Kitāb al-ʿIlm / Section V
They said that in the city there lived a jurist named Tenafūsī, whose pomp was many times greater than that of Ibn Muqatil. Upon hearing this, Ḥātim went to Qazvin to see Tenafūsī. He found him and entered his presence. “O Imām! May Allah’s pleasure be upon you. I am a stranger coming from the land of Persia; I wish for you to teach me the foundation of my religion and the key to my prayer. For this reason, you must teach me how to perform ablution.” Tenafūsī replied, “Of course, with pleasure,” and asked his servant to bring the ablution vessel. The servant fulfilled the order. Tenafūsī sat down and began to perform ablution, washing each limb three times, and then turned to Ḥātim and said, “This is how ablution is performed!”
Ḥātim said, “Please do not leave your place. Let me perform ablution in your presence, and you watch me. Let us see if I have learned ablution as you described. If I have not, please correct me.” Ḥātim began to perform ablution. However, instead of washing each limb three times, he washed them four times. After the ablution was finished, Tenafūsī said, “That was not correct; by pouring extra water on your limbs, you have committed wastefulness.” “Why should it be wasteful?” “Why? Because you washed your limbs four times instead of three.” “Subḥānallāh al-ʿAẓīm! If I am wasteful by pouring a handful of extra water, then how is it that you, living in such pomp, are not considered wasteful?”
Tenafūsī realized that the person who had come to him was not there to learn, but to test him, and out of shame, he secluded himself in his house and could not appear among the people for forty days. When Ḥātim came to Baghdad, people would come to visit him and say: “You are a stranger from the land of Persia, yet you silence every scholar you meet. What is the secret of this?” Ḥātim said, “I silence them with these three qualities I possess:”
Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn: 1. When my opponent puts forth a correct opinion, I rejoice. If my opponent errs, I am exceedingly saddened. I am extremely careful not to expose my opponent’s ignorance in order not to hurt him. When Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal heard these words of Ḥātim, he said, “Subḥānallāh! What a wise man he is,” and ordered that he be visited. When he arrived in Ḥātim’s presence with his students, he asked, “O Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān! How can one remain safe in this world?” Ḥātim replied, “O Abū ʿAbdullāh! (the kunya of Imām Aḥmad) Unless you possess four qualities, you cannot find safety in this world: You will forgive the ignorance of the people. You will be extremely careful not to show ignorance towards them. You will give your wealth to them. You will not ask for or take anything from them.”
Ḥātim set out for Madīnah. The people of Madīnah came out to greet him. Ḥātim called out to the people: “O people! What city is this?” “It is the city of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)!” “Then show me the house of the Messenger of Allah, so that I may pray two rakʿahs there for blessing.” “The Prophet had no mansion; he had only a tiny and simple house.” “Then show me the houses of the Companions (ṣaḥāba), so that I may pray there.” “They too had no such houses. Their houses were attached to the ground and were extremely humble.” “O people! In that case, this is not the city of the Prophet, but the city of Pharaoh.” Upon this statement, they seized Ḥātim and brought him to the governor, complaining, “This foreigner calls Madīnah the city of Pharaoh.”
When the governor asked Ḥātim why he had said this, Ḥātim replied, “Do not be hasty! I am a stranger from the land of Persia.
Kitāb al-ʿIlm / Section VI
I did not know where I was. I asked in order to learn. In response, they told me this was the city of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Then I asked where the Prophet’s house was, and they told me such and such…” Ḥātim then added: “Allah the Exalted says: ‘Indeed in the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example for whoever hopes for Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much’ (al-Aḥzāb 33:21). So, O inhabitants of this city! I ask you: Do you follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or Pharaoh, who was the first to build a brick house on earth?” The people of Madīnah, unable to answer Ḥātim’s question, dispersed.
Such is the story of Ḥātim al-Aṣamm… In the places where we discuss the biographies of the pious predecessors (salaf al-ṣāliḥīn), we will, as appropriate, explain how they abandoned adornment and preferred humble clothing. If we conduct a deep investigation into this matter, we arrive at the following conclusion: “Adorning oneself with what is permissible is not forbidden, but excessive attachment to adornment breeds familiarity, and then it becomes difficult to part from it. Many means are sought to maintain a life of comfort. In order to protect these, one resorts to flattery, seeking the favor of people, hypocrisy, and many other harmful things, all of which are themselves forbidden. Therefore, the sound path is to stay away from a life of comfort.”
For whoever plunges into the world is certainly in ruin. If it were possible to attain salvation while being immersed in the world, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would not have turned away from it. Indeed, so much so that when he delivered the sermon, he would remove the gold ring from his finger and the embroidered shirt from his back. And much more… All these details will be discussed in later chapters of our book. It is narrated that Yaḥyā b. Yazīd224 wrote the following letter to Imām Mālik: 224) He was of Quraysh and died in the year H.
Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. May Allah’s blessings and peace be upon Muḥammad al-Muṣṭafā, the master of the first and the last, the past and all those to come! This letter is from Yaḥyā b. Yazīd b. ʿAbd al-Malik to Mālik b. Anas. O Mālik! I hear that you wear fine clothes, eat bread made from sifted flour, sit upon furnishings, and keep guards at your door. Yet you are a person who occupies the seat of knowledge; people come to you from distant lands, their camels’ chests battered from the journey. The people flock to you, regard you as an imām, and heed your words, following behind you. Therefore, O Mālik! Fear Allah and do not abandon humility.
I write this letter as advice to you. No one but Allah knows what is in my letter. May Allah’s peace be upon you.” Imām Mālik replied to Yaḥyā with the following letter: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, I begin my letter. May Allah the Exalted send blessings and peace upon our master, his family, and his Companions (ṣaḥāba). This letter is from Mālik b. Anas to Yaḥyā b. Yazīd. May Allah’s peace be upon you! Your letter has reached me. Your advice, compassion, and courtesy have settled in my heart. May Allah the Exalted adorn you with taqwa (God-consciousness) and grant you good for your advice. I ask Allah for His success. Steps taken toward worship and turning away from sin are only possible through the power and might given by the Great Allah.
As for my eating bread made from sifted flour, wearing fine clothes, keeping guards at my door, and sitting on soft cushions; I do all these and seek Allah’s forgiveness. For Allah the Exalted says: ‘Say: Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has produced for His servants and the good things of provision?’ Say: ‘They are for those who believe during the life of this world (but the disbelievers will share in them), but exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection.’ Thus do We detail the verses for a people who know. (al-Aʿrāf 7:32)
Kitāb al-ʿIlm / Section VI
There is no doubt that I know very well that not doing these things is better than doing them. Do not withhold your letters from me! We will also continue to send you letters. May Allah’s peace be upon you! You see the fairness of Imām Mālik! Although it is lawful, he finds it better not to wear things that express pomp. Yet he does not refrain for a moment from giving a fatwa to do what is lawful. The master is right in both fatwas. Even a great person like Imām Mālik disciplines himself with advice, for he is able to find fault with himself. Mālik is one who can restrain himself at the limits of what is permissible. He does not slip into flattery, hypocrisy, or unlawful acts to obtain what is permissible.
However, not everyone can restrain themselves at the limits of what is permissible like Imām Mālik. Therefore, for such people, indulging in permissible things beyond the norm is a great danger for themselves. For those who may not be able to control their nafs (the lower self), excessive indulgence in the permissible shows that they are far from the station of fear. Yet the distinguishing feature of scholars is that they fear Allah greatly. The sign of fear is to stay away from areas that smell of danger. One of the signs of scholars of the Hereafter is to stay away from associating with rulers. If one is forced to approach them, one should not draw close to them in any way. Even if the rulers come to their own doors, one should avoid showing them intimacy; for the world is sweet, like a lush but harmful pasture.
The reins of this sweet and pleasurable pasture are in the hands of the rulers. Whoever wishes to approach the rulers must strive to please them. Even if they are tyrants, one tries to win their hearts. Yet the duty of every devout person is not to accept or approve of the evil of the rulers. It is the duty of devout people to constrict their chests by speaking of the rulers’ evil. It is necessary to censure their inappropriate actions. In this respect, those who go in and out of their presence either look at their pomp and begin to see the blessings given to themselves as insignificant in comparison, or, in order to attain those blessings, are forced to participate in their inappropriate actions, or—
Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn—in order to please and satisfy them, they speak beautiful and praiseworthy words—yet this behavior is an obvious slander—or they try to benefit fully from their worldly possessions. This is nothing but ḥarām (forbidden). What may or may not be taken from the wealth and possessions of rulers will be explained in the upcoming section on Lawful and Unlawful. In short, establishing close relations with rulers is the key to every evil. The way of the scholars of the Hereafter is never to abandon caution. مَنْ عَاشَ فِي الْبَرِّ قَسَا قَلْبُهُ، وَمَنْ أَكْثَرَ الصَّيْدَ قَسَا قَلْبُهُ، وَمَنْ دَخَلَ عَلَى السُّلْطَانِ افْتُتِنَ—Whoever lives in the desert, his heart becomes hard. Whoever hunts much, becomes heedless of Allah; whoever associates with the ruler falls into tribulation.
سَيَلِيكُمْ بَعْدِي أُمَرَاءُ يُقَرِّبُونَ الشَّرَّ وَيُؤَخِّرُونَ الصَّلاَةَ عَنْ مَوَاقِيتِهَا، فَمَنْ أَدْرَكَ ذَلِكَ مِنْكُمْ فَلاَ يَكُونَنَّ لَهُمْ جُنْدًا وَلاَ عَرِيفًا وَلاَ شُرْطِيًّا وَلاَ خَازِنًا—After me, there will be some rulers over you; among their actions will be those you accept and those you reject. Whoever rejects their actions has protected himself from sin. Whoever dislikes them is safe. But whoever follows them and is content with their actions, Allah will distance him from His mercy. The Companions (ṣaḥāba) asked, “Should we fight them?” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “No! As long as they establish the prayer, do not fight them.” Sufyān al-Thawrī said: “There is a valley in Hell whose inhabitants are the scholars who visit kings and rulers.”
Ḥudhayfa b. al-Yamān said: “Beware of places of tribulation!” When asked, “What are the places of tribulation?” Ḥudhayfa replied: “The doors of the rulers. Whenever one of you enters the presence of the ruler, he is compelled to approve the ruler’s lies and enumerate virtues that he does not possess.” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Scholars are the heirs of the prophets as long as they do not associate with rulers. But when they begin to associate with rulers, they betray the prophets. At that time, keep away from such scholars to protect yourselves.” When people came to visit Aʿmash, they said, “You have revived knowledge by raising many students.” Aʿmash replied, “Do not be hasty in your judgment! One third of those who learned knowledge from me died before maturing. Another third cannot stay away from the doors of kings, and thus are the worst of people.
Of the remaining third, only a very small number attain salvation.” To indicate this wisdom, Saʿīd b. al-Musayyab said, “The scholars who associate with the ruling class are the most deserving of being hated.” Al-Awzāʿī said, “In the sight of Allah, there is no servant more deserving of hatred than the scholar who enters the presence of rulers at every opportunity.” The worst of scholars are those who visit rulers, and the best of rulers are those who visit scholars. Makhūl said: “After learning the Qur’an and acquiring the knowledge of fiqh, whoever approaches the ruler to benefit from his wealth and flatters him, with each step he takes for this purpose, he draws closer to the sea of Hell.” (Reported by ʿUqaylī with a weak chain; Ibn al-Jawzī said it is fabricated. Reported by Ibn Mājah from Abū Hurayrah with a weak chain.)
Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn: Samnūn229 said: “How wretched is the scholar whose students, when they come to his assembly to learn, find that he is with the ruler.” He also said: “Previously, I heard from my teachers, they used to say: When you see a scholar attached to the world, suspect him in matters of religion (i.e., do not trust him in religious matters!). I have experienced this myself. When I went in and out of the ruler’s presence, I examined my nafs (the lower self) and saw that in some places I had fallen into danger. Yet, as everyone knows, I was the one who spoke most harshly and severely to the ruler. I was the one who most opposed him. Nevertheless, I still could not fully escape the dangers.”
“Even though I did not drink a sip of his water nor accept anything from him, I still wished that someone else would go in my place.” He continued: “The scholars of our time are worse than the scholars of the Children of Israel. Because the scholars of our time give the dispensations and fatwas that the rulers desire, and speak as they wish. If they were to remind the ruler of his duties—which would be very hard for the ruler to hear—then the ruler would not want them to come into his presence again, and thus they would be saved in the sight of Allah.” Ḥasan al-Baṣrī said: “Before you, there was a person deeply rooted in Islam and in the company of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). (ʿAbdullāh b. al-Mubārak indicated that this was Saʿd b.
Abī Waqqāṣ.) This person would not go in and out of the presence of rulers; on the contrary, he always avoided them. Because of this, his children, who had fallen into need, said to him, ‘Those who go in and out of the rulers’ presence have never kept the Prophet’s company as much as you, nor have they become Muslim before you. So, wouldn’t it be good if you also went to the rulers and tried to obtain something for us?’ The man replied, ‘My children! Should I go to a place surrounded on all sides by corpses? By Allah, as much as I am able, I will not be among those who fall among those corpses.’ His children said, ‘But look, we are about to perish from poverty.’ (Samnūn’s father’s name was Ḥamza.
He was a student of Sarrī al-Saqaṭī. He died before Junayd al-Baghdādī. According to Imām Suyūṭī, Samnūn’s name was Isḥāq.)
Kitāb al-ʿIlm / Section VI
‘Do you not see our condition?’ they said. The man replied, ‘My children! For me, it is better to die weak but with iman (faith) than to die strong but as a hypocrite.’ Ḥasan concluded: ‘By Allah, the earth may consume the flesh and fat on a person’s body, but never his iman! That man overcame his children with his iman.’ In this story, there is an indication that a person who enters the presence of the ruler cannot save himself from evil. In the ruler’s presence, one is always faced with the danger of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy, however, is utterly incompatible with iman. Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī once addressed Salama: ‘O Salama! Never go to the doors of the rulers. For whatever you take from their worldly goods, they will take even more from your religion.’
Drawing close to rulers and establishing intimacy with them is the greatest tribulation for scholars. Such a situation is the greatest means the devil uses to cast a person into hypocrisy. Especially if the scholars who approach and draw near to the rulers try to appear pleasing and acceptable to them in their speech… Woe to them! The devil always suggests to them to speak in this way. He also suggests: ‘You can go to the rulers, give them admonition and advice, prevent them from committing injustices, and be a means for the promotion of the sharia (the sacred law).’ The devil repeats this suggestion so much that he plants in the hearts of scholars the idea that going to the rulers is a religious duty. But as the scholar interacts with the ruler, he finds himself making the kind of speeches the ruler likes and, with all sorts of flattery, excessively praising him.
All these actions sweep away the sense of religion from a person’s qalb (the heart). The ancients used to say: ‘After learning, scholars would act, and when they acted, they would busy themselves with learning. At such times, no one would see them around. For this reason, they would be sought out. These scholars would flee to avoid being found.’