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| Abu ad Darda RA - For the love of Allah SWT |
Kathir bin Qais narrates: "I was
sitting with Saidina Abu Darda RA in a masjid in Damascus, when a
person came to him and said:
'O, Abu Darda , I have come all the
way from Madinah to learn one Hadith from you, as I understand that
you have heard it directly from Nabi SAW"
Saidina Abu Darda RA asked: "Have
you any other business in Damascus?"
The person replied: "No”
Saidina Abu Darda RA again asked: "Are
you sure that you have no other work in Damascus?"
The person replied: "I have come
to this place with the sole purpose of learning this Hadith."
Saidina Abu Darda then
replied: "I have heard Nabi SAW saying, 'Allah eases the way to
Jannat for one who travels some distance to seek knowledge. The
Malaikah spread their wings under his feet and all things in the
heavens and earth (even the fish in the water) make Dua for his
forgiveness. The greatness of a person possessing knowledge over a
person doing worship is as the greatness of the moon over the stars.
The Ulama are the inheritors of Ambiya. The inheritance of Ambiya is
neither gold nor silver. Their inheritance is knowledge. A person who
acquires knowledge acquires a great wealth."
Saidina Abu Darda RA ,
who was a leader amongst the Sahabah , possessed very sound knowledge
in religion. He is called 'Hakim-ul-Ummah' (The Sage of Islam). He
once said: "Before Islam, I lived on trade. After accepting
Islam, I tried to combine the service of Allah SWT with my business,
but I could not do so. I therefore gave up the business and devoted
myself solely to the service of Allah SWT. Now if I have a shop at
the gate of a masjid and therefore have no fear of losing a single
Solah, and even if
the shop gives me a daily
profit of 40 dinars to spend the whole amount in the path of Allah
SWT, even then I am not willing to turn to business."
Somebody inquired the reason, he
replied: "Because of the fear of giving an account on the day of
Qiyamah." He used to say: "I love death, so that I may meet
Allah . I love poverty, so that I may be humble. I love sickness, so
that I may be forgiven by Allah ."
In this story, we find a
person traveling all the way from Madinah to Damascus for the sake of
one Hadith. This was not at all hard for those people. Sha'abi
(Rah-matullahi alaih) is a famous Muhaddith of Kufah. He once
narrated a Hadith to one of his students and said: "You are
listening to this Hadith while sitting in your home town. People had
to travel all the way to Madinah for even less important things,
because Madinah was the only seat of learning in those days."
Saed ibnul Musayyab (Rahmatullahi alaih) is a famous Taabie. He says:
“For each Hadith that I have learnt, I had
to travel on foot for
days and nights together."
Al Imam Bukhari RA travel to gain
details of hadith.
Imam Bukhari
(Rahmatullahi alaih) was born in Shawwal 194 A.H. He started learning
Hadith in 205 A.H. i.e., when he was only eleven. He had memorised
all the books written byAbdullah bin Mubarak (Rahmatullahi alaih),
while he was in his early teens. After collecting Ahaadith from all
the learned men of his own locality, he set out in 216 A.H. In search
of further knowledge. His father died and he could not leave his
widowed mother alone. He therefore took her with him on his long and
exhausting journey to Balkh, Baghdad, Makkah, Basra, Kufah, Asqalan,
Hims and Damascus.
He collected all the
available Ahaadith from these seats of learning. He was accepted as
an expert in Hadith, while he had not a single hair on his chin. He
writes: “I was eighteen when I compiled the Fatwah of the Sahabah
and Tabi'ees." Hashad (Rahmatullahi alaihe) and one of his
companions said: "Bukhari and the two of us used to go together
to the same teacher. We noted down all the Ahaadith that we learnt,
but he wrote nothing. After many days we said to him, 'Bukhari, you
are wasting your time.' He kept quiet. When we warned him again and
again, he said, 'You are now irritating me too much. Bring your
notes.' We brought our notes, which covered about 15,000 Ahaadith.
He, to our utter amazement, recited all those Ahaadith by heart."
More about Abu Darda RA
Teaching
An
hadith transmitted by him states that Muhammad SAW enjoined to him
three things: to fast three days every month, to offer the Witr salat
before sleep, and to offer two rakat sunnah of Fajr. From Tabarani
and Majma uz-Zuwaid. Abu Darda’s RA own preaching focused on the
insignificance of worldly wealth and the minor details of life.
According to him, this life was comparable to a loan.
It
is said of Abu Darda RA that once a friend went to visit him at his
home. On reaching there, the friend noticed, with grave concern, the
appalling condition of Abu Darda’s RA house. According to the
friend, Abu Darda’s RA house was shorter than the full height of a
standing man. It was also as narrow as it was short, and the
household utilities were less than basic. When the friend inquired
from Abu Darda RA why he lived in such dire conditions, Abu Darda’s
RA response was: “Do not worry my friend, this is just my temporary
shade.
I
am building a proper house somewhere, slowly putting good things
deserving there of.” When, on another occasion, the friend went
back and found the same deprived shade, he demanded to know why Abu
Darda RA had not moved to his better house. It was then that Abu
Darda RA revealed to him that the house he referred to was the Kabr
(the grave).
He
also strongly advocated the acquisition of knowledge, saying, “None
of you can be pious unless he is knowledgeable, and he cannot enjoy
knowledge unless he applies it practically.” Abu Darda RA praised
scholars of Islam greatly for their knowledge and application of it.
He lauded both student and the teacher, saying they would receive
equal reward.
Al-Bukhari
RA recorded that Abu Ad-Darda RA once said “We smile in the face of
some people [non believers] although our hearts curse them.”
What a Wise Man Was He!
Abu
Ad-Darda RA
While
the armies of Islam were advancing victoriously, there lived in
Al-Madiinah a wonderful philosopher and wise man whose wisdom flowed
in his blooming bright words. He kept saying to those around him,
“Can I tell you about the best of your deeds which are more
thriving and better than invading your enemies, cutting their throats
and cutting yours, and better than dirhams and dinars?”
Those
who listened to him craned and hurried to ask him;
“And
what is that, O Abu Ad-Darda’?” Abu Al-Darda RA ’ resumed his
speech and his face glittered with the light of faith and wisdom,
“The remembrance of Allah; the remembrance of Allah is the greatest
thing in life.”
| Maqam of Abu Darda RA in Damascus |
That
wonderful wise man was not preaching an isolationist philosophy nor
by his own words. He was not preaching negativism nor the retirement
from the responsibilities of the new religion that considers struggle
its cornerstone. Yes, Abu Ad-Darda RA ’ was not that kind of man,
but rather he was the man who took up his sword and struggled with
the Prophet of Allah (PBUH) since he had embraced Islam till the help
and victory of Allah SWT came.
However,
he was that type who finds himself in his full lively existence
whenever he is alone contemplating under shelter of the sanctuary of
wisdom, and he dedicated his life to seeking truth and certitude. Abu
Ad-Darda RA ’, the wise man of those great days (May Allah be
pleased with him) was a person who looked forward to His Prophet
(PBUH), and he also believed that this faith, with its duties and
understanding, was the only ideal way to truth.
Thus,
he was engrossed with his faith, dedicating himself to it and forming
his life strictly, wisely, and seriously according to it. He walked
on that path till he arrived at the truth and took his high position
among the truthful ones when communing with his Lord and reciting
this verse: “ Truly, my prayer and my devotion,
my life and my death are all for GOD, the Lord of the Worlds “ (6
: 162).
Yes,
the struggle of Abu Ad-Darda RA against and with himself ended in
the attainment of this high spiritual position, remote superiority,
and personal sacrifice which made him dedicate all his life to Allah
SWT , the Cherisher of the Worlds.
Now,
let us approach the saint and wise man. Do you observe the light that
radiates round his forehead? Do you smell the good perfume coming
from his direction? It is the light of wisdom and the perfume of
faith. Faith and wisdom have come together happily in this man. His
mother was asked about what he liked best; she answered,
“Contemplation and consideration.” This is completely in accord
with the saying of Allah in more than one verse” . . .
“Therefore
take warning, you, who have eyes to see! “ (59 : 2).
When
he urged his brothers to contemplate and think, he said to them,
“Contemplation for an hour is
better than worshiping for the whole night.”
Worshiping
and contemplation and seeking after truth overpowered him and all his
life.
On
the day he embraced Islam and pledged his allegiance to the Prophet
(PBUH) in this glorious religion, he was a successful trader of
Al-Madinah. He spent a part of his life in trade before he embraced
Islam and before the Prophet (PBUH) and the Muslims migrated to
Al-Madinah.
He
had just embraced Islam a short time before when… But, let him
complete the speech for us: I embraced Islam at the hands of the
Prophet (PBUH) and I was a trader. I wanted to combine trade and
worship, but they would never go together. I abandoned trade and
retained worship. Today, it doesn’t please me to sell and buy to
earn 300 dinars a day, although my shop is at the door of the mosque.
I can’t say that Allah forbids selling, but I’d like to be of
those whom neither traffic nor merchandise can divert from
remembrance of Allah.
Do
you see how he speaks completely and correctly, while wisdom and
truth shine through his words. He hurries before we ask him, “Does
Allah forbid trade, O Abu Ad-Dara’?” He hurries to sweep away
this question from our minds and refers us to the superior goal that
he was seeking and for which he left trade, in spite of his success
as a trader.
He
was a man searching for spiritual excellence and superiority and
looking for the maximum degree of perfection available to human
beings. He wanted worship as a ladder that raises him to the highest
level of goodness and approaches right in its glory and truth in its
shining origin. If he wanted worship to be merely duties to be done
and prohibition to be left, he could manage both his worship and his
trade and deeds.
There
are many good traders, and there are many good and pious persons
working in trade. Among the Companions of the Prophet of Allah
(PBUH), there were men whom neither traffic nor merchandise could
divert from the remembrance of Allah. But they worked hard to develop
their trade and their money by which they served the cause of Islam
and satisfied the needs of the Muslims. But the method of those
Companions does not diminish the method of Abu Ad-Darda RA’, nor
does his method diminish theirs, as everyone is fit for what he is
created.
And
Abu Ad-Darda RA ’ felt that he was created for what he devoted his
life to: excellence in seeking after the truth by practicing the
ultimate expression of celibacy according to the faith to which he
was guided by Allah SWT, His Prophet SAW and Islam.
Call
it mysticism if you wish, but it was the mysticism of a man who had
plenty of them. keenness of a believer, the capability of a
philosopher, the experience of a fighter, and the jurisprudence of
the Prophet’s Companions. This made his mysticism a lively movement
in establishing the soul and not merely shadows of this building.
Yes,
that was Abu Ad-Darda RA ’, the Companion of the Messenger of Allah
(PBUH) and his pupil. That was Abu Ad-Darda RA’, the saint and the
wise man, a man who repelled life with both his hands, a man who
secluded himself till he burnished and sanctified his soul and it
became a clear mirror so that wisdom, rightness, and good reflected
in it. That made Abu Ad-Darda RA ’ a great teacher and an upright
wise man.
What
happy persons are those who come and listen to him! Come and seek his
wisdom, O! people of understanding. Let us begin with his philosophy
towards life and towards its delights and vanities. He was influenced
to the depths of his soul by the saying of Prophet, “Little and
satisfied is better than much and diverted.” Allah Almighty said,
“Woe
to every taunting slanderer, backbiter, who piles up wealth and
counts over it again and again, thinking that his wealth will make
him immortal!” (104 : 1-3).
The
Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Leave the worries of life as far
as possible,” and “He who makes life his only aim, Allah SWT will
sunder his unity and make poverty between his two eyes. He who makes
the Hereafter his only goal, Allah SWT makes riches in his heart and
makes every good hurry to him.”
Therefore,
he lamented over those who fell captive to the ambition of wealth and
said, “I seek refuge with the Lord from the dispersion of the
heart.” He was asked, “What is dispersion of the heart, Abu
Ad-Darda’?” He answered,” That means I have money everywhere.”
He called people to possess life by doing without it, that is the
real possessing of it. But running after its endless enticements is
the worst kind of slavery. Then he said, “He who can not do without
life is lifeless.”
In
his opinion, money is only a means to a mild satisfied living. Thus,
people should take it legitimately (in a halal way) and earn it
kindly and mildly and not covet it greedily. He said, “Don’t eat
anything unless it is good, don’t earn any money unless it is good,
don’t take anything to your house unless it is good.”
He
wrote to his companions, “After that, any temporary thing you
possess in life was possessed by someone else before you, and will be
owned by another after you, and you have nothing except what you
offered to yourself.
“Give
preference over yourself to him from whom you are collecting money
for your sons to inherit, since you collect money for one of the two:
either a good son who spends the money in obedience to Allah, thus he
will be happy with what you earned and free from b x.bles; or a
disobedient son who spends it in sins and disobedience to Allah, and
so you will be tortured by what you had collected for him. Entrust
their living to the Bounty of Allah and save yourself.”
The
whole of life from Abu Ad-Darda’s point of view is merely a loan.
When
Cyprus was conquered and the booty was carried to Al-Madinah, people
saw Abu Ad-Darda RA ’ weep. Astonished, they approached and Jubair
Ibn Nufair said to him, “Why are you weeping on the day that Allah
SWT supported Islam and the Muslims?” Abu Ad-Darda RA’ replied
with wisdom and deep understanding, “Woe to you, Jubair! What a
trifling thing creatures are if they leave the commands of Allah. It
was the best nation, having dominion, but if left the commands of
Allah, and therefore it came to what you see.”
Yes,
thus he reasoned the quick collapse to the armies of Islam in the
conquered countries was caused by the bankruptcy of true spiritualism
that protected them and connected them with Allah SWT. So he feared
for the Muslims in the coming days when the ties of faith would
decline and the bonds to Allah, truth, and goodness would languish.
Consequently, the loan would be taken from their hands as easily as
it had been put in their hands before.
As
the whole of life was merely a loan in his view, it was also a bridge
to an immortal and more magnificent life.
Once
his companions went to visit him when he was ill and found him
sleeping on a piece of leather. They said to him, “If you wish, you
will have better and more comfortable bedding.” He replied pointing
with his forefinger and looking with his bright eyes at the far
distance, “Our home is there. For it, we gather and to it we
return. We travel to it and we work for it.”
This
look at life was not only a point of view but also a way of life.
Yazid Ibn Mu’aawiyah wanted to marry his daughter, Ad-Darda’ RA ,
but he refused him and married her to a poor pious Muslim.
People
were greatly astonished by that behavior but Abu Ad-Darda RA' taught
them, saying, “What about Ad-Darda’ if she had the servants and
splendors and she was dazzled by the decorations and pleasures of the
palace? What then would happen to her religion?”
This
was a wise man of upright morals and clear heart. He refused
everything that attracted the brain and fascinated the heart and by
doing so he did not escape from happiness but escaped to it.
Real
happiness, in his belief, was to possess life, not to be possessed by
it. Whenever the needs of people are limited by contentment and
uprightness, they will realize the reality of life as a bridge on
which they cross to the home of permanence, return, and immortality.
Whenever they do so, their share of real happiness is greater and
plentiful. He also said, “It is not better to have much money and
many sons, but it is better to have much clemency, much knowledge,
and to compete with people in the worship of Allah.”
During
the caliphate of “Uthman RA (May Allah be pleased with him),
MiTaawiyah was the governor of Syria and Abu Ad-Darda RA’ agreed to
occupy the position of the judge according to the caliph’s desire.
There in Syria, he stood strictly as an example to all those who were
tempted by the pleasures of life. He began to remind them of the
method of the Prophet (PBUH), his asceticism and that of the early
righteous Muslims and martyrs.
Syria
at that time was an urbanized region overflowing with the pleasures
and amenities of life, and the inhabitants were greatly annoyed by
that person who embittered their lives by his preaching. He gathered
them and stood among them preaching, “O people of Syria, you are
brothers in religion, neighbors at home, and supporters against your
enemies. But, why aren’t you ashamed? You earn what you don’t
eat, and build what you don’t dwell in, and hope for what you can’t
achieve. The peoples before you collected cautiously, and corrupted
confidently, and built firmly, but their gatherings became perdition,
their hope became delusion, and their homes became graves.
Those
were the people of “Aad who filled the region from Adan to Oman
with wealth and sons. Then a wide sarcastic smile would be drawn on
his two lips, and he would wave his arm to the astonished multitude
and cry sarcastically, “Who will buy the inheritance of ‘Aad
people from me for two dirhams?”
He
was a brilliant, magnificent, and luminous man. His wisdom was
faithful, his feelings were pious, and his logic was perfect and
cautious. In his point of view, worship was neither vanity nor pride
but a request for good and exposure to the mercy of Allah SWT and
continuous supplication that reminded man of his weakness and the
favor of his Lord upon him.
He
said, “Request the good all your life, and expose yourselves to the
mercy of Allah SWT. Allah SWT has fragrance in His mercy which He
ushers upon those whom He pleases among His servants. Ask Allah SWT
to hide your defects and make your hearts steady and firm in times of
trouble.”
This
wise man was always open-eyed to vanity in worship, of which he
warned people. That vanity makes those who have weak faith worship
proudly and boast of their worship to others. Listen to him saying,
“An atom’s weight of benevolence from a pious man is much better
than a mountain’s weight of worship from the boaster.”
He
also said, “Don’t charge people with unwanted affairs and don’t
call them to account as if you are their Lord. Guard your own souls.
He who follows up the deeds of people will have his grief increased.”
Abu
Ad-Darda RA ’ did not want the worshiper, whatever rank he reaches
in worship, to call people to account as if he were the Lord. He
should praise Allah SWT for His reconciliation and help by prayer,
noble feelings, and good intentions for those who cannot achieve such
success. Do you know any better and brighter wisdom than that of this
wise man?
His
companion Abu Qalaabah, tells us about him: One day Abu Ad-Darda’
passed by a man who had committed a sin, and people were insulting
him. He prohibited them and said, “If you found him in a ditch,
would you not take him out of it?” They said, “Yes.” He said to
them, “Don’t insult him. Praise Allah SWT that He protected you
from such an evil.” They said to him, “Don’t you hate him?”
He said, “No, I hate his deed, and if he leaves it, he will be my
brother.”
If
this is one of the two aspects of worship, the second phase is
knowledge and learning. Abu Ad-Darda RA ’ as a wise man and as a
worshiper sanctified knowledge to a great extent and so he said,
“None of you can be pious unless he is knowledgeable, and he cannot
enjoy knowledge unless he applies it practically.”
Yes,
knowledge, in his opinion, was understanding, behavior, learning,
method, idea, and life. Because this sanctification is of the wise,
we find him claiming that the teacher is like the student in favor,
recompense, and position. He saw that the greatness of life was
dependent on goodness before anything else. He said, “Why do I see
your scholars going away and your ignorant people learning nothing?
The teacher and the student of goodness are equal in recompense and
there is goodness in the other people besides the two.” He also
said, “People are of three types : a scholar, an educated person,
and a savage.”
As
we have seen before, knowledge was not separate from following the
wisdom of Abu Ad-Darda RA’ (May Allah be pleased with him). He
said, “The greatest fear of my soul is that it should say to me on
the Day of Resurrection, in front of all the creatures, 0 owner, did
you know? and I would reply. Yes . It will say to me, What did you do
with what you knew?
He
used to respect scholars and honor them very much. Moreover, he used
to pray to Allah saying, “O Lord Almighty, I take refuge in You
against the curse of the scholars’ hearts.
It
was said to him, “How could you be cursed by their hearts?” He
said, “Their hearts hate me.” Do you see, he believed that the
scholars hate is an unbearable curse; therefore he implored Allah to
grant him refuge.
The
wisdom of Abu Ad-Dardaa’ (May Allah be pleased with him)
recommended fraternity and established human relations on the basis
of human nature itself. Thus he said, “To admonish your brother is
better than to lose him. Give your brother advice and be tender with
him, but do not agree with his covetousness lest you should be like
him. Tomorrow death comes and you will lose him. And how can you weep
over him after death when you did not give him his right while he
lived?”
The
fear of Allah in His servants is the strongest and hardest basis upon
which Abu Ad-Dardaa’ established the rights of fraternity. He (May
Allah be pleased with him) said, “I hate to wrong anyone but I hate
more and more to oppress the person who resorts to Allah SWT, the
Most High and the Most Great, for help against my injustice.”
Abu
Ad-Darda RA’, what a great personality and bright soul you are! He
warned people against delusion when they thought that unarmed weak
people fell easy prey in their hands and power. He reminded them that
those in their weakness have a destructive power when they implore
Allah in their disability and offer their plea and the disgrace done
to them by people.
This
was Abu Ad-Darda’, the wise man. He was Abu Ad-Darda’ the hermit,
the worshiper, ever seeking Allah SWT. When people praised his piety
and asked him to implore Allah for them, he replied in humility, “I
can’t swim well and I fear drowning.”
All
your wisdom, and you can not swim Well, O Abu Ad-Dardaa’? But what
an astonishment, and you are nutured by the Prophet (PBUH), a student
of the Qur’aan, son of early Islam, and a companion of Abu Bakr RA
and ‘Umar RA and the rest of those men!
