīratin, wa-lākin ʾaradnā al-ikhtiṣāra, fa-tujjāru hādhā al-zamāni kaʾannahum lā yuʾminūna biyawmi al-ḥisābi, mina al-dukhūli fī kulli mā lā yajūzu, wa-al-tasāruʿi ʾilā kulli maʾthamin, wa-ʾilā kulli mā lā yajūzu mina al-makāsibi, wa-tarki mā taʿahhadū bihi, wa-rukūbi mā nuhū ʿanhu, lā yatawarraʿūna ʿan makāsibi ʾamwāli al-ẓālimīna, wa-lā yujānibūna ʾahla al-riyāʾi, wa-lā ʾahla qaṭʿi al-ṭarīqi wa-al-salbi.

“Reports confirming these two principles are transmitted through many different routes, but we wished to be brief. The merchants of this age seem not to believe in the Day of Reckoning: they enter into everything impermissible, rush toward every sin and every unlawful form of earning, neglect their commitments, and venture into what they were forbidden. They show no scruple about earning from oppressors’ wealth and do not avoid people of ostentation, highway robbers, or plunderers.

Source pages 139–140

وَلَوْ قِيلَ لَهُمْ: هَلْ لَكُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا حَرَامًا، وَتُعَذَّبُونَ عَلَيْهَا فِي الْآخِرَةِ، وَتُنْغَضُ عَلَيْكُمْ عِيشَتُكُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا بِالْهُمُومِ وَالْأَحْزَانِ وَالْآلَامِ، بَعْدَ أَنْ تَكُونُوا مُكْثِرِينَ مِنْهَا، لَرَضُوا بَعْدَ أَنْ تَكُونَ الدُّنْيَا عَلَيْهِمْ مُوَسَّعَةً، إِلَّا مَنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مِنْهُمْ. فَإِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ.

Wa-law qīla lahum: hal lakum fī al-dunyā ḥarāman, wa-tuʿadhdhabūna ʿalayhā fī al-ʾākhirati, wa-tunghaḍu ʿalaykum ʿīshatukum fī al-dunyā bi-al-humūmi wa-al-ʾaḥzāni wa-al-ʾālāmi, baʿda ʾan takūnū mukthirīna minhā, laraḍū baʿda ʾan takūna al-dunyā ʿalayhim muwassaʿatan, ʾillā man shāʾa Allāhu minhum. Fa-ʾinnā li-llāhi wa-ʾinnā ʾilayhi rājiʿūna.

“If they were asked, ‘Would you accept worldly wealth unlawfully, be punished for it in the hereafter, and have your earthly lives shaken by worries, sorrows, and pain, provided you had it in abundance?’ they would agree, so long as worldly plenty were spread before them, except those among them whom God wills [to spare]. We belong to God, and to Him we return.

Source page 140

فَإِذَا رَأَوْا رَجُلًا تَرَكَ مَا أَقْبَلُوا عَلَيْهِ مِنْ هَذِهِ الْفُنُونِ، تَوَّجُوهُ وَأَكْرَمُوهُ، وَهَذَا فِعْلُ الْعُقَلَاءِ مِنْهُمْ، وَأَمَّا الْحَمْقَاءُ، فَإِنَّهُمْ يَزْدَرُونَهُ وَيُؤَنِّبُونَهُ. وَإِذَا مَدَحَهُ أَهْلُ الْعَقْلِ مِنْهُمْ، وَرَفَعُوهُ قَدْرَهُ، أَحَبَّ الثَّنَاءَ، فَهَلَكَ وَهُوَ لَا يَعْلَمُ. فَكُنْ حَذِرًا مُتَيَقِّظًا، فِي جَمِيعِ أُمُورِكَ، وَاسْتَعِنْ بِاللَّهِ فِي طَلَبِ السَّلَامَةِ، وَاسْأَلِ اللَّهَ الْعَافِيَةَ مِنْ فِتْنَتِهِ وَبَلِيَّتِهِ.

Fa-ʾidhā raʾaw rajulan taraka mā ʾaqbalū ʿalayhi min hādhihi al-funūni, tawwajūhu wa-ʾakramūhu, wa-hādhā fiʿlu al-ʿuqalāʾi minhum, wa-ʾammā al-ḥamqāʾu, fa-ʾinnahum yazdarūnahu wa-yuʾannibūnahu. Wa-ʾidhā madaḥahu ʾahlu al-ʿaqli minhum, wa-rafaʿūhu qadrahu, ʾaḥabba al-thanāʾa, fa-halaka wa-huwa lā yaʿlamu. Fa-kun ḥadhiran mutayaqqiẓan, fī jamīʿi ʾumūrika, wa-istaʿin bi-Allāhi fī ṭalabi al-salāmati, wa-isʾali Allāha al-ʿāfiyata min fitnatihi wa-baliyyatihi.

“When they see a man abandon the pursuits to which they have devoted themselves, they crown him with honor and treat him generously. This is what the sensible among them do; the foolish despise and rebuke him. But when the sensible praise him and raise his standing, he comes to love praise and perishes without knowing it. Be cautious and alert in all your affairs. Seek God’s help in pursuing safety, and ask Him for protection from His testing and affliction.”

وَقَالَ: ثَلَاثُ خِلَالٍ تُلْزِمُهَا قَلْبَكَ: الْخَلَّةُ الْأُولَى، الْيَقِينُ بِأَنَّ الْمَقْدُورَ يَأْتِيكَ، وَإِنْ لَمْ يُقَدَّرْ لَا يَأْتِي، فَمَنْ أَيْقَنَ بِذَلِكَ أَوْرَثَ اللَّهُ جَلَّ وَعَزَّ قَلْبَهُ خَصْلَتَيْنِ: إِحْدَاهُمَا: أَنْ يَأْمَنَ قَلْبُهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَفُوتَهُ مَا قُدِّرَ لَهُ. وَالثَّانِيَةُ: أَنْ يَيْأَسَ مِنْ أَنْ يَنَالَ مَا لَمْ يُقَدَّرْ لَهُ.

Wa-qāla: thalāthu khilālin tulzimuhā qalbaka: al-khallatu al-ʾūlā, al-yaqīnu bi-ʾanna al-maqdūra yaʾtīka, wa-ʾin lam yuqaddar lā yaʾtī, fa-man ʾayqana bi-dhālika ʾawratha Allāhu jalla wa-ʿazza qalbahu khaṣlatayni: ʾiḥdāhumā: ʾan yaʾmana qalbuhu min ʾan yafūtahu mā quddira lahu. Wa-al-thāniyatu: ʾan yayʾasa min ʾan yanāla mā lam yuqaddar lahu.

He said: “Three qualities you should bind to your heart. The first is certainty that what has been decreed will reach you and what has not been decreed will not. Whoever is certain of this, God, glorious and mighty is He, grants his heart two qualities: security that what is decreed for him will not escape him, and abandonment of hope of obtaining what was not decreed for him.

فَمَنْ لَزِمَ قَلْبَهُ الْأَمْنُ أَلَّا يَفُوتَهُ رِزْقُهُ، وَالْإِيَاسُ مِنْ أَنْ يَنَالَ مَا لَمْ يُقَدَّرْ لَهُ، قَلَّ هَمُّهُ، وَغَمُّهُ، وَخُضُوعُهُ لِلْخَلْقِ، وَالْمُدَارَاةُ لَهُمْ، لِأَنْ يَنَالَ بِهِمْ مَنْفَعَةً، فَهَذَا الْغِنَى بِاللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ.

Fa-man lazima qalbahu al-ʾamnu ʾallā yafūtahu rizquhu, wa-al-ʾiyāsu min ʾan yanāla mā lam yuqaddar lahu, qalla hammuhu, wa-ghammuhu, wa-khuḍūʿuhu li-al-khalqi, wa-al-mudārātu lahum, li-ʾan yanāla bihim manfaʿatan, fa-hādhā al-ghinā bi-Allāhi ʿazza wa-jalla.

“When a heart holds fast to confidence that its provision will not escape it, and relinquishes hope of obtaining what was not decreed for it, its worry and grief diminish, as do its submission to creatures and its efforts to placate them for some benefit. This is sufficiency through God, mighty and exalted.

وَالْخَلَّةُ الثَّانِيَةُ: ذِكْرُ اطِّلَاعِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَلَى ضَمِيرِهِ وَجَوَارِحِهِ، فَإِنَّ ذَلِكَ يُورِثُ لَهُ الْحَيَاءَ. فَإِذَا عَرَضَ لَهُ شَيْءٌ مِمَّا يَكْرَهُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، ذَكَرَ النَّظَرَ، وَخَافَ الْمَقْتَ، إِنْ رَكَنَ إِلَى ذَلِكَ. وَإِنْ عَرَضَ لَهُ مَا فِيهِ النَّقْصُ - وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ مُحَرَّمًا - اسْتَحْيَى مِنَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى أَنْ يَرَاهُ مُقَصِّرًا عَمَّا يُحِبُّ مَوْلَاهُ، مَعَ مَا قَدِ اسْتَوْدَعَهُ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ، وَعَرَّفَهُ مِنْ عَظِيمِ قَدْرِهِ، وَكِبْرِيَاءِ جَلَالِهِ، جَلَّ وَعَزَّ.

Wa-al-khallatu al-thāniyatu: dhikru iṭṭilāʿi Allāhi ʿazza wa-jalla ʿalā ḍamīrihi wa-jawāriḥihi, fa-ʾinna dhālika yūrithu lahu al-ḥayāʾa. Fa-ʾidhā ʿaraḍa lahu shayʾun mimmā yakrahu Allāhu ʿazza wa-jalla, dhakara al-naẓara, wa-khāfa al-maqta, ʾin rakana ʾilā dhālika. Wa-ʾin ʿaraḍa lahu mā fīhi al-naqṣu - wa-ʾin lam yakun muḥarraman - istaḥyā mina Allāhi taʿālā ʾan yarāhu muqaṣṣiran ʿammā yuḥibbu mawlāhu, maʿa mā qadi istawdaʿahu mina al-ʿilmi, wa-ʿarrafahu min ʿaẓīmi qadrihi, wa-kibriyāʾi jalālihi, jalla wa-ʿazza.

“The second quality is remembering that God, mighty and exalted, is aware of one’s inner thoughts and bodily faculties. This produces shame before Him. When something God, mighty and exalted, dislikes presents itself, one remembers His gaze and fears His abhorrence if one inclines toward it. If something deficient presents itself, even if it is not forbidden, one feels ashamed before God Most High that He should see one falling short of what one’s Master loves, despite the knowledge He has entrusted to one and the awareness He, glorious and mighty is He, has given of His immense worth and supreme majesty.

وَجُمْلَةُ ذَلِكَ أَنْ تَغْدُوَ إِلَى سُوقِكَ، وَأَنْ تَكُونَ فِي جَمِيعِ أَحْوَالِكَ، فِي سُوقٍ كُنْتَ أَوْ فِي غَيْرِهَا، فَتُلْزِمَ قَلْبَكَ الْيَقِينَ وَالْحَذَرَ، وَتَذْكُرَ الِاطِّلَاعَ بِالنَّظَرِ. فَبِالْيَقِينِ تَسْتَرِيحُ، وَبِالْحَذَرِ تَتَيَقَّظُ، وَبِذِكْرِ النَّظَرِ تَسْتَحْيِي مِنَ النَّاظِرِ الْأَعْلَى، تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى.

Wa-jumlatu dhālika ʾan taghduwa ʾilā sūqika, wa-ʾan takūna fī jamīʿi ʾaḥwālika, fī sūqin kunta ʾaw fī ghayrihā, fa-tulzima qalbaka al-yaqīna wa-al-ḥadhara, wa-tadhkura al-iṭṭilāʿa bi-al-naẓari. Fa-bi-al-yaqīni tastarīḥu, wa-bi-al-ḥadhari tatayaqqaẓu, wa-bidhikri al-naẓari tastaḥyī mina al-nāẓiri al-ʾaʿlā, tabāraka wa-taʿālā.

“In sum, when you go out to your market, and in every condition, whether in the market or elsewhere, bind certainty and caution to your heart and remember the awareness of His gaze. Through certainty you find rest, through caution you remain alert, and through remembering His gaze you feel shame before the Most High Observer, blessed and exalted is He.”

Source page 141

مَذَاهِبُ السَّلَفِ فِي الْوَرَعِ

Madhāhibu al-salafi fī al-waraʿi

The early authorities’ approaches to scrupulousness

سَأَلْتُ أَبَا جَعْفَرٍ عَنِ الْوَرَعِ، فَقَالَ: فِيهِ ثَلَاثَةُ أَقَاوِيلَ: أَحَدُهُمَا: تَرْكُ مَا حَاكَ فِي الصُّدُورِ، مِنْ جَمِيعِ الْحِكَايَاتِ وَالْقَوْلِ. وَالثَّانِي: الْوُقُوفُ عِنْدَ كُلِّ شُبْهَةٍ، إِذَا لَمْ يَتَبَيَّنْ فِيهَا الْحَلَالُ مِنَ الْحَرَامِ.

Saʾaltu ʾAbā Jaʿfarin ʿani al-waraʿi, fa-qāla: fīhi thalāthatu ʾaqāwīla: ʾaḥaduhumā: tarku mā ḥāka fī al-ṣudūri, min jamīʿi al-ḥikāyāti wa-al-qawli. Wa-al-thānī: al-wuqūfu ʿinda kulli shubhatin, ʾidhā lam yatabayyan fīhā al-ḥalālu mina al-ḥarāmi.

I asked Abū Jaʿfar about scrupulousness. He said: “There are three views. One is to abandon whatever troubles the breast in any reports or speech. The second is to stop at every doubtful matter whenever the lawful cannot be distinguished from the unlawful.

وَالْقَوْلُ الثَّالِثُ: مَا رَوَاهُ عَطِيَّةُ السَّعْدِيُّ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «لَا تَكُونُ حَقِيقَةً مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ حَتَّى تَدَعَ مَا لَا بَأْسَ بِهِ، مَخَافَةَ مَا بِهِ الْبَأْسُ». وَهَذِهِ الثَّلَاثَةُ الْأَقَاوِيلِ قَدْ قَصَدَ إِلَيْهَا، وَإِلَى مَعَانِيهَا أَصْنَافٌ مِنَ الْعُلَمَاءِ، وَأَهْلِ الْحَدِيثِ، وَالْقُرَّاءِ، وَالْمُتَصَوِّفَةِ.

Wa-al-qawlu al-thālithu: mā rawāhu ʿAṭiyyatu al-Saʿdiyyu, ʿani al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama: «lā takūnu ḥaqīqatan mina al-muttaqīna ḥattā tadaʿa mā lā baʾsa bihi, makhāfata mā bihi al-baʾsu». Wa-hādhihi al-thalāthatu al-ʾaqāwīli qad qaṣada ʾilayhā, wa-ʾilā maʿānīhā ʾaṣnāfun mina al-ʿulamāʾi, wa-ʾahli al-ḥadīthi, wa-al-qurrāʾi, wa-al-mutaṣawwifati.

The third is what ʿAṭiyya al-Saʿdī related from the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: ‘You will not truly be among the mindful of God until you leave what is harmless for fear of what is harmful.’ Various scholars, transmitters of hadith, devout reciters, and Sufis have pursued these three views and their meanings.

فَأَمَّا تَرْكُ مَا حَاكَ فِي الصُّدُورِ، فَهُوَ مَذْهَبُ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ سُفْيَانَ بْنِ سَعِيدِ بْنِ مَسْرُوقِ بْنِ مُنْذِرٍ الثَّوْرِيِّ، وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ أَدْهَمَ، وَوُهَيْبِ بْنِ الْوَرْدِ، وَمُحَمَّدِ بْنِ يُوسُفَ الْأَصْبَهَانِيِّ، وَيُوسُفَ بْنِ أَسْبَاطٍ، وَعَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ الْوَلِيدِ الْمَدَنِيِّ، وَشُعَيْبِ بْنِ حَرْبٍ.

Fa-ʾammā tarku mā ḥāka fī al-ṣudūri, fa-huwa madh-habu ʾAbī ʿAbdi Allāhi Sufyāna bni Saʿīdi bni Masrūqi bni Mundhirin al-Thawriyyi, wa-ʾIbrāhīma bni ʾAd-hama, wa-Wuhaybi bni al-Wardi, wa-Muḥammadi bni Yūsufa al-ʾAṣbahāniyyi, wa-Yūsufa bni ʾAsbāṭin, wa-ʿAbdi Allāhi bni al-Walīdi al-Madaniyyi, wa-Shuʿaybi bni Ḥarbin.

“Abandoning what troubles the breast is the approach of Abū ʿAbd Allāh Sufyān ibn Saʿīd ibn Masrūq ibn Mundhir al-Thawrī, Ibrāhīm ibn Adham, Wuhayb ibn al-Ward, Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Aṣbahānī, Yūsuf ibn Asbāṭ, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Walīd al-Madanī, and Shuʿayb ibn Ḥarb.

Source pages 141–142

وَالْقَوْلُ الثَّانِي يَذْهَبُ إِلَيْهِ جَمَاعَةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْحَدِيثِ، وَنَاسٌ صُلَحَاءُ مِمَّنْ سَكَنَ الثَّغْرَ، مِنْهُمْ: مُخَلَّدُ بْنُ الْحُسَيْنِ، وَعَلِيُّ بْنُ بَكَّارٍ. وَقَدْ رَوَاهُ عَنِ الْأَوْزَاعِيِّ. وَيُقَالُ: إِنَّهُ فُتْيَا ابْنِ الْمُبَارَكِ بِالْمَصِّيصَةِ، وَمَذْهَبُ طَوَائِفَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْبَصْرَةِ، وَقَدْ ذُكِرَ ذَلِكَ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ دَاوُدَ، وَهُوَ مَذْهَبُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ مُقَاتِلٍ بِعَبَّادَانَ، وَكَثِيرٍ مِنَ الْمُتَفَقِّهَةِ فِي سَائِرِ الْأَمْصَارِ.

Wa-al-qawlu al-thānī yadh-habu ʾilayhi jamāʿatun min ʾaṣḥābi al-ḥadīthi, wa-nāsun ṣulaḥāʾu mimman sakana al-thaghra, minhum: Mukhalladu bnu al-Ḥusayni, wa-ʿAliyyu bnu Bakkārin. Wa-qad rawāhu ʿani al-ʾAwzāʿiyyi. Wa-yuqālu: ʾinnahu futyā ibni al-Mubāraki bi-al-Maṣṣīṣati, wa-madh-habu ṭawāʾifa min ʾahli al-Baṣrati, wa-qad dhukira dhālika ʿan ʿAbdi Allāhi bni Dāwuda, wa-huwa madh-habu Muḥammadi bni Muqātilin bi-ʿAbbādāna, wa-kathīrin mina al-mutafaqqihati fī sāʾiri al-ʾamṣāri.

“The second view is held by a group of hadith scholars and righteous residents of the frontier, including Mukhallad ibn al-Ḥusayn and ʿAlī ibn Bakkār. He also transmitted it from al-Awzāʿī. It is said to be Ibn al-Mubārak’s ruling at al-Maṣṣīṣa and the approach of groups from Basra. It has been reported from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dāwūd, and is the approach of Muḥammad ibn Muqātil at ʿAbbādān and many jurists throughout the cities.

Source page 142

وَالْقَوْلُ الثَّالِثُ: قَدْ ذُكِرَ عَنْ طَاوُسٍ، وَمُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سِيرِينَ، وَأَيُّوبَ بْنِ عَوْنٍ وَيُونُسَ بْنِ عُبَيْدٍ، وَوَاصِلٍ مَوْلَى ابْنِ عُيَيْنَةَ، وَهُوَ مَذْهَبُ عَمْرِو بْنِ مُرَّةَ، وَقَدْ ذَهَبَتْ إِلَيْهِ أُنَاسٌ بِأَطْرَافِ الثُّغُورِ، فَلَمْ يَأْخُذُوا مِنْهَا شَيْئًا، لَا مِنْ حَلَالِهَا، وَلَا مِنْ حَرَامِهَا، وَلَا مِنْ شُبُهَاتِهَا، إِلَّا خِرَقًا تَسْتُرُ الْعَوْرَةَ، وَفِلَقًا تَسُدُّ الْجَوْعَةَ. ثُمَّ تَفَرَّقَتْ بِهِمُ الطُّرُقُ لِلْآخِرَةِ فِي اخْتِيَارِ الْمَآكِلِ وَالْمَلَابِسِ.

Wa-al-qawlu al-thālithu: qad dhukira ʿan Ṭāwusin, wa-Muḥammadi bni Sīrīna, wa-ʾAyyūba bni ʿAwnin wa-Yūnusa bni ʿUbaydin, wa-Wāṣilin mawlā ibni ʿUyaynata, wa-huwa madh-habu ʿAmri bni Murrata, wa-qad dhahabat ʾilayhi ʾunāsun bi-ʾaṭrāfi al-thughūri, fa-lam yaʾkhudhū minhā shayʾan, lā min ḥalālihā, wa-lā min ḥarāmihā, wa-lā min shubuhātihā, ʾillā khiraqan tasturu al-ʿawrata, wa-filaqan tasuddu al-jawʿata. Thumma tafarraqat bihimu al-ṭuruqu li-al-ʾākhirati fī ikhtiyāri al-maʾākili wa-al-malābisi.

“The third view is reported from Ṭāwus, Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, Ayyūb ibn ʿAwn [as named in the text], Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd, and Wāṣil, the client of Ibn ʿUyayna. It is also the approach of ʿAmr ibn Murra. Some people at the outer frontiers adopted it, taking nothing of worldly goods, lawful, unlawful, or doubtful, except rags to cover their nakedness and scraps to still their hunger. Their paths toward the hereafter then diverged over their choices of food and clothing.

فَذَهَبَ طَائِفَةٌ إِلَى الرُّخْصَةِ، وَرَأَتْ طَرِيقَ الْفَقْرِ وَالتَّقَلُّلِ فِيمَا لَمْ يَكُنْ حَرَامًا، إِمَّا نَصًّا فِي التَّنْزِيلِ، وَإِمَّا ثَابِتًا فِي سُنَّةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، أَوْ إِجْمَاعِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ، وَصَارُوا إِلَى الرُّخْصَةِ فِيهِ. وَاخْتَارَتْ طَائِفَةٌ مِنَ الْقُرَّاءِ وَالْمُتَصَوِّفَةِ التَّقَلُّلَ مِنْ كَدِّ الْيَدِ، وَعَرَقِ الْجَبِينِ، وَالسَّعْيِ فِي طَلَبِ الْأَسْبَابِ، لِيَأْخُذُوا الْكِسْرَةَ، وَاجْتَهَدُوا فِي طَلَبِ ذَلِكَ، مَعَ أَهْلِ الثُّغُورِ، خَوْفًا أَنْ يَكُونُوا مِنْ أَعْوَانِ الظَّالِمِينَ.

Fa-dhahaba ṭāʾifatun ʾilā al-rukhṣati, wa-raʾat ṭarīqa al-faqri wa-al-taqalluli fīmā lam yakun ḥarāman, ʾimmā naṣṣan fī al-tanzīli, wa-ʾimmā thābitan fī sunnati rasūli Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama, ʾaw ʾijmāʿi al-muslimīna, wa-ṣārū ʾilā al-rukhṣati fīhi. Wa-ikhtārat ṭāʾifatun mina al-qurrāʾi wa-al-mutaṣawwifati al-taqallula min kaddi al-yadi, wa-ʿaraqi al-jabīni, wa-al-saʿyi fī ṭalabi al-ʾasbābi, liyaʾkhudhū al-kisrata, wa-ijtahadū fī ṭalabi dhālika, maʿa ʾahli al-thughūri, khawfan ʾan yakūnū min ʾaʿwāni al-ẓālimīna.

“One group adopted the concession, seeing the path of poverty and modest sufficiency in things not prohibited by an explicit revealed text, an established Sunna of God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, or Muslim consensus. They followed the permission in those matters. Another group of devout reciters and Sufis chose a scant livelihood from the labor of their hands, the sweat of their brows, and efforts to find means of obtaining a morsel. They strove for this alongside frontier residents, for fear of becoming helpers of oppressors.

وَاحْتَجُّوا فِي ذَلِكَ بِآيَاتٍ مِنَ التَّنْزِيلِ، مِنْهَا قَوْلُهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: «وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الْإِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ» [الْمَائِدَةِ: 2]. وَأَخْبَارِ الْمُصْطَفَى صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «فَمَنْ أَعَانَهُمْ وَصَدَّقَهُمْ، فَلَسْتُ مِنْهُ، وَلَمْ يَرِدْ عَلَيَّ الْحَوْضَ».

Wa-iḥtajjū fī dhālika bi-ʾāyātin mina al-tanzīli, minhā qawluhu ʿazza wa-jalla: «wa-lā taʿāwanū ʿalā al-ʾithmi wa-al-ʿudwāni» [al-Māʾidati: 2]. Wa-ʾakhbāri al-muṣṭafā ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama: «fa-man ʾaʿānahum wa-ṣaddaqahum, fa-lastu minhu, wa-lam yarid ʿalayya al-ḥawḍa».

“They cited revealed verses, including the words of God, mighty and exalted: ‘Do not assist one another in sin and aggression’ [Al-Māʾida: 2], and reports from the Chosen One, may God bless him and grant him peace: ‘Whoever helps them and affirms them, I have nothing to do with him, and he will not come to me at the Basin.’

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وَذَهَبَتْ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْفِقْهِ إِلَى أَنَّهُ لَا بَأْسَ بِمُعَاوَنَتِهِمْ، إِذَا لَمْ يَكُنْ ظُلْمًا بِعَيْنِهِ، وَذَلِكَ أَنَّهُمْ تَأَوَّلُوا الْحَدِيثَ عَلَى مَعْنَى: مَنْ أَعَانَهُمْ عَلَى ظُلْمِهِمْ، فَمَنْ لَمْ يُعِنْهُمْ عَلَى الظُّلْمِ، وَأَعَانَهُمْ عَلَى سِوَى ذَلِكَ، فَهُوَ مُطْلَقٌ حَلَالٌ عِنْدَهُمْ.

Wa-dhahabat ṭāʾifatun min ʾahli al-fiqhi ʾilā ʾannahu lā baʾsa bimuʿāwanatihim, ʾidhā lam yakun ẓulman biʿaynihi, wa-dhālika ʾannahum taʾawwalū al-ḥadītha ʿalā maʿnā: man ʾaʿānahum ʿalā ẓulmihim, fa-man lam yuʿinhum ʿalā al-ẓulmi, wa-ʾaʿānahum ʿalā siwā dhālika, fa-huwa muṭlaqun ḥalālun ʿindahum.

“A group of jurists held that there is no harm in assisting them when the assistance is not itself an injustice. They understood the report to mean, ‘Whoever assists them in their oppression.’ In their view, helping them in something other than oppression is unrestricted and lawful.

وَذَهَبَتْ طَائِفَةٌ إِلَى تَرْكِ الْمَعُونَةِ لَهُمْ، وَالْمُبَايَنَةِ لَهُمْ، وَاحْتَجُّوا بِأَخْبَارٍ كَثِيرَةٍ فِي الْمُبَايَنَةِ: مِنْ ذَلِكَ حَدِيثُ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «لُعِنَتِ الْخَمْرُ، وَبَائِعُهَا، وَمُبْتَاعُهَا، وَحَامِلُهَا، وَالْمَحْمُولَةُ إِلَيْهِ، وَعَاصِرُهَا وَمُعْتَصِرُهَا، وَآكِلُ ثَمَنِهَا».

Wa-dhahabat ṭāʾifatun ʾilā tarki al-maʿūnati lahum, wa-al-mubāyanati lahum, wa-iḥtajjū bi-ʾakhbārin kathīratin fī al-mubāyanati: min dhālika ḥadīthu al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama: «luʿinati al-khamru, wa-bāʾiʿuhā, wa-mubtāʿuhā, wa-ḥāmiluhā, wa-al-maḥmūlatu ʾilayhi, wa-ʿāṣiruhā wa-muʿtaṣiruhā, wa-ʾākilu thamanihā».

“Another group held that one should withhold assistance and keep apart from them. They cited many reports on separation, including the report of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: ‘Wine is cursed, as are its seller, buyer, carrier, the one to whom it is carried, its presser, the one who has it pressed, and the one who consumes its price.’

وَاحْتَجُّوا بِأَنَّ سَعْدًا أَحْرَقَ كَرْمَهُ، وَقَالَ: «بِئْسَ الشَّيْخُ أَنَا إِنْ أَنَا بِعْتُ الْخَمْرَةَ». وَنَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَنِ الثَّلَاثَةِ الَّذِينَ خُلِّفُوا، عَنْ كَلَامِهِمْ، وَعَنْ مُبَايَعَتِهِمْ. وَأَمَرَهُمْ أَنْ يَعْتَزِلُوا نِسَاءَهُمْ، وَلَمْ يَكُنِ التَّخَلُّفُ مِنْهُمْ عَلَى نِفَاقٍ، وَإِنَّمَا كَانَ ذَنْبًا، حَتَّى أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ جَلَّ وَعَزَّ تَوْبَتَهُمْ. وَقَالَتْ فِرْقَةٌ: الْمَعُونَةُ لَهُمْ حَرَامٌ فِي كُلِّ مَكَانٍ لَهُمْ فِيهِ مَنْفَعَةٌ، وَهُوَ مَذْهَبُ طَائِفَةٍ مِنَ الْمُتَصَوِّفَةِ مَعَهُمْ جَهْلٌ كَبِيرٌ وَغِلْظَةٌ.

Wa-iḥtajjū bi-ʾanna Saʿdan ʾaḥraqa karmahu, wa-qāla: «biʾsa al-shaykhu ʾanā ʾin ʾanā biʿtu al-khamrata». Wa-nahā rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama ʿani al-thalāthati alladhīna khullifū, ʿan kalāmihim, wa-ʿan mubāyaʿatihim. Wa-ʾamarahum ʾan yaʿtazilū nisāʾahum, wa-lam yakuni al-takhallufu minhum ʿalā nifāqin, wa-ʾinnamā kāna dhanban, ḥattā ʾanzala Allāhu jalla wa-ʿazza tawbatahum. Wa-qālat firqatun: al-maʿūnatu lahum ḥarāmun fī kulli makānin lahum fīhi manfaʿatun, wa-huwa madh-habu ṭāʾifatin mina al-mutaṣawwifati maʿahum jahlun kabīrun wa-ghilẓatun.

“They also cited Saʿd’s burning his vineyard and saying, ‘What a bad elder I would be if I sold wine!’ God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, forbade speaking or trading with the three who were left behind. He ordered them to withdraw from their wives, although their staying behind was a sin rather than hypocrisy, until God, glorious and mighty is He, revealed His acceptance of their repentance. One group said assistance is forbidden in every situation in which it benefits them. This is the position of a group of Sufis marked by considerable ignorance and harshness.

وَقَالَتْ طَائِفَةٌ: بَيْعُ السِّلَاحِ وَالْكُرَاعِ مِنْهُمْ مَعْصِيَةٌ، وَمَا سِوَى ذَلِكَ فَتَرْكُ الْمَعُونَةِ لَهُمْ وَتَرْكُ مُتَابَعَتِهِمْ أَفْضَلُ. وَهُمْ طَوَائِفُ النُّسَّاكِ وَالْقُرَّاءِ، مِمَّنْ يَنْتَحِلُ مَذْهَبَ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ سُفْيَانَ بْنِ سَعِيدٍ الثَّوْرِيِّ، وَالْفُضَيْلِ بْنِ عِيَاضٍ وَالْمُعَافَى بْنِ عِمْرَانَ، وَوَكِيعِ بْنِ الْجَرَّاحِ وَأَبِي إِسْحَٰقَ الْفَزَارِيِّ، وَعِيسَى بْنِ يُوسُفَ، وَيُوسُفَ بْنِ أَسْبَاطٍ، وَابْنِ الْمُبَارَكِ، وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ أَدْهَمَ، وَعَبَّادِ بْنِ عُتْبَةَ الْخَوَّاصِ وَمُخَلَّدِ بْنِ الْحُسَيْنِ، وَعَلِيِّ بْنِ بَكَّارٍ.

Wa-qālat ṭāʾifatun: bayʿu al-silāḥi wa-al-kurāʿi minhum maʿṣiyatun, wa-mā siwā dhālika fa-tarku al-maʿūnati lahum wa-tarku mutābaʿatihim ʾafḍalu. Wa-hum ṭawāʾifu al-nussāki wa-al-qurrāʾi, mimman yantaḥilu madh-haba ʾAbī ʿAbdi Allāhi Sufyāna bni Saʿīdin al-Thawriyyi, wa-al-Fuḍayli bni ʿIyāḍin wa-al-Muʿāfā bni ʿImrāna, wa-Wakīʿi bni al-Jarrāḥi wa-ʾAbī ʾIsḥāqa al-Fazāriyyi, wa-ʿĪsā bni Yūsufa, wa-Yūsufa bni ʾAsbāṭin, wa-ibni al-Mubāraki, wa-ʾIbrāhīma bni ʾAd-hama, wa-ʿAbbādi bni ʿUtbata al-Khawwāṣi wa-Mukhalladi bni al-Ḥusayni, wa-ʿAliyyi bni Bakkārin.

“Another group said selling them weapons and mounts is disobedience; in other matters, withholding assistance and avoiding association with them is better. These are groups of ascetics and devout reciters who follow the approach of Abū ʿAbd Allāh Sufyān ibn Saʿīd al-Thawrī, al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ, al-Muʿāfā ibn ʿImrān, Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarrāḥ, Abū Isḥāq al-Fazārī, ʿĪsā ibn Yūsuf, Yūsuf ibn Asbāṭ, Ibn al-Mubārak, Ibrāhīm ibn Adham, ʿAbbād ibn ʿUtba al-Khawwāṣ, Mukhallad ibn al-Ḥusayn, and ʿAlī ibn Bakkār;

Source page 144

وَسُلَيْمَانَ الْخَوَّاصِ، وَقَاسِمِ بْنِ يَزِيدَ الْجَرْمِيِّ، وَزَيْدِ بْنِ أَبِي الزَّرْقَاءِ، وَابْنِ أَبِي ذِئْبٍ، وَأَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ حَنْبَلٍ، وَبِشْرِ بْنِ الْحَارِثِ الْحَافِي وَعَبْدِ الْوَهَّابِ الْوَرَّاقِ، وَمَنْ سَلَكَ مَسْلَكَهُمْ وَسَبِيلَهُمْ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْحَدِيثِ مِمَّا يَحْسُنُ فِي قِرَاءَتِهِ.

Wa-Sulaymāna al-Khawwāṣi, wa-Qāsimi bni Yazīda al-Jarmiyyi, wa-Zaydi bni ʾAbī al-Zarqāʾi, wa-ibni ʾAbī Dhiʾbin, wa-ʾAḥmada bni Muḥammadi bni Ḥanbalin, wa-Bishri bni al-Ḥārithi al-Ḥāfī wa-ʿAbdi al-Wahhābi al-Warrāqi, wa-man salaka maslakahum wa-sabīlahum min ʾaṣḥābi al-ḥadīthi mimmā yaḥsunu fī qirāʾatihi.

“and Sulaymān al-Khawwāṣ, Qāsim ibn Yazīd al-Jarmī, Zayd ibn Abī al-Zarqāʾ, Ibn Abī Dhiʾb, Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥanbal, Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith al-Ḥāfī, ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Warrāq, and those hadith scholars who followed their course and path, ‘in what is good in its recitation’ [the concluding printed phrase is unclear].

وَسَاعَدَهُمْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ طَوَائِفُ مِنَ الْمُتَصَوِّفَةِ بِمَكَّةَ، وَالْيَمَنِ، وَسَوَاحِلِ الشَّامِ، وَعَبَّادَانَ، وَذَلِكَ أَنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ: لَا بُدَّ مِنْ إِمَارَةٍ، بَرَّةٍ أَوْ فَاجِرَةٍ، وَالدَّارُ لَا تَصْلُحُ إِلَّا بِإِمَامٍ يُصَلَّى خَلْفَهُ، وَتُرْفَعُ إِلَيْهِ الْأَحْكَامُ، وَتُصْلَحُ الطُّرُقُ، وَتُعَبَّدُ الْجُسُورُ، وَتُعَمَّرُ الْمَسَاجِدُ الْعِظَامُ وَتُبْنَى الْمَنَائِرُ لِلْحُرَّاسِ بِالثُّغُورِ، وَتُعْقَدُ الْأَلْوِيَةُ عَلَى الصَّوَائِفِ وَغَيْرِهِمْ، وَيُقِيمُ الْحَجَّ، وَيُعْطِي الْفَيْءَ، وَيَقْسِمُ الْغَنِيمَةَ، وَيَجْبِي الْخَرَاجَ، وَيَفْرِضُ الْأَعْطِيَةَ، وَيُدَوِّنُ الدَّوَاوِينَ، وَيَعُولُ الْفُقَرَاءَ، وَيُعْطِي الْغَارِمِينَ.

Wa-sāʿadahum ʿalā dhālika ṭawāʾifu mina al-mutaṣawwifati bimakkata, wa-al-Yamani, wa-sawāḥili al-Shāmi, wa-ʿAbbādāna, wa-dhālika ʾannahum yaqūlūna: lā budda min ʾimāratin, barratin ʾaw fājiratin, wa-al-dāru lā taṣluḥu ʾillā bi-ʾimāmin yuṣallā khalfahu, wa-turfaʿu ʾilayhi al-ʾaḥkāmu, wa-tuṣlaḥu al-ṭuruqu, wa-tuʿabbadu al-jusūru, wa-tuʿammaru al-masājidu al-ʿiẓāmu wa-tubnā al-manāʾiru li-al-ḥurrāsi bi-al-thughūri, wa-tuʿqadu al-ʾalwiyatu ʿalā al-ṣawāʾifi wa-ghayrihim, wa-yuqīmu al-ḥajja, wa-yuʿṭī al-fayʾa, wa-yaqsimu al-ghanīmata, wa-yajbī al-kharāja, wa-yafriḍu al-ʾaʿṭiyata, wa-yudawwinu al-dawāwīna, wa-yaʿūlu al-fuqarāʾa, wa-yuʿṭī al-ghārimīna.

“Groups of Sufis in Mecca, Yemen, the Syrian coasts, and ʿAbbādān supported them. They say that government is necessary, righteous or sinful. Society cannot be put right without a leader behind whom prayer is performed and to whom legal judgments are referred. Roads must be repaired, bridges made passable, great mosques maintained, frontier watchtowers built, and banners assigned to summer expeditions and other forces. He organizes the pilgrimage, distributes fayʾ revenue and spoils, collects land tax, assigns stipends, keeps registers, supports the poor, and assists debtors.

فَإِذَا أَحْسَنَ وَاتَّقَى كَانَ صَلَاحًا لِلرَّعِيَّةِ، وَإِذَا أَسَاءَ وَفَجَرَ كَانَ فَسَادُهُ جَوْرًا فِي الرَّعِيَّةِ، وَالصَّبْرُ عَلَى الْإِقَامَةِ مَعَهُ، وَتَرْكُ مُفَارَقَةِ الْجَمَاعَةِ فِي الْخُرُوجِ مِنْ إِقَامَتِهِ، وَالْمُعَامَلَةُ فِي الشِّرَاءِ وَالْبَيْعِ، وَالتِّجَارَةِ وَالصَّنَائِعِ فِي دَوْلَتِهِ جَائِزٌ، وَيَكُونُ بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ سِتْرٌ، حَتَّى إِذَا رَأَيْتَ حِلْيَتَهُمْ عَلَى أَحَدٍ اجْتَنَبْتَهُ بِعَيْنِهِ.

Fa-ʾidhā ʾaḥsana wa-ittaqā kāna ṣalāḥan li-al-raʿiyyati, wa-ʾidhā ʾasāʾa wa-fajara kāna fasāduhu jawran fī al-raʿiyyati, wa-al-ṣabru ʿalā al-ʾiqāmati maʿahu, wa-tarku mufāraqati al-jamāʿati fī al-khurūji min ʾiqāmatihi, wa-al-muʿāmalatu fī al-shirāʾi wa-al-bayʿi, wa-al-tijārati wa-al-ṣanāʾiʿi fī dawlatihi jāʾizun, wa-yakūnu baynaka wa-baynahu sitrun, ḥattā ʾidhā raʾayta ḥilyatahum ʿalā ʾaḥadin ijtanabtahu biʿaynihi.

“If he acts well and is mindful of God, he brings welfare to the people; if he acts badly and sinfully, his corruption becomes oppression of them. Patiently remaining with him, not departing from the community by withdrawing from residence under him, and buying, selling, trading, and practicing crafts in his realm are permissible. Let a barrier remain between you and him, so that when you recognize their distinguishing appearance on someone, you avoid that particular person.

Source pages 144–145

وَقَدْ قَالَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ، رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ: «إِنْ ضُرِبْتَ أَوْ ظُلِمْتَ فَاصْبِرْ». وَقَالَ حُذَيْفَةُ: «لَيْسَ مِنَ السُّنَّةِ أَنْ تُشْهِرَ السِّلَاحَ فِي وَجْهِ السُّلْطَانِ». وَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «سَتَرَوْنَ بَعْدِي فِتَنًا وَأَثَرَةً». قِيلَ: فَمَا تَأْمُرُنَا بِهِ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ؟ قَالَ: «أَعْطُوا الْحَقَّ الَّذِي عَلَيْكُمْ، وَسَلُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي لَكُمْ». وَهَذَا الْحَدِيثُ أَصْلٌ عَظِيمٌ مِنْ أُصُولِ الْإِسْلَامِ، رَوَاهُ الْأَعْمَشُ، وَمَنْصُورٌ، عَنْ يَزِيدَ بْنِ وَهْبٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ.

Wa-qad qāla ʿUmaru bnu al-Khaṭṭābi, raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu: «ʾin ḍuribta ʾaw ẓulimta fa-iṣbir». Wa-qāla Ḥudhayfatu: «laysa mina al-sunnati ʾan tush-hira al-silāḥa fī wajhi al-sulṭāni». Wa-qāla al-nabiyyu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama: «satarawna baʿdī fitanan wa-ʾatharatan». Qīla: fa-mā taʾmurunā bihi yā rasūla Allāhi? Qāla: «ʾaʿṭū al-ḥaqqa alladhī ʿalaykum, wa-salū Allāha alladhī lakum». Wa-hādhā al-ḥadīthu ʾaṣlun ʿaẓīmun min ʾuṣūli al-ʾislāmi, rawāhu al-ʾAʿmashu, wa-Manṣūrun, ʿan Yazīda bni Wahbin, ʿan ʿAbdi Allāhi bni Masʿūdin.

“ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may God be pleased with him, said, ‘If you are beaten or wronged, be patient.’ Ḥudhayfa said, ‘It is not the Sunna to brandish weapons in the ruler’s face.’ The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘After me you will see trials and selfish favoritism.’ He was asked, ‘What do you command us to do, Messenger of God?’ He replied, ‘Give what is due from you, and ask God for what is due to you.’ This report is a great foundation among Islam’s foundations. Al-Aʿmash and Manṣūr transmitted it from Yazīd ibn Wahb, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd.”

Source page 145

مَذَاهِبُ السَّلَفِ فِي الْمَطَاعِمِ وَالْمَلَابِسِ

Madhāhibu al-salafi fī al-maṭāʿimi wa-al-malābisi

The early authorities’ approaches to food and clothing

وَقَدْ تَكَلَّمَ طَوَائِفُ مِنَ الْفِرَقِ بِمَذَاهِبَ فِي الْمُجَانَبَةِ، وَصَفَاءِ الْمَطْعَمِ وَالْمَلْبَسِ، يَخْتَلِفُونَ وَيَتَقَارَبُونَ. فَمِنْهُمْ مَنِ اخْتَارَ الْعُزْلَةَ عَنِ الْأَئِمَّةِ وَالسُّلْطَانِ، وَأَعْوَانِهِمْ بِأَعْيَانِهِمْ. وَفِرْقَةٌ قَدْ جَانَبَتْ كُلَّ مَنِ اتَّصَلَ بِهِمْ، وَهَذِهِ الطَّائِفَةُ عِنْدَ جَمَاعَةٍ مِنَ الْعَلَاءِ رَكِبَتِ الْغُلُوَّ فِي الدِّينِ.

Wa-qad takallama ṭawāʾifu mina al-firaqi bimadhāhiba fī al-mujānabati, wa-ṣafāʾi al-maṭʿami wa-al-malbasi, yakhtalifūna wa-yataqārabūna. Fa-minhum mani ikhtāra al-ʿuzlata ʿani al-ʾaʾimmati wa-al-sulṭāni, wa-ʾaʿwānihim bi-ʾaʿyānihim. Wa-firqatun qad jānabat kulla mani ittaṣala bihim, wa-hādhihi al-ṭāʾifatu ʿinda jamāʿatin mina al-ʿalāʾi rakibati al-ghuluwwa fī al-dīni.

Various groups have expressed differing yet sometimes convergent approaches to avoidance and to purity in food and clothing. Some chose to withdraw from rulers, the governing authority, and their individual assistants. Another group avoided everyone connected with them. In the judgment of a group of “eminence” [the printed word is defective or unclear], this faction went to extremes in religion.

وَطَائِفَةٌ اعْتَزَلَتِ الْفِرَقَ، وَاحْتَجَّتْ بِمَا حَدَّثَنَا بِهِ عُثْمَانُ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو أُسَامَةَ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ أَبَا النَّيَّاحِ يُخْبِرُ عَنْ أَبِي زُرْعَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «هَلَاكُ أُمَّتِي عَلَى أَيْدِي أَغْلِمَةٍ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ». قَالَ قَائِلٌ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، فَمَا تَأْمُرُنَا لَوْ قَدْ وَرَدَتْ عَلَيْنَا؟ قَالَ: «لَوْ أَنَّ النَّاسَ اعْتَزَلُوهُمْ».

Wa-ṭāʾifatun iʿtazalati al-firaqa, wa-iḥtajjat bimā ḥaddathanā bihi ʿUthmānu bnu ʾAbī Shaybata, qāla: ḥaddathanā ʾAbū ʾUsāmata qāla: ḥaddathanā Shuʿbatu, qāla: samiʿtu ʾAbā al-Nayyāḥi yukhbiru ʿan ʾAbī Zurʿata, ʿan ʾAbī Hurayrata qāla: qāla rasūlu Allāhi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama: «halāku ʾummatī ʿalā ʾaydī ʾaghlimatin min Qurayshin». Qāla qāʾilun: yā rasūla Allāhi, fa-mā taʾmurunā law qad waradat ʿalaynā? Qāla: «law ʾanna al-nāsa iʿtazalūhum».

One group withdrew from the factions, citing what ʿUthmān ibn Abī Shayba related to us. He said: Abū Usāma related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard Abū al-Nayyāḥ [as named in this text] report from Abū Zurʿa, from Abū Hurayra, who said: God’s Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, said, “My community’s ruin will come at the hands of young men of Quraysh.” Someone asked, “Messenger of God, what do you command us to do if it overtakes us?” He said, “If only people would keep apart from them.”

وَرَوَى جَمَاعَةٌ، عَنِ الْوَلِيدِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ يَزِيدَ بْنِ جَابِرٍ، عَنْ بُسْرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنْ أَبِي إِدْرِيسَ الْخَوْلَانِيِّ، عَنْ حُذَيْفَةَ، قَالَ: قُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، إِنْ أَدْرَكَنِي رِفَاقٌ لَيْسَ لَهُ إِمَامٌ وَلَا جَمَاعَةٌ، قَالَ: «فَاعْتَزِلْ تِلْكَ الْفِرَقَ حَتَّى تَمُوتَ عَلَى ذَلِكَ».

Wa-rawā jamāʿatun, ʿani al-Walīdi bni ʿAbdi al-Raḥmāni bni Yazīda bni Jābirin, ʿan Busri bni ʿAbdi Allāhi, ʿan ʾAbī ʾIdrīsa al-Khawlāniyyi, ʿan Ḥudhayfata, qāla: qultu: yā rasūla Allāhi, ʾin ʾadrakanī rifāqun laysa lahu ʾimāmun wa-lā jamāʿatun, qāla: «fa-iʿtazil tilka al-firaqa ḥattā tamūta ʿalā dhālika».

A group transmitted from al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yazīd ibn Jābir, from Busr ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī, from Ḥudhayfa, who said: I asked, “Messenger of God, if I encounter a company with neither leader nor community?” He replied, “Keep apart from those factions until you die in that condition.”

Source pages 145–146

وَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لِلْأَنْصَارِ: «إِنَّكُمْ سَتَرَوْنَ بَعْدِي فِتَنًا وَأَثَرَةً، فَاصْبِرُوا حَتَّى تَلْقَوْنِي عَلَى الْحَوْضِ». وَقَالَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ لِأَبِي ذَرٍّ حَيْثُ قَالَ لَهُ: كَيْفَ أَنْتَ إِذَا رَأَيْتَ حِجَارَةَ الزَّيْتِ قَدْ غَرِقَتْ فِي الدَّمِ: «اصْبِرْ حَتَّى تَلْحَقَ بِمَنْ أَنْتَ مَعَهُ». وَالْأَخْبَارُ فِي هَذَا كَثِيرَةٌ.

Wa-qāla al-nabiyyu ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama li-al-ʾanṣāri: «ʾinnakum satarawna baʿdī fitanan wa-ʾatharatan, fa-iṣbirū ḥattā talqawnī ʿalā al-ḥawḍi». Wa-qāla ʿalayhi al-salāmu li-ʾAbī Dharrin ḥaythu qāla lahu: kayfa ʾanta ʾidhā raʾayta ḥijārata al-zayti qad ghariqat fī al-dami: «iṣbir ḥattā talḥaqa biman ʾanta maʿahu». Wa-al-ʾakhbāru fī hādhā kathīratun.

The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, told the Helpers: “After me you will see trials and selfish favoritism. Be patient until you meet me at the Basin.” He, peace be upon him, also told Abū Dharr, when he asked him, “How will you be when you see the Stones of Oil [a place-name] submerged in blood?”: “Be patient until you join those with whom you are.” Reports on this are numerous.

Source page 146

وَأَمَّا الْأَكْيَاسُ فَإِنَّهُمْ أَخَذُوا الْقُوتَ قَصْدًا، وَرَفَضُوا مَا سِوَى ذَلِكَ، وَقَدْ كَانَ الْأَوْزَاعِيُّ يَقُولُ: «اشْتَبَهَتِ الْأُمُورُ، فَلَيْسَ نَأْخُذُ غَيْرَ الْقُوتِ». وَقَالَ الْحَسَنُ: «إِنَّ الْمَكَاسِبَ قَدْ فَسَدَتْ، خُذُوا مِنْهَا الْقُوتَ». وَقَالَ أَبُو وَائِلٍ مَسْرُوقٌ: «إِنَّ أَهْلَ بَيْتٍ بِالْكُوفَةِ يُوجَدُ عَلَى مَائِدَتِهِمْ رَغِيفٌ مِنْ حَلَالٍ، لَأَهْلُ بَيْتٍ غُرَبَاءُ».

Wa-ʾammā al-ʾakyāsu fa-ʾinnahum ʾakhadhū al-qūta qaṣdan, wa-rafaḍū mā siwā dhālika, wa-qad kāna al-ʾAwzāʿiyyu yaqūlu: «ishtabahati al-ʾumūru, fa-laysa naʾkhudhu ghayra al-qūti». Wa-qāla al-Ḥasanu: «ʾinna al-makāsiba qad fasadat, khudhū minhā al-qūta». Wa-qāla ʾAbū Wāʾilin Masrūqun: «ʾinna ʾahla baytin bi-al-Kūfati yūjadu ʿalā māʾidatihim raghīfun min ḥalālin, laʾahlu baytin ghurabāʾu».

The discerning took only a moderate amount of sustenance and rejected everything else. Al-Awzāʿī used to say, “Things have become doubtful, so we take nothing beyond sustenance.” Al-Ḥasan said, “Earnings have become corrupt; take only sustenance from them.” Abū Wāʾil Masrūq [as named in the text] said, “A household in Kufa with a lawful loaf upon its table is a truly unusual household.”

وَيُقَالُ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَيَحْجُبُ الدُّعَاءَ بِالطُّعْمَةِ، أَوْ بِالْكِسْرَةِ يَأْكُلُهَا الْمَرْءُ مِنْ غَيْرِ حِلِّهَا. وَفِي إِجْمَاعِهِمْ: مَنْ طَابَ مَطْعَمُهُ صَفَتْ أَعْمَالُهُ، وَاسْتُجِيبَتْ دَعْوَتُهُ. ثُمَّ قَصَدَتْ طَوَائِفُ مِنَ الْقُرَّاءِ وَالْمُتَصَوِّفَةِ وَالنُّسَّاكِ إِلَى مَذَاهِبَ فِي الْكَسْبِ: فَطَائِفَةٌ اخْتَارَتِ الْمُبَاحَ مِنَ الْجِبَالِ وَالْأَوْدِيَةِ وَالرِّمَالِ، مِنْ وَرَقِ الْأَثْلِ، وَلَقْطِ الْبَذْرِ، وَالْحَشَائِشِ الَّتِي لَهَا ثَمَنٌ إِذَا ادُّخِرَتْ، فَجَمَعُوا مِنْهَا لِصَيْفِهِمْ فِي شِتَائِهِمْ.

Wa-yuqālu: ʾinna Allāha ʿazza wa-jalla layaḥjubu al-duʿāʾa bi-al-ṭuʿmati, ʾaw bi-al-kisrati yaʾkuluhā al-marʾu min ghayri ḥillihā. Wa-fī ʾijmāʿihim: man ṭāba maṭʿamuhu ṣafat ʾaʿmāluhu, wa-ustujībat daʿwatuhu. Thumma qaṣadat ṭawāʾifu mina al-qurrāʾi wa-al-mutaṣawwifati wa-al-nussāki ʾilā madhāhiba fī al-kasbi: fa-ṭāʾifatun ikhtārati al-mubāḥa mina al-jibāli wa-al-ʾawdiyati wa-al-rimāli, min waraqi al-ʾathli, wa-laqṭi al-badhri, wa-al-ḥashāʾishi allatī lahā thamanun ʾidhā iddukhirat, fa-jamaʿū minhā liṣayfihim fī shitāʾihim.

It is said that God, mighty and exalted, may withhold an answer to prayer because of food or a morsel someone eats unlawfully. They agree that whoever makes his food wholesome has pure deeds and an answered prayer. Groups of devout reciters, Sufis, and ascetics then adopted different approaches to earning. One group chose freely available things from mountains, valleys, and sands: tamarisk leaves, gathered seeds, and plants that have a price when stored. They gathered them in winter for the summer.

Source pages 146–147

وَطَائِفَةٌ اخْتَارَتْ مَا أَلْقَتْهُ الرِّيَاحُ، وَمَا ظَهَرَ مِنَ الْحَشِيشِ وَالْكَلَإِ عَلَى وَجْهِ الْأَرْضِ، مِنْ كَلَإِ الصَّحْرَاءِ، إِذَا اشْتَدَّ بِهِمُ الْجُوعُ. وَطَائِفَةٌ اخْتَارَتِ الْمَنْبُوذَ الْمَطْرُوحَ الْمُلْقَى، وَاحْتَجُّوا لِذَلِكَ بِمَا رَوَاهُ هِشَامٌ عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَانَ يَهْوِي إِلَى التَّمْرَةِ الْمُلْقَاةِ، فَلَوْلَا أَنَّهُ يَخْشَى أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنْ تَمْرِ الصَّدَقَةِ لَأَخَذَهَا. وَأَنَّ أَبَا أُمَامَةَ أَخَذَ كِسْرَةً مِنْ مَسْجِدِ حِمْصَ فَأَكَلَهَا. وَكَانَ أُوَيْسٌ الْقَرَنِيُّ يَأْخُذُ الشَّيْءَ مِنَ الْمَزَابِلِ وَغَيْرِهَا.

Wa-ṭāʾifatun ikhtārat mā ʾalqat-hu al-riyāḥu, wa-mā ẓahara mina al-ḥashīshi wa-al-kalaʾi ʿalā wajhi al-ʾarḍi, min kalaʾi al-ṣaḥrāʾi, ʾidhā ishtadda bihimu al-jūʿu. Wa-ṭāʾifatun ikhtārati al-manbūdha al-maṭrūḥa al-mulqā, wa-iḥtajjū li-dhālika bimā rawāhu Hishāmun ʿan Qatādata, ʾanna al-nabiyya ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama kāna yahwī ʾilā al-tamrati al-mulqāti, fa-lawlā ʾannahu yakhshā ʾan takūna min tamri al-ṣadaqati laʾakhadhahā. Wa-ʾanna ʾAbā ʾUmāmata ʾakhadha kisratan min masjidi Ḥimṣa fa-ʾakalahā. Wa-kāna ʾUwaysun al-Qaraniyyu yaʾkhudhu al-shayʾa mina al-mazābili wa-ghayrihā.

Another group chose what winds cast down and the grass and herbage appearing on the earth’s surface, the vegetation of the desert, when hunger became severe. Another chose discarded, cast-off things, citing what Hishām related from Qatāda: the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, would reach toward a fallen date, and would have taken it had he not feared it was from charitable alms. They also cited Abū Umāma’s taking a morsel from the mosque of Homs and eating it. Uways al-Qaranī used to take things from refuse heaps and elsewhere.

Source page 147

وَطَائِفَةٌ اخْتَارَتِ الْمَسْأَلَةَ لِأَخْذِ الْقُوتِ مِنْهَا، كَمَا سَأَلَ الْخَضِرُ مُوسَى عَلَيْهِمَا السَّلَامُ عِنْدَ الْحَاجَةِ، وَاحْتَجُّوا بِقَوْلِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «رُبَّ أَشْعَثَ أَغْبَرَ، ذِي طِمْرَيْنِ، يُدْفَعُ بِالْأَبْوَابِ، لَوْ أَقْسَمَ عَلَى اللَّهِ لَأَبَرَّهُ». وَذَلِكَ حِينَ اشْتَدَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ مَذَاهِبُ إِحْيَاءِ الْحَلَالِ، وَخَافُوا مِنَ الْوُقُوعِ فِي الْحَرَامِ.

Wa-ṭāʾifatun ikhtārati al-masʾalata li-ʾakhdhi al-qūti minhā, kamā saʾala al-Khaḍiru Mūsā ʿalayhimā al-salāmu ʿinda al-ḥājati, wa-iḥtajjū biqawli al-nabiyyi ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallama: «rubba ʾashʿatha ʾaghbara, dhī ṭimrayni, yudfaʿu bi-al-ʾabwābi, law ʾaqsama ʿalā Allāhi laʾabarrahu». Wa-dhālika ḥīna ishtaddat ʿalayhim madhāhibu ʾiḥyāʾi al-ḥalāli, wa-khāfū mina al-wuqūʿi fī al-ḥarāmi.

Another group chose begging to obtain sustenance, just as al-Khaḍir asked Moses, peace be upon them both, in time of need [as this text relates it]. They cited the saying of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “Many a disheveled, dusty man in two worn garments is turned away from doors, yet if he swore by God, God would fulfill his oath.” This was when the paths of sustaining a lawful livelihood became difficult for them and they feared falling into the unlawful.

وَطَائِفَةٌ بِالثَّغْرِ، وَنَوَاحِي الشَّامِ اخْتَارَتْ أَنْ تَجْمَعَ مِنَ اللُّقَاطِ، خَلْفَ الْحَصَّادِينَ مِنَ الْقَمْحِ وَالشَّعِيرِ، وَتَرَى أَنَّ ذَلِكَ ذَلِيلٌ قَاصِرٌ يَتْبَعُ الْحَصَّادِينَ، فَالَّذِينَ لَا يَشُكُّونَ فِي أَنَّهُ حَلَالٌ لَيْسَ يَنْبَغِي قَوْلُهُمْ فِي عَصْرِنَا هَذَا. وَطَائِفَةٌ مِنْهُمْ تَجَنَّبَتِ اللُّقَاطَ وَرَاءَ الْحَصَّادِينَ فِي أَرْضٍ اشْتُرِيَتْ بِمَالِ الظَّالِمِينَ، أَوْ مِنْ خَطِّ قَطَائِعَ اخْتَطَّهَا السُّلْطَانُ لِأَوْلِيَائِهِ، وَمِنَ الْقَبَالَاتِ مِنَ الْأَرَضِينَ الَّتِي أُخْرِجَ أَهْلُهَا مِنْهَا.

Wa-ṭāʾifatun bi-al-thaghri, wa-nawāḥī al-Shāmi ikhtārat ʾan tajmaʿa mina al-luqāṭi, khalfa al-ḥaṣṣādīna mina al-qamḥi wa-al-shaʿīri, wa-tarā ʾanna dhālika dhalīlun qāṣirun yatbaʿu al-ḥaṣṣādīna, fa-alladhīna lā yashukkūna fī ʾannahu ḥalālun laysa yanbaghī qawluhum fī ʿaṣrinā hādhā. Wa-ṭāʾifatun minhum tajannabati al-luqāṭa warāʾa al-ḥaṣṣādīna fī ʾarḍin ushturiyat bimāli al-ẓālimīna, ʾaw min khaṭṭi qaṭāʾiʿa ikhtaṭṭahā al-sulṭānu li-ʾawliyāʾihi, wa-mina al-qabālāti mina al-ʾaraḍīna allatī ʾukhrija ʾahluhā minhā.

A group on the frontier and in the Syrian districts chose to glean wheat and barley behind the harvesters. They regarded the person following the harvesters as lowly and of limited means [the construction is difficult]. The assertion of those who have no doubt that this is lawful is not appropriate in our present age. Some avoided gleaning behind harvesters on land purchased with oppressors’ money, on tracts the ruler allotted to his supporters, or on leased lands whose inhabitants had been expelled.

وَطَائِفَةٌ فَتَّشَتِ الْوَرَعَ، فَاخْتَارَتْ كَدَّ الْيَدِ، أَوْ ضَرْبَ السَّيْفِ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ، عَلَى اللُّقَاطِ وَالْحَصَادِ، وَقَالُوا: لَيْسَ لِلُّقَاطِ أَصْلٌ مُتَقَدِّمٌ فِي عَهْدِ الْأَئِمَّةِ الْمَاضِينَ، وَهُمْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ يُجْمِعُونَ عَلَى أَنَّ ضَرْبَ السَّيْفِ تَحْتَ كُلِّ رَايَةٍ، مَعَ كُلِّ أَمِيرٍ، بَرٍّ فَاجِرٍ، مَاضٍ فِي كُلِّ عَصْرٍ، وَفِي كُلِّ زَمَانٍ لَا يَتَخَلَّفُ عَنْ ذَلِكَ إِلَّا مُخْطِئٌ أَوْ جَاهِلٌ.

Wa-ṭāʾifatun fattashati al-waraʿa, fa-ikhtārat kadda al-yadi, ʾaw ḍarba al-sayfi fī sabīli Allāhi, ʿalā al-luqāṭi wa-al-ḥaṣādi, wa-qālū: laysa li-al-luqāṭi ʾaṣlun mutaqaddimun fī ʿahdi al-ʾaʾimmati al-māḍīna, wa-hum ʿalā dhālika yujmiʿūna ʿalā ʾanna ḍarba al-sayfi taḥta kulli rāyatin, maʿa kulli ʾamīrin, barrin fājirin, māḍin fī kulli ʿaṣrin, wa-fī kulli zamānin lā yatakhallafu ʿan dhālika ʾillā mukhṭiʾun ʾaw jāhilun.

Another group closely investigated scrupulousness and preferred manual labor or fighting with the sword in God’s cause to gleaning and harvesting. They said gleaning had no established precedent in the age of the earlier leaders. They nevertheless agree that fighting under every banner and with every commander, righteous [or] sinful, remains valid in every age and time, and that only someone mistaken or ignorant stays behind from it.

وَطَائِفَةٌ اخْتَارَتِ الرِّبَاطَ، إِلَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ لِأَهْلِ الْإِسْلَامِ حَاجَةٌ مِنْ إِظْهَارِ الْعَدُوِّ، وَطَلَبِهِمْ وَدُخُولِهِمْ إِلَى دَارِ الْإِسْلَامِ. فَأَوْجَبُوا ضَرْبَ السَّيْفِ فِي هَذَا الْحَالِ، حَتَّى إِذَا اسْتَغْنَتِ الْأُمَّةُ عَنْ ذَلِكَ رَجَعُوا إِلَى مَا اعْتَقَدُوهُ مِنَ الرِّبَاطِ. وَاحْتَجُّوا بِأَنَّ ذَلِكَ فِي آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ أَفْضَلُ. وَرَوَوْا فِي ذَلِكَ أَحَادِيثَ، وَاسْتَعْمَلُوا لَهَا مَقَايِيسَ، وَهَذِهِ الطَّائِفَةُ غَلَطُهَا كَثِيرٌ.

Wa-ṭāʾifatun ikhtārati al-ribāṭa, ʾillā ʾan yakūna li-ʾahli al-ʾislāmi ḥājatun min ʾiẓhāri al-ʿaduwwi, wa-ṭalabihim wa-dukhūlihim ʾilā dāri al-ʾislāmi. Fa-ʾawjabū ḍarba al-sayfi fī hādhā al-ḥāli, ḥattā ʾidhā istaghnati al-ʾummatu ʿan dhālika rajaʿū ʾilā mā iʿtaqadūhu mina al-ribāṭi. Wa-iḥtajjū bi-ʾanna dhālika fī ʾākhiri al-zamāni ʾafḍalu. Wa-rawaw fī dhālika ʾaḥādītha, wa-istaʿmalū lahā maqāyīsa, wa-hādhihi al-ṭāʾifatu ghalaṭuhā kathīrun.

Another group chose frontier watch, except when Muslims faced a need arising from “bringing forth the enemy,” their pursuit, and their entry into Muslim territory [the first expression is unclear as printed]. In that situation they held fighting obligatory. Once the community no longer needed it, they returned to the frontier watch they had chosen. They argued that this was better at the end of time, relating reports and applying analogies to them. This group makes many mistakes.

Source page 148

وَأَكْثَرُ الْعُلَمَاءِ وَالْأَغْلَبُ فِي جَمِيعِ الْأَمْصَارِ، يَرَوْنَ الْغَزْوَ وَالْحَجَّ وَالشِّرَاءَ وَالْبَيْعَ، وَالْمُعَامَلَاتِ وَالْوَكَالَاتِ وَالصَّنَائِعَ مَاضِيَةً أَبَدًا مُذْ كَانَ أَوَّلُ الْإِسْلَامِ، إِلَى آخِرِ عِصَابَةٍ يُقَاتِلُونَ الدَّجَّالَ، لَا يَضُرُّ الْمُتَّقِيَ الْحَافِظَ لِدِينِهِ جَوْرُ جَائِرٍ، وَلَا ظُلْمُ ظَالِمٍ، إِذَا كَانَ فَقِيهًا مُتَخَلِّصًا فِي تِجَارَتِهِ وَصَنْعَتِهِ، يُكَابِدُ أَنْ يَسْلَمَ مِنْ أَكْلِ الشُّبْهَةِ، وَغَيْرُ ذَلِكَ يُجَاهِدُهُ بِالنَّفَقَةِ.

Wa-ʾaktharu al-ʿulamāʾi wa-al-ʾaghlabu fī jamīʿi al-ʾamṣāri, yarawna al-ghazwa wa-al-ḥajja wa-al-shirāʾa wa-al-bayʿa, wa-al-muʿāmalāti wa-al-wakālāti wa-al-ṣanāʾiʿa māḍiyatan ʾabadan mudh kāna ʾawwalu al-ʾislāmi, ʾilā ʾākhiri ʿiṣābatin yuqātilūna al-dajjāla, lā yaḍurru al-muttaqiya al-ḥāfiẓa lidīnihi jawru jāʾirin, wa-lā ẓulmu ẓālimin, ʾidhā kāna faqīhan mutakhalliṣan fī tijāratihi wa-ṣanʿatihi, yukābidu ʾan yaslama min ʾakli al-shubhati, wa-ghayru dhālika yujāhiduhu bi-al-nafaqati.

Most scholars, the prevailing majority in every city, regard military campaigning, pilgrimage, buying and selling, transactions, agency, and crafts as valid continuously from Islam’s beginning until the final band who fight the Dajjāl. Neither a tyrant’s injustice nor an oppressor’s wrongdoing harms the mindful person who guards his religion, provided he understands the law and keeps clear of wrongdoing in trade and craft, struggles to avoid eating anything doubtful, and “struggles against other things through expenditure” [the final clause is uncertain].

وَالْمَكَاسِبُ لَا تَفْسُدُ بِجَوْرِ الْأَئِمَّةِ، إِنَّمَا تَفْسُدُ بِتَرْكِ اسْتِعْمَالِ الْفِقْهِ وَالْعِلْمِ. وَقَدْ تَقَدَّمَ فِي صَدْرِ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ مِنَ الْفِتَنِ وَالِاخْتِلَافِ وَالتَّفَرُّقِ، وَالنَّاسُ يَشْتَرُونَ وَيَبِيعُونَ، وَقَدْ قُتِلَ أَمِيرُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عُثْمَانُ ظُلْمًا وَعُدْوَانًا، وَالنَّاسُ يَتَّجِرُونَ فِي تِجَارَاتِهِمْ بِالْمَدِينَةِ وَغَيْرِهَا، وَفِتْنَةُ الْجَمَلِ وَصِفِّينَ، وَابْنِ الزُّبَيْرِ، وَالْعِرَاقِ وَالْجَمَاجِمِ بِالْبَصْرَةِ وَالْكُوفَةِ، وَفِي جَمِيعِ الْعِرَاقِ وَخَارِجِهَا، وَنَوَاحِي الْأَطْرَافِ، وَالنَّاسُ يَشْتَرُونَ وَيَبِيعُونَ.

Wa-al-makāsibu lā tafsudu bijawri al-ʾaʾimmati, ʾinnamā tafsudu bitarki istiʿmāli al-fiqhi wa-al-ʿilmi. Wa-qad taqaddama fī ṣadri hādhihi al-ʾummati mina al-fitani wa-al-ikhtilāfi wa-al-tafarruqi, wa-al-nāsu yashtarūna wa-yabīʿūna, wa-qad qutila ʾamīru al-muʾminīna ʿUthmānu ẓulman wa-ʿudwānan, wa-al-nāsu yattajirūna fī tijārātihim bi-al-madīnati wa-ghayrihā, wa-fitnatu al-jamali wa-Ṣiffīna, wa-ibni al-Zubayri, wa-al-ʿIrāqi wa-al-Jamājimi bi-al-Baṣrati wa-al-Kūfati, wa-fī jamīʿi al-ʿIrāqi wa-khārijihā, wa-nawāḥī al-ʾaṭrāfi, wa-al-nāsu yashtarūna wa-yabīʿūna.

Earnings are not corrupted by rulers’ injustice; they are corrupted by abandoning the practice of jurisprudence and knowledge. Trials, disagreement, and division occurred in this community’s early days while people continued buying and selling. The Commander of the Faithful, ʿUthmān, was killed unjustly and aggressively while people traded in Medina and elsewhere. There were the conflicts of the Camel, Ṣiffīn, Ibn al-Zubayr, Iraq, and al-Jamājim in Basra and Kufa, throughout Iraq and beyond it, and in the outlying regions, while people continued buying and selling.

وَبَعْدَ فِتْنَةِ مُحَمَّدٍ الْأَمِينِ وَالْمَأْمُونِ الَّتِي قَامَتْ بِالشَّامِ ثَمَانِيَ عَشْرَةَ سَنَةً، وَبِالْعِرَاقِ أَرْبَعَ سِنِينَ، وَفِي سَائِرِ الْبِلَادِ أَيْضًا، وَالْفُقَهَاءُ وَالْعُلَمَاءُ فِي كُلِّ بَلَدٍ وَالْمُحَدِّثُونَ يَوْمَئِذٍ مُتَوَافِرُونَ وَالنَّاسُ يَبِيعُونَ وَيَشْتَرُونَ لَا يُنْكِرُ ذَلِكَ أَحَدٌ مِمَّنْ عَلِمْنَاهُ إِلَّا رَجُلَيْنِ هُمَا عِنْدَ الْأُمَّةِ مُخَبِّطِينَ: عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ يَزِيدَ، وَعَبْدَكَ، الصُّوفِيَّيْنِ، فَإِنَّهُمَا أَفْسَدَا وَحَرَّمَا الْكَسْبَ، وَأَبَتِ الْأُمَّةُ إِلَّا خِلَافَ مَا قَالَا.

Wa-baʿda fitnati Muḥammadin al-ʾAmīni wa-al-Maʾmūni allatī qāmat bi-al-Shāmi thamāniya ʿashrata sanatan, wa-bi-al-ʿIrāqi ʾarbaʿa sinīna, wa-fī sāʾiri al-bilādi ʾayḍan, wa-al-fuqahāʾu wa-al-ʿulamāʾu fī kulli baladin wa-al-muḥaddithūna yawmaʾidhin mutawāfirūna wa-al-nāsu yabīʿūna wa-yashtarūna lā yunkiru dhālika ʾaḥadun mimman ʿalimnāhu ʾillā rajulayni humā ʿinda al-ʾummati mukhabbiṭīna: ʿAbda Allāhi bna Yazīda, wa-ʿAbdaka, al-ṣūfiyyayni, fa-ʾinnahumā ʾafsadā wa-ḥarramā al-kasba, wa-ʾabati al-ʾummatu ʾillā khilāfa mā qālā.

After the conflict between Muḥammad al-Amīn and al-Maʾmūn, which lasted eighteen years in Syria and four in Iraq, as well as affecting other lands, jurists and scholars were present in every town and hadith transmitters were numerous. People continued buying and selling, and no one we know objected except two men whom the community regarded as confused: the two Sufis ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd and ʿAbdak. They declared earning corrupt and forbidden, but the community insisted on the opposite of what they said.

ثُمَّ اخْتَلَفَ النَّاسُ فِي الْمِيرَاثِ، يَكُونُ الرَّجُلُ يَرِثُ الْمَالَ، وَأَبُوهُ ظَالِمٌ أَوْ جَائِرٌ فِي وِلَايَتِهِ، أَوْ خَالَطَ مَالَهُ غَصْبٌ، أَوْ مَزَجَ حَلَالًا بِحَرَامٍ. فَقَالَتْ طَائِفَةٌ مِنَ الْمُتَفَقِّهَةِ: الْمِيرَاثُ لَهُ حَلَالٌ، وَالْوِزْرُ عَلَى مَنِ اكْتَسَبَ الْمَالَ، وَقَدْ طَابَ هَذَا الْمَالُ لِوَرَاثَةٍ. وَقَالَتْ طَائِفَةٌ: يُحْتَاطُ فِي هَذَا الْمَالِ، فَإِنْ كَانَ يَعْلَمُ أَنَّ أَبَاهُ كَانَ لَهُ مَالٌ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُخَالِطَ مَالَهُ الظُّلْمُ أَخْرَجَ مِنْهُ مَا يَعْلَمُ أَنَّهُ قَدْ زَادَ فِي مَالِ أَبِيهِ.

Thumma ikhtalafa al-nāsu fī al-mīrāthi, yakūnu al-rajulu yarithu al-māla, wa-ʾabūhu ẓālimun ʾaw jāʾirun fī wilāyatihi, ʾaw khālaṭa mālahu ghaṣbun, ʾaw mazaja ḥalālan biḥarāmin. Fa-qālat ṭāʾifatun mina al-mutafaqqihati: al-mīrāthu lahu ḥalālun, wa-al-wizru ʿalā mani iktasaba al-māla, wa-qad ṭāba hādhā al-mālu liwarāthatin. Wa-qālat ṭāʾifatun: yuḥtāṭu fī hādhā al-māli, fa-ʾin kāna yaʿlamu ʾanna ʾabāhu kāna lahu mālun qabla ʾan yukhāliṭa mālahu al-ẓulmu ʾakhraja minhu mā yaʿlamu ʾannahu qad zāda fī māli ʾabīhi.

People also differed over inheritance when a man inherits wealth from a father who was oppressive or unjust in his office, whose property included seized goods, or who mixed lawful and unlawful wealth. One group of jurists said the inheritance is lawful for the heir, the sin rests upon the person who earned it, and inheritance has made the wealth wholesome. Another said caution should be exercised: if he knows his father possessed wealth before wrongdoing became mixed into it, he should remove what he knows was subsequently added to his father’s property.

وَقَالَتْ طَائِفَةٌ مِنَ الْقُرَّاءِ وَالْمُتَصَوِّفَةِ انْتَحَلَتْ رَأْيَ سُفْيَانَ الثَّوْرِيِّ، وَجَعَلَتْهُ دِينًا: الْخُرُوجُ مِنْ كُلِّهِ احْتِيَاطًا لِدِينِهِ، وَقَدْ رَوَى غَيْرُ وَاحِدٍ أَنَّ أَبَاهُ قَدْ ظَلَمَ، فَعَرَفَ أُولَئِكَ الْمَظْلُومِينَ، فَأَدَّى إِلَيْهِمْ مَظَالِمَهُمْ، وَسَاعَدَهُمْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ أَهْلُ الْفِقْهِ، وَهُوَ قَوْلُ الْأَوْزَاعِيِّ، وَمَالِكِ بْنِ أَنَسٍ، وَبِهِ أَفْتَى أَبُو إِسْحَٰقَ الْفَزَارِيُّ، وَعَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ إِدْرِيسَ.

Wa-qālat ṭāʾifatun mina al-qurrāʾi wa-al-mutaṣawwifati intaḥalat raʾya Sufyāna al-Thawriyyi, wa-jaʿalat-hu dīnan: al-khurūju min kullihi iḥtiyāṭan lidīnihi, wa-qad rawā ghayru wāḥidin ʾanna ʾabāhu qad ẓalama, fa-ʿarafa ʾulāʾika al-maẓlūmīna, fa-ʾaddā ʾilayhim maẓālimahum, wa-sāʿadahum ʿalā dhālika ʾahlu al-fiqhi, wa-huwa qawlu al-ʾAwzāʿiyyi, wa-Māliki bni ʾAnasin, wa-bihi ʾaftā ʾAbū ʾIsḥāqa al-Fazāriyyu, wa-ʿAbdu Allāhi bnu ʾIdrīsa.

A group of devout reciters and Sufis who adopted Sufyān al-Thawrī’s opinion and made it their religious practice said one should relinquish all of it as a precaution for one’s religion. More than one transmitter has related that [a man’s] father had committed wrong, and he identified those wronged and restored what was owed to them. Jurists supported them in this. It is the view of al-Awzāʿī and Mālik ibn Anas, and was the ruling given by Abū Isḥāq al-Fazārī and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Idrīs.