Bismillah Ar Rahmaan Ar Raheem
Dear respected Brothers,
I'd like to remind myself and the brothers about the importance of sticking to the Sunnah of Muhammad (ﷺ) and the Sunnah of his companions, at the heads of them Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthmaan. They were the best of mankind after the Prophets and Messengers. And they were the best of the people in Zuhd, in Aqeedah, Tawheed and they are the best. And we find that all of them were people of business & trade & were Strong and tough workers & were better than the rest of the Prophet's companions with the consensus of the Muslims.
And the Prophet (ﷺ) said : "The Qawee(strong) believer is more beloved to Allaah than the one who is weak...and in both of them is good." And the Khulafa Ar Rashideen are the strongest from the companions without doubt.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said : "Take as role models (to follow) those two that come after me!" Then he pointed to Aboo Bakr & 'Umar.
And the Prophet (ﷺ) said "Upon you is to follow my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Khulafa Ar Rashideen" (AlAqwiya The people of upper hand -The Strong ones)
And to clarify what we have mentioned above we have this benefit that:
The Prophet (ﷺ) saw 'Umar one day wearing a white thawb, & asked 'Umar: "Is this a new thawb you're wearing or an old one that you washed?" 'Umar replied: "It is an old one." So the Prophet (ﷺ) told him:
«الْبَسْ جَدِيدًا، وَعِشْ حَمِيدًا، وَمُتْ شَهِيدًا»
"Wear something new, live a respectful life and die the death of a Martyr."
[Ibn Maajah, Ahmad. Declared saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaanee]
And Abu Nadrah said: When any of the Companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) put on a new garment, he was told: 'May you wear it out and may Allah give you another in its place.'
Narrated by Aboo Dawood and authenticated by Ibn Hajar.
And now we want to take a look at our scholars understanding of Zuhd:
Like the scholar Sufyaan ath-Thawree said:
"Zuhd in this world is not in eating dry food and not in wearing rough clothing, indeed Zuhd in this world is only: not expecting to live long (preparing for death)"
And like Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said :
"And it has come about with many from the Later generations that they couple poverty with the meanings of Zuhd!
And Zuhd ( Abstinence ) could be with the rich or could be with the poor.
And you find from the Prophets and some of companions who were people of Zuhd who had with them a lot of riches...."
And here is an important benefit that we'd like to highlight to our Sunnee Brothers and Sisters:
Look at all of the other religions and sects. And it's clearly seen in the jews and christians that the affair of the people of knowledge is such that they are lazy & don't have to earn money and if not daily, constantly asking the people for money. Yes Lazy & proud in their laziness and they love it & they make it a part of their religion. As Allaah سبحانه و تعالى said in the Quran : 'Rahbaniyyah which they created for themselves, we did not prescribe for them'. Verse 27 surat Alhadeed. And as in the statement of the Prophet (ﷺ) in the musnad of Imaam Ahmad: 'There is no Rahbaniyyah in Islaam.'
The people pay them to seclude themselves from the worldly lives. And they wear clothes that gives a certain message to the people to show their Rahbaniyya.
So it upon us is to follow the way of the companions like Abu Bakr , Umar , Uthmaan & Ali and all the rest of the companions of Muhammad (ﷺ).
Like Imaam Ahmad said : Usool us Sunnah with us is:
To hold on firm to the way of the companions of Muhammad (ﷺ) and take them as our role models.
Shaykh Mohammad Alanjari