Busy Yourself with Goodness, Otherwise You Will be Busied with Evil.
Excerpt from the Great Life of Ibn Taymiyyah:
His Imprisonment
When Shaykh al-Islām Aḥmad
ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm ibn ʿAbd al-Salām ibn Taymīyyah al-Ḥarrānī
(raḥimahullāh) was imprisoned, he found the prisoners busy and
distracting themselves (from incarceration) with different types of games like
chess, backgammon, and being negligent concerning their prayers.
Ibn Taymiyyah strongly disapproved of their actions. He
instructed them to be mindful and vigilant regarding their prayers and to
perform all good deeds solely for the sake of Allāh. Likewise, he ordered them
to glorify Allāh, seek His forgiveness , and supplicate to Him. He also taught them the Sunnah, made
them aspire for good deeds, and encouraged them towards it.
[He did this] up until the prison became better than many
mosques, gatherings of knowledge and
schools with regards to being kept busy
with knowledge of the religion. To the point that when some of the
prisoners were granted their freedom, they chose to stay with him. Likewise,
numerous people returned to the prison until the prison became full of people
[seeking to benefit and be in the presence of Ibn Taymīyyah].
Source: al-ʿUqūd al-Dariyyah fī Dhikr Bʿaḍ Manāqib Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymīyyah
by Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī al-Maqdasī
Translated by:
Munīb al-Ṣumālī
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