Preserving Orthodoxy

"There are two blessings in which many people incur loss: health and free time."

Sunan Ibn Majah 4170

"Al-Ghubn: It is the departure of something from the hand without compensation. This means: Many people do not recognize the value of these two blessings as long as they have them. But when health turns into illness and free time turns into occupation, then they regret the time they wasted in health and free time. And regret will not benefit them."

Kitāb Sharḥ al-Muṣābīḥ by Ibn Al-Malik 5/381

Ibn al-Khazin said, "Blessing is what a person enjoys and finds pleasure in, while ghubn is to buy at multiples of the price or to sell without an equivalent price. So, whoever maintains their physical health and devotes themselves to beneficial activities but does not strive to reform their hereafter is like someone who has incurred loss in the transaction."

And He ﷻ said: "And whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah." (Quran 4:80)

So inform them that their pledge to the Messenger ﷺ is indeed a pledge to Him ﷻ, and likewise, inform them that their obedience is indeed obedience to Him ﷻ.

"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was neither very tall nor excessively short, neither extremely white nor deep brown. His hair was neither very curly nor very straight. Allah sent him as a prophet at the age of forty, and he stayed in Mecca for ten years and in Medina for ten years. Allah took him unto Him at the age of sixty, and there were not more than twenty white hairs in his head and beard."

Hamid ibn Mas'adah al-Basri narrated to us. Abdul Wahhab al-Thaqafi narrated to us from Hamid, from Anas ibn Malik, who said:

"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was of medium height, neither tall nor short, with a well-proportioned body."

Mahmoud ibn Ghailan narrated to us. Waki' narrated to us. Sufyan narrated to us from Abu Ishaq, from Al-Bara' ibn 'Azib who said:

"I have never seen anyone with thick curly hair, wearing a red garment, more handsome than the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. His hair reached his shoulders, spread evenly across them, neither too short nor too long."

Kitāb al-Shamā'il al-Muḥammadiyyah by Al-Tirmidhī

مثلي ومثل الأنبياء من قبلي كمثل رجل ابتنى بيوتا فأحسنها وأجملها وأكملها إلا موضع لبنة من زاوية من زواياها، فجعل الناس يطوفون ويعجبهم البنيان، فيقولون ألا وضعت هاهنا لبنة فتم بناؤه

"The example of me and the prophets before me is like a man who built houses and perfected them, except for the space of one brick in a corner. People would go around it and admire the buildings, saying, 'Why didn't you place a brick here to complete it?"

So, Muhammad ﷺ said:

فأنا اللبنة

"I am that missing brick."

"O Commander of the Faithful, describe the world to us."

He replied:

"What can I describe of a home whose beginning is hardship, and its end is destruction? In its permissible acts, there is accountability, and in its prohibited acts, there is punishment. Whoever is healthy in it feels secure, and whoever falls ill in it feels regret. Whoever becomes self-sufficient in it faces trials, and whoever becomes needy in it feels sadness."

أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الْخُبْثِ وَالْخَبَائِثِ.

'I seek refuge in Allah from the impure male and female spirits (evil spirits)."