The Question
Abu l-'Aasim al-Qasim bin Yusuf bin Muhammad at-Tajeebi as-Sabti al-Maghribi
says,
"I requested the Shaikh, Faqeeh, respected Imaam, `Aalim, last of the
pious predecessors and leader of the later generations, inimitable, fascinating,
possessor of great eloquence and clarity of expression, the most knowledgeable
person I have met in the East or West, Taqi ad-Deen Abu l-`Abbaas Ahmad bin
Taymiyyah, (may Allah enable us to continue benefiting from him):
to direct me towards what would set right my affairs of Deen and Dunyaa; to
point me towards those books on which I might rely regarding knowledge of
Hadeeth, and similarly for other sciences of the Sharee`ah; to draw my attention
towards the best of righteous actions after the compulsory duties; and to
explain to me those goals which should outweigh all other aims; - all of this by
way of concise guidelines. May Allah safeguard him, and peace and Allah's
blessings be on him."
The Answer :
The Shaikh of Islam, Ocean of Knowledge, Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah bestow His
mercy and pleasure on him, answered as follows:
All Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.
To begin with the Wasiyyah : in my opinion, there is no Wasiyyah more
beneficial than that of Allah and His Messenger for whoever understands it and
follows it.
The Wasiyyah of Allah, Mighty and Sublime.
The Wasiyyah of Allah Exalted is mentioned in the following Aayah:
Verily, We have directed the People of the Book before you, and
you (O Muslims) to Fear Allah
The Messenger's Wasiyyah
The Prophet 
enjoined
on Mu`aadh (radi Allahu 'anhu) when he sent him to Yemen as a judge, the
following:
"O Mu`aadh, fear Allah wherever you are, and follow up a bad deed
with a good one and it will wipe it out, and behave well towards
people."
The Excellence of Mu`aadh bin Jabal
Mu`aadh had a high status in the eyes of the Prophet (SallAllahu 'alayhi wa
sallam), who once said to him, "O Mu`aadh! By Allah, truly I love
you."
Sometimes, the Messenger would let
Mu`aadh ride behind him on the same mount.
It is also narrated about him that he is the most knowledgeable person in the
Ummah about the (issues of) Halaal and Haraam (Lawful and Prohibited) , and on
the Day of Resurrection he will be raised up one step ahead of all the people of
knowledge. Also, part of Mu`aadh's excellence is that the Prophet sent him
to the people of Yemen as a preacher on his behalf, a caller, a man of
understanding in the Deen, a giver of religious verdicts, and a judge.
He also used to compare Mu`aadh to Ibraaheem ('alayhis-salaam) , the friend
of Allah and Imaam of mankind. Also, Ibn Mas`ood, used to say, "Verily,
Mu`aadh is a leader of the people, he is Allah's obedient slave, and he is not
of the polytheists" , thus comparing him to Ibraaheem.
With all these qualities of Mu`aadh, the Prophet (sallAllahu 'alayhi wa
sallam) bequeathed to him this Wasiyyah, so we know that this Wasiyyah is
comprehensive, and whoever understands it will see that it is so. Furthermore,
it is an explanation of the Qur'aanic Wasiyyah.
The Reason for the Comprehensiveness of the Wasiyyah
As for the explanation of the comprehensiveness of this legacy, it covers the
fact that there are two rights over a human being:
(i) The responsibility towards Allah, Mighty and Sublime;
(ii) The responsibility towards His servants.
Further, (the Wasiyyah also covers the fact ) that there will always be a
deficiency in each person's fufilling of this responsibility, e.g. by missing a
duty or doing something forbidden: hence the Messenger said,
"Fear Allah wherever you may be". This statement is
comprehensive and his words "wherever you are" confirm
that the human being is in need of taqwaa (piety, fear of Allah) both
secretly and in the open. He then said, "Follow up a bad deed with a
good one, which will cancel it"; the example of this is that
whenever a patient eats something bad for him, the doctor prescribes him to take
something which will make him better. Since it is definite that a human being
will commit sin, the wise person is the one who is continuously doing good acts
in order that the effects of his bad deeds are cancelled out. In this hadeeth,
the phrase "bad deed" is used first because the purpose here is
to wipe out bad deeds, rather than to do good deeds; hence, this saying is like
his (sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam)'s saying about the bedouin's urine,
"Pour over his urine a bucketful of water."
The types of actions by which sins can be forgiven
Al-Wasiyyat us-Sughraa (The Concise Legacy)
