Leading an Abstemious Life and refraining from the Doubtful

An-Nu'man bin Bashir (May Allah be pleased with them) reported:
Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "What is lawful is clear and what is unlawful is clear, but between them are certain doubtful things which many people do not know. So he who guards against doubtful things keeps his religion and his honour blameless. But he who falls into doubtful things falls into that which is unlawful, just as a shepherd who grazes his cattle in the vicinity of a pasture declared prohibited (by the king), he is likely to stray into the pasture. Mind you, every king has a protected pasture and Allah's involved limits is that which He has declared unlawful. Verily, there is a piece of flesh in the body, if it is healthy, the whole body is healthy, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Verily, it is the heart."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

وعن النعمان بن بشير رضي الله عنهما قال: سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول: “إن الحلال بين، وإن الحرام بين، وبينهما مشتبهات لا يعلمهن كثير من الناس، فمن اتقى الشبهات، استبرأ لدينه وعرضه، ومن وقع فى الشبهات، وقع فى الحرام، كالراعى يرعى حول الحمى يوشك أن يرتع فيه ألا وإن لكل ملك حمى، ألا وإن حمى الله محارمه، ألا وإن فى الجسد مضغة إذا صلحت صلح الجسد كله، وإذا فسدت فسد الجسد كله: ألا وهى القلب” ((متفق عليه. وروياه من طرق بألفاظ متقاربة))

Anas bin Malik (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
The Prophet ﷺ found a dry date-fruit lying in the way and said, "Had it not been for fear of being from charity I would have eaten it."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

عن أنس رضي الله عنه أن النبي ﷺ، وجد تمرة فىالطريق فقال: “لولا أنى أخاف أن تكون من الصدقة لأكلتها” ((متفق عليه))

An-Nawwas bin Sam'an (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
The Prophet ﷺ said, "Piety is good manner, and sin is that which creates doubt and you do not like people to know of it."

[Muslim].

وعن النواس بن سمعان رضي الله عنه عن النبي ﷺ قال: البر حسن الخلق، والإثم ما حاك فى نفسك، وكرهت أن يطلع عليه الناس” ((رواه مسلم)).

Wabisah bin Ma'bad (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
I went to Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he asked me, "Have you come to inquire about piety?" I replied in the affirmative. Then he said, "Ask your heart regarding it. Piety is that which contents the soul and comforts the heart, and sin is that which causes doubts and perturbs the heart, even if people pronounce it lawful and give you verdicts on such matters again and again."

[Ahmad and Ad- Darmi].

وعن وابصة بن معبد رضي الله عنه قال: أتيت رسول الله ﷺ فقال: “جئت تسأل عن البر؟” قلت نعم، فقال: "استفت قلبك البر ما اطمأنت إليه النفس، واطمأن إليه القلب، والإثم ما حاك فى النفس وتردد فىالصدر، وإن أفتاك الناس وأفتوك” ((حديث حسن، رواه أحمد والدارمي فى مسنديهما)).

'Uqbah bin Al-Harith (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that he had married a daughter of Abu Ihab bin 'Aziz and a woman came to him and said she had suckled both 'Uqbah and the woman whom he had married, to which he replied:
"I am not aware that you suckled me, and you did not inform me." So he ('Uqbah) rode to Messenger of Allah ﷺ in Al-Madinah and put the matter before him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "How can you continue (to be her husband) after what you have been told?" 'Uqbah (May Allah be pleased with him) therefore divorced her and she married another man.

[Al-Bukhari].

وعن أبي سروعة -كسر السين المهملة ونصبها- عقبة بن الحارث رضي الله عنه أنه تزوج ابنة لأبي إهاب بن عزيز، فأتته امرأة فقالت: إنى قد أرضعت عقبة والتى قد تزوج بها، فقال لها عقبة: ما أعلم أنك أرضعتني ولا أخبرتني فركب إلى رسول الله ﷺ بالمدينة فسأله فقال رسول الله ﷺ: “كيف، وقد قيل؟!” ففارقها عقبة ونكحت زوجاً غيره”. ((رواه البخاري)).

Hasan bin 'Ali (May Allah be pleased with them) reported:
I have retained these words of Messenger of Allah ﷺ, "Leave what causes you doubt and turn to what does not cause you doubt."

[At- Tirmidhi].

وعن الحسن بن على رضي الله عنهما، قال: حفظت من رسول الله ﷺ: "دع ما يريبك إلى ما لا يريبك" ((رواه الترمذى وقال: حديث حسن صحيح)).

'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported:
Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) had a slave who brought him his earnings and Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) would eat from it. One day he brought him something and when Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) had eaten some of it, the slave asked him whether he knew where he had got that (food) from, Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) asked what it was, and he replied: I acted as a soothsayer for a man in the pre-Islamic period, and not being good at it, I deceived him; today he met me and he rewarded me for that soothsaying what you have eaten. Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) put his hand in his mouth and vomited up all that he had eaten.

[Al-Bukhari].

وعن عائشة رضي الله عنها، قالت: كان لأبي بكر الصديق رضي الله عنه غلام يخرج له الخراج وكان أبو بكر يأكل من خراجه فجاء يوماً بشئ، فأكل منه أبو بكر، فقال له الغلام: تدرى ما هذا؟ فقال أبو بكر: ما هو؟ قال: كنت تكهنت لإنسان فى الجاهلية وما أحسن الكهانة إلا أني خدعته فلقيني، فأعطاني بذلك هذا الذى أكلت منه، فأدخل أبو بكر يده فقاء كل شئ فى بطنه” ((رواه البخاري)).

Nafi' (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
'Umar bin Al-Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him) fixed the payment amounting to four thousand dirhams for each of the early Emigrants, but for his son, he fixed only three thousand five hundred. He was asked: "He is also an (early) Emigrant, why have you fixed a lesser sum for him?" He said: "It was his father who took him along with him. He is not like one who emigrated by himself."

[Al-Bukhari].

وعن نافع أن عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه كان فرض للمهاجرين الأولين أربعة آلاف وفرض لابنه ثلاثة آلاف وخمسمائة، فقيل له: هو من المهاجرين فلم نقصته؟ فقال: إنما هاجر به أبوه، يقول: ليس هو كمن هاجر بنفسه” ((رواه البخاري))