The Salaf On Being Overweight

The Salaf On Being Overweight 

Observe & Take Heed O Muslims! 

• Having a big stomach: you're disabled:

Ibn Rajab: "Some scholars said: If you have a big stomach, you should consider yourself disabled until you become slim." (al-Jami', p. 519)

• Criticized for his big stomach just as he is done for his sins:

Salamah bin Sa'id: "A person is criticized for his big stomach just as he is criticized for his sins." (al-Jami', p. 519)

• Eat less!

Abu 'Imran al-Juni: "The one who wants to have an enlightened heart should eat a little." (al-Jami', p. 519)

Sufyan ath-Thawri: "If you want to feel well and sleep a little, you should eat little." (al-Jami', p. 520)

“Have taqwa of Allah, and have a truthful tongue.

Imam Sufyan At Thawree said :
“Have taqwa of Allah, and have a truthful tongue. Have sincerity and do deeds of various nature without there being any deception or treachery therein. Indeed Allah sees you although you cannot see Him, and He is with you wherever you may be, and nothing of your affairs is hidden to Him. Do not be deceitful to Allah lest He returns that to you, for indeed, whoever attempts to deceive Allah, He will deceive him (i.e. make his plot turn back to him), and remove his faith from him whilst his soul does not feel it… Perfect your inner reality and Allah shall perfect your outer reality. Rectify what is between you and Allah, and Allah shall rectify what lies between you and the people.”

Story of a Bird and Sufyān ath-Thawrī

Story of a Bird and Sufyān ath-Thawrī

Imām al-Dhahabī mentions the following story in his entry for Sufyān ath-Thawrī:

”ʻAlī b. ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz said, Arim narrated to us saying, I went to Abū Manṣūr to visit him, he said to me, ‘Sufyān resided in this house, and there was here a nightingale belonging to my son.
He (Sufyān) said, ‘Why is this locked up (in a cage)? It should be freed.’
I said, ‘It belongs to my son, and he gives it to you as a gift.’
Sufyān said, ‘No, I will give him a dinar for it.’
He said, ‘He then took it and freed it, and it would go out and return in the evening, and would be at the far end of the house.
When Sufyān died, it followed his funeral procession and was flying over his grave. After this on some nights it would go to his grave, and sometimes would spend the night there, and sometimes would return back home.
They then found it dead by his grave and it was buried alongside Sufyān.”’

(cited in al-Fawāʼid al-Gharrah, 3/281)

No servant of Allah mends what is between him and Allah,

Abu Hazim Salamah bin Dinar:

"No servant of Allah mends what is between him and Allah, except that Allah mends what is between him and other servants. And he does not spoil what is between him and Allah, except that Allah spoils what is between him and the servants of Allah. Working for the sake of ones face is easier than working for the sake of all faces. For if you work for the sake of that Face [the Face of Allah], all faces will turn to you. But if you spoil it, all faces will the detest you."

(Abu Nu'aym, al-Hilya 3/239)Once a pious man was asked, "Teach me how to love Allah," to which he said, "Loving Allah is not brought about by teaching."
[Ibn Qayyim said In Al Fawa'id]"One of the consequences of sinning is that they take away the shyness which is the life of the heart and the source to all good.'
- Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah'A learned man who doesn’t restrain his passions is like a blind man holding a torch, he guides others but not himself.'
-Shaykh Sa’diSufyân ath-Thawrî (rahimahullâh) used to be overjoyed if he saw a beggar at his door saying, “Welcome to the one who has come to wash my sins.”“If a sin is committed in private, it only harms the one who does it, but if it is committed in public and no one objects and changes it, it will harm everyone!” 

— Umar ibn Al-Khattaab RadiAllahu Anhu'The real journey is when the world’s dimension is rolled away from you so that you see the Hereafter closer to you than yourself.'
-Ibn Ata’Allah“My Lord, how gentle You are with me in spite of my great ignorance, and how merciful You are with me in spite of my ugly deeds”

-Ibn Ata’Allah“One who loves for people to speak good of him, [while unconcerned about how he stands with God], has attained neither true God Consciousness nor sincerity in religion”
- Ibrahim bin Adham“Whosoever loves that Allâh should open-up his heart for him and grant light to him, then let him abandon speech about that, which does not concern him, and abandon sins and turn away from acts of disobedience. Then there will be between him and Allâh a hidden treasure of good actions. So if this is done, then Allâh will open up such knowledge for him that will pre¬occupy him. And indeed in death is the greatest pre-occupation.”

-Imaam Shaafi Rahimahullah [Related by al-Bayhaqî in Manâqiush-Shâfi’î (2/171)]

..not to accuse your Lord

" True certainty of faith means not to accuse your Lord of any of the things that befall you"
- Sufyan At Thawree rahimahullah

Acquaint yourself with fewer people

Acquaint yourself with fewer people, and as a result, you will backbite less (frequently)."

 (Sufyan ath-Thawri).

"Keep yourselves away from..

Imâm Sufyân ath-Thawrî:

"Keep yourselves away from the one who loves that his opinion is followed, who loves that his opinion is spread and heard"

(Akhbâr-ush-Shuyûkh wa Akhlâqihim, 337, by Imâm Abû Bakr al-Marwazî)

I shall tell you four things

Sufyaan at Thauri (rh) said to Hadhrat Haatim (r.h.)

“I shall tell you four things which people generally are guilty of:

a) Criticizing and accusing people. This brings about negligence in the execution of Allah’s laws.

b) Jealousy for the progress of a Muslim. This leads to ingratitude.

c) Accumulation of haraam assets. This causes forgetfulness of the Aakhirah.

d) To become careless regarding the warnings of Allah Ta’ala and to lose hope in His promises. This lead to kufr

Today you find people become annoyed at this."

"We met a people who loved it when it was said to them "Fear Allah the most high! " Today you find people become annoyed at this."
Sufyan al-Thawri

Seek Rizq from Halal

Do the Deed of Heroes, Seek Rizq from Halal
-Sufyan al-Thawri

When your brother is out of your sight

Sufyân ath-Thawrî (rahimahullâh) said, 
“When your brother is out of your sight, mention him as you would like him to mention you when you are out of his sight.”

Beware of showing hypocritical piety

And beware of showing hypocritical piety, piety that you do not really feel, and beware of showing piety on your face when you do not feel it in your heart.

Sufyān al-Thawrī (Rahimaullah)

Advice from mother of Sufyan at Thawri

It is related that Wakee' ibn Al-Jarrah said, "One day, the mother of Sufyaan Ath-Thauree said to (young) Sufyan, 'O my son! Seek out knowledge, and I will, with my spinning wheel, provide enough for you to live on. O my son, when you have written down ten Ahaadeeth, look and see if you notice an improvement in the way you walk, in your level of patience, and in your degree of self-dignity. For if you do not see any such improvement, then know that your knowledge harms you and does not benefit you.'" 

(2005). Salahud-Deen ibn 'Alee ibn 'Abdul-Maujood. "Biography of Sufyaan Ath-Thauree" p.21

I should cast a spear at a man is more beloved to me

Sufyan al-Thawri said: “That I should cast a spear at a man is more beloved to me than that I should cast him with my tongue because the spear may miss target, but a word never does.”

If you know yourself

Imam Sufyan At Thawri said: " If you know yourself, then you'll not be harmed by what is said about you"


Biography of Imam Sufyan At Thawri

When a man stands to pray

Abdullâh b. Mubârak said: I asked Sufyaan ath-Thawri, “When a man stands to pray, what should he intend by his recitation and prayer?” He replied, “He should intend that he is personally entreating his Lord.”

Fear the love of status..

Ath Thawree stated: “Fear the love of status, for indeed abstaining from it is more difficult than abstaining from worldly life

I have not treated anything more difficult then my intention

"Don't depend too much on anyone in this world because even your own shadow leaves you when you are in darkness." - Ibn Taymiyyah (Rahimahullah).

Yahya bin Abu Katheer said, "Learn your intention for it is more serious than the action."

‎"I have not treated anything more difficult then my intention, because it keeps changing." -Imam Sufyaan at Thawri

Do not learn what...

Sufyan At- Thawri said: "Do not learn what you don't know until you act upon what you already know."


Do not think yourself great because you have met with righteous people, for there is no man more righteous than the Prophet (peace & blessings of Allah be upon him), yet the disbelievers and hypocrites did not benefit by simply knowing him." [Hasan Basri's [may Allah have mercy on him] advice to some of his students admonishing them about avoiding the state of being proud.]

We went out one Eid

Waki' b. Al-Jarrah said: "We went out one Eid with Sufyan Al-Thawri and he said, “The first thing we will do on this day of ours is to lower our gaze.”"


Hassan b. Abi Sinan – Allâh have mercy on him – went out one Eid and when he returned home his wife said, “How many beautiful women have you looked at today?” After she kept asking him, he said, “Woe to you! I have looked at nothing but my ...toes from when I went out to when I returned to you

Both are related in Kitab Al-Wara' by Ibn Abi Dunya