"I am never full of reading books

"I am never full of reading books and If I were to come across a book I did not read yet, it is as though I have come across a treasure. If I said that I have read twenty thousand book than it is more that, and yet, I am still seeking out knowledge"

-'Sayd Al-Khatir' by Ibn Al-Jawzi

if people are impressed with you

'Know that if people are impressed with you, in reality they are impressed with the beauty of Allah's covering of your sins' - Ibn al-Jawzi....

Sit for a short while before you sleep and do this …

Sit for a short while before you sleep and do this …
Ibn al-Qayyim said, ‘Avoid those things that necessitate the punishment of the grave.

And from the most beneficial of them is that when a man wants to sleep, he sits for an hour, for the Sake of Allaah, calling himself to account over the things that he has lost and gained during that day of his. Then, between him and his Lord, he renews his sincere repentance over those things that he lost, and sleeps on that repentance, firmly resolving not to return to the sin when he wakes up–and he does this every night.

So if he dies on that night of his, he would have died upon repentance and if he wakes up, he will wake up going towards action, pleased with the postponement of his appointed time so that he can turn to his Lord and set right what he missed out on.

And there is nothing more beneficial for the servant than this sleep, especially when he follows that [i.e., his resolve to renew his repentance] up with the remembrance of Allaah, performing those sunnahs which have been reported from the Prophet of Allaah when going to bed, [doing so] until sleep overtakes him.

So whoever Allaah wishes good for, He will grant him the success to do that. And there is neither movement, nor power except through Allaah.”

Ar-Rooh, p. 79.

 

I always call for knowledge

Ibn Jawzee: “I always call for knowledge, because knowledge is the light one is guided with. I have however seen that the women are in greater need to wake up from this nightmare than the men. They are so far away from knowledge and they let themselves be driven by desires.” (Ahkaam-un-Nisaa, p. 9)

How strange! You loose a little from you and you cry

" How strange! You loose a little from you and you cry. And your whole life is wasting and you're laughing" Ibn al-Jawzi

It is reported that Makhul (may Allah have mercy on him) said


The people with the softest hearts are those who sin the least.”
– Abu Nu’aym, Hilyah Al-Awliya’, vol. 2, pg. 344

Great Gathering on the Last Day.”

It is reported from the famous worshipper Raabi’ah – Allaah have mercy on her – that she said:
“I have never heard the adhaan except that I remember the caller who will announce the Day of Resurrection, and I never see the falling snow except that I imagine the flying pages of the records of peoples deeds (on that day), and I never see swarms of locusts except that I think about the Great Gathering on the Last Day.”
- Ibn Al-Jawzi, Sifat As-Safwah 2/433.

The knowledge of a hypocrite is in his speech

It was said to Ibn Al-Mubarak: “What is the best that man has been given?” He said: “The honour of intellect”. It was said: “And if he doesn’t have that?” He said: “A good character”. They said: “And if he doesn’t have that?” He said: “A righteous companion to give him advice”. They said: “And if not that?” He said: “Long periods of silence which he observes”. They said: “And if not that?” Abdullah Ibn Mubarak replied: “Then a quick death! (mawt al-aajil!)”

["Rawdat Al-Uqalaa", 1/2].


Younus Bin Ubayd said:
“I know one hundred virtues, and I don’t know whether I posses even one of them”.

["Tahzib Al-Kamal", 32/524].


Abu Ad-Dardaa said: “You will not become an aalim (scholar) until you become a mut’alim (student) and you will not become a muta’alim (student) until you act upon the knowledge you posses”.

["Iqtidaa-u al'ilmi al'amal", 29].


Ibn Al-Jawzi writes:
“Abu Darda used to sit next to graves and when he was asked about this, he replied, ‘I am sitting amongst those people who remind me of the hereafter and when I leave, they will not backbite me”.

["Minhaj Al-Qasideen", 432].

Abdu Allaah ben Al-Mu’taz said:
“The knowledge of a hypocrite is in his speech, while the knowledge of a believer is in his actions" 

["Iqtidaa-u al'ilmi al'amal", 38].

let him stop himself from committing numerous sins.

It is reported from ‘Â`ishah – Allah be pleased with her – that she said:

You will never meet Allah with anything better for you than having few sins. Whoever wants to surpass those who exert themselves in worship, let him stop himself from committing numerous sins.

Ibn Al-Jawzî, Sifah Al-Safwah Vol.1 p319.

Know, that days are but hours, and hours are but breaths

Imam Ibn al-Jawzi 

said:
"Know, that days are but hours, and hours are but breaths, and every soul is a container, hence let not any breath pass without any benefit,
such as on the Day of Judgement you find an empty container and feel regret!
Be aware of every hour and how it passes, and only spend it in the best possible way; do not neglect yourself, but render it accustomed to the noblest and best of actions, and send to your grave that which will please you when you arrive to it."

A memoriser of the Quraan should be known...

Al-Musayyib Ibn Ra'fi' reported that Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud said 


" A memoriser of the Quraan should be known for his long night prayers when people are asleep, his fasting when people are eating, his saddness when people are happy, his slience when people are talking nonsense, and his humbleness when people are not. He should be wise, gentle and not talk to much: he should not be rude, negligent, clamorous, nor hot tempered. " ~ 


Ibn Al Jawzee, Sifaat As-Safwa: 1/413

Sayings of Imam Ibn ul Jawzi

Al-Imaam Ibnul-Jawzi (rahimaahullah) said:
"I sat one day and found sitting around me more than ten thousand (10,000) persons (listening to my sermon) - all of whom had felt their heart soften (and hearken to the words of Allah) or their eyes overflowed with tears. I reflected upon this within myself and said to myself, "What would your condition be like if they attained salvation and you were destroyed (in the fire)?"
Within myself I cried out:
"O Allah! You are my Master! If you judge me fit for punishment in the morrow (hereafter) do not inform them (the audience) of my punishment. I pray this to honour You and not for my benefit, lest one of them say, `The One (Allah) he called us to (worship and obey) punished him.'"
Ibnul Jawzi in Sa-yyd al-Khaatir - Page 321. 

"And what is the life of this world except an enjoyment of deception" (3:185).

Disease of ˜I will do it tomorrow"

Disease of ˜I will do it tomorrow"
LAZINESS is the lack of desire to act or work in general. Procrastination refers to postponing work and delaying it for future. Basically, procrastination is a result of ones laziness.Our greatest enemy, Satan, whispers a love for laziness and procrastination into us.
Prophet (peace be upon him) said:During your sleep, Satan ties three knots at the back of your decks. He breathes the following into them, The night is long so keep on sleeping. If the person wakes up and praises Allah, then one of the knots is unfastened. And if he performs ablution, the second knot is unfastened. When he prays, all of the knots are unfastened. After that he will be energetic and happy in the morning. Otherwise he would get up listless and grouchy. (Al-Bukhari)

Ibn Al-Jauzi, writing on this topic, said, How many Jews or Christians have considered in their hearts love for Islam. But Iblees always hinders them. He says to them, Do not be hasty. Look closely into the matter.And they postpone their conversion to Islam until they die as disbelievers. In the same way, sinners postpone their repentance. They set their sight on their desires and hope to repent later. But, as a poet said, Do not rush to perform sins you would like to. Think about repentance beforehand.How many of us are determined to do something, yet we keep postponing it. A scholar may be determined to return to his study but Satan whispers to “rest for a while. Or a servant is reminded of the night prayer and Satan says to him, You have plenty of time. He will not stop seducing people to love laziness and postponing of actions. Satan makes people rely solely on hopes and dreams.This is how people are in the world. Some are prepared and alert and are not sorrowful when the angel of death comes. Others are deceived into procrastination and they despair when the time of death comes.
(Ibn Al-Jauzi, Talbees Iblees, p. 458)

Sheikh Ahmad Kutty, a senior lecturer and an Islamic scholar at the Islamic Institute of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, said:The perfect remedy for procrastination is to nurture sound faith in the manner of the Salaf As-Salih (pious predecessors). Before Islam, they had no sense of human achievement, but after being exposed to the powerful message of the Quran, their lives transformed completely. They became peak performers and high achievers. Whatever they touched was changed anew through their dynamic faith.The remedy for fighting procrastination, therefore, is to nurture such dynamic faith.Some of the tips that we can readily apply is rising early in the morning and developing a positive mind by counting the blessings of Allah and praying to Allah to bless the day with success. We must start our work right after Fajr prayers as the Prophet (peace be upon him) prayed,
O Allah, bless my Ummah in their early morning endeavors.
Last but not least, we should turn to Allah in supplication and seek His help in fighting this disease.

Seize the benefit of five things from the people of your time..

Ibn Abee Haatim Rahimahullah- said:

"I entered Damascus and came upon the students of hadeeth, and I passed by the circle of Qaasim al-Joo'ee .

I found a group sitting around him and he was speaking. Their appearance amazed me; and I heard him saying: "Seize the benefit of five things from the people of your time: when you are present, you are not known; when you are absent, you are not missed; when you are seen, your advice is not sought; when you say something, your saying is not accepted; and when you have some knowledge, you are not given anything for it. I advise you with five matters: when you are treated unjustly, do not behave unjustly; when you are praised do not become happy; when you are criticised, do not become upset; when you are not believed, do not become angry; and if the people act deceitfully towards you, do not act deceitfully towards them." Ibn Abee Haatim said: So I took this as my benefit from Damascus"

Related by Ibn al-Jawzee (RH) in Sifatus-Safwaa (2/200)

...Have you seen anyone that has not been affected by the pitfalls of this world? And have you seen anyone that has not fallen sick?

...Have you seen anyone that has not been affected by the pitfalls of this world? And have you seen anyone that has not fallen sick? Have you seen any life that has not ended with death? The world beguiles and impedes, it is happiness leading to evil: it ruins those who crave for it and it harms those who benefit from it. Its seeker who laughs it will make cry and those who rejoice with its peace it will destroy. They will regret their slips when they strive to achieve it. They will remain hostage to its fears and apprehensions. They will wish to live just an hour longer...

Benefiting from Knowledge

Benefiting from Knowledge

by Ibnul-Jawzee

I have met many mashaaykh and the affair of one was different from that of the other, and their knowledge capacity were of varying levels. And the one whom I benefited from his company the most was the one who used to apply what he knew, even though there were those who were more knowledgeable than him.
...
I met a group from the people of hadeeth who memorized and knew a lot, however they would permit backbiting under the guise of jarh wa ta'deel (ed.: "accreditation and disreputation", science of criticism of narrators), they would take monetary payment in return for narrating hadeeth, and they would be hasty in giving answers, even if they are wrong, lest their status diminishes.

I met Abdulwahaab Al-Anmaatee, he used to be upon the methodology of the salaf. One would never hear backbiting in his gatherings nor would he take payment for teaching hadeeth. Whenever I read a hadeeth that contained in it a heart-softener, he used to cry continuously. I was very young at that time, (but) his crying affected my heart. He had the calm of those whose description we hear about from the narrations.

I met Abu Mansur Al-Jawaaliqee, he was very quiet, very careful about what he said, precise, and scholarly. Sometimes he would be asked a question, which may seem easy; one that our young ones would rush to answer, however he would withhold from answering until he was certain. He used to fast a lot and remain quiet often.

Thus, I benefited from these two more than I benefited from the others, and I understood from this that: guiding people by one's action is more inspiring than doing so by words. So, one should implement what he knows for it is indeed the greatest foundation. And the miskeen, the true miskeen is the one who wasted his life learning what he does not practice, thus he looses the pleasures of the dunyah and the goodies of the akhirah. (In addition to) Coming forth bankrupt (on the day of judgment) with strong evidences against himself."

The deception of women

The deception of women

This morning I was reading Saydul-Khaatir (basically a book that he compiled regarding random beneficial thoughts and words of wisdom) by Ibn Al-Jawzee and he mentioned therein in the aforementioned chapter title some points that I found to very profound, hence I decided to go ahead and translate it for the benefit of everyone. He said:The greatest physical pleasure (i.e. as it realtes to the five senses) is that of women. For a man can look at a woman in her dress and imagine that she is better than his wife. Or all he thinks about is pretty women and he does not look pass their physical beauty, thus he makes great effort to marry or get a slave girl. But once he gets what he wanted, he cannot help but to focus on her faults which he never thought about before. Hence, he easily becomes bored and he looks for another.

But he does not know that he might get the outward, physical aspect that he was chasing after, however with her comes with a lot of trials and tribulation.

From amongst them is that his second wife has no deen, intelligence, affection, or child rearing capabilities, hence he looses more than he gains.

And this is why so many people fall into zinaa; because they sit with a woman in a situation whereby her faults are hidden from them and all they see is her beauty, so they enjoy that hour, then they move on to another.

A person of intelligence should know that there is no way that he can get all that he desires, "Though you would not accept it save if you close your eyes and tolerate therein." Al-Baqarah: 267

And there is no greater fault of the women of this world except His statement,

"And they shall have therein purified mates or wives." Al-Baqarah: 25

Knowledge Necessitates Action!

By Ibnul-Jawzee

I have met many mashaaykh (plural of sheikh) and the affair of one was different from that of the other, and their knowledge capacities were of varying levels. And the one whom I benefited from his company the most was the one who used to apply what he knew, even though there were those who were more knowledgeable than him.

I met a group from the people of hadeeth who memorized and knew a lot, however they would permit backbiting under the guise of jarh wa ta’deel (ed.: “accreditation and disreputation”, science of criticism of narrators), they would take monetary payment in return for narrating hadeeth, and they would be hasty in giving answers, even if they are wrong, lest their status diminishes.

I met Abdulwahaab Al-Anmaatee, he used to be upon the methodology of the salaf. One would never hear backbiting in his gatherings nor would he take payment for teaching hadeeth. Whenever I read a hadeeth that contained in it a heart-softener, he used to cry continuously. I was very young at that time, (but) his crying affected my heart. He had the calm of those whose description we hear about from the narrations.

I met Abu Mansur Al-Jawaaliqee, he was very quiet, very careful about what he said, precise, and scholarly. Sometimes he would be asked a question, which may seem easy; one that our young ones would rush to answer, however he would withhold from answering until he was certain. He used to fast a lot and remain quiet often.

Thus, I benefited from these two more than I benefited from the others, and I understood from this that: guiding people by one’s action is more inspiring than doing so by words. So Allah, Allah, one should implement what he knows for it is indeed the greatest foundation. And the miskeen, the true miskeen is the one who wasted his life learning what he does not practice, thus he loses the pleasures of the dunyah and the goodies of the akhirah. (In addition to) Coming forth bankrupt (on the Day of Judgment) with strong evidences against himself.”

...“Is it better for me to make Tasbeeh (praise Allah) or to make Istighfaar (seek forgiveness)?”

سأل رجلٌ ابنَ الجوزي رحمه الله هذا السؤال:أيهما أفضل؛ أُسبّح أم أستغفر؟ فأجابه قائلا الثوب الوسخ أحوج إلى الصابون من البخورفتح الباري – ابن حجر (1 /103
Imam Ibn Al-Jawzee was asked by a man: ...“Is it better for me to make Tasbeeh (praise Allah) or to make Istighfaar (seek forgiveness)?”
He replied:
“The dirty robe is more in need of soap than perfume”.

The Beauty of One’s Islam lies in

The Beauty of One’s Islam lies in…

Ibn al-Jawzî رحمة الله عليه says:
“You should know that the beauty of a person’s Islam lies in his leaving those things that do not concern him. When Allah wills evil for a person he puts him through the test of argumentation - when Allah wills good for a person he inspires him to do good deeds.
If Allah takes away your tongue and gives back to you your heart he has been extremely kind to you; but if he takes away from you your heart and gives you back your tongue then know that you are in a serious calamity.
al-Mutashâbihât fil-Qur’an – Page 11