Saalih bin Ahmed (rahimahullah), the son of Imaam Ahmed bin Hambal (rahimahullah), mentions the following:

When my father needed to make wudhu, he would not allow anyone to draw out water for him from the well, rather he would draw it out himself. While pulling out the bucket from the well, when his sight would fall upon the water, he would immediately praise Allah Ta‘ala saying, “Alhamdulillah.”

I asked him, “O my beloved father! What is the reason for reciting Alhamdulillah at this time?” He replied, “O my beloved son! I am thanking Allah Ta‘ala for this invaluable bounty of water. Do you not hear Allah Ta‘ala say in the Qur’aan Majeed:

قُلۡ اَرَءَیۡتُمۡ اِنۡ اَصۡبَحَ مَآؤُکُمۡ غَوۡرًا فَمَنۡ یَّاۡتِیۡکُمۡ بِمَآءٍ مَّعِیۡنٍ ﴿٪۳۰﴾

Say, “Tell me, should your water vanish into the earth, who will bring you a flowing (stream of) water?” (Surah Mulk v. 30)

(Manaaqib Imaam Ahmed libnil Jowzi pg. 382)

Harmalah bin Yahya (rahimahullah) reports:

I once heard Imaam Shaafi‘ee (rahimahullah) mention the following in regard to purifying and illuminating the heart through which it will be easy for one to understand Deen:

“The one who wishes that Allah Ta‘ala should open and illuminate his heart (with deep understanding and profound knowledge), then he should hold firmly onto the following qualities; refraining from discussing that which does not concern him, leaving out all sins and abstaining from all forms of disobedience. Furthermore, he should carry out righteous actions which should be only between him and Allah Ta‘ala (i.e. with ikhlaas and without publicizing them before anyone). When one does this, then Allah Ta‘ala will bless him with such profound ‘ilm that he will remain immersed in it and it will safeguard him from becoming involved in other occupations of the world. Similarly, he will be concerned about his end which will keep him away from all other futile pursuits (i.e. the preparation for death and the Hereafter will safeguard him from getting involved in unbeneficial actions).”

(Manaaqib-ush-Shaafi‘ee li-lBayhaqi vol. 2 pg. 171)

When Imaam Maalik (rahimahullah) completed writing his Muwatta, he was greatly concerned as to whether he had written the kitaab with ikhlaas (complete sincerity).

In order to gauge whether the kitaab was written with ikhlaas, he asked Allah Ta‘ala to show him a sign. The sign that he wished to see is that if he places the kitaab in water, and if the ink of the pages does not wash off, then this will prove as a sign that he wrote the kitaab with ikhlaas.

There was once a man in Kufah who would speak ill of Hazrat ‘Uthmaan (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) by calling him a Jew.

One day, Imaam Abu Hanifah (rahimahullah) approached this man and said to him, “I have come to you with a marriage proposal.” The man asked, “Whose hand are you proposing for?” Imaam Abu Hanifah (rahimahullah) replied, “I am asking for your daughter’s hand, and the proposal is from a man who is noble, wealthy and a haafiz of the Qur’aan Majeed. He is generous, stands in salaah the entire night and weeps excessively due to the fear of Allah Ta‘ala.”