قَوْلُهُ ﷺ فِي ذِكْرِهِ الإِحْسَانَ: «وَلَوْ أَنْ تَلْقَى أَخَاكَ بِوَجْهٍ طَلْقٍ» وَذٰلِكَ أَنَّ البَشَاشَةَ المُخْلِصَةَ الصَّادِرَةَ مِنَ القَلْبِ عَلَى الوَجْهِ، تُعَبِّرُ عَمَّا يَكِنُّهُ مِنْ مَحَبَّةٍ وَوِدَادٍ، وَأَنَّهُ فَرِحٌ بِرُؤْيَةِ أَخِيهِ وَاجْتِمَاعِهِ بِهِ، وَهِيَ جَذَّابَةٌ لِلْقُلُوبِ كَمَا هُوَ مُشَاهَدٌ، وَأَيُّ إِحْسَانٍ أَبْلَغُ مِنْ هٰذَا؟!

وَأَمَّا مُجَرَّدُ البَشَاشَةِ الخَالِيَةُ مِنَ الوَجْهِ المُنْطَلِقِ عَنِ القَلْبِ، فَإِنَّهَا قَلِيلَةُ الجَدْوَى.»

📚 Majmūʿ al-Fawāʾid wa Iqtināṣ al-Awābid, p. 250

“Among the subtle secrets behind relief being coupled with the intensification of distress is that when anguish grows severe and immense, and reaches its utmost limit, despair arises of its removal from the direction of created beings, and one’s attachment falls solely upon the Creator.

Whoever severs himself from reliance upon creation and attaches himself to the Creator alone—Allah responds to him and removes his affliction.

For true reliance consists of cutting off all forward-looking expectation of others by despairing of created beings altogether.”

«الْبِدْعَةُ فَاشِيَةٌ وَأَهْلُهَا أَعِزَّاءُ!»

“Innovation has spread, and its people are powerful!”
He replied:

فَقَالَ: «أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ إِذَا أَرَادَ قَطْعَ ‌بِدْعَةٍ ‌أَظْهَرَهَا؟»

“Do you not know that when Allah wills to uproot an innovation, He brings it into full view?”

📚al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ ibn Mūsā. Tartīb al-Madārik wa-Taqrīb al-Masālik li-Maʿrifat Aʿlām Madhhab Mālik. Vol. 4, p. 72. Rabat: Wizārat al-Awqāf wa-l-Shuʾūn al-Islāmiyyah bi-l-Mamlakah al-Maghribiyyah, 1st ed.

“Today we live in a time when tribulations have closed in on us from every side. Our youth are left bewildered, surrounded by trials like patches of a pitch-black night. A person wakes up holding one view and goes to sleep holding another, scarcely able to recognize what is right in what he hears and sees, or in what he reads.

One of the most important realities our youth must understand is that the people around us generally fall into two types. The first is the jealous person—one who resents you for the many blessings you enjoy: well-being, steadfastness upon the Sacred Law, security and stability, and a wholesome life. Everyone who possesses a blessing is bound to be envied. The second type is the one who feels sincere emulation and good envy toward you regarding these same blessings.

The heart of the matter is this: envy is to wish that a blessing be taken away—whether it disappears and comes to oneself, passes to someone else, or vanishes altogether. Good envy, on the other hand, is to wish to have something similar to what you have, without wanting that blessing to be taken from you.

We must clearly grasp this distinction and keep it firmly in mind so that we deal with others wisely and with insight, and so that we can tell the difference between a true friend and an enemy. Trials and hardships are precisely what reveal the sincere friend and expose the pretended one.

The poet spoke the truth when he said:

May Allah reward hardships with every good,
for through them I came to know my enemy from my friend.

This blind tribulation has uncovered realities that were long hidden in people’s hearts. It has also exposed mistaken ideas held by some—ideas they could not openly promote except in times like these dark days.

We now find ourselves in a state of confusion, driven by unchecked desires. Everyone chooses a side and goes in whatever direction he wishes, for whatever purpose he desires. Pens are writing, broadcasts are airing, recordings are being made, and lectures are being delivered—each vessel pouring out what it contains.”

As a result, our youth keep reading from one source, listening to another, and paying attention to yet another, left confused and unsettled by it all.”

«فَإِنْ عَدَلَ عَنِ الْأَحَقِّ الْأَصْلَحِ إِلَىٰ غَيْرِهِ لِأَجْلِ قَرَابَةٍ بَيْنَهُمَا، أَوْ وَلَاءِ عَتَاقَةٍ، أَوْ صَدَاقَةٍ، أَوْ مُرَافَقَةٍ فِي بَلَدٍ، أَوْ مَذْهَبٍ، أَوْ طَرِيقَةٍ، أَوْ جِنْسٍ؛ كَالْعَرَبِيَّةِ وَالْفَارِسِيَّةِ وَالتُّرْكِيَّةِ وَالرُّومِيَّةِ؛ أَوْ لِرِشْوَةٍ يَأْخُذُهَا مِنْهُ مِنْ مَالٍ أَوْ مَنْفَعَةٍ؛ أَوْ غَيْرِ ذٰلِكَ مِنَ الْأَسْبَابِ؛ أَوْ لِضَغَنٍ فِي قَلْبِهِ عَلَى الْأَحَقِّ، أَوْ عَدَاوَةٍ بَيْنَهُمَا؛ فَقَدْ خَانَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَالْمُؤْمِنِينَ».

“If someone (charged with authority) turns away from choosing the one who is most entitled and most suitable and instead selects someone else—because of kinship between them, or a bond of former manumission, or friendship, or shared ascription to a land, a school of thought, a path (tarīqah, such as a Sufi order), or an ethnicity such as Arab, Persian, Turkish, or Roman; or because of a bribe he takes from him in wealth or some personal benefit; or for any other such motive; or due to malice in his heart toward the one who is truly deserving, or enmity between them—then he has indeed betrayed Allah, His Messenger, and the believers.”

📚¹ Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām Ibn Taymiyyah, al-Siyāsah al-Sharʿiyyah fī Iṣlāḥ al-Rāʿī wa-l-Raʿiyyah (Riyadh: Dār ʿAṭāʾāt al-ʿIlm; Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 4th ed., 1440/2019), 9.

Self-accountability is of two kinds: one before action, and one after it.

As for the first type, it is for a person to pause at the very outset of his resolve and intention, and not to rush into action until it becomes clear to him that proceeding is more weighty and preferable than refraining.

Al-Ḥasan said: “May Allah have mercy on a servant who pauses at the moment of intention: if it is for Allah, he proceeds; and if it is for other than Him, he holds back.”

Some of the scholars explained this further, saying:

(1.) When the soul inclines toward a certain action and the servant resolves to do it, he must first pause and examine whether that action lies within his capacity or whether it is beyond his power and unattainable. If it is beyond his capacity, he must not proceed.

(2.) If it is within his capacity, he pauses once more and considers: Is doing it better than leaving it, or is leaving it better than doing it? (Meaning: he weighs the harms and benefits) If leaving it is better, he abandons it and does not proceed.


(3.) If doing it is better, he pauses a third time and reflects: Is the motive behind this action seeking the Face of Allah and His reward, or is it the pursuit of status, praise, or wealth from the creation?

If it is the latter, he must not proceed—even if it would lead him to his desired outcome—lest the soul grow accustomed to associating others with Allah. For to the degree that acting for other than Allah becomes easy upon the soul, acting sincerely for Allah becomes burdensome, until it eventually becomes the heaviest of all actions.

(4.) If the motive is sincerely for Allah, he pauses yet again and considers: Is he supported in this matter? Does he have helpers who will assist and aid him if the action is of the kind that requires such support?

If he has no helpers, he restrains himself—just as the Prophet ﷺ refrained from jihād in Makkah until he acquired strength and supporters. But if he finds that he is aided in it, then he is granted victory.

⭐️Success is not missed except through the absence of one of these qualities; otherwise, when they are all present together, success does not elude him.

These, then, are four stations upon which a person must take his soul to account before acting:

1️⃣ not everything a servant wishes to do lies within his capacity; 2️⃣ nor is everything that lies within his capacity better to do than to leave undone; 3️⃣ nor is everything that is better to do than to leave undone performed sincerely for Allah; 4️⃣ and nor is everything that is done for Allah accompanied by assistance and support.

When a person takes his soul to account in light of these matters, what he should advance toward and what he should hold back from becomes clear to him. Then let him proceed with what has become clear to him.”

هٰذَا الحَدِيثُ مُشْتَمِلٌ عَلَى خَبَرٍ صَادِقٍ، وَإِرْشَادٍ نَافِعٍ. أَمَّا الخَبَرُ، فَإِنَّهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَخْبَرَ أَنَّ النَّصَّ شَامِلٌ لِأَكْثَرِ النَّاسِ، وَأَنَّ الْكَامِلَ — أَوِ الْمُقَارِبَ لِلْكَمَالِ — فِيهِمْ قَلِيلٌ، كَالْإِبِلِ الْمِائَةِ؛ تَسْتَكْثِرُهَا، فَإِذَا أَرَدْتَ مِنْهَا رَاحِلَةً تَصْلُحُ لِلْحَمْلِ وَالرُّكُوبِ، وَالذَّهَابِ وَالإِيَابِ، لَمْ تَكَدْ تَجِدْهَا.

This ḥadīth comprises both a truthful information and a beneficial directive.
As for the information: the Prophet ﷺ informed that this description applies to most people, and that the one who is complete—or close to completion—is rare among them, like a hundred camels: though they are many, when you seek among them a mount suitable for carrying loads, riding, and repeated journeys, you scarcely find one.

وَهٰكَذَا النَّاسُ كَثِيرٌ، فَإِذَا أَرَدْتَ أَنْ تَنْتَخِبَ مِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَصْلُحُ لِلتَّعْلِيمِ أَوِ الْفَتْوَى أَوِ الإِمَامَةِ، أَوِ الْوِلَايَاتِ الْكِبَارِ أَوِ الصِّغَارِ، أَوِ الْوَظَائِفِ الْمُهِمَّةِ، لَمْ تَكَدْ تَجِدْ مَنْ يَقُومُ بِتِلْكَ الْوَظِيفَةِ قِيَامًا صَالِحًا. وَهٰذَا هُوَ الْوَاقِعُ؛ فَإِنَّ الإِنْسَانَ ظَلُومٌ جَهُولٌ، وَالظُّلْمَ وَالْجَهْلَ سَبَبٌ لِلنَّقَائِصِ، وَهِيَ مَانِعَةٌ مِنَ الْكَمَالِ وَالتَّكْمِيلِ.

Such, too, are people: they are numerous, yet when you seek among them those fit for teaching, issuing legal verdicts, leading in prayer, administering major or minor appointments, or fulfilling essential posts, you scarcely find one who discharges that role in a sound and upright manner. This is the reality, for the human being is unjust and ignorant; and injustice and ignorance are causes of deficiency, barring one from both being ideal self and the ability to make others reach their ideal selves.

وَأَمَّا الإِرْشَادُ، فَإِنَّ مَضْمُونَ هٰذَا الْخَبَرِ إِرْشَادٌ مِنْهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِلَى أَنَّهُ يَنْبَغِي لِمَجْمُوعِ الأُمَّةِ أَنْ يَسْعَوْا وَيَجْتَهِدُوا فِي تَأْهِيلِ الرِّجَالِ الَّذِينَ يَصْلُحُونَ لِلْقِيَامِ بِالْمُهِمَّاتِ، وَالأُمُورِ الْكُلِّيَّةِ الْعَامَّةِ النَّفْعِ.

As for the directive: the substance of this report is the Prophet’s ﷺ guidance that the Muslim community as a whole ought to strive and exert themselves in preparing men who are fit to undertake critical responsibilities and matters of comprehensive, public service.

وَقَدْ أَرْشَدَ اللَّهُ إِلَى هٰذَا الْمَعْنَى فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: {فَلَوْلَا نَفَرَ مِنْ كُلِّ فِرْقَةٍ مِنْهُمْ طَائِفَةٌ لِيَتَفَقَّهُوا فِي الدِّينِ وَلِيُنْذِرُوا قَوْمَهُمْ إِذَا رَجَعُوا إِلَيْهِمْ [التَّوْبَةِ: 122]. فَأَمَرَ بِالْجِهَادِ، وَأَنْ يَقُومَ بِهِ طَائِفَةٌ كَافِيَةٌ، وَأَنْ يَتَصَدَّى لِلْعِلْمِ طَائِفَةٌ أُخْرَى، لِيُعِينَ هٰؤُلَاءِ هٰؤُلَاءِ، وَهٰؤُلَاءِ هٰؤُلَاءِ. وَأَمْرُهُ تَعَالَى بِالْوِلَايَاتِ وَالتَّوْلِيَةِ أَمْرٌ بِهَا، وَبِمَا لَا تَتِمُّ إِلَّا بِهِ مِنَ الشُّرُوطِ وَالْمُكَمِّلَاتِ.

Allah has directed to this meaning in His saying: {So why did not a group from every faction among them go forth, so that they might gain understanding of the religion and warn their people when they return to them?} (al-Tawbah 9:122). Thus, He commanded jihād, to be undertaken by a sufficient group, and likewise that another group devote themselves to knowledge—so that each supports the other. His command regarding governance and appointment is a command for their establishment, and for all the conditions and complementary requirements without which they cannot be fulfilled.