Some of the Salaf (may Allah have mercy upon them) said,

Whenever Allah wants good for His slave then He opens up for him the door of action (doing good deeds, worship) and closes the door of argumentation (disputes, debates, he said she said, refutations).

Whenever Allah wants evil for His slave then He closes for him the door of action and opens up the door of argumentation.

[Ibn Rajab (rahimahullah), Fadl ilmus-Salaf ala ilmil-Khalaf]

Bishr bin al-Harith (rahimahullah) said:

Looking at a miser hardens the heart, and meeting with the misers is a distress to the hearts of believers (because hearts of the believers are generous, they find great discomfort and distress sitting among misers).

[Mawidhah al-Mu’mineen min Ihya Ulum ad-Deen, 225, Maktabah al-Islamiyyah]

A Supplication to Remove Poverty and All Harms

Mak-hool (rahimahullah) said:

Whoever says —

لاَ حَوْلَ وَلا قُوَّةَ إِلاَّ بِاللهِ ،وَلا مَلْجَأَ مِنَ اللهِ إِلاَّ إلَيْهِ

laa hawlaa wa-laa quwwata illa bilLaah, wa-laa mal-ja’a min-Allahi illa ilayH

There is no power nor strength except with Allah, and there is no refuge from Allah except unto Him

— Allah will remove from him seventy types of harm,

the least of which is poverty.

[Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah (rahimahullah), 20447]

From the Treasures of Jannah

Abu Musa (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) reported:

The Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said to me, "Shall I not guide you to a treasure from the treasures of Jannah?"

I said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah!"

Thereupon he (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said,

لاَ حَوْلَ وَلا قُوَّةَ إِلاَّ بِاللهِ

"(Recite) 'laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa bilLaah' (there is no change of a condition nor power except by Allah)."

[aI-Bukhari 6384, and Muslim 2704, an-Nasa’i in ‘Amal al-Yawm wal-Laylah’ 356, Riyad as-Salihin, 1443, In-Book Reference: Book 15, Hadith 36, Buloogh al-Mar’am, Book 16, Hadith no. 111]

an-Nasa’i (rahimahullah) added in his version,

{وَلَا مَلْجَأَ مِنَ اللَّهِ إِلَّا إِلَيْهِ}

“there is no refuge from Allah except by turning to Him.”

[Buloogh al-Mar’am, Book 16, Hadith no. 112, an-Nasa’i in ‘Amal al-Yawm wal-Laylah’ 358]

The Despicable Trait of Stinginess

Beware of Stinginess

for it destroyed the people who came before you.

It (stinginess) commanded them to be miserly, so they were miserly;

and it commanded them to cut the ties of kinship, so they cut them;

and it commanded them to commit immoral actions, so they did so.

[Excerpt from Tafseer Ibn Kathir (rahimahullah), Surah Israa’, 17:29]

The Faqeeh (jurist) Habish ibn Mubasher (rahimahullah) narrates:

I sat with (two prominent Scholars of Islam) Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Yahya ibn Ma’een (rahimahumullah)

and the other people were gathered (as well),

and they all agreed that they did not know a righteous man who was stingy/miserly (i.e., none of them could think of even one man in whom righteousness and stinginess were combined, meaning miserliness is the characteristic of the ignoble; being tightfisted and righteous are two things that cannot co-exist).

[Tabaqat al-Hanabilah, 1/147]

Imam Shafi’ee (rahimahullah) used to say,

I love to send plenty of salat (salutations) upon the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ʿalayhi wa ’aalihi wa sallam) all the time and I love it more so on the day of Jumu’ah.

[Kitabul Umm, ash-Shafe’e (rahimahullah), 1/546]

Giving Charity on Fridays

● Ka'b al-Ahbar (rahimahullah) said:

The sun has neither risen nor set on a day greater than the day of Friday,

and charity given on it is greater than on other days.

[Sahih Musannaf of 'Abd Ar-Razzaq (rahimahullah), 5558]

● al-A‘mash narrated from Mujahid, from ‘Abdullah ibn Damrah,

from Ka‘b (rahimahumullah) who said:

Charity is multiplied on Friday.

[Musannaf ibn Abi Shaybah, 2/57, no. 6, Maktabah Islamiyyah]

● Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullah) said:

Giving charity on Friday has a special merit compared to other days,

just as giving charity during the month of Ramadan has a higher merit compared to the rest of the year.

I witnessed Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullah)

when he would go out for Jumuaah,

he would take whatever he found at home—be it bread or anything else—and give it as charity in secret on his way.

I heard him say:

“If Allah commanded us to give charity before consulting with the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) (58:12),

then giving charity before consulting with Allah is even more virtuous and deserving of merit.”

[Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullah), Zaad al-Maad, 1/399]

● Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullah) said:

If the one giving charity

knew

that his charity landed in the Hand of Allah,

before the hand of the poor person,

the pleasure of the giver would be greater than the pleasure of the receiver.

[Ibn ul-Qayyim (rahimahullah), paraphrased from al-Wabil al-Sayyib, al-Madarij as-Salikeen, 1/26]

Abu Huraira (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) reported Allah's Messenger (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) as saying:

No one gives sadaqah (charity) of a date out of his honest earning, except that Allah accepts it with His Right Hand, and then fosters it as one of you fosters the colt or a young she-camel, till it becomes like a mountain or even greater.

[Sahih Muslim, 1014b, Book 12, Hadith 80]

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (radiyallahu ‘anhu) said:

“Charity (sadaqah) reaches (lit. falls into) the Hand of Allah before it falls into the hand of the one who asks for it.” (i.e., Allah Ta’ala accepts it), he (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) then recited the Verse:

{(Do they not know that Allah) accepts repentance from His servants and takes their charities”} — Surah Tawbah, 9:104

[Tafsir at-Tabari (rahimahullah); Jami’ul Bayan, Surah Tawbah, Verse: 104, vol. 11, pg. 666, see also: Majma az-Zawaid, vol. 3, pg. 111, Hadith: 4677]

Abu Hurairah (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) narrated that :

the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:

"Indeed Allah accepts charity, and He accepts it with His Right (Hand) to nurture it for one of you, just like one of you would nurture his foal, until the bite (of food) becomes as large as Uhud."

[Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 662, Chapter 28: What Has Been Related About the Virtue of Charity, Graded: Hasan Sahih]

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (radiyAllahu ‘anhu):

"Indeed, charity* (sadaqah) reaches (lit. falls into) the Hand of Allah before it reaches the hand of the one who asks,"

then he recited:

{And He it is Who accepts repentance* from His servants} — ash-Shura: 25, the verse.

[al-Muj’am al-Kabir at-Tabarani (rahimahullah), 8571]

Door of Opportunity

Khalid bin Ma‘daan (rahimahullah) aid:

If one of you finds the door of goodness open, then hasten towards it (and seize the opportunity), for he does not know when the door will be closed for him.

[Siyar A’lam an-Nubala’a, 4/540, adh-Dhahabi (rahimahullah); Kitab az-Zuhd, pg. 311, Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (rahimahullah)]

I have not seen someone like Ahmad ibn Hanbal (rahimahullah); we accompanied him for fifty years and he never boasted to us about anything of good (deeds) he was upon.

[Yahya Ibn Ma’een (rahimahullaah), Siyar A’laam Nubulaa: 11/214]

‘Abdullah Ibn Ahmed Ibn Hanbal (rahimahullah) said:

My father (Ahmad Ibn Hanbal - rahimahullah) used to pray 300 (three hundred) rakahs every day and night. But when he became ill from those lashes, he became weak, so he used to pray 150 (hundred fifty) rakahs every day and night, and (at that time) he was close to eighty (years in age).

[Madarij as-Salikeen (Ranks of the Seekers), 1/482, Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullah)]

Mujahid (rahimahullah) said:

The hardworker (seeking aakhirah) among you today, compared to the (people of the) times before, is working like the one who used to play around (was easygoing).

[Kitab az-Zuhd, al-Lauki’ee (rahimahullāh), 221]

Ibrahim al-Harbi (rahimahullah) said,

I knew Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (rahimahullah) for twenty years;

I was with him night and day,
summer and winter,
in the heat and in the cold,

and every day he outdid what he had done the day before.

[Abu Ya’laa (rahimahullah), Tabaqat al-Hanaabilah, 6/92, Ibrahim al-Harbi (rahimahullah)]

{وَأَنفِقُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلَا تُلْقُوا بِأَيْدِيكُمْ إِلَى التَّهْلُكَةِ وَأَحْسِنُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ}

And spend in the Cause of Allah

and do not throw yourselves into destruction (by not spending your wealth in the Cause of Allah),

and do good.

Truly, Allah loves al-Muhsinun (the good-doers).

[Surah al-Baqarah, 2:195]

The Prophet (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) told Bilal (radiyAllahu ‘anhu):

"O Bilal! Spend in charity and do not fear any diminishment from the Owner of Majesty (Allah)."

[Authenticated by al-Albani (rahimahullah) in Saheeh at-Targheeb, no. 921]

Surely, giving sadaqah has an amazing effect in repelling all types of difficulties.

[Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullah), al-Wabil as-Sayyib, pg. 31]

If (someone) falls short, we do not destroy him,

we do not destroy the one who errs among us, may Allah bless you.

We treat him with gentleness and al-ḥikmah (ie: wisdom), and direct love and affection towards him until he repents.

Even if there were to remain a weakness in him, we do not hasten against him,

or else,

by Allah,

no one will remain,

(by Allah),

no one will remain.

[Rabi’ ibn Haadi al-Madhkhali (hafidhahullah), Majmoo’ Kutub wa Rasa’il wa Fataawaa, 1/481]

Never does the servant turn wholeheartedly to Allah except that Allah turns the hearts of the believers to him providing him their love.

[Harim Ibn Hayyān (Rahimahullah), reported by adh-Dhahabi (Rahimahullah) in Siyar a’lam an-Nubalaa’, 4/49]

Shaykh Muqbil al-Wadi’ee (rahimahullah) used to say to his students:

Oh my children! If knowledge could be poured into a glass, I would pour it for you, but it is not obtained except by hard work, exhaustion, and scraping of the knees.

[Shaykh Muqbil al-Wadi’ee (rahimahullah), Nubdhah Mukhtasarah, pg. 44]

The idiot speaks about whatever comes to his heart and is under the illusion that he is from the most sensible of people.

[Ibn al-Jawzi (rahimahullah), Akhbaarul Hamqaa, pgs. 6-7]

Speech is of four types:

• That you remember Allaah;

• that you recite the Qur‘aan;

• that you ask about knowledge and you are informed about it;

• or (that you only) speak about that which concerns you from your worldly life.

[Muhammad Ibn ’Ijlaan (rahimahullah), Ibn Abee Dunyaa (rahimahullah) in as-Samt, pg. 263]

al-Hasan al-Basrī (rahimahullah) said:

Abandoning (paying attention to) the foolish person is an action (that will bring about) nearness to Allāh.

[Kitāb al-'Uzlah, page 48]

The advice of Allah to Prophet Musa (alayhissalam): “Do not become angry over a fool…”

[Ibn al-Jawzi (rahimahullah) in Akhbar al-Hamqa wal-Mughaffileen, pg. 38]