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He had just embraced Islam a short time before when ... But, let him complete the speech for us: I
embraced Islam at the hands of the Prophet (PBUH) and I was a trader. I wanted to combine trade and
worship, but they would never go together. I abandoned trade and retained worship. Today, it doesn't
please me to sell and buy to earn 300 dinars a day, although my shop is at the door of the mosque. I can't
say that Allah forbids selling, but I'd like to be of those whom neither traffic nor merchandise can divert
from remembrance of Allah.
Do you see how he speaks completely and correctly, while wisdom and truth shine through his
words. He hurries before we ask him, "Does Allah forbid trade, O Abu Ad-Dardaa'?" He hurries to
sweep away this question from our minds and refers us to the superior goal that he was seeking and for
which he left trade, in spite of his success as a trader. He was a man searching for spiritual excellence
and superiority and looking for the maximum degree of perfection available to human beings. He wanted
worship as a ladder that raises him to the highest level of goodness and approaches right in its glory and
truth in its shining origin. If he wanted worship to be merely duties to be done and prohibition to be left,
he could manage both his worship and his trade and deeds.
There are many good traders, and there are many good and pious persons working in trade. Among
the Companions of the Prophet of Allah (PBUH), there were men whom neither traffic nor merchandise
could divert from the remembrance of Allah. But they worked hard to develop their trade and their
money by which they served the cause of Islam and satisfied the needs of the Muslims. But the method
of those Companions does not diminish the method of Abu Ad-Dardaa', nor does his method diminish
theirs, as everyone is fit for what he is created.
And Abu Ad-Dardaa' felt that he was created for what he devoted his life to: excellence in seeking
after the truth by practicing the ultimate expression of celibacy according to the faith to which he was
guided by Allah, His Prophet and Islam.
Call it mysticism if you wish, but it was the mysticism of a man who had plenty of them keenness of
a believer, the capability of a philosopher, the experience of a fighter, and the jurisprudence of the
Prophet's Companions. This made his mysticism a lively movement in establishing the soul and not
merely shadows of this building.
Yes, that was Abu Ad-Dardaa', the Companion of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and his pupil.
That was Abu Ad Dardaa', the saint and the wise man, a man who repelled life with both his hands, a
man who secluded himself till he burnished and sanctified his soul and it became a dear mirror so that
wisdom, rightness, and good reflected in it. That made Abu Ad-Dardaa' a great teacher and an upright
wise man.
What happy persons are those who come and listen to him! Come and seek his wisdom, O people of
understanding. Let us begin with his philosophy towards life and towards its delights and vanities. He
was influenced to the depths of his soul by the saying of Prophet, "Little and satisfied is better than much
and diverted." Allah Almighty said, " Woe to every taunting slanderer, backbiter, who piles up wealth
and counts over it again and again ; thinking that his wealth will make him immortal! " (104 : 1-3).
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "Leave the worries of life as far as possible," and "He who
makes life his only aim, Allah will sunder his unity and make poverty between his two eyes. He who
makes the Hereafter his only goal, Allah makes riches in his heart and makes every good hurry to him."
Therefore, he lamented over those who fell captive to the ambition of wealth and said, "I seek
refuge with the Lord from the dispersion of the heart." He was asked, "What is dispersion of the heart,
Abu Ad-Dardaa'?" He answered, "That means I have money every where." He called people to possess
life by doing without it, that is the real possessing of it. But running after its endless enticements is the
worst kind of slavery. Then he said, "He who can not do without life is lifeless."
In his opinion, money is only a means to a mild satisfied living. Thus, people should take it
legitimately (in a halaal way) and earn it kindly and mildly and not covet it greedily. He said, "Don't eat