Ibn Qudamah Al-Maqdisi mentions a conversation between a young lad and the great scholar Ibrahim Bin Adham in his book Kitab At-Tawwabeen, page 285.
The young boy: O Abu Ishaq, I am wronging my soul, advise me with something that'll hold me back from disobeying Allah and breathe new life into my heart.
Ibrahim Bin Adham: Alright. If you take five things from me and fulfill them, you can disobey Allah the Almighty all you want and no harm will come to you.
Young boy: (Interested) Ok, tell me.
Ibrahim Bin Adham: One, if you want to do other than what Allah wants you to do, then do not eat the food that He provides you.
Young boy: Then where am I supposed to eat from when all the food on earth is from Allah?
Ibrahim Bin Adham: Dear lad, is it right that you eat the food Allah the Almighty has given you and then go off and disobey Him?
Young boy: No it is not right. What is the second?
Ibrahim Bin Adham: Two, if you want to live life to the fullest in disobedience of Allah, then don't live on His land.
Young boy: That's harder than the first. Where shall I live when all that is in the east and west the belongs to Him?
Ibrahim Bin Adham: Dear boy, is it right that you eat His food and live in His land, yet still insist on turning your back when He calls you?
Young boy: No it's not right. What's the third?
Ibrahim Bin Adham: If you want to disobey Allah, yet still eating the food He gave you and still living in His land, then find a place where He can't see you.
Young boy: O Abu Ishaq, how can that be so when Allah is the All-Seeing and All-Knowing of all that happens, even what the heart whispers?
Ibrahim Bin Adham: Dear boy, is it right that you eat His food and live in His land and disobey Him while He watches you and what you are exposing?
Young boy: No it's not right. What's the fourth?
Ibrahim Bin Adham: When the angel of death comes to snatch your soul, tell him to grant you a day so that you can sincerely ask Allah for forgiveness and change your life.
Young boy: He won't grant me that.
Ibrahim Bin Adham: Dear boy, if you find yourself helpless to put off death for just one day and you know that it cannot be delayed by your wishes, how do you expect to win?
Young boy: (With a sigh) What is the fifth?
Ibrahim Bin Adham: When the gatekeepers of Hell will come to drag you away on your face to Hellfire refuse to go with them.
Young boy: Nothing will stop them.
Ibrahim Bin Adham: How do you expect to be saved then?
Young boy: Enough, Abu Ishaq. (And he lowers his head crying). O Allah, forgive me for my transgression.
Epilogue: Young boy went on to become a student of Ibrahim Bin Adham. He repented to Allah sincerely and lived an upright life with his teacher until death parted the two.
Imam Ibrahim Bin Adham died over a thousand years ago in the year 778 CE.
O Allah, Do not ever let a bad thought enter my heart about any of your servants who are beloved to you.
Do not ever let me become a cause of distress or pain to such people.
Instead, grant me love for them,purely for your sake, and let their happiness with me be a means of acquiring your pleasure. Ameen. Dua by
Shaykh Muhammed Saleem Dhorat
When we allowed love for the dunya to enter our hearts at the expense of love for our Creator, when we made our nafs (lower self ) our guide, when we abandoned adherence to the shariah and the sunnah of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and adopted the ideals and ways of the disbelievers, we deprived our own selves of the Help and Mercy of our Lord and weakened ourselves before our enemies.
Abdullaah ibn al-Mubaarak - rahimahullaah - said:
I have seen sins kill the hearts and humiliation is inherited by their continuity. The abandonment of sins gives life to the hearts and the prevention of your soul is better for it.
ibn Masood رضي الله عنه once said:
'Whoever wants to follow someone's way, let him follow the ways of someone who has passed away' ibn Uthaymeen explains:
'for a living person is not safe from fitnah because an individual, if you connect the truth to him, this person may feel proud of himself and stray from the right path.
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
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character was termed tremendous because his concern was for Allah سبحانه وتعالى alone.
