The Fear of Fame: A Lost Characteristic.

The Fear of Fame: A Lost Characteristic

As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah

The scholars and the righteous of this Ummah always feared fame and becoming well-known amongst the people. They would dislike for their name to be mentioned much and you can see one of them fleeing from the people as if they were a fitnah (trial), whilst at other times you can see one get up and leave the circle of knowledge which he was conducting because the numbers became too many.
Below here are some amazing statements from our predecessors that allude to just how much they held onto sincerity and how much they fled from fame and from being spoken about.
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Ibn Mas’ood (radhiallahu `anhu): ‘(O people!) Be the springs of knowledge and the lamps of guidance! Stick to your homes and be like a light in the night, revivers of hearts, wearing worn-out clothes, you will then be known by the people of the heavens and be hidden among the people of the earth.’
A man said to Bishr: ‘Advice me.’ So he said, ‘Let your mention be unknown…’ And Hushib would be found crying saying, ‘My name has reached the Masjid!’
Both Ibrahim al-Nakha’i and al-Hasan used to say, ‘It is enough of an evil that a man should be pointed at in matters of Deen or Dunya (i.e. out of fame), except him whom Allah has protected. Righteousness lies here’ and he’d point to his chest three times.
Ibrahim ibn Adham: ‘A slave who loves fame has not been truthful to Allah.’
‘Aasim: ‘If more than four people came and sat around Abul-’Aaliyah, he would get up and leave.’
Dawud al-Ta’i used to say: ‘Flee from people just like you would flee from a lion.’
Imam Ahmad: ‘Glad tidings be to the one whose mention has been hidden by Allah!’ And he would say, ‘I wish for something that will never be… I wish to be in a place devoid of other people.’
Dhul-Nun: ‘Being pleased with being around people is from the signs of bankruptcy’
Fudhayl ibn ‘Iyyadh: ‘If you can get by without being known, then do so. What does it bother you that people will not praise you, and what does it bother you that you may be blameworthy in the sight of people if in the Sight of Allah you are praiseworthy?’
Muhammad ibn al-’Alaa ibn Musayyib from Basra wrote to Muhammad Yusuf al-Asbahani saying, ‘O my brother, whoever loves Allah loves that he remain unknown (to the people).’
Bishr ibn al-Harith: ‘I do not know a single man who loves fame except that he loses his religion and becomes disgraced. No-one who has fear of Allah, loves to be known amongst the people.’
He (rahimahullah) also said: ‘A man who loves that everyone should know him, will never find the sweetness of the Hereafter.’
Yazid ibn Abi Habib: ‘Indeed from the fitnah of a scholar is that speech should become more pleasing to him than silence and listening.’
Abu Huraira (radhiallahu `anhu) used to say: ‘Were it not for an ayah in the Book of Allah, I would not have narrated to you people (ayah below):
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَكْتُمُونَ مَا أَنزَلْنَا مِنَ الْبَيِّنَاتِ وَالْهُدَى مِن بَعْدِ مَا بَيَّنَّاهُ لِلنَّاسِ فِي الْكِتَابِ أُولَـئِكَ يَلعَنُهُمُ اللّهُ وَيَلْعَنُهُمُ اللَّاعِنُونَ
‘Verily, those who conceal the clear proofs, evidences and the guidance, which We have sent down, after We have made it clear for the people in the Book, they are the ones cursed by Allah and cursed by the cursers.’ [al-Baqarah: 158]
Al-Sha’bi: ‘We tried incredibly hard to get Ibrahim al-Taymi to sit down in the masjid and narrate to the people but he refused.’
Ibn Abi Layla: ‘I met a hundred and twenty Companions of the Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam), and none of them would narrate except that he loved his brother to suffice him of that. And none of them gave fatawa except that he wished his brother would suffice him of that.’
‘Abdullah ibn Abbas: ‘Indeed Allah has slaves who have been silenced by the fear of Allah although they are eloquent in speech.’
Sufyan al-Thawri: ‘If you can become a scholar without being known, then do so. For indeed the people, if they knew what was in you, they would eat your flesh.’
^ He (rahimahullah) wouldn’t allow more than three people to sit in his gathering. One day, more than three came and he saw his gathering had increased so he stood up in fear and said, ‘By Allah, we have been taken and we do not even feel it! By Allah, if the leader of the faithful, ‘Umar (radhiallahu `anhu) were to see someone like me sitting in this gathering he would make me stand up and say ‘The like of you is not worthy of this!’
It is reported that when he sat to narrate hadeeth, he would sit in fear and terror. If a cloud passed over him, he would become silent until it passed then he’d say, ‘I feared that it contained stones with which we would be struck with.’
When Bishr al-Hafi abandoned narrating hadeeth in a gathering, the people said to him: ‘What are you going to say to your Lord when He asks you ‘Why did you abandon narrating to the people the statements of My Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam)?!’ He (rahimahullah) said, ‘I will say, O my Lord. You have commanded me to do it with sincerity but I did not find that in me.’
It was said to Sufyan Ibn ‘Uyaynah once, ‘Won’t you sit and narrate to us?’ He (rahimahullah) said: ‘By Allah, I don’t see you worthy of being narrated to nor do I see myself worthy of being listened to.’
Ibrahim Ibn Adham;-
Ibrahim ibn Adham: ‘I never found delight in living except in al-Sham (greater Syria). I would flee with my religion from heights to heights and from mountain to mountain. Whoever saw me said ‘He’s delusional’ and whoever saw me said ‘He’s a porter.’
He (rahimahullah) would also say: ‘The scholars! When they taught they would act (righteous deeds) and when they acted, they would become busy in that, and when they became busy they would be missed by the people and when they were missed, they would be sought out by the people, and when they were sought, they would flee.’
One day he passed by the gathering of al-Awza’i (rahimahullah) and saw that a large number of people had gathered. So he said, ‘If all this crowding was around Abu Huraira, he would have departed from it.’ This reached al-Awza’i who got up and abandoned the gathering from that day on.
Ibrahim ibn Adham was an amazing personality masha’Allah; he tried hard to keep away from the people in fear of them mentioning him too much. But his fame shot up and his name became so widespread to the point that it was said one time ‘He is in the garden’ (where he worked tending to crops), so the people entered it, encircling it, saying ‘Where is Ibrahim ibn Adham?’ So he began to encircle along with them saying, ‘Where is Ibrahim ibn Adham?!’ *
[*Point being here that his name, character and reputation was known but he himself was hardly seen so they didn't recognise him!]
He (rahimahullah) said: ‘My eye never found solace and delight in a day of this world except once.. I spent the night in a mosque in one of the villages in al-Sham whilst I had a stomach sickness. The mu’adhin then grabbed me by my leg and dragged me out of the mosque!‘ – He found solace in this because the man did not recognise him and he did not leave the mosque as he was ill and illness had made him remain in the mosque.
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Quotes taken from the book: Ta’tir al-Anfas min Hadith al-Ikhlas by Dr. Sayyid al-’Affani (original sources include Tahdhib al-Hilyah, Siyar A’lam al-Nubalaa, Tanbih al-Mughtarin and Sifat al-Safwah to name but a few)

حب الظهور والشهرة
المرجع: المراخع في المقلاة
المؤلف :مجموعة من المشايخ
الباب: أقوال السلف

فقال تعالى

تِلْكَ الدَّارُ الآخِرَةُ نَجْعَلُهَا لِلَّذِينَ لا يُرِيدُونَ عُلُوّاً فِي الأَرْضِ وَلا فَسَاداً وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ القصص:83

فال ابن أبي حاتم

حدثنا أبو سعيد الاشج ، ثنا ابن يمان ، عن سفيان ، عن رجل ، عن الحسن لا يريدون علوا في الأرض قال : الشرف والعز ، عند ذوي سلطانهم

حدثنا أبي ، ثنا عمرو بن اسلم الطرسوسي قال : سمعت معاوية الاسود في قول الله : تلك الدار الاخرة نجعلها للذين لا يريدون علوا في الأرض ولا فسادا قال : لم ينازعوا اهلها في عزها التجبر والتكبر ولم يجزعوا من ذلها

تفسير ابن أبي حاتم

قال ابن كثير

يخبر تعالى أن الدار الآخرة ونعيمها المقيم الذي لا يحول ولا يزول، جعلها لعباده المؤمنين المتواضعين، الذين لا يريدون علوًّا في الأرض، أي: ترفعًا على خلق الله وتعاظمًا عليهم وتجبرًا بهم، ولا فسادًا فيهم. كما قال عكرمة: العلو: التجبر. وقال سعيد بن جبير: العلو: البغي

وقال سفيان بن سعيد الثوري، عن منصور، عن مسلم البطين: العلو في الأرض: التكبر بغير حق. والفساد: أخذ المال بغير حق

وقال ابن جُرَيْج: لا يُرِيدُونَ عُلُوًّا فِي الأرْضِ تعظمًا وتجبرًا

تفسير ابن كثير

يا نعايا العرب ! يا نعايا العرب ! ثلاثا ، إن أخوف ما أخاف عليكم الرياء و الشهوة الخفية

السلسلة الصحيحة: 2 / 20

قال ابن الأثير : الشهوة الخفية : حب اطلاع الناس على العمل

وقال أحمد بن حنبل كما في طبقات الحنابلة”طوبى لمن أخمل الله ذكره

وفي كتاب معالم في طريق طلب العلم للشيخ عبدالعزيز السدحان قال الامام أحمد أريد أن أكون في شعب بمكة حتى لا أعرف وقد بليت بالشهرة إني أتمنى الموت صباحًا ومساءً – سير أعلام النبلاء

11/216 – قال أحمد مرة وهو يخاطب أحد تلاميذه لمّا بلّغه مدح النّاس يا أبا بكر، إذا عرف الرجل نفسه فما ينفعه كلام النّاس -سير أعلام النبلاء

11/211 وقال الشاطبي رحمه الله آخر شيء نزولا من قلوب الصالحين: حب السلطة والتصدر

وقال بشر الحافي : ما اتقى الله من أحب الشهرة

وقال : لا أعلم رجلاً أحب أن يُعرف إلا ذهب دينه وافتضح

وقال أيضاً :لا يجد حلاوة الآخرة رجل يحب أن يعرفه الناس – سير أعلام النبلاء

10/476 وما أحسن ماذكر ابن الجوزي في صيد الخاطر قال: والأمر الفارق بين الفئتين أن-يعني علماء الدنيا وعلماء الآخره-أن علماء الدنيا ينظرون إلى الرئاسة فيها ويحبون كثرة الجمع والثناء وعلماء الآخرة بمعزل من إيثار ذلك وقد كانوا يتخوفونه ويرحمون من بلي به

وقال علقمة أكره أن يوطأ عقبي ويقول علقمة وكان بعضهم إذا جلس إليه أكثر من أربعة قام عنهم

قال إبراهيم بن أدهم: مَا صَدق َاللهَ عَبدٌ أَحَبَّ الشُّهرة

قال الحافظ الذهبي معلِّقا: قلت: عَلاَمَة ُالمُخلِصِ الذي قد يُحِبُّ شُهرَةً، ولا يشعرُ بها، أنّه إذا عُوتب في ذلك لا يَحْرَدُ ( أي: لا يغضب ) ولا يُبَرِّئُ نفسَهُ، بل يعترف ويقول: رحمَ الله من أهدى إليَّ عُيوبي، ولا يَكُنْ مُعْجباً بنفسِه؛ لا يشعرُ بعيوبها، بل لا يشعر أنّه لا يشعر، فإنّ هذا داءٌ مزمنٌ

سير أعلام النبلاء للذهبي 7/393

ودخل إبراهيم بن أدهم بستان، فظل الناس يدورون في البستان ويقولون: أين إبراهيم بن أدهم؟ فأخذ يدور معهم ويقول: “أين إبراهيم بن أدهم؟”!

وقال الثوري لأخ له : احذر حب المنزلة ، فإن الزهادة فيها أشد من الزهادة في الدنيا

وقال سفيان الثوري لعبد الله بن المبارك : إياك والشهرة ؛ فما أتيت أحدًا إلا وقد نهى عن الشهرة سير أعلام النبلاء – 7/260

وقال الحسن البصري كفى بالمرء شراً أن يشار إليه بالأصابع

وقال أيوب السختياني : ما صدق عبد قط فأحب الشهرة سير أعلام النبلاء 6/20

و قال شعبة: ربما ذهبت مع أيوب لحاجة فلا يدعني أمشي معه ، و يخرج من هاهنا ومن هاهنا ؛ لكيلا يُفطن له

قال فضيل بن عياض: ما أحب أحد الرئاسة إلا حسد وبغى وتتبع عيوب الناس، وكره أن يذكر أحد بخير

قال محمد بن سيرين لثابت : يا أبا محمد لم يكن يمنعني من مجالستكم إلا مخافة الشهرة : سير أعلام النبلاء 4/609

http://www.subulassalaam.com/articles/article.cfm?article_id=121

Good Character…

Views of the pious predecessors and good character

By Abu Bakr Jabir Al Jaza’iry
Taken from Book: Minhaj Al Muslim 289-291

http://www.islamicboard.com/miscellaneous/5510-views-pious-predecessors-good-character.html

Al Hasan said: “Good character is represented by a pleasent and a delightful face, loving benevolence and stopping harm:”

Abdullah bin Mubarak said: the Characteristics of good conduct are three.To Shun that is forbidden , seeking what is lawful and spending amply on one’s dependents:”

Someone else said:“Good character is to keep close to the people yet away from their fortunes.”

Someone else said: “Good behavior is to prevent harm and to extend the necessary help to a believer.”

Someone else said:“Good character means that there is nothing important to you besides Allaah.”

In fact, the Above are partial defination of good character.althought the real defination is as mentions in hadeeth and Quran

Here are some distinguished marks of the good character:

*Bashfulness and modesty in abundance.

* Little harm

*Plenty of good deeds.

*True speech.

*Few Words.

*Plenty of deeds.

*Few Mistakes.

*Little futile talk.

*Kindness of relatives

*Being dignified

*Patience with perseverance

*Showing Gratitude

*Remaining pleased

*Being tolerance

*Being faithful and loyal

*Modesty and decency

*He should not be one who curses, abuses ,reviels ,slanders, backbits ,acts hasty malicious,full of hatred,malevolent,resentfull,greedy and envious.
Kindness and gentleness

***Loving , hating ,becoming pleased and getting angry for the sake of Allaah.

These are some types of good character.

>Good Character…

>

Views of the pious predecessors and good character

By Abu Bakr Jabir Al Jaza’iry
Taken from Book: Minhaj Al Muslim 289-291

http://www.islamicboard.com/miscellaneous/5510-views-pious-predecessors-good-character.html

Al Hasan said: “Good character is represented by a pleasent and a delightful face, loving benevolence and stopping harm:”

Abdullah bin Mubarak said: the Characteristics of good conduct are three.To Shun that is forbidden , seeking what is lawful and spending amply on one’s dependents:”

Someone else said:“Good character is to keep close to the people yet away from their fortunes.”

Someone else said: “Good behavior is to prevent harm and to extend the necessary help to a believer.”

Someone else said:“Good character means that there is nothing important to you besides Allaah.”

In fact, the Above are partial defination of good character.althought the real defination is as mentions in hadeeth and Quran

Here are some distinguished marks of the good character:

*Bashfulness and modesty in abundance.

* Little harm

*Plenty of good deeds.

*True speech.

*Few Words.

*Plenty of deeds.

*Few Mistakes.

*Little futile talk.

*Kindness of relatives

*Being dignified

*Patience with perseverance

*Showing Gratitude

*Remaining pleased

*Being tolerance

*Being faithful and loyal

*Modesty and decency

*He should not be one who curses, abuses ,reviels ,slanders, backbits ,acts hasty malicious,full of hatred,malevolent,resentfull,greedy and envious.
Kindness and gentleness

***Loving , hating ,becoming pleased and getting angry for the sake of Allaah.

These are some types of good character.