Shaykh Abu ‘Ali al-Fudhayl ibn ‘Iyadh’s (q.s.) Repentence

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

Imam Abu al-Qasim ‘Abd al-Karim ibn Huzan al-Qushayri (r.a.) recorded, in his Risalah al-Qushayriyyah, Shaykh Abu ‘Ali al-Fudhayl ibn ‘Iyadh (q.s.) came from Khurasan, from the region of Marw.  It is said that he was born in Samarkand, and grew up at Abiward.  He passed away in Makkah, in the month of Muharram, in the year 187 AH. 

Shaykh al-Fudhayl (q.s.) was a dangerous young lad, who robbed caravans between Abiward and Sarakhs.  The reason for his repentance began when he fell in love with a slave girl and, as he was climbing up the wall in order to meet her, he heard a Qur’an reader reciting the following: 

سُوۡرَةُ الحَدید

۞ أَلَمۡ يَأۡنِ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ أَن تَخۡشَعَ قُلُوبُہُمۡ لِذِڪۡرِ ٱللَّهِ … (١٦) 

Has not the time arrived for the believers, that their hearts, in all humility, should engage in the remembrance of Allah ... (Surah al-Hadid:16) 

And he said, “O my Lord, it is indeed the time!” and turned back. 

The night brought him to some ruins.  There was a group of people there.  Some of them said, “Let us go.” 

Others said, “Let us wait until dawn, for al-Fudhayl is on the road and may rob us.” 

On hearing this, Shaykh al-Fudhayl (q.s.) repented, and took them under his protection.  Later, he settled down in Makkah, and passed away there. 

Shaykh al-Fudhayl (q.s.) said, “When Allah (s.w.t.) loves His servant, He Bestows on him much grief, and when He Dislikes His servant, He Grants him abundance in this world.” 

Imam Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak (r.a.) said: “When al-Fudayl died, sorrow departed.” 

Shaykh al-Fudhayl (q.s.) said, “If this world with all that is in it were offered to me and I were not held responsible for enjoying it, I would still turn away from it in disgust, as you would turn away from a decaying corpse, while passing it by, in order not to smear your clothes with it.” 

Shaykh al-Fudhayl (q.s.) also said, “I would rather swear that I am a hypocrite than that I am not a hypocrite.” 

Shaykh al-Fudhayl (q.s.) said, “Not to act for the sake of others is hypocrisy, while to act for the sake of others is polytheism.” 

Shaykh Abu ‘Ali al-Razi (q.s.) said, “I accompanied al-Fudhayl for thirty years without ever seeing him laughing or smiling, except for the day when his son, ‘Ali, passed away.  I asked him about this.  He said: ‘If Allah (s.w.t.) Loves something, I love it too.’” 

Shaykh al-Fudhayl (q.s.) said, “Whenever I disobey  (s.w.t.), I know this from the behaviour of my donkey and my servant.”