29. PERFORM DEEDS THAT YOU CAN BEAR
An intelligent person should not attempt to exert himself to perform voluntary actions that require endurance until he knows for sure that he is able to perform them. He should also practice some of them in private because he cannot assure he’s able to manage them and thus when people see him in such state they will condemn him!
As an example, a person hears the stories of ascetics (‘zuhhad) and so he decides to assume their lifestyle; hence he abandons good clothing, wears simple humble clothes and secludes himself in a small room to worship Allah.
During this time, his heart becomes overwhelmed with remembering death and the Hereafter. Later on however, his nature forces him to go back to as he was before. As a result, he goes back to worse than when he had started or continues to fluctuate between his state before committing (to asceticism) and his state after committing.
An intelligent person practices modesty and wears modest clothes that do not give the impression he is a needy person. At the same time shows he is from the good people. Afterwards, when his endeavours become strong, he should practice at home— far from the eyes of people— the acts he can handle and throw away in his privacy the clothes he wore in public. This is farther from showing off and the safest wav to save face.
Some people, however, become overwhelmed with the notion that they will die any second and only think about the Hereafter to the point of burying their books! This is a great error in my opinion though it was done by some great scholars. I asked some of my teachers about this act, and was told that such an action is an error. I still gave some of them the benefit of doubt as I believe these buried books included reports narrated from weak people whom they could not recognise, therefore they had to bury them so no one takes such reports.
This is similar to what was reported from Sufyan that he buried his books having in it some personal views he disliked people to take from him.
It is also similar to the case where ‘Uthman Ibn ‘ Affan (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) burnt the copies of Qur’an so that people do not take from it except what was agreed on. This kind of interpretation is valid for those who were in the rank of scholars.
As for the act of Ahmad Ibn Abi al-Hawari and Ibn Asbat who washed off their books is evident negligence and wastefulness.
Beware! Beware from committing a forbidden act or practice what a person mav think is a virtue, while in fact it is a sin or show what one cannot handle. You should adhere to the advice of the Prophet who said: “Perform deeds that you can bear.”
(Source: al-Hafiz Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-jawzl [d. 597AH] “CAPTURED THOUGHTS being” a translation of his masterpiece ‘Sayd al-K hatir)
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