ImamGhazzaali
10-08-2011, 04:58 AM
The Personal Relationship Between a Scholar and His Student.
Imām Ahmad used to mention the virtues of his Shaykh, Imām ash-Shāfi'ī to his wife. He would mention to her the extensive and superb knowledge of Imām ash-Shāfi'ī as well as his taqwa [i.e. piety]. Imām Ahmad invited Imām ash- Shāfi'ī to come visit him at his home. When the time for dinner arrived, Imām ash-Shāfi'ī ate until he was full and went to the guest room for some sleep.
The wife of Imām Ahmad said to him: “O Ahmad! Is this the same Shāfi'ī that you used to tell me so much about?“
Imām Ahmad said: “Indeed he is!“
So she said: “I noticed three things about him worthy of criticism! Firstly, when we served him the food, he ate plenty of it! Secondly, when he went into the guest room, he went to sleep without standing up to perform the night prayer [i.e. tahujjud]! Lastly, when he prayed Salātul Fajr with us, he did not perform ablution [i.e. wudū]?!”
So Imām Ahmad went to Imām ash-Shāfi'ī to ask him about these three matters his wife noticed. Imām ash-Shāfi'ī said to him, [the way a father would explain to his son]: “O Ahmad! I ate plenty because I know for certain that your food is halal [i.e. Islamically permissible] and you are a generous man! And the food that comes from a generous man is a cure, while the food that comes from a stingy man is a disease!
However, I didn’t eat plenty of food in order to achieve my fill; rather I ate plenty of your food in order to derive the cure from it! As for the reason I didn’t stand up at night to perform the night prayer, when I laid my head down to get some sleep, I looked and all I could see was the Book of Allāh and the Sunnah of His Prophet ﷺ right in front of my face! So I deducted 72 fiqh related benefits from them for the Muslims to benefit from. Thus there was no opportunity for me to stand and perform the night prayer! As for the reason why I prayed Salātul Fajr without performing ablution, by Allāh! My eyes never tasted the sweetness of sleep in order for me to renew my wudū! I was awake the whole night, so I prayed Salātul Fajr with the same wudū I had for Salātul 'Ishā!“
[Collected by al-Hāfidh Ibn Hajr in Fath al-Bārī concisely and by Abū Nu’aym in Hilyatul Awliyā’]
Imām Ahmad used to mention the virtues of his Shaykh, Imām ash-Shāfi'ī to his wife. He would mention to her the extensive and superb knowledge of Imām ash-Shāfi'ī as well as his taqwa [i.e. piety]. Imām Ahmad invited Imām ash- Shāfi'ī to come visit him at his home. When the time for dinner arrived, Imām ash-Shāfi'ī ate until he was full and went to the guest room for some sleep.
The wife of Imām Ahmad said to him: “O Ahmad! Is this the same Shāfi'ī that you used to tell me so much about?“
Imām Ahmad said: “Indeed he is!“
So she said: “I noticed three things about him worthy of criticism! Firstly, when we served him the food, he ate plenty of it! Secondly, when he went into the guest room, he went to sleep without standing up to perform the night prayer [i.e. tahujjud]! Lastly, when he prayed Salātul Fajr with us, he did not perform ablution [i.e. wudū]?!”
So Imām Ahmad went to Imām ash-Shāfi'ī to ask him about these three matters his wife noticed. Imām ash-Shāfi'ī said to him, [the way a father would explain to his son]: “O Ahmad! I ate plenty because I know for certain that your food is halal [i.e. Islamically permissible] and you are a generous man! And the food that comes from a generous man is a cure, while the food that comes from a stingy man is a disease!
However, I didn’t eat plenty of food in order to achieve my fill; rather I ate plenty of your food in order to derive the cure from it! As for the reason I didn’t stand up at night to perform the night prayer, when I laid my head down to get some sleep, I looked and all I could see was the Book of Allāh and the Sunnah of His Prophet ﷺ right in front of my face! So I deducted 72 fiqh related benefits from them for the Muslims to benefit from. Thus there was no opportunity for me to stand and perform the night prayer! As for the reason why I prayed Salātul Fajr without performing ablution, by Allāh! My eyes never tasted the sweetness of sleep in order for me to renew my wudū! I was awake the whole night, so I prayed Salātul Fajr with the same wudū I had for Salātul 'Ishā!“
[Collected by al-Hāfidh Ibn Hajr in Fath al-Bārī concisely and by Abū Nu’aym in Hilyatul Awliyā’]