Sayings of Al-Hasan Al-Basree- from Ibn Sa'd

It is a sunnah that, if one must choose between permissible alternatives, one should pray two rak'ahs sunnah, be they regular sunnah prayers or a prayer for entering a mosque, and so on, during any time of the day or night, and to recite therein whatever one wishes of the Qu'ran after reciting Al-Fatiha. Then one should praise Allah and send salutations to the Prophet (Pbuh) and recite the following supplication which has been recorded by Bukhari in Jabir's narration:"The Prophet,(Pbuh) would teach us al-Istikharah for all of our affairs as he would teach us a surah of the Qu'ran. He said 'if one of you is deliberating over an act, he should pray two rak'ahs and say":

"O Allah, I consult You as You are All-Knowing and I appeal to You to give me power as You are Omnipotent, I ask You for Your great favour, for You have power and I do not, and You know all of the hidden matters. O Allah! If you know that this matter (then mention it) is good for me in my religion, my livelihood, and for my life in the Hereafter (or he said 'for my present and future life') then ordain it for me, make it (easy) for me and bless it for me. And if You know that this matter is bad for my religion, my livelihood and my life in the Hereafter (or he said 'for my present and future life') then turn it away from me and turn me away from it and ordain the good for me wherever it be and make me be pleased with it." After performing the istikhara, a person must do what he is wholeheartedly inclined to do and feels good about doing and should not insist on doing what he has desired to do before making the istikhara.

And if his feelings change, he should leave what he had intended to do, otherwise he is not completely leaving the choice of Allah, and would not be honest in seeking aid from Allah's power and knowledge. Sincerity in seeking Allah's choice means that one should completely leave what one oneself desired or determined.

Excerpted from :
The Men of Madina - Volume 1
Muhammad Ibn Sa'd
-translated by Aisha Abdarrahman at-Tarjumana Bewly
338 pages Paperback A5 ISBN 1 897940 62 9 £7.50
Translation of vol. V of Ibn Sa’d’s Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kabir

Abu Hilal said, "When al-Hasan finished his hadith, he would say, 'O Allah, you see our hearts full of idolatry, pride, hypocrisy, showing-off, reputation, doubt and uncertainty in your deen. 0 Turner of hearts, make our hearts firm in Your deen and make our deen Straight Islam!"'

'Umara ibn Mihran said that al-Hasan was asked, "Why do you not visit the rulers and command them to the correct and forbid them the incorrect?" He replied, "'Thee believer should not waste himself. Their swords precede our tongues when we speak. They speak thus with their swords." And he made a striking gesture with his hand.

'Umara said, "I did not see anyone whose words are in harmony with his actions except al-Hasan."

It is related that al-Hasan said, "When a young man is devout, we do not recognise him by his speech. We recognise him by his actions. That is beneficial knowledge."

'Umara said that al-Hasan told him that he disliked voices trilling when reciting the Qur'an.

Ar-Rabi' ibn Subayh said, "Al-Hasan disliked being praised to his face. If invocation was made for him, that delighted him."

Ghalib al-Qattan said, "I brought al-Hasan a letter from 'Abdu'l-Malik ibn Abi Bashir and he said, 'Read it.' So I read it and there was a supplication in it. Al-Hasan said, 'Many a true brother of yours was not actually born of your mother."'

It is related that 'Imran ibn Khalid al-Khuza'i said that a man told him, "Matar asked al-Hasan about a question and said, 'The fuqaha' oppose you.' He said, 'May your mother be bereaved, Matar! Do you see a faqih at all? Do you know what a faqih is? The scrupulous ascetic faqih is the one who does not care about who is above him nor mock the one below him, and who does not accept ephemeral rubbish in exchange for the knowledge which Allah has taught him."'

It is related that when al-Hasan saw a funeral, he would say, "Praise belongs to Allah who has not made me part of that which is snatched away." He said, "He would not relate anything that day."

Muhammad ibn 'Umar said, "Al-Hasan died in 110." Isma'il ibn 'Ulayya said that it was in Rajab. There were a hundred days between the deaths of Muhammad ibn Sirin and him, al-Hasan dying first.

Hammad ibn Zayd said that al-Hasan died on Friday night. He said that Ayyub and Humayd at-Tawil washed him. He was brought out when the people left. He said, "My father took me with him," and Mu'adh ibn Mu'adh said, "Al-Hasan was ten years older than Muhammad."

Three Expensive Plaques A Little or Alot, Learning to be Thankful
A wise person hung up Three expensive plaques in his office that he would read daily.
Written on the first was, "Your today, your today! " Meaning, live within the boundaries of today, working and striving. The second said, "Reflect and be thankful. " Meaning, contemplate Allah's blessings upon you and be grateful. "Don't be angry," was written on the third.

These three brief sentences are worthy of being hung up in a noticeable place and read daily.

The person who is not thankful to Allah for cold, pure water will not be thankful to Him for a mansion or a luxury car.

The person who is not thankful for warm bread will not be grateful if he suddenly becomes blessed with luxury food items, because an ingratitude person sees a little and a lot to be the same thing.

Many before us have made binding promises to Allah that whenever He would give them blessings or whenever He would shower good upon them, they would in turn be grateful and give charity.

"And of them are some who made a covenant with Allah [saying]: 'If He bestowed on us of His Bounty, we will verily, give Sadaqah [Zakah and voluntary charity in Allah's Cause] and will be certainly among those who are righteous.' Then when He gave them of His Bounty, they became niggardly [refused to pay the Zakah or voluntary charity], and turned away, averse." (Quran 75:76)

Sometimes, we feel despair and bitter, despite the good state of health we have and in spite of the nourishing food that sustains us daily, not to mention all of the basic needs that we have. Thankfullness is taken for granted for all of these things, nor are we thankful for the free time that we have. What would then be the case if we were given castles or mansions!!

The one who walks barefoot says, 'I will be thankful to my Lord when he blesses me with shoes.'
The one with shoes postpones being grateful until he gets an expensive car.

Little or alot- we need to be Thankful ! We take blessings cash down and are thankful on credit. Our wishes to Allah are never-ending while we are slow and lethargic in applying His commandments.

"O Allah! Make us amongst those who are grateful for All the Favours and Bounties that you bestow upon us. Ameen."
Source: Don't be Sad - Shaykh Aaidh ibn Abdullah Al-Qarni