حياة السلف بين القول والعمل

Women of the Salaf: On the authority of Muhammad ibn Hanif, he said: The spinning of his sister - that is, the sister of Bishr ibn al-Harith, may God have mercy on her - as it was mentioned that she went to Ahmad ibn Hanbal and said: We are a people who spin at night and our livelihood is from it, and sometimes the torches of the Banu Tahir, the governors of Baghdad, pass by us while we are on the roof, so we spin by their light one or two strands. Do you permit it for us or do you forbid it? He said to her: Who are you? She said: Bishr’s sister. He said: Ah, O family of Bishr, may you never be lost, I will always hear pure piety from you. [Al-Hilya (its abridgment) 3/99].

The Children of the Early Muslims: On the authority of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), he said: Umar (may God be pleased with him) used to include me with the elders of Badr. Some of them said: Why do you include this young man with us when we have sons his age? He replied: He is one of those you know. He said: One day he called them, and he called me with them, and I only saw that he called me that day to show them what I was capable of. He said: What do you say about “When the victory of God has come and the conquest” [An-Nasr: 1] until he finished the chapter? Some of them said: We are commanded to praise God Almighty and seek His forgiveness when the victory of God comes and He grants us victory. Some of them said: We do not know. And some of them said nothing. He said to me: O Ibn Abbas, is that what you say? I said: No. He said: Then what do you say? I said: It is the appointed time of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), which God informed him of, “When the victory of God has come and the conquest”—the conquest of Mecca—so that is a sign of your appointed time. “So glorify the praises of your Lord.” And ask forgiveness of Him, for He is ever Accepting of repentance. [An-Nasr: 3] Umar said: I know nothing of it except what you know. [Narrated by Al-Bukhari, No. 4043].

Children of the Salaf: Aslam said: While I was with Umar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, patrolling Medina, he grew tired and leaned against a wall in the middle of the night. A woman said to her daughter: “My daughter, go to that milk and dilute it with water.” The daughter replied: “Mother, do you not know what the Commander of the Faithful decreed today?” The mother asked: “What was his decree, my daughter?” The daughter replied: “He ordered his herald to announce that milk should not be mixed with water.” The mother said to her: “My daughter, go to that milk and dilute it with water, for you are in a place where neither Umar nor his herald can see you.” The girl said to her mother: “Mother, by God, I would not obey him in public and disobey him in private.” [Sifat al-Safwa 4/593]

Children of the Salaf: Umar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, passed by some boys, among them Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, may God be pleased with him. They ran away, but he stopped. Umar said to him: Why didn't you run away with your companions? He said: O Commander of the Faithful, I have not committed a crime for which I should fear you, and the road was not narrow so that I would widen it for you. [Uyun al-Akhbar 2/595].