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Leaving Off that Which Is of No Islamic Concern Is Shyness Before Allah

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Rajab

The result of worshipping Allāh and being conscious of his nearness is shyness before Allāh and leaving that which is shameful.

Narrated by Abū Hurayrah (may Allāh the Most High be pleased with him), the Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘From the excellency of a person’s Islām is his leaving of that which does not concern him.’
 

Explanation:

Ibn Rajab [d. 795 AH] said:

Whomever worships Allāh while appreciating His closeness and watchfulness [over him] with his heart, or he contemplates His nearness and acquaintance with all that he engages in, this person has indeed made excellent his Islām. For it would then be incumbent upon him to leave all that which is of no concern to him with regards to his Islām, and to actively busy himself in that which holds [Islāmic] benefit. Indeed, the result of this is outlined in two stations: shyness before Allāh, and leaving that which is shameful.

Just as the Prophet (ﷺ) advised a man to be shy from Allāh the same way he would be shy before one of the pious men of his close family from whom he would never be separate.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Rajab

In the Musnad [of Imām Aḥmad] and Al-Tirmidhī narrated by Ibn Masʿūd (may Allāh be pleased with him) Marfūʿ [i.e the Prophet (ﷺ) said]: “True shyness before Allāh is: to protect one’s mind and [the thoughts] it contains, to protect the body and all that it encompasses and engages in, and to be in constant remembrance of death and tribulations. For whoever desires the hereafter will leave the glamour of this world. Whoever does such a thing has indeed obtained shyness from Allāh in its truest and most unadulterated form.”

Source: Jāmiʿ al-ʿUlūm wa-al-Ḥikam: 310
Translated by: Riyāḍ al-Kanadī

Published: July 21, 2022
Edited: April 13, 2023

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