ON THE DISAPPROVAL OF THE WORLD AND BEING WARY OF IT

It is related from Abû Umâmah al-Bâhilî that Tha‘labah ibn Hâtib said: “O Messenger of Allâh! Pray to Allâh that He bestows me with wealth.” He replied: “O Tha‘labah! A little wealth for which you are grateful is better than a lot of wealth whose rights you cannot fulfil.” He said: “O Messenger of Allâh! Pray to Allâh that He bestows me with wealth.” He replied: “O Tha‘labah! Isn’t there a perfect example for you in me? Would you not like to be like the Prophet of Allâh? Listen! I take an oath by that Being in whose control is my life, if I willed that the mountains turn into gold and silver, and move with me, they would move with me.” He said: “I take an oath by that Being who sent you as a true Prophet, if you pray to Allâh that He bestows me with wealth, I will give each person his due right, and I will do this and I will do that…” The Messenger of Allâh said: “O Allâh! Bless Tha‘labah with wealth.” He then purchased some sheep and they reproduced like insects. Madînah became too small for him [and his large number of sheep]. He therefore moved away from Madînah and settled down in one of its valleys. He used to offer the zuhr and ‘asr salâhs with congregation and leave out the other salâhs. His flock increased even more and so he moved further away. He gave up offering all the salâhs with congregation except for the jumu‘ah salâh. His sheep continued increasing like insects till he even gave up the jumu‘ah salâh and he began to ask passers-by about the news of Madînah. The Messenger of Allâh inquired about him saying: “What happened to Tha‘labah ibn Hâtib?” He was told: “O Messenger of Allâh! He purchased some sheep and Madînah became too small for him.” He then related Tha‘labah’s entire story to the Messenger of Allâh . He said: “O how unfortunate is Tha‘labah! O how unfortunate is Tha‘labah! O how unfortunate is Tha‘labah!”

Allâh revealed the verse:

“Take zakâh from their wealth so that you may purify them and bless them thereby, and pray for them, surely your prayer is an assurance for them.” (Sûrah at-Taubah, 9: 103)

Allâh sent down verses making zakâh obligatory. The Messenger of Allâh sent a man from the Juhaynah and another from the Banî Sulaym in order to go around collecting zakâh. He gave them a letter authorising them to collect the zakâh, ordered them to leave, and to collect the zakâh from the Muslims. He said to them: “Order Tha‘labah ibn Hâtib and a certain person from the Banî Sulaym and take the zakâh from them.” These two left and went to Tha‘labah. They asked him for the zakâh and read the letter of the Messenger of Allâh to him. He replied: “This zakâh is nothing but jizyah [101] . This is nothing but jizyah. This is nothing but the sister of jizyah. You may go and collect from others. When you finish, return to me.” The two then proceeded towards the person from the Banî Sulaym. He heard that they were coming. He therefore set aside his best camels and reserved them to be given as zakâh. He then welcomed them. When they saw the camels which he had set aside for zakâh, they said to him: “It is not obligatory on you to give these [choice camels of yours]. We do not want to take these from you.” He replied: “You should most certainly take them. I am most pleased to give them. I specifically set them aside so that you may take them.” When they completed their rounds of collecting zakâh, they returned to Tha‘labah and asked him for the zakâh. He replied: “Let me see that letter of yours.” He read it and said: “This zakâh is the sister of jizyah. You may go and let me think about the matter.” They proceeded till they came to the Prophet . When he saw them, he said: “O how unfortunate is Tha‘labah.” He said this before they could speak to him [about what transpired]. And he prayed for the person from the Banî Sulaym [who gave his choicest camels so willingly]. They then informed him of what Tha‘labah did and what the person from the Banî Sulaym did.

Allâh revealed the following verses with regard to Tha‘labah:

“There are some among them who had made a promise to Allâh [saying]: ‘If He gives us out of His bounty, we will certainly give in charity and we will certainly be among the righteous.’ Then when He gave them of His bounty, they acted miserly therewith, and turned away, retreating. So He caused hypocrisy to leave its mark in their hearts until the day on which they shall meet Him because they broke the promise which they made to Allâh and because they used to tell lies.” (Sûrah at-Taubah, 9: 75-77)

While all this was transpiring, one of the relatives of Tha‘labah was present in the company of the Messenger of Allâh . He also heard the verses that Allâh revealed with regard to Tha‘labah. He went to Tha‘labah and said: “May you be deprived of a mother, O Tha‘labah! Allâh revealed such and such verses with regard to you.” Tha‘labah came to the Prophet and asked him to accept his zakâh from him. He replied: “Allâh prohibited me from accepting your zakâh.” On hearing this, Tha‘labah began pouring dust on his own head. The Messenger of Allâh said to him: “This is all the consequence of your actions. When I originally ordered you, you did not listen to me.” When the Messenger of Allâh refused to accept anything from him, he returned to his house. When the Messenger of Allâh passed away, he came with the zakâh and offered it to Abû Bakr [who was now the leader of the Islamic state]. Abû Bakr refused to accept it from him. He then brought it to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattâb [when he became the leader of the Islamic state]. He also refused to accept it from him. He did the same during the caliphate of ‘Uthmân . He also refused to accept it from him. Tha‘labah then passed away [as a hypocrite].

It is related by Jarîr rahimahullâh from Layth rahimahullâh that a man accompanied ‘Îsâ . He said to him: “I will remain with you and be in your company.” They proceeded together till they reached a river bank. They sat down and began eating. They had three pieces of bread. They ate two pieces and one piece was left. ‘Îsâ stood up, went to the river and drank water from it. He then returned and did not see the last piece of bread. He asked the man: “Who took the piece of bread?” He replied: “I do not know.” ‘Îsâ then proceeded and the man went with him. He saw a gazelle with two of its kids. He called one of the kids. It came to him, he slaughtered it, grilled some of it and ate of it. The man also ate of it. He then addressed the kid saying: “Come back to life by the permission of Allâh.” It got up and went away. On seeing this, the man said: “I ask you in the name of that Being who showed you this miracle, who took that piece of bread?” ‘Îsâ replied: “I do not know.” They then proceeded till they came to a valley filled with water. ‘Îsâ held the person by his hand and they began walking on the water till they reached the other side. The man asked him: “I ask you in the name of that Being who showed you this miracle, who took that piece of bread?” ‘Îsâ replied: “I do not know.” They proceeded till they came to a barren field. They sat down and ‘Îsâ began gathering some soil and heaping it. He then said: “Turn into gold by the permission of Allâh.” It turned into gold. He then divided the gold into three parts and said: “One third is for me, one third is for you, and one third is for the person who took the piece of bread.” The man said: “I am the one who took the piece of bread.” ‘Îsâ said to him: “You can have all this gold.” ‘Îsâ then left this man and went away. While the man was still there, two men came to him and saw all that gold with him. They decided to take it away from him and kill him. So he said to them: “Let us divide it among ourselves into three parts. Then send one of you to the village to purchase some food for us.” So they sent one of them. The man who was sent thought to himself: “Why should I share this gold with them? I will poison this food, kill both of them and take all the gold for my self.” He then poisoned the food. In the meantime, the other two men said to each other: “Why should we give one third to the other person? When he returns, we will kill him and divide the wealth between us.” When the man returned to them, they killed him. They then ate the [poisoned] food and they also died. That gold remained there in the barren field with these three people dead near it. ‘Îsâ passed by them while they were in that condition. He said to his companions: “This is the world. You should therefore be wary of it.”

It is related that Dhul Qarnayn went to some people who had nothing which people normally enjoy of the world. They had dug graves and in the morning they would go to the graves, sweep them and pray near them. They would tend to herbaceous plants just as animals are tended to. Their livelihoods thus confined them to the produce of the land. Dhul Qarnayn sent an order to their king saying: “Present yourself before Dhul Qarnayn.” The king replied: “I have no need to meet him. If he has a need to meet me, he should come to me.” Dhul Qarnayn said: “He is right.” Dhul Qarnayn then went to him and said to him: “I sent you a message asking you to come and see me. But you refused. So here I am.” The king said: “If I had any work with you, I would have come to you.” Dhul Qarnayn said: “How is it that I see you and your people in a condition that I have not seen in any other nation?” The king asked: “What do you mean?” He replied: “You’ll do not have anything of this world. Why do you’ll not take gold and silver and enjoy yourselves with these metals?” The king replied: “We dislike both these things because no sooner a person is given either of the two, he begins tiring himself and his soul prompts him to acquire something better than that.” Dhul Qarnayn asked: “Why have you dug graves, and then in the morning you go to sweep them and then pray next to them?” The king replied: “When the world instils hopes into us, we look at the graves and they prevent us from harbouring hopes.” Dhul Qarnayn asked: “I see that you have no food except herbaceous plants from the land. Why do you not take animals which you could milk, which you could ride, and from which you could take other benefits?” The king replied: “We dislike making our stomachs into graves for the animals. We found that the harvest of the land is sufficient for us. The minimum of food is sufficient for man. And no matter what food goes down the throat, its taste does not last all the time.” The king then stretched his hand behind Dhul Qarnayn and produced a skull. He asked: “O Dhul Qarnayn! Do you know who this is?” He replied: “No. Who is he?” The king said: “He was one of the kings of the past to whom Allâh had given authority over the land. He used to act unjustly, he used to oppress and he used to act arrogantly. When Allâh saw that, He put an end to him with death. He thus became like a rock that is thrown. Allâh held his deeds against him till He will recompense him in the hereafter.” The king then took another dry skull and asked: “O Dhul Qarnayn! Do you know who this is?” He replied: “No. Who is he?” The king said: “He is the king to whom Allâh gave kingdom after the previous king. He had been observing what the previous king was doing with the people: his tyranny, oppression and arrogance. This latter king therefore humbled himself and submitted before Allâh . He ordered justice among the subjects of his kingdom. As you can see, Allâh also held his deeds till He will recompense him in the hereafter.” The king then placed his hand on Dhul Qarnay’s head and said: “This skull will also become like these two skulls. So, O Dhul Qarnayn! You had better watch what deeds you are going to do.” Dhul Qarnay said to him: “How would you like to join me? I will take you as a brother, a minister, and a partner in all that Allâh gave me of this wealth.” The king said: “It will not be good for you and I to be at one place, nor will it be good for us to be together.” Dhul Qarnayn asked: “And why is that?” The king said: “That is because all the people are enemies to you while they are friends to me.” Dhul Qarnayn asked: “And why is that?” The king said: “They are antagonistic towards you because of the kingdom, wealth and world that you have. I do not find anyone antagonistic towards me because I have disowned all that, because of the poverty I experience, and because of the few things which I have.” Dhul Qarnayn then left, astonished by him and learning great lessons from him.

A poet said:

“O you who are enjoying the world and its attractions! Your eyes do not sleep from the pleasures [of this world]. You have occoupied your self in something that you will not achieve. What will you say to Allâh when you meet Him?”

Another poet said:

“I reprimanded the world for elevating the ignorant ones and holding back those of virtue. It replied: ‘Listen to my reason. The ignorant ones are my children. I have therefore elevated them. As for the people of piety, they are the children of the other wife [i.e. they are the children of the hereafter].’”

Mahmûd al-Bâhilî said:

“Listen! The world is a test to a person in every situation – whether it comes to him or turns away from him. If it comes to him, he should always receive it with gratitude. And whenever it turns away, he should exercise patience and remain steadfast.”