O Students of Knowledge! This Era is Not An Era of Relaxation, Play and Sleep, Rather It is Era of Striving In The Path of Allaah & Spreading Knowledge – by Shaikh Saaleh Aala Shaikh
عن أبي العالية قال : كان أبي صاحب عبادة ، فلما احتاج الناس إليه ، ترك العبادة وجلس للقوم
On Authority of Abī Ā’liyah
Ubayy ibn K’ab used to be a person of worship, and when the people were in need of him (due to his knowledge and high position amongst the companions) he would leave worship and sit with the people. (to answer their questions).
[Siyar ‘Alām An-Nubalā Volume 3, page 399].
The noble Companion of the Messenger of Allah – from the Ansār and those who partook in the Battle of Badr.
He was from the few who had memorised the whole Qur’ān in the lifetime of the Prophet – sallallāhu alayhi wa sallam -whom he ordered the people to take the Qur’ān from.
The Messenger of Allah said to him, “O Abā Mundhir (Ubay)! Do you know which verse from the Book of Allah – (you have memorised) with you – is the greatest?” He (Ubay) said, “Allah and His Messenger know best”. The Prophet (repeated and) said, “O Aba Mundhir (Ubay)! Do you know which verse from the Book of Allah – (you have memorised) with you – is the greatest?”. He (Ubay) said, “Allāhu laa ilāha illa huwal-Hayyul-Qayyoom … (āyatul-Kursi).He (Ubay) said, “He (The Prophet) then struck me on my chest and said “By Allah, may you be blessed in your knowledge O Aba Mundhir.” [Muslim, hadith no.810
On another occasion, the Prophet said to Ubay ibn K’ab, “Indeed Allah has commanded me to read the Qur’aan to you. He (Ubay) said, “Did He mention me by name?” He (the Prophet) said, “yes”. He (Ubay) said, “I was mentioned by the Lord of the Worlds?!” He said, “yes”. So Ubay began to shed tears. [Al-Bukhaari, hadith no.4961 and Muslim, hadith no. 799].
Shaykh Rabee ibn Haadi Al-Madkhalee (hafidahullah):
“Love of commendation is a trial oh brothers, love of commendation is a trial, loving the praise of the people will lead you to riyaa (showing off) and to ruin and destruction.”
Shaykh Ahmad an-Najmee (rahimahullah) said:
In the hadeeth of Anas (radiaAllaahu anhu):
“If Allah wills good for His slave, He hastens his punishment in this world, and if He wills bad for His slave, He withholds from him (the punishment for) his sin, until He requites him for it on the Day of Resurrection.” [Tirmidhi, Authenticated by Al-Albaani]
This hadeeth informs [us] that a servant [of Allaah] is afflicted with adversities and continually [tested] with calamities, so he thinks this is [because] Allah dislikes him, whilst this is not the case; rather it maybe that Allah loves him and wants to test him with trials, so that he appears on the day of resurrection and [the trials he went through in the worldly life becomes a means of] reducing [his] sins.
I did not write a single hadeeth except verily I acted on it, to the extent that it came to me that the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) was cupped and gave Abaa Tayba a deenar, so I was cupped and gave the cupper a deenar.
I will mention [something] from the etiquettes of Yahya Ibn Yahya An-Naysaabooree [in the path of seeking knowledge]:
He traveled from his city – Naysaaboor- to Imam Maalik, and took [i.e. studied, memorized etc] Al-Muwatta from him. After he finished Al-Muwatta, he stayed for a year. After he had finished Al-Muwatta, he was supposed to return to his country, [but] he stayed in Madeenah for a year and kept a close companionship with Imam Maalik.
Imam Maalik said to him, “why have you stayed even though you’ve [already studied, memorized] what you were seeking after?” He replied, “I want to learn Akhlaaq [manners] from you.