Signposts Upon The Path To Seeking Knowledge

Signposts Upon the Path to Seeking Knowledge Book: Signposts Upon the Path to Seeking Knowledge Author: Shaykh
Abdul-Azeez As-Sadhaan http://knowledgeforsuccess.multiply.com Adab of Taalibul Ilm Etiquettes of the student of knowledge Everything mentioned in the Quraan that praises the servant is from the fruits of knowledge and everything mentioned therein that is a dispraise of the servant is from the fruits of ignorance. ~Ibnul Qayyim Al-Jawziyya The student of knowledge or whoever desires to learn knowledge is in need of adab (manners) and making those manners a part of his character. The student of knowledge is in need of following the narrations of As-Salaf-us-Saalih, following the methodology As-Salaf-us-Saalih took in seeking knowledge so that he can acquire this knowledge. He is in need of knowing how they (As-Salaf-us-Saalih) would stay up deep and late into the night many nights over and they would leave off the pleasures of sleep in order to obtain this knowledge. The student of knowledge needs to take on these adaab, these etiquettes, morals and manners, when he is in his homeland and when he travels, when he is with his teachers and when he is with the scholars and when he with his peers and with his students. And this study is a very broad study, since knowledge is a wide and expansive ocean that has no shores. So the deficiency is not in the books, for many of us own tens or hundreds of books. And the deficiency is not in our time for most of us have time. But rather knowledge is noor (light) that Allaah hurls into the hearts. And it is not acquired solely by reading nor is knowledge acquired by acquiring and collecting books. There is no one who follows the Shafiee madhhaab except that Imaam Ash-Shafiee has more virtue over him, except for Abu Bakr Al-Bayhaqi, for surely this individual has some virtues over Imaam Ash-Shafiee due to the abundance of books he has authored in order to assist the Shafiee madhhaab. This imaam who possessed this outstanding personality, Abu Bakr Al-Bayhaqi, this is the individual who authored the largest compilation of narrations concerning ahkaam (religious verdicts) entitled As-Sunan Al-Kubra. And he looked at some of the books utilized as reference points in his time and he deemed them to be insufficient. Some of the books that the student of knowledge of today depends upon, such as the Sunan of Ibn Majah and the Jamaah of At-Tirmidhi. And when he found this he didnt allow this to suppress him or keep him from acquiring knowledge. Rather he sought ahadeeth beyond this and compiled the largest book of religious verdicts. So therefore seeking knowledge requires purifying your intentions and putting forth efforts to purify those intentions. And after it requires putting forth much physical effort, and effort with regards to your time, and putting forth efforts with regards to your soul. And sometimes it requires putting efforts with regards to your wealth. So if Allaah gathers for the servant purity of intention and also puts forth the means that someone would need to acquire knowledge, those things that were once difficult will become easy for the servant. It is upon the individual who does not have knowledge in his homeleand, to travel to seek knowledge. There has come in some ahadeeth that have been graded hasan.
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The youth will come to you to seek the knowledge, so when you meet them then advise them with the good, for surely they are the inheritors of Muhammad sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam. Relayed by Ibn Abdul-Barr, Ibn Majah. Graded hasan by Al-Albaani. So those who travel to seek knowledge, these individuals are reviving and bringing back to life the narrations of the Salaf, those narrations many of which have been abandoned and boycotted. And it is said to those individuals that seek knowledge in this fashion, Surely you with this action of yours encourage others to do the same. And whoever directs to the khair (good) then he will have the reward of whoever else follows him in this action. And it is possible a person will be rewarded for this action (of seeking knowledge) without realizing it, for he does not know people are following him. From the effects that good, moral character can have on a student of knowledge: Perhaps you may see a man and he may not be known by the people, however this person who is unknown may say some words and his character may be lofty, and his character and words, even though you do not know him, his character and words may affect the people. And the benefit that one can obtain from ones character and words can be more valuable than the benefit that a person can acquire from a thousand books. Imaam Adh-Dhahabi (died 748 after hijrah), the student of Ibn Taymiyyah and died 20 years after Ibn Taymiyyah. Adh-Dhahabi mentions in his book As-Siyar A'laam An-Nubala (compiled bios of pertinent personalities from the time of the Prophet up until his time. This book is a major source for biographies in learning about the scholars of the past): People would gather for the lessons of Imaam Ahmad and the people that would gather for the circles of Imaam Ahmad would number 5,000 people or more. (Note: Circles of knowledge of Imaam Al-Bukhaari numbered over 20,000) People in that time understood ilm (knowledge) is the deen and so they sought it diligently. So 5,000 or more would attend the circles of Imaam Ahmad. Maybe only 500 of those 5,000 were actually recording the ahadeeth mentioned and the rest of the attendees would be learning good manners and good moral character from Imaam Ahmad. This shows the importance of learning morals and manners and learning the etiquettes of seeking knowledge Abu Bakr bin Al-Mutuwiee: I was present with Abu Abdillaah (Imaam Ahmad) for 12 years while he was reading Al-Musnad (book compilation of 30,000 ahadeeth) to his children. And I did not record one hadeeth from him. But I was only looking and examining his guidance and his character. Ibn Abbaas defined Al-Imaam Ar-Rabbaani (the imaam who is rabbaani): He is the one who teaches the people the smaller knowledge before the larger and more expansive knowledge. (What does it mean to be Ar-Rabbaani? One who is rabbaani is one who learns the religion and teaches the religion to the people)
Another understanding of Ar-Rabbaani is the one who teaches the people what they need to know at the time they need to know it and does not exceed their level. He teaches them with his actions, with his speech, and in everything he carries out. So the taalibul ilm (student of knowledge), it is appropriate for him to be an example in all of his affairs so he does not speak or make a movement except that it is upon guidance and noor (light). So due to this, we live in a time when the means to acquire the knowledge are many that can assist the student of knowledge upon his quest and make it easy to obtain this knowledge. So a person amongst us is able to find one hadeeth amongst hundreds of books in less than a few minutes. This is from the virtues of Allaah aza wa jal and from having a table of contents, which is fairly knew in the books of knowledge. It used to be that if you wanted a particular benefit, you would have to seek out the volume of a book and then read through the entire volume. This is one of the reasons that you find the people of the past were upon a higher level of knowledge because they had to read through more information to get to that which they were seeking. Even with this, you find many of us not taking advantage of this nimah (blessing) nor recognizing this virtue that has been given to us. So therefore we do not find fault with the references we have in our time or with the mashaykh (scholars) nor do we find fault with time. All of these things have been made easy for us and are in abundance. That which we are in need of is taqwaa (piety) and putting forth all the efforts that we are able to obtain the fruits of this knowledge. Study circles of knowledge (Halaqaatul-ilm) Study circles have spread far and wide in our countries and these individuals who are teaching, we consider them to be of the people of knowledge, from the truthful people of knowledge, and from the forefront of them are the noble mashaykh (scholars). A day and time will come when we will have remorse over not attending their study circles and placing importance upon those study circles. Imaam Al Khateeb: Ar-Rihlaah. An individual travels to a particular shaykh for a chain of narration for a particular hadeeth and the scholar passed (away) before he reached that land so that he could acquire that hadeeth from him. And the Salaf, whenever someone would pass from their time from the scholars it would affect them. Abdullah bin Dawood: The reason I went to Basrah was in order to meet Ibnul-Awn so when I reached that region I was not able to acquire from Ibnul-Awn what I intended to acquire. For that thing occurred which the All-Knowledgeable decreed to occur (i.e. death). Us, in our quest for knowledge, we live in a time that the four imams lived in (Imaam Muqbil, Al-Albaani, Bin Baaz, Uthaymeen raheemahumullaah). These individuals were an ocean of knowledge and we were not able to benefit from them the way we would have liked. Those who know and understand when people of knowledge live in their time and they are not able to take knowledge from these people, this affects them. Many of the Salaf would travel. From them some would travel just to participate in the
funeral of a shaykh, or just to meet the shaykh before he passed. And some would travel just to put the dirt on his grave after his passing, all the while being regretful and remorseful for not being able to benefit from the scholars. If we live for a long period of time, we may see generations who blame themselves for not being able to take benefit from the scholars. It is upon the student of knowledge to take advantage of the lives of the scholars and utilize their lives in order to assist them upon their quest for knowledge before the affair occurs that the All-Knowledgeable decrees to occur (i.e. death). And this is foretold in the hadeeth of the Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam: Allaah will not take knowledge away by snatching it away from the chests, but rather He will take the knowledge away by taking the scholars away (by death). So that when there is not any scholar or person of knowledge that remains, the people will begin taking the ignorant as their leaders. So they will ask these individuals questions and these individuals will give religious verdicts without knowledge. So they will be misguided and they will misguide others. (Saheeh Al-Bukhaari & Muslim) *** Min Aadaabi Taalibul-Ilm (Etiquettes of Seeking Knowledge) continued From the section on: Halaqaatil-Ilm (Circles of Knowledge) Hadeeth: Allaah will not take knowledge away by snatching it away from the chests, but rather He will take the knowledge away by taking the scholars away (by death). So that when there is not any scholar or person of knowledge that remains, the people will begin taking the ignorant as their leaders. So they will ask these individuals questions and these individuals will give religious verdicts without knowledge. So they will be misguided and they will misguide others. (Saheeh Al-Bukhaari & Muslim) So from this text we understand that knowledge will eventually be taken away. And the intent here is not that the knowledge itself will be taken away directly; rather the intent is that the scholars will be taken away who carry the knowledge. So when the scholars pass away, it is a grave loss. And this grave loss of losing the scholars of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaah, it cannot be replaced with wealth, power, influence, or authority. And due to this, Adh-Dhahabi (d. 748 after hijrah) mentions in his book As-Seer while giving the biography of Ishaaq bin Firaq: There were three scholars who passed at the same time. The likes of these three individuals, when they are taken away from a region all at once the deficiency of that region becomes evident. (Note: And this is something we have experienced ourselves in our time. We lived in a time where, by the Mercy of Allaah, we experienced the lives of mujaddidoon (revivers of Islaam) of our era. The likes of Al-Albaani, Bin Baaz, Uthaymeen, and Muqbil raheemahumullaah. These individuals were mujaddidoon (revivers of Islaam). As the Messenger has mentioned:
There will come at the beginning of every 100 years, someone who will revive for this Ummah their religion. These people were the revivers of our time. Think about the time period they passed, within the same time period. When these four individuals passed, the entire earth changed. The level of righteousness decreased. The Muslims began to be aggressed against. The plots began and the plots thickened to try to suppress this beautiful, pure religion. We saw innovations emerge and people of innovation emerge the likes of whom we have not seen. We saw knowledge decrease and ignorance become more prevalent. We saw more sins and vile acts occur after these people passed.) So by the presence of the scholar the hearts are enlivened. And the hearts having life is more profound than bodies having life. May Allaah bestow His Mercy upon Shaykhul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah, when he made the statement: The message is a dire necessity for the servant. It is imperative that they have the message. And their need for the message is more severe than their need for everything else. And the message, it is the spirit of the world. And it is the light of the world. And it is the life of the world. So how can the world be upright if it lacks its spirit, if it lacks its life, if it lacks its light? This world is dark and cursed, except for what the message of the sun shines upon [Note: The Shaykh is striking a simile between the message (i.e. the truth, Islaam) and the sun]. So the message gives life to the hearts, just as food and drink gives life to the body. And without these two things, without the heart receiving its nutrition and without the body receiving its nutrition, the heart will die just as the body will die. Therefore, these circles of knowledge and those people of knowledge who have attained knowledge, who have given up much of their time to obtain this knowledge. And then they open their hearts to this knowledge and open their homes to this knowledge so that they can spread this knowledge. After all of this, it is imperative to take advantage of their presence. So we should rush to be in the presence, in the circles of their lessons, before we lose them, just as we have lost some of them. So yes, there is no doubt that whoever trades the circles of knowledge, the circles of excellence, the circles of Allaahs remembrance for evil sittings, for sittings where people have idle speech, then this person is like an imbecile, a simpleton, if he is not actually one. So the one who has intellect, he is the one who utilizes every single moment of his life. And due to this some of the Salaf would feel remorse and would say: If a day passes me by that I have not increased in knowledge, then I have not received any blessing in that day. So we have to ask ourselves, how many days have passed us by and we have not increased in knowledge at all? We have not learned anything new or benefited ourselves in anything? And when these days pass us by, do we feel grief, do we feel remorse, are we distressed that we havent increased in knowledge that day? Do we really feel as though we have not been blessed that day? If not, then we need to rectify ourselves. And some of the Salaf were very stingy with their time, so if a person would speak to them and there was no benefit in the persons speech, they would say to that person: Look at the sun. Do you see it? Its there everyday by the order of Allaah. So go hold onto the sun until I come back to speak to you. Because speaking to you is just out of speech and its a waste of my time. And if Im not sinful in speaking to you, Ill never be
rewarded. So this is how we have to be with our time. We have to try to acquire benefit from our speaking with others. So it is appropriate for us to feel as though we can never get enough of the knowledge, that we can never get enough of sitting with the scholars. We should feel as though we can never get enough, so that we gulp what they have given us. And then the scholars may pass without us benefiting from them. So it is appropriate to pay attention to and to take care of those affairs that will allow us to benefit from the circles of knowledge. The first affair that will allow us to take benefit from the circles of knowledge: Sincerity in worship: When we go out to the circles of knowledge and we sit in the circles of knowledge, we should do this sincerely for the Face of Allaah taaalaa and we should not let anything enter into that intention, be it riyaa or be it sumaa, i.e. doing something to be seen by men so that they can praise you for your action. So riyaa is performing an action to be seen by men or not performing an action out of fear of what the people will say. As for sumaa, its saying something or doing something in order to be heard by the people. So we dont allow riyaa and sumaa to spoil our ikhlaas (sincerity in worship). And there are only a few people who can save themselves from these things. But Allaah is kind to His servants and ones intention may be attached to riyaa or sumaa, but if the servant strives against these things and dislikes these things and calls upon His Lord then Allaah is however the servant thinks of Him. If you think good of Allaah you will receive good from Allaah. And if you think ill of Allaah, you will receive ill from Allaah. The point is, there are many things that can attack a persons intentions, specifically if you are an individual who has exceeded your peers in what you have acquired of knowledge, you will be tested by your intention. So it is upon us to hold on firmly to having ikhlaas for the sake of Allaah. So we should strive and we should try to distance our intentions from anything that would spoil its purity. So once Allaah knows this from us and knows that we are sincere and truthful in out intentions and truthful and sincere in why we are trying to obtain knowledge, we will never see from Allaah other than ease in obtaining knowledge. For Allaah has stated in Sooratul Ankaboot, verse 69: And those who strive in Our cause, We will guide them to Our path. Surely, Allaah is with the Muhsineen (the good-dooers). This is a promise from Allaah subhaanahu wa taaalaa. The people of knowledge have mentioned that the student of knowledge may find some difficulties in purifying his intentions, however, he will still be rewarded for his efforts so long as he is striving to purify his intentions. Since the intention is a mighty affair and if our Salaf themselves made statements at times that showed they struggled with their intentions and were fearful of having riyaa, then what is our level compared to their level? So therefore it is incumbent upon us that we turn towards Allaah and ask Allaah to grant us ikhlaas in all of our affairs and we should also take whatever means we can to assist us in purifying our intentions.
Statement of Sufyaan Ath-Thawri regarding intentions: I have not corrected anything that has been more difficult for me than my intentions. Surely it turns back and forth on me. So this is how the Salaf were. They strove to correct their intentions. And in you striving for that, Allaah will reward you and the more you strive to purify your intentions, the better you will get at it. The second affair that you are in need of in order to benefit from the circles of knowledge is: being enthusiastic about attending the circles of knowledge. Being consistent in having enthusiasm and being present at the lessons that are being given, without becoming lazy and without becoming bored. So the servant, the more he is enthused, Allaah will know the truthfulness of his intention. So because of that, Allaah will open His blessing for him. He will bring ease to his affair and He will assist him in all of his affairs in their entirety. It is incumbent upon us to increase in knowledge as much as we can, to make sure we are present in the circles of knowledge. For surely there is large amount of ignorance that we have, while the knowledge that we have is only a little bit. So due to this, it is said that a person should want to surround himself with knowledge more than he wants to surround himself with ignorance, since the servant is ignorant of many things. So every time a person obtains something of benefit, a portion of his ignorance leaves him. And so on and so forth. So whenever you are able to take advantage and be present when lessons are being disseminated, then you should praise Allaah for this and ask Him for His tawfeeq (success) and ask Him for an increase in blessings and virtue and know that this enthusiasm that you may have, if it were not for the blessing that Allaah has bestowed upon you, all of your striving and efforts you put forth, you would not obtain any benefit. Poetry: If a person does not seek Allaahs aid, then it doesnt matter how much effort he puts forth. So ask Allaah for His aid and assistance. Ask Allaah to facilitate the knowledge for you. For this is the only way for you to obtain knowledge, by Allaah assisting you with it. Imaam Al-Bukhaari was asked, What is the cure for forgetfulness? What was his response? Response: Constantly looking into, examining, reviewing the books. This is the cure for forgetfulness. Statement of Imaam Ash-Shafiee: I complained to Waqi bin Jarra about my poor memory. So he directed me towards leaving off sins. And know that knowledge is light from Allaah and He does not grant His light to a sinner. (From the book Al-Umm, one of the most advanced books of fiqh in the Shafiee madhhaab) ***
Affairs that will aid a person in benefiting from the circles of knowledge: Fifth affair: Taking notes on your book. Sixth Affair: Listening and not being distracted with regards to the circles of knowledge. We see in the circles of knowledge that some of the students they become distracted or they preoccupy themselves with other things outside of the lesson. And this is in opposition to the manners that have been transmitted to us from the Salaf. Adh-Dhahabi mentions in As-Seer on Ahmad bin Sinaan, who stated: During the study circles of Abdur-Rahmaan bin Mahdi (?), no one would speak in his circles nor would anyone sharpen a pencil. Nor would anyone stand. It was as though a bird could sit on top of their heads or it was as though they were in the salaat. (This is how still they were in the circles of knowledge) And in another narration: No one would speak in the study circles of Abdur-Rahmaan, nor would anyone sharpen a pencil, nor would anyone smile, nor would anyone stand up, and it was though birds could sit on top of their heads or as though they were in a state of salaat. And if he saw any one of them smiling or speaking, then he would put on his shoes and he would leave. Because, the circles of knowledge they are circles where sakeenah (tranquility) descends, the people in these circles are enveloped in rahmah (mercy), and all of this is going on and then a person does something that distracts the students or the teacher, this is something that will take away from the prestige and the dignity of the circles of knowledge. Seventh affair: Being present as much as you are able to be present in the circles of knowledge. Some of the people they may have some things that preoccupy them and some may live a far distance away from the study circle, or some of the people may not have a very strong drive. And all these things occur, however, all these things will cease and stop once the servant tastes the succulent flavor of knowledge. Or he realizes how much benefit that he has obtained from the circles and at that point he will only desire that benefit that he has obtained. Imaam An-Nawawi would attend 12 lessons a day. And he stated about himself, I would take notes about everything it was possible to take notes on, concerning the explanation of those affairs that needed further clarification, taking notes and being precise with clear explanation, and after that Allaah began to bless my time. And he (Imaam An-Nawawi) became an imaam in the religion, and he authored many books. And he died at the age of 45. And in another statement he stated, I never slept on my side for two whole years just so that I could obtain the knowledge. He didnt even want to give his body proper rest so that he would miss something of knowledge.
So when Allaah blesses your time and Allaah grants you determination with regards to this knowledge, you will obtain an abundance of benefit, but there is a condition and that is that Allaah knows that you have truthfulness in your heart and that you are not attending the circles of knowledge seeking to impress others, and you are not lazy or fall short of the mark with regards to the circles of knowledge. And its possible that a period of time may pass and a portion of your life has left and you will begin to regret and bite your fingers out of remorse. Shaykh Ibn Jibreen mentions regarding some students of knowledge, during the time they were seeking knowledge, they would feel remorse if there were some scholars that were living during their time but they were not able to attend their study circles. Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdaadee, he wrote something and when he wrote, he mentioned an individual who traveled to a particular shaykh in order to increase the level of his isnaad. And that particular shaykh died before the man reached that land. And this caused him great sorrow. Allah has blessed us in our times with many avenues of seeking knowledge through books and tapes, however, even though you may have books or audio recordings it does not free you from attending the circles of knowledge in person since the person who is actually attending the circles of knowledge will have a reward for that and if a person attends the circles of knowledge, their act of attending the circle is worship and for that reason the angels will pray for him, seeking forgiveness for him. The person who attends the circles of knowledge, his mind will be more focused on the lesson itself, moreso than hearing it on a tape. And you know, that being an eyewitness has a more profound affect on the soul than simply hearing about it. Saying: O son of a noblemen, humble yourself. And go see what they have informed of yourself. For the person who sees it is not like the person who hears about it. Statement of the Messenger: Being informed about something is not like being an eyewitness. (Imam Ahmad, Haakim, and others) So attending the circles and being with the scholars and students of knowledge and being close to the people of knowledge, there is a great difference between this and hearing their words on an audio recording. Eighth affair: Being cautious of giving up hope. Some of us may attend the study circles of a shaykh or a teacher for a long period of time and he may be explaining the book of ribaa, hudood, or nikaah and talaaq, and you may find yourself not understanding from it except a little bit. And this happens. And all of us have a portion of this. Even still with all of this, the knowledge, the more a person reviews it and goes over it, he will find his problem starting to decrease and diminish. Imaam Ahmad was on a high level and status, and he stated about himself: I stayed in the Book of Menstruation for nine years until I was finally able to understand it. So dont become angry and annoyed with yourself and dont give up hope, for Allaah has given man intellect and the ability to comprehend. And his mind it grows and his intellect will increase the more he utilizes it and the more he exercises his mind , the more his body and soul will adjust to it.
Stories that show we should not give up hope: Muhammad Ash-Shanqeetee (originally from Mauritania and made hijrah to Saudi Arabia and became one of the major scholars. And many from the major scholars living today are from his students) in the intro to his tafseer, stated that his shaykh was explaining an issue and he didnt fully understand it so he said, The issue wasnt clear to me so I returned back to my home. So I started to research and I didnt stop researching it. And the servant was standing over me holding a wax candle and I did not stop searching. I continued to search all the while I was drinking green tea until three-fourths of the day had elapsed to the point that fajr was coming close. And then the problems that I had ceased and I felt better the next day when I went to the lesson of the shaykh, because of all the knowledge I had received the night before. The Shaykh continued: Pay attention. Look at how he spent his entire day just researching one issue that he didnt comprehend. Some of the people, they mention to me about some of the men of hadeeth, those who study those who narrated ahadeeth. They spent six or seven days in the books of biographies trying to find these men in the chains of ahadeeth. So do not belittle yourself or the strength that Allaah has given you. And seek aid in Allaah and seek the assistance of what Allaah has given you of a strong mind and healthy limbs so that you can obtain this knowledge without fatigue. And some people spent tens, hundreds of diraahim just in order to obtain knowledge of one science. So if one of us leaves a particular lesson and we didnt understand the book fully or an issue fully, its not anything outside of the norm to return back to the shaykh or teacher and review the issue over. Nor is there anything wrong with reviewing with the other students in the lesson. Because some of them, Allah may have blessed them with the ability to understand an issue. So dont be shy as we find some of the people being too shy to ask his peer a question. Even if the person is on a lower level than you in the knowledge, it may be possible that he understands something that you didnt, and he may be able to teach you something that you dont know. So it is upon you to ask. So ask him and leave off this arrogance. Ask him and leave off the shyness that is not beneficial. Imaam Muhaajid stated, A person will not learn knowledge who is too shy or too arrogant. It is possible that the Shaytaan comes to some of us and you see one brother or sister that is lower in knowledge than you and they understand an issue that you dont understand and so you become arrogant and because of the Shaytaan whispering to you, it prevents you from asking from that person for fear that it would be said about you, such and such asked such and such about an issue. There is no doubt that this is from the deception of Iblees. Ninth affair: Not cutting the teacher off. This is something from the etiquette of the circles of knowledge. So sometimes we might be tested by way of a person who is present in the study circles and he cuts the teacher off while he is speaking. Rather some of them will even try to refute the teacher while hes teaching to show that he has some faults, while he is teaching. There is no doubt that this comes from bad
manners. And the Prophet, he taught us good morals and good manners and he stated, He is not from us who does not honor his elders nor is he merciful to the youth nor does he know the rights of the scholar. (Ahmad, Haakim, Tirmidhee, and others) And there are things that can be found in the texts of the circles of knowledge. A person should not cut off the teacher while he is going over a particular issue, until the teacher has finished his point. And for this reason, Imaam Al-Bukhaari entitled a chapter: Whoever is asked about an affair of knowledge, while he is still busy speaking, then he should complete what he is saying. And then he brings the hadeeth: A bedouin came and he asked him, while the Prophet was giving a khutbah, When will the Hour be established? The Messenger of Allaah continued speaking and he ignored him. Until he finished what he was saying then he said, Where is the one that was asking about the Hour? (Bukhaari) Understanding this hadeeth, it shows us that the Prophet did hear him however he ignored him in order to teach him proper manners. Tenth affair: Having manners in the way you ask a question to the shaykh or teacher. We see in some of the circles of knowledge and we hear some of the students asking a question and he makes it blatantly clear in his asking the question exactly how smart he is, that he knows the answer. But he will ask the shaykh or teacher to try to test the shaykhs level or to try to stump the shaykh. Or just to show the level of his own knowledge. It should be recognized that the questioner when he asked these type of questions will hint that he knows the answer, so when one does this, he shows bad manners in the way he asks the question and by intending to ask a question to test the level of shaykh or stump the shaykh and get him to say I dont know. And he has bad manners with Allaah because this shows that he has bad intentions. And some of the people dont intend to ask a question with bad manners, but he doesnt apply the etiquettes of knowledge. For the ones who did this, the Salaf would reprimand them or strike them. For Adh-Dhahabi has mentioned in As-Seer, Imaam Maalik was in one of his study circle teaching and then he was asked about a particular affair in fiqh so he gave the answer that Zayd bin Thaabit gave to this issue. So Ismaeel ibnu Bint (?) stated, And what did Ali say about this issue and what did Ibn Masood say about this issue? So Imaam Malik brought him to the side. Imaam Maalik stated, And some people came to me and they asked me, What should we do with his books and what should we do with his ink well? And he (Imaam Maalik) said, Take it from him and be easy. So they brought him to me and I said to him, Where are you from? He said, I am from Kufaa (iraq). So Imaam Maalik said, Where did you leave your manners? He said, I only mentioned this to you, just to bring about more benefit. So then Imaam Maalik stated, As for Ali and Abdullaah (bin Masood), no one denies their virtue, however, the people of our land, they are upon the statement of Zayd bin Thaabit. And if you mention this issue to the people, they are not aware of the issue and this might be reason for them become confused in this issue. So a person may say, is it not appropriate that we debate one another about the issues of knowledge? And so you say, yes, but we uphold the proper manners particularly if we are doing this with a shaykh, for debating with him, with their teacher, it has manners that are appropriate to enact. And it may cause you to be inclined to ask a question that you know the answer to in order to show off or to stump your teacher and the likes of this.
This type of display is haraam concerning the affairs of knowledge. Particularly if you are debating with someone who is more knowledgeable than you. And all the while when you do this, you are going too far with your questions. And also from the likes of this, Imaam AdhDhahabi in As-Seer, stated about Shubitoon, a scholar of Anduloos, he was in a study circle teaching and a piece of paper was brought to him. A person of authority was asking about the two plates on the scale: Should they be made of gold or silver? So he folded a piece of paper and wrote, He sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, stated, From the perfection of a persons Islaam is leaving off that which does not concern him. And the Salaf would reprimand the person who would ask about things that did not yet occur. And they would say, Leave us and dont ask about these things until they occur and only ask about those things that have occurred. The ruling on an issue is relative to how it is stated. *** The eleventh affair that will assist a person in benefiting from the circles of knowledge: Taking benefit from the character of the shaykh, taking benefit from the manners of the teacher A person may say, Should I attend the study circles of this particular shaykh since when I do attend I am only able to understand a small portion of what is being conveyed? It is said to this individual, You should attend. For the goal in attending the circles of knowledge is not only the benefit you receive from the knowledge itself. Rather, you can look and examine the character of the shaykh and you can emulate him. For surely Imam As-Sadhaanee and other than him, they have mentioned the study circles of Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal, raheemahullaah. 5,000 would attend his study circles and it was said about his study circles, that only 500 of that 5,000 would be taking notes. And the rest of them would be taking benefit from his disposition, from his character and from his manners. And Abu Bakr al-Mutawwiee stated, I attended the study circles of Abu Abdillaah (Ahmad bin Hanbal), while he was reading Al-Musnad to his children for twelve years, and I did not record anything. I only examined his manners and his character. Brother Aqil Ingram stated: Our first year in Madinah, the first shaykh that we sat with and we were stringent in our sitting with him was Shaykh Alee bin Naasir Al-Faqeeh. And at that time we were not able to understand the Arabic language or speak it. But we were familiar with some of the texts. But we werent able to get much benefit from what the shaykh was saying. But we sat anyway to examine his manners and character. To examine how he sits, his tone when he speaks, how he deals with the people. And walaahil hamd, we benefited much from the shaykh. Imaam As-Sadhaan continues: So like this, attending the lessons, study circles, is not only so a person can obtain knowledge and comprehend everything that is said, rather it is upon him to benefit from every single thing, even some of the students of knowledge who are attending the study circle with him, for it is possible you may be affected by their good character as well. Wallaahi, that I know a young man who was young in his years but if a person were to visit him to examine him, research with him, listen to him, you would see from him amazing character, lofty manners, and a good disposition, to the point that it will envelope you. And it is appropriate for the student of knowledge to not defer from visiting
the scholars, for the benefit of this will return back to the individual who is seeking the knowledge. Moreover this is something that is from the character of the student of knowledge with his teachers. We should visit our teachers. Because after Allaah aza wa jaal, our teachers are the reason for us being educated. Even if these individuals are not your teachers specifically. Just because you know that they are from the ulamaa, you should understand that they have a right over you that you visit them when they are healthy and when they are sick. And you follow their funeral processions when they pass. And how could a student of knowledge or one seeking knowledge not visit the mashaykh, his teachers who are benefiting him and others. He should rush to visit them and check in on them. He should rush to take anything he can from their virtue and he should not stop visiting them for an individual may find that there are people that are more virtuous, more righteous than him that will visit his own teacher. And there has come in the biography of Husayn bin Al-Fadl, one of the aimmah of the religion, that when he had gotten older and he had a lot of years under his belt a big student of knowledge walked by him (without speaking to him) and he had a large group with him and Husayn bin Al-Fadl raised his eyebrows at this. And he said, Who are these people? And it was said, Thats so-and-so. And he (Husayn bin Al-Fadl) said, SubhaanAllaah, (voice was inaudible)our imperfections. After we have been visited in this very home by the likes of Ishaaq bin and Muhammad bin (two major scholars of the Salaf)) and then so-and-so and so-and-so passes by and he cannot give us the salaams? Reading: I am going to mention to you a number of affairs concerning reading. The first affair: Reading the books that will encourage you to seek knowledge. So when a person begins his quest to seeking knowledge it is imperative that he has certain things that will strengthen his resolve and his determination and after the success of Allaah, and then by reading the legislative texts concerning this issue, there is nothing more virtuous than what has been conveyed about the Salaf-us-Saalih concerning those narrations which give us a glimpse into their lives and shows us their zeal in seeking knowledge. So reading these types of books will make a person see that seeking knowledge is of the utmost importance so that he deems knowledge to be the most important thing in his life and at the same time reading these books about the Salaf it will cause us to become less impressed with our own selves. So a person may become amazed of his own self if he reads a certain book and he completes it, however if he reads the biographies of the ulamaa, if he reads the books concerning seeking knowledge he will find therein many examples of the levels of the scholars that we are very far away from and then his amazement of his own self will vanish and at the same time this will be an encouragement for him to traverse upon the path that those before him were upon and reach their level. And there are many books that explain the methodology of seeking knowledge and how we can benefit from seeking knowledge. From those in English: Book of Knowledge (Kitaabul-'Ilm) Imaam Muhammad bin Saalih Al-Uthaymeen The Beautification of the Student of Knowledge (or Etiquettes of Seeking Knowledge) Bakr bin Abdillaah Abu Zayd The Manners of the Scholar and the Student of Knowledge Saleem Al-Hilaali If one does not apply these etiquettes of seeking knowledge, one will not obtain the true benefit of seeking knowledge.
Statement of one of the imams of the past: Knowledge without manners is like a fire without firewood. And manners without knowledge is like a soul without a body. The second affair that will assist the person in his reading: Reading the biographies of some of the scholars. I advise all of my brothers (and sisters) to take the time out even if it is only a short period of time and read the books where they have biographies. You will find therein that which will bring tranquility to the soul and at the same time you will also find beneficial knowledge. The third affair concerning reading: Recording the benefits you have obtained from a book on the inside cover of a book. Open any book and you will see white pages in the beginning. These are some of the most important pages of a book. What you do with these pages as you are reading through the book, whatever benefit you come across (an aayah, hadeeth, quote, etc.) you can create your own table of contents on these white pages. And you mention enough of it so that you will know what it is when going back to that page. And this is something that has been experienced and we have already spoken about it. SubhaanAllaah if you do this you will be able to turn a book that is 200 pages, into 2 or 3 or 4 pages. This is something that saves an immense amount of time. And it causes you to retain more and truly understand what you are reading. The fourth affair: Gathering all of these benefits when you have finished a number of books. Think about any one book you have read. If you were to record all of the benefit from that book, just one book, how much benefit would you obtain if you recorded all the info. Then you do this with 2 or 3 books. After this, you record all the benefits in a separate notebook with their sources. Only a short period will pass before you see yourself increasing in knowledge. The fifth affair: Reading about certain issues just before their time comes to pass. For examples: Just before the month of Ramadaan, put aside some free time before this month, even if its just a month before to be reading the books on fasting, listening to tapes on fasting. If you can attend lessons on these topics and pay attention to whatever it is you are reading or listening to. Likewise do this before an eclipse comes. So before these events come to pass, you will find your soul is at ease. And you will be knowledgeable about most religious verdicts on these issues. The sixth affair: Purchasing books on specific fiqh issues. Perhaps it may be a book that only deals with witr and the rulings concerning witr, or rulings on making itikaaf. The likes of these books even if they are small, if you dont obtain any benefit from them except that it puts things in order, this will be sufficient and you will be familiar with the affairs surrounding these issues. The seventh affair: Striving to understand the books you are reading, even if you need
to read it over again once or twice. If one of us is reading a book and then you find you dont understand a page or two, thats not sufficient, you cannot keep reading. You have to be able to fully understand the entire book. And it wont do you any harm if you go back and read the book another time. As was the case of Al-Miznee. He read the book Ar-Risaalah of Imaam Ash-Shafiee 50 times. The eighth affair: Choosing appropriate times for reading. And the people concerning this, everyone is different. And in any case give yourself a specific time for reading where you find yourself at ease. You have tranquility so that you can read. The ninth affair: If one if us purchases a book, particularly if the book has several volumes, you must flip through the book. For sometimes you will find in some books, that some of the pages are completely blank and other times you may find another book inside of the book you bought. Or the volume number that is written on the book may be different from the volume that the book actually is. And the likes of these things. [Recapping what the shaykh said earlier: When you first purchase a book, you should look at the title and the author of the book. And you may want to read the back of the book as well. Then you go to the table of contents and read it. So you can familiarize yourself with what the book is actually speaking about, because sometimes the title of the book can be deceiving. Then if you have more time, read some of the intro and then flip through the book and read some portions of the book here and there. And this also aids you if you are familiarized with the book, if you have to research a particular topic, you will know what books you can go to.] *** And now I am going to mention to you two important affairs in your quest for knowledge: The first affair: How do you begin seeking knowledge? There is no doubt that the student of knowledge or the one who desires to seek knowledge having high-aiming ambition is desired however, this high-aiming ambition could decline or become weak or become deficient. It could even possibly die in totality if a person traverses the incorrect path. So if a person knows the path and he knows how to travel upon the path then he will reap many succulent fruits. And some of the students of knowledge and some of the people who seek knowledge, they fall into error by taking on more than they can handle. So because of these things, hes not able to achieve his goals and he may end up achieving the opposite of what he originally desired. And our Salaf have laid out signposts for us along the path so whoever travels in the light of their signposts will be successful. As for the individual who hastily tries to bring something forth before its time, he will be punished by being prevented from achieving his goal. So how many of these students of knowledge are there (those who hastily try to bring something forth before its time)? How many of these students are in the circles of knowledge and only a short period of time passes before you begin to see a short change. And then he leaves off seeking knowledge in totality. And the reason for this is that he has traversed upon the path that once embarking upon it, you cant
stop, except for some particular affairs that may make it incumbent for you to stop. And I will give you some examples to clarify what I have just said to you. Note from Aqil Ingram: Imaam Ahmed stated, From the inkwell to the grave. This is how we are to be in seeking knowledge. And we must understand that knowledge in Islaam is not just something virtuous, something voluntary or extra. But rather the deen is ilm, the religion is knowledge. And once you understand this, you realize that you are in need of knowledge to practice the religion properly. Knowledge in this religion is necessary and it (the religion) cannot be practiced properly without knowledge. Once we truly understand this, we will give knowledge and the people of knowledge their proper status, those who call to the religion upon baseerah, clear evidence. Abu Jafar has stated: I entered upon Aboo Abdillaah and I said to him, Can I make wudoo with lime water? He said, I dont like that. Then I said, Can I make wudoo with the water of baqalaa? And he said, I dont like that either. So I said to him, Can I make wudoo with rose water? He said, I dont like that either. So I got up and he latched onto my thobe. Then he said to me, What do you say when you come into the masjid? Then I was silent. Then he said, What do you say when you exit out of the masjid? Then I was silent again. So he said, Then go and learn this. Meaning, this person is asking about very intricate things when he didnt have knowledge of those affairs more important than that. And a man came and he was a noble man and he had a large beard. So this man, he came to the study circles of Amash. And he asked them about a very simplistic issue of the prayer. So the one who narrated the story said, So Amash turned to us and said, Look at him. His beard looks as though he memorized 4,000 ahadeeth and the question that he asked is on a kindergarten level. So this individual tried to ask about and delve deeply into a specific affair and he left off the things that are more important than that. And this is a characteristic that is not becoming of the student of knowledge. Ibnu Jurayj entered and came to the sitting of Ataa bin Asad in the beginning of his quest for knowledge and he was in the sitting of Abu Umayr, one of the aimmah, one of the great imaams. And he (Ataa bin Asad) said to him (Ibnu Jurayj), Have you read the Quraan? (Note: And understand that when the scholars of the past say Qaraa, it means to both read and memorize) So I (Ibnu Jurayj)) said No. So he (Ataa bin Asad) said to me, Go and read this. Go and memorize this. And after this, go and seek knowledge. So I left and I was gone for a period of time until I had memorized the Quraan. Then I went back to Ataa and Abdullah was with him and he said, Have you read and memorized the obligations of Islaam? I said, No. So he said to me, Go and read the things that are obligatory first and then seek knowledge. So I went and sought knowledge of those things that are obligatory and I went back to him and he said, Now you can seek knowledge. So I stayed with Ataa seeking knowledge with him for 17 years. This is the methodology of seeking knowledge. First, memorizing the Quraan, then learning those things that are obligatory upon us and then once we have done this, we can delve off into different areas of Islaam. So this indicates to us the first things that are needed for a person to seek knowledge properly. And Imaam Ibnu Wahhab(?) came to Maalik bin Anas (one of the four imaams of fiqh
who died 179 AH) and said to him, What do you say about seeking knowledge? So he (Imaam Maalik) said, This is superb and its beautiful, but examine those things that you always come across from the morning to the night and stick to that. So Shaykh As-Sadhaan states: And due to this some of the students of knowledge if you mention some things to him he may think that you are trying to belittle him and debase him. And there is no doubt that this is one of the plots of the Shaytaan. Is it not becoming of the student of knowledge to be aware of things that pass them by every single day and every single night before seeking knowledge of more intricate affairs. There are some smaller books that I advise a person to utilize in the beginning of his quest for knowledge. The first book he mentions: Zaadul Muslim Al-Yawmee (The Daily Provisions of the Muslim) by Shaykh Abdullah bin Jaadilah. The second book: Imaam An-Nawawees 40 Hadeeth. And the author of this book has compiled 42 ahadeeth and these ahadeeth cover issues of creed and worship and the ahadeeth therein are either saheeh or hasan. (Note: This book is extremely important and it is the first book that is memorized and studied in the science of hadeeth. And this book, it covers issues of creed, worship, zuhd, fiqh, minhaaj, adab, etc. This book actually covers the entire of the religion and gives you a foundation in the entire of the religion. And this is what Imaam AnNawawee intended to do with compiling this book and Allaah blessed him in being able to do so.) The third book: Kitaabut-Tawheed (The Book of Tawheed) by Shaykhul Islaam Muhammad bin Abdil-Wahhaab. And this is another book that has to be memorized. And if you have along with this book the footnotes of Shaykh Ibnul Qaasim it will be beneficial. And this book is one that is often utilized so there are many explanations and footnotes to this book. But the footnotes of Ibnul Qaasim may be from the best because he has summarized and gathered many foundational quotations and brought many valuable benefits. And there is another explanation that has been authored by my shaykh (the shaykh of Shaykh AsSadhaan) Abdullah bin Jaadilah (Al-Jaamiul-Fareed) and it has some distinguishing characteristics, as his explanation of the book is set up in a question and answer format. And most of the students of knowledge, its easy for them to read a book set up in question and answer format. Some people may not fully understand an issue, but if they read that issue, see a question asked, and see the answer. And then they repeat this process 2 or 3 times, this methodology will allow them to firmly understand and it will be firmly implanted in their mind. The fourth book: Al-Aqeedatul Waasitiyyah by Shaykhul Islaam Ibnu Taymiyyah. (Note: He authored this book between asr and maghrib. There was a man from a region called Waasit and he came to Ibnu Taymiyyah and asked him to write a treatise that included the complete beliefs of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaah. So Ibnu Taymiyyah sat down and wrote it off the top of his head between asr and maghrib) And you should utilize the explanation of Shaykh Saalih Al-Fawzaan. And the shaykh has explained this book in a summarized format but he brings a plethora of benefit in explaining this book. And this explanation is distinguished by the simple language he utilizes in explaining the book. The fifth book: Sifatus-Salaat An-Nabee (The Prophets Prayer Described), both the
one by Shaykh bin Baaz and the one by Shaykh Al-Albaani, raheemahumullaah. The sixth book: Sifatul-Wudoo An-Nabee (The Prophets Wudoo Described) by Fahad Ash-Shuayb. And the author of this book has gathered the description of the Prophets wudoo from individual books of salaat and then explained it in a fashion by which it is easy for a student of knowledge to understand and benefit. And it is very beneficial. And I have mentioned this book because you will see the people do things that are in direct opposition to the Sunnah of the wudoo. And also connected to this is what Ibnul Ammaad Al-Hanbaali has mentioned in Shabarat Adh-Dhahab (?) that Ibnul Hajar Al-Asqalaani (who died 852 AH. Author of Fathul Baari, the most expansive explanation of Saheehul-Bukhaari) has mentioned that one of the people of knowledge, he had the nickname Shaykhul-Mutaahir (The Shaykh of Purification or The Shaykh of Wudoo). And he placed himself in a position where he would stand at the place that people would make wudoo and he would examine the people make wudoo. And he would say, This person got it correct and This person did it incorrect and This person needs to correct this. Until he got the name Shaykhul Mutaahir. The next book is Riyadus-Saaliheen (Guidance for the Righteous) by Imaam AnNawawee. This book, some of us only know it as a book that is read after Salaatul-Asr (In some of the Muslim lands, it is the custom of the imaam to read from Riyadus-Saaliheen after Salaatul-Asr). The reality is that this book encompasses an immense abundance of good. Particularly if a person is able to read its explanation. And it has many explanations, from them those that are lengthy, such as A Guide for the Successful by Ibnul Halaan or from the contemporary scholars, Nuzhatul Muttaqeen. Then lastly we have found this book has been explained by Shaykh Uthaymeen, may Allaah reward him. And his explanation has a lot of good in it and his language is very easy to comprehend. In any regard, this book, if you were just to read the table of contents before reading the book. And you followed the table of contents chapter by chapter, it would amaze you. And I am sure that there is no home except that this book is present. But how many of is have actually read it? This is the intent. And in any regard, if a person has to give himself a particular portion of his day and dedicate it to simply reading one chapter of this book a day, you will recognize the fact that you will obtain a lot of benefit from doing this. But the museeba (calamity) is that many of us leave off these types of books and hold on to other books in which there may be only a tenth of the benefit of books such as Riyadus-Saaliheen. In many of the chapters, he will give you the verses that apply to that particular topic. Then after the verses he will give you the ahadeeth that pertain to that particular topic. And these ahadeeth have been checked by Al-Albaani and other scholars of ahadeeth. *** The student of knowledge has to realize that the most important thing for him is to stay upon the path of seeking knowledge and stay upon those things that will benefit him. As we mentioned, the student has to memorize the Quraan, and memorize the books mentioned previously of ahadeeth, fiqh, aqeedah, etc. This is what is most important and not necessarily following the mistakes of so-and-so. Sometimes people get so involved in these affairs (i.e. this person is upon the correct minhaaj, this person is not upon the correct minhaaj, etc.) to the point that it will take them away from seeking knowledge and this (the state of other people's manaahij, etc.) becomes their seeking knowledge and so they are taken away from memorizing the Quraan, knowing how to make salaat and make wudoo properly. These things have their place, but we should not take them out of their place. So, if we hear that a
scholar has spoken against someone or has stated that someone has some issues in their minhaaj or in their aqeedah, then we listen to this, we take it for what it is, and then we get back to seeking knowledge (i.e. we dont dwell on it). Because whether or not someone has issues or a scholar has spoken against someone, you still are going to have to wake up in the morning and make fajr (i.e. there are more important things that are from those actions and affairs which it is an obligation upon us to have knowledge of in order to properly and completely practice our deen). *** Two important affairs for the student of knowledge The first: Beginning your quest. Mentioned a number of books for the student of knowledge. Last book mentioned was Riyaadus-Saaliheen. Shaykh As-Sadhaan continues: The next book is a book concerning hadeeth terminology. This book, I studied it myself when I was in the knowledge-based (academic) institutes and it is a book Mustalahul-Hadeeth by Shaykh Al-Uthaymeen. His style is a summarized style of writing. And some of us belittle books that we studied while we were in school and leave off these books. This is due to either being lazy or due to ignorance. For these books that we have studied and the lessons we have studied when in school, they are not from the distortions that have been made concerning the Tawrah and Injeel. Rather, the principles are extracted from the Quraan and Sunnah. And whoever has studied in the legislative faculties in those areas where Islaamic knowledge is disseminated then this person will recall that we have studied many knowledge-based topics therein. And many people feel remorse since they have not reviewed what they have studied in university. And if a person were to just look over that which we studied while in these Islaamic universities, you will find something amazing. You swill see how much you have left off of your studies and how you have not taken advantage of the benefit in its totality. The students, they used to go to these schools and universities every day except for Thursday and Friday. They would go to academic institutes and schools and colleges in order to seek and hear knowledge every day for close to six hours a day. Where has this knowledge gone? This book (Mustalahul-Hadeeth) was studied by the students in their second year of high school in the academic institutes. And this book is comprehensive and the beginning student can understand it. And we say this examining the easy style that the shaykh has utilized and the shaykh speaks on a level that is appropriate for the beginning student of knowledge. And if we connect to this the book, the book Al-Bayquniyyah (by Al-Hasan). And it is a book of about 34 verses of poetry that gives you your beginning of understanding hadeeth terminology (i.e. What exactly is a hadeeth saheeh? What are the conditions that declare a hadeeth saheeh? And other than this). This book here, its a good book because its poetry and many of the people, its easier for them to memorize poetry than straight speech. And that is because of the rhythm and rhyming. And it can make it easy to be memorized. So the book, it has been explained many times over so when the student of knowledge memorizes this book and then he reads after it the book of Shaykh Al-Uthaymeen on hadeeth terminology, many of the affairs of hadeeth terminology will become clear to him.
Next book: Al Usool Min Ilmil-Usool (The Fundamentals Concerning the Knowledge of Principles of Fiqh) This book was studied in the academic institutes and it was explained by Imaam Al-Uthaymeen. And he utilizes a very easy style which is easy to comprehend. And lastly: The books of fataawa, such as that of Ibn Baaz, and Uthaymeen, and Jibreen, and Al-Fawzaan, may Allaah preserve them both. Im not saying these books in order to restrict who we take fataawa from. Ive only mentioned these four individuals because their fataawa are the best to be utilized for the beginning student of knowledge. And if you want these fataawa to settle firmly in your mind you should read the question, then wait. Dont read the answer until you bring forth all the knowledge you have on the issue. And answer the question and try to bring forth all the knowledge you have on this issue. There is no sin on you for doing this. By this method, you will come to know the answer to those questions. And I advised some of our beloved brothers who wanted to seek knowledge with this, I told them to read the fataawa. So they took the fataawa of Shaykh Ibn Baaz and they utilized that which was printed by the Dawah Foundation. So one from them would read the question and then everyone would respond according to the knowledge they have. And no one was sinning because this was not the place for actually giving a fatwa. But rather it was in order to extract whatever knowledge was within the fatwa. And then the one who read the question he read the answer. So when the student of knowledge hears the answer, then the answer will be firmly planted and rooted in your mind. And these fataawa, they are easy to understand because in truth we all live in one community and we live amongst the people who their problems are redundant. And many times they ask the same questions for the same problems. And its amazing you will find the repetition of particular questions, even tens of time. And it will be asked over and over again due to the people being tested with the same thing repeatedly. And you will find the people unable to give the answer. So stick to these fataawa especially those that have the evidences within the answers. So these are some important books we should strive to collect and read. Second important affair for the student of knowledge: Taking some examples that will strengthen your ambition. Im going to mention these examples because they will assist you in abandoning falling into despair and giving up hope and belittling your own self. Because some people despair, give up hope, and belittle themselves. We have mentioned this previously. So it is upon a person to often read the biographies of the Salaf. And there is an immense benefit inside of them. So that you know what the human soul can actually achieve and it can strengthen your zeal and ambition. For surely Allaah has given you intellect. So for this reason, do not belittle anything from the good at all. For, some of the people, they were encouraged and their ambition was strengthened by simply one word or one statement. And this one word or statement would cause them to carry out many actions and hard tasks. And I will give you three examples of this: Examples that will strengthen your ambition: First: The book of Al-Bukhaari (died in 256 AH), Jamia Saheeh or Saheeh Al-Bukhaari. The most authentic book in Islaam after the Noble Quraan. This book is a book, that if you were to take any one man, any one narrator for any of the narrations, you already know he will be trustworthy. If a person says it has been collected by Bukhaari, a person rejoices and feels serenity from hearing this. And the reason behind Bukhaari authoring this book, it was one statement that was made in one sitting, one statement that fell upon the ears of Bukhaari and this book raised Bukhaari to an extremely high level. And the most famous reason for his
authoring this book is, he was in the study circle of Ishaaq bin Rahaway. And he (Ishaaq) stated, If one of you would collect a book that had the authentic statements of the Sunnah of the Messenger. This is all Ishaaq said and this affected Bukhaaris soul so he authored this tremendous book that became the most authentic book of the Sunnah in the most restricted sense. Next, the example of Imaam Adh-Dhahabi (d. 740 AH), this imaam who had an outstanding personality, this imaam who As-Subqee stated about him, As for our teacher Abu Abdillaah, he had deep insight and he did not have any equals. He was a treasure chest that was a sanctuary for the people when a dilemma would occur. He was the imaam in his memorization, when compared to the people present in his time. And he was the gold of that time, in word and meaning. The shaykh of the science of criticizing and praising men. He was a mans man in every aspect of the word. It was as though the Ummah was gathered for him in one area and he was able to look at them and examine them. Then, he would begin to explain and inform about the intricate matters of each individual who was present. The reason he sought knowledge of hadeeth was one statement. He stated about himself that Al-Imaam Al-Barzaali, when he looked at his handwriting he said to him, Your handwriting looks like the handwriting of the muhadditheen. Imaam Adh-Dhahabee stated about himself, So after that Allaah granted me love for the knowledge of ahadeeth. To the point that he authored many books, including the tremendous book Seer Aalam An-Nubula. Look at how one sentence affected Imaam Adh-Dhahabee. He became amongst the imaams of hadeeth and one of the people who had such knowledge of hadeeth he could criticize people regarding ahadeeth. Muhammad bin Nasr in his book, An Abridgment of the Book Qiyaamul-Layl, he mentions Silah bin Ashyam. Silah would go to a place to worship and he would pass by a group of boys and they were involved in idle talk and jesting and he would say to them, Tell me about a people who they want to travel but during the day they are resting on the side of the road and they sleep through the night. So how can they reach their destination? And this was the case that he would pass by these young boys and say this. So he passed by them one day and he made this statement to them. And one of the young boys paid attention and stated, O my people, by Allaah, that he is not talking about anyone other than us. During the daytime we are just involved in idle talk and vain speech. In the night we are asleep. After this, this young boy began to follow Silah bin Ashyam. And he did not leave his company. He would go out to the area where he worshipped and worship with him until he died. So therefore, do not belittle from the good at all. You might be reading a small book or youre present at the study circle of a small student of knowledge and you hear him say something that profoundly affects your soul to the point that you cannot describe how it has affected you. After these three examples, I would like to mention to you some examples of the ambition that the scholars have had so that it can strengthen your ambition and purify your souls. *** Last week we ended taking some examples of the people of the past and how some of them, one statement ignited their ambition to seek the knowledge. So we took the statements and stories about Al-Bukhaari and Imaam Adh-Dhahabee and Silah bin Ashyam. And now we are going to look at some more stories to show us the ambition and the zeal of the scholars and
the efforts they would put forth to obtain knowledge. And from the first of the examples is Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah: All of us know him and it has been mentioned concerning him, concerning the strength of his ambitions, that if he wanted to comprehend a particular issue, he would not be satisfied until he reached his aim of understanding that particular issue, for he has mentioned concerning himself at the end of his tafseer of Sooratan-Noor, he stated, Surely all of the verses of the Quraan that deal with Allaahs Attributes, the Companions of the Messenger of Allaah did not differ in understanding any of those Attributes of Allaah. I have read the different books of tafseer that mention the statements of the Companions and what has been collected concerning the hadeeth of the tafseer of the Quraan. And I have read and come across by the Will of Allaah, The Exalted, large expansive books and shorter books, and more than 100 books of tafseer. And I have not found, until this very hour of ours, any of the Companions distorting the meaning of the verses and ahadeeth that mention Allaahs Attributes. And I have not seen one of them explaining it in any other fashion other than that which is well known to us. And this is Ibn Taymiyyah. This was his zeal and his drive in order to understand this one issue. In order to be sure that the Companions were unified with regards to the issue of taweel, of distorting Allaahs Names and Attributes. He went over 100 books to make sure the Companions were unified in this. And we have the imaam, Abu Jafar Muhammad bin Jareer At-Tabari. And Imaam At-Tabari, he has authored the most expansive book of tafseer that is known to man. The affair of this man is amazing. If we were to divide the number of pages that he wrote throughout his entire life from the time he was born then you will find that the average of his writing every day would equate to 60 pages or more that he wrote per day. And this is something that is amazing. And his students, they had indicated to him that they wanted him to write a book of tareekh (history) and a book of tafseer of the Qur'aan. And in each case, each time, he ordered them to bring him 30,000 pages so he could write a summarized tafseer of the Quraan and a summarized history of Islaam. So the students said to him, There are people who are falling short of the mark trying to achieve less than this. So then he said to them, having a dislike for this statement of theirs, Allaahu Akbar, the peoples zeal for the knowledge has died. So just give me 3,000 pages. And these 3,000 pages that were given to him became the tafseer of At-Tabari that we know today and the tareekh of At-Tabari that we know today. And Imaan An-Nawawi, at the time of his death, he was close to 45 years old. And he has writings that he has authored that are close to 20 volumes or more. And he only died at the age of 45. And along with this, he would attend twelve lessons every day with different scholars, and from the works he has authored, are the explanation of Saheeh Muslim, and the book Al-Majmoo. And this book Al-Majmoo with the Shafiiyyah is like Al-Mughni is to the Hanaabilah. Note: Imam An-Nawawi was Shafiee in his fiqh. And those who utilize the Hanbali madhhaab to understand fiqh, there is certain books they study at different levels. And the book AlMughni is the highest level of studying fiqh and it is a book comprised of 15 large volumes. So this Al-Majmoo is from the highest levels of studying Shafiee fiqh, and Imaam AnNawawi had a hand in this. So he wrote many books, not to mention the small books he wrote, such as the biography of the Messenger of Allaah, and The Etiquettes of Carrying the Quraan, and Riyaadus-Saaliheen, and Al-Adhkar, and the 40 Ahadeeth. May Allaah extend His mercy upon him.
And since we mentioned the book Al-Majmoo, this book, many people of knowledge today refer to this book since it the book of fiqh that is famous and very comprehensive and you find the people mentioning, Imam An-Nawawi said this and Imaam An-Nawawi said that. And some people may think that this entire book was authored by Imaam An-Nawawi, but the book had three authors: Imaam An-Nawawi, As-Subqee, and Al-Muteeee. There are three authors to the book Al-Majmoo, for Imaam An-Nawawi was explaining the book AlMuhadh-dham of Shiraazee. And if we would like to speak about a book, it is obligatory that we give everyone their proper dues. So for this reason we have to mention that this book is split into three categories. So this is Imam An-Nawawi on his zeal and drive to spread the deen. And this is the Imaam Al-Haafidh Abu Fadl Ibnul Haajar Al-Asqalaani, the author of the book Fathul Baari, the explanation of Saheeh Al-Bukhaari. And Fathul Baari is the biggest and broadest explanation of Saheehul Bukhaari that exists today and it is the most famous. And this book as well is 15 large volumes. And this book, Al-Bukhaari being in need of an explanation, the Ummah was in debt to Saheeh Al-Bukhaari, until Al-Haafidh came along and explained this book. Ibnul Qoodoon, he states, An explanation to Al-Bukhaari, the Ummah is in debt to Saheeh Al-Bukhaari until this very time, meaning they were in need of an explanation to Saheehul Bukhaari. Abu Khair mentions, If Ibnul Qoodoon, if he was able to see the explanation of Ibnul Haajar for Al-Bukhaari, his eyes would have been cooled (meaning he would have been satisfied) and he would have known that the debt that the Ummah had was fulfilled. And this imaam has authored tens of books and with all of these books he still found the time to teach the people, give fataaawa and admonition to the people. And he had extremely high ambitions in seeking the knowledge and spreading it to the point that he mentioned about himself and about the hadeeth, the actions are based upon their intentions, that he searched for the different narrations of this hadeeth in more than 100 books. And it was mentioned about him that he read the book Al-Mujim, that he sat down and read the entire book between dhuhr and asr. And this is a very difficult task to read a book of this size. But this was because of his ambition and drive that he had to achieve this knowledge. And because of this he benefited from the knowledge after Allaah granted him success. And this is the imaam, the noble imaam, Muhammah bin Shihaab Az-Zuhri, and this name Az-Zuhri is an ascription to the tribe of Bani Zuhraa. And Ibnul Haajar mentioned about him, His nobility and his precision is agreed upon. And Shaykh Muqbil bin Haadi AlWaadiee mentions that Ibnul Haajar was correct in his wording and he chose the best wording to describe him (Az-Zuhri) here, since Al-Haafidh (Ibnul Haajar) has defended Ibnu Shihaab and deflected any (phone disconnected). And this is Imaam Az-Zuhri and it was said about him that he would go to the old and feeble and the children, asking them about affairs of knowledge, trying to find any knowledge that they had until he obtained a large portion of the knowledge. And this is Abu Aalaa Al-Hasan bin Ahmad. And Abul Fadl stated, After dhuhr, Abu Aalaa was in one of the masaajid in Baghdaad (Iraq) and he was writing and he was standing
on his feet writing because the lamp that he was using to see with was very high so he needed to stand to see what he was writing. And Shaykh As-Sadhaan states: This level of ambition and striving for the knowledge is amazing. And because of the efforts of Abul Aalaa, he became one of the famous scholars of Islaam and this knowledge didnt come to him through wishful thinking or sitting and looking pretty, but rather it is something that firmly settles into the hearts and is substantiated by the tongue and actions. And this is the scholar of hadeeth of Baghdaad (still speaking of Abul Aalaa?) and from the examples of his strong ambition is that he would copy by hand many large books of knowledge, for he wrote by hand the book At-Tabaqat of Ibn Sad and the book Tareekh AlBaghdaad. And if we were to try to achieve this, this would be something that would be difficult for us if we were able to do it at all. So, many of us would not be able to carry weight such as this. So what about this individual who did this? And Al-Miznee, he read the book Ar-Risaalah dealing with the fundamental principles of fiqh by Ash-Shafiee. He read this book 50 times. And Abdullaah bin Muhammad, the faqeeh of Iraaq, he read the book Al-Mughni 23 times. And this is Al-Harr bin Abdur-Rahman and he states about himself, I sought out knowledge of how to make iraab of the Quraan, how to grammatically understand every word of the Quraan, for 40 years. So these men, their ambition was as large as the mountains. They did not allow their desires to overcome them, they did not allow rest and soft couches to get in the way of their ambitions, they did not allow ease and rest to get in the way of their ambitions. But rather as it is stated, From the inkwell to the grave (they seek knowledge). And this is how we should be. And Ibraheem Al-Harbee, Abul-Abbaas Salab stated concerning him, I did not see him absent in a lesson of Arabic grammar or a lesson of Arabic language for more than 50 years. Fifty years and Ibraheem Al-Harbee was going back and forth sitting in the circles of knowledge until he reached level of knowledge and matured until his peers stated about him that he was like Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal. *** From the section entitled, "How the Student of Knowledge Should be with Himself" Shaykh As-Sadhaan states: From the most beneficial affairs for you to become aware of are your deficiencies and your errors that may be hidden from you. And after that, finding the cures or the correct treatment for those deficiencies and errors, after Allaah granting you success, is the servant taking his own self to account. This is one of the most beneficial things that can allow a person to recognize his own faults and errors that may otherwise be hidden from him or her. And the person taking his own self to account will aid that person in correcting those deficiencies and errors. And also, along with taking your own self into account, is not utilizing weak excuses to justify your errors. This is because, when a person utilizes weak excuses to justify ones errors, this is something that will increase a person in
his errors and make him more fortified in his errors. It may even reach the point with these errors that a person may justify it to the point that they think they are right. And this is an enormous calamity. And based upon this, it is appropriate for the student of knowledge to take his own self to account in truth and constantly place this in front of your eyes, meaning, make this part of your normal routine to take yourself to account. And if you do this, then you will find yourself being successful and being upon an abundance of good. As it is said, A person will not truly have taqwaa until he is more severe on himself in taking himself into account for his own actions then a co-owner would examine a possible business partner. If you were going to go into business with someone, there would be many thing you would want to know about that person so that a person can be aware of where his clothing and food and drink is coming from. A person will not truly have taqwaa until he takes his own self to account moreso than a person would examine a possible business partner. From those things that will aid an individual in honestly taking himself into account for his actions is that he should choose an appropriate time when he has free time and he will not be preoccupied with the distractions of life. So the further a person is from the things that might distract him, his thoughts, the more he will be able to be in tune with his feelings and emotions. And when you find time like this, you will find that your soul will be more receptive to understanding and being aware of your faults and deficiencies that you need to correct. And Ibnul Qayyim, raheemahullaah, stated, while speaking about some means that can save a person from the punishment of the grave, A man should take a period of time for the sake of Allaah when he lays down to go to sleep. And during this period of time he should take himself to account for those things that he did well in that day and those things that he did not do so well in that day. And after he takes himself into account for this period of time, then he renews his tawbah, he sincerely repents to Allaah for those things that he erred in that day. So he goes to sleep upon that tawbah. Then he (Ibnul-Qayyim), raheemahullaah, stated that a person should do this every night. And some of them have stated, there are three things that will aid an individual in truly understanding himself. And from amongst those things is taking oneself into account when a person goes to lay down upon his bed, fortifying what Ibnul-Qayyim, raheemahullaah, just explained to us. And the Salaf, you will find they were staunch in taking their own selves into account and examining themselves, night and day. And they would do this because they understood the importance of taking this action in making the soul upright and rectifying their affairs. And I am going to convey a narration to you so you can understand the effort and zeal that the Salaf would put forth in examining their own selves and taking themselves into account. Yala Ibn Ubayd stated: We entered upon Ibnu Sooqa. So he said, O my brothers, Im going to say something to you all hoping that it will benefit you. For surely it benefited me. Ataa bin Abi Rabah said to us, Surely, those that came before us, they would consider unnecessary speech to be anything that is not the Book of Allaah or ordering the good or forbidding the evil or speaking about something in a persons life that it is necessary to speak about in order to carry ones life. Do you deny that there are noble angels who record your deeds. And they are on your right and on your left sitting. And there is no one who utters a word except that there are scribes there already ready to
record it. [He is alluding to the aayat or the verses in Soorat Qaaf (50:17-18)]. And are you all not shy for your day to pass you by and those records that have been recorded from you do not have anything from the affairs of the aakhirah, the Hereafter, in it. And from those things that it is appropriate to pay attention to here is an affair that the Shaytaan has been able to delude people concerning it. As to this issue, it is something that takes hold of the people who are furthest away from taking their own selves into account, and it is the peoples praise of a person and extolling a person. A person is praised and extolled until that person will eventually see himself to be perfect or he will think he is very close to perfection due to this praise. So when a person goes this far, this individual no longer accepts the sincere advice of the people, regardless of whether the advice was just or not. And this is a very dangerous door that will lead to a persons loss and that person being forsaken. So the student of knwoledge or the one who would like to acquire knowledge, he should ponder upon this and be very cautious of the perils of this pitfall as it has been stated, The one who is intelligent is the one who truly knows himself. So he is not deluded by the praise of those who do not truly know him. So it is upon this individual to praise Allaah taaalaa every time he sees that he has been granted success or that he has been able to carry his affairs out correctly. And the student of knowledge or the one seeking knowledge or the Muslim in general, he should know that the people extolling him will affect him in one of two ways. Either, the peoples praise of him will push him toward a thing or it will prevent him from a thing. Either it will push him toward the good or it will prevent him from the good. So the peoples praise of him can push that individual toward the good, if the individual truly thanks Allaah taaalaa for the blessings that He has bestowed upon him. And when the people praise him he increases his efforts in striving to obtain Allaahs pleasure. And thereafter he benefits Allaahs servants. And he knows that the peoples praise of him is a glad tiding for the Believer. So when he understands it in this fashion, it brings serenity to his heart and it opens his chest. This is the individual who the peoples praise of him pushes him toward the good. As for the individual who the peoples praise of him keeps him from the good, he is the one who allows this praise to put him on a pedestal. So he feels he should be on the forefront of gatherings. And when this takes place, then he begins to raise his own self above others. And then he begins to have contempt for the people. This feeling of his is one of the greatest factors that will prevent a person from accepting sincere advice. So it is not strange when you find a person puffing himself up when they are being advised about something that they need to correct. Because this individual may view himself to be on a level where he has surpassed the level of criticism so he doesnt accept it. So the servant should be very cautious of falling into the perils of this pitfall. And concerning this, there is an aathar, a narration, that has been conveyed on Aboo Bakr As-Siddeeq, radee Allaahu anhu. And in this narration you find a cure for this disease, this disease of being deluded by the peoples praise of you. And this cure is a successful treatment. And this cure in his statement indicates to us the ikhlass, the sincerity, of Aboo Bakr and the level of his piety. There has come in the khabar, the narration, that a people were praising Aboo Bakr AsSiddeeq, radee Allaahu anhu, so he said, O Allaah, You are more knowledgeable about myself than I am. And I am more knowledgeable about myself than they are. So, O
Allaah, make me better than however they consider me to be. And do not take me to account for the things they say. And forgive me by Your Mercy for the things that they do not have knowledge of. So, examine this, may Allah protect you. Examine these valuable words of Aboo Bakr. See how the person who is praised returns the virtue in that (praise) to Allaah subhaanahu wa taaalaa. And he didnt allow the peoples praise of him to affect himself. Look at how he made this statement out of fear of giving the Shaytaan an opportunity to overcome him. From the things that can aid the servant in being aware of his shortcomings and errors is seeking sincere advice from others, particularly those individuals who know him very well and they have a level knowledge and piety with them. For the advice of these individuals, this is from the most beneficial types of advice for him biidhnillaahu taaalaa, by the permission of Allaah, the Exalted. Due to the knowledge that they have of that person that others do not know. Giving sincere advice to the people that request it from you is something that is legislated, as the Messenger of Allaah stated, The rights that a Muslim has over another Muslim are six. And he mentioned from among them is that when the Muslim seeks your sincere advice you should give him sincere advice. And this hadeeth has been collected in the Saheeh of Muslim. And from those things that will aid an individual in taking himself into account and examining himself is learning form other peoples mistakes. And one benefits from this by being aware of the things that cause the person to fall into that error that he fell into. So if a person is close to doing those things that led to falling into that error, then he becomes cautious of those things. And if these things are very far from him, then he is still cautious of these things so that he will not fall into them. So we take benefit from what we have previously stated, several things that will aid an individual in honestly taking himself into account. Firstly: Truly and honestly supplicating to Allaah, the Exalted. Secondly: That you strive with all your level best to free yourself from distractions when you take yourself to account. Thirdly: Accepting the advice of the people when their advice is correct. Fourthly: Seeking sincere advice from the people of knowledge and the people who are righteous. And there are other affairs that we can continue to mention in this regard but we hope that what we have mentioned will be sufficient for us in achieving our goals. And for added benefit one can read the book, Taking Your Own Self to Account, authored by Al-Haafidh Ibn Abee Ad-Dunyaa. And an added point of benefit: The taalibul ilm (student of knowledge) should strive to keep his mind busy with ilm, reviewing things that you have learned or issues of knowledge, thinking about those affairs that there are benefit in. So you are constantly benefiting from your own knowledge and furthering your understanding of the knowledge you have. Answers from Q &A How should one prepare for sitting in the circles of knowledge amongst the mashaykh
overseas, particularly if one is not used to sitting in such circles for long periods of time? A person should learn the etiquettes of sitting in the circles of knowledge and read the statements of the Salaf and how they were in this regard. One book that is beneficial in this regard is The Manners of the Scholars and the Students of Knowledge, By Saleem AlHilaali. And also, The Adornment of the Student of Knowledge. A person has to also realize something that many of the people dont really give thought to. If a person isnt putting forth effort to study here in the states and they are not honoring the circles of knowledge here and they are not showing proper etiquette with their teachers here, when they do go oversees, these things are not just going to miraculously happen. So many times these types of people find difficulty when they get oversees. So keep this in mind as an encouragement to practice these manners here so that you do have the ability to sit when you go overseas. And, before all of that, is making duaa to Allaah to grant you success in your affairs. And the last thing is that when you get there and you begin sitting, it may be an adjustment in the beginning. Bu the person has to be patient with this adjustment. And the Salaf said, A person who does not feel the humiliation of seeking knowledge for one hour will never obtain any knowledge. So it is an adjustment, but if you are patient and you push through it then you have an abundance of good waiting for you on the other side. What should a new Muslim begin with in terms of their studies? The person that is new to the religion of Islaam, firstly we welcome them to the religion of Islaam and give them the glad tidings that are in store for them in this life and the Hereafter. The first thing that a new Muslim should focus on learning is tawheed and learning the Aqeedah Islaamiyyah, the Islaamic creed. Learning about the purpose of life, that we have been placed here to worship Allaah alone and that the greatest sin is shirk. Then they should learn the belief system of Islaam, learning about the angels, the Books, the prophets, the grave, etc. And after this, the person should learn the things that they are in need of learning and give precedence to those things that they are in need of. So the person is in need of the salaat. So after the testimony of faith, the most important thing for the person is the salaah. And it is the first thing we will be questioned about in the Hereafter. As for the Arabic language, then it is on the same premise. You learn the Arabic you are in need of learning first. And that which the person is in need of learning first in terms of Arabic is that which is connected to the performance of the salaah. Then, as the person has achieved this, then the sky is the limit for this individual and they may take whatever they like from the Arabic language after that. Should a person study one science at a time or combine between different sciences? A person learning one science at a time or joining between the sciences, this is done according to each individuals ability. Whatever ones ability is, they should push to do as much as they are able to do.
*** From the section entitled: "The Student of Knowledge in His Home" (how the student of knowledge should be in his home and with his family) Last week we ended with the importance of raising children upon righteousness and the Salaf striving in this. Sa'eed bin Al-Aas stated: "Once I have taught my child the Qur'aan and I have brought him to make hajj and I have married him, then I have fulfilled his rights over me and after this the only thing that remains are the rights I have upon him." So he placed importance on his child learning the Qur'aan, making hajj, and getting married. And after these things were fulfilled, then all that remained were the rights that he had upon his child. Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdaadee entitled a chapter of his book, "It is appropriate for a man to force his child to listen to the hadeeth." And then after bringing this chapter heading, he brings his chain of narration leading to 'Abdullaah bin Daawood, where he stated: "It is appropriate that a man compels his child to listen to the hadeeth." And he would say, "The religion is just not a lot of speech and talking, but rather the religion is the narration." And Al-Khateeb also stated, "Whoever rears his child upon listening to hadeeth." "I heard Ibraaheem bin Adhaam saying: My father said to me, 'O my son, seek knowledge of hadeeth. Every time you hear a hadeeth and memorize it, then I will give you a dirham." So he says about himself, "This is my foundation on how I began seeking knowledge of hadeeth." And a man walked past Al-A'mash. and the man said to him, "Are you relaying narrations of hadeeth to these children?" So then Al-A'mash stated, "These young children are preserving your religion for you." So this is how the Salaf were in raising their children and raising them upon righteousness. 'Abdul-'Azeez bin Marwaan sent his son 'Umar bin 'Abdul-'Azeez to Madeenah to learn knowledge of hadeeth. And he ('Abdul-'Azeez) wrote to Saalih bin Kayzaan so that Saalih would agree to making sure that his son would make prayer. So one day 'Umar bin 'Abdul'Azeez came late to the prayer. So Saalih asked him, "What is wrong with you?" So 'Umar said, "I was getting a haircut?" So Saalih said to him, "You allowed a haircut to have an effect on your salaat?" Then Saalih wrote to his father ('Abdul-'Azeez). Then 'Abdul-'Azeez sent a messenger to Madeenah to inform his son that he will not speak to him until he cuts all of his hair off. And they, the Salaf, they used to become joyous when their children would obtain knowledge from the scholars or when their children would be close to the scholars. For this has come in the biography of 'Abdullaah bin Sulaymaan Al-Ash'ath (Imaam Abee Dawood, author of Sunan Abee Daawood). The first shaykh that he heard from was Muhammad bin Aslam. And his father became very happy at this due to the stature and virtue of Muhammad bin Aslam. And this narration by Aboo Daawood shows us the things the Salaf placed importance upon.
Something that has come in the biography of 'Abdullaah bin Sulaymaan Al-Ash'ath: Ahmad bin Saalih (a scholar from the Salaf), he wouldn't allow young children to sit in his circles of knowledge. And Aboo Daawood wanted his son to sit in the circles of Ahmad bin Saalih. And this affected him to the point that you could see his displeasure on his face. So the shaykh (Ahmad bin Saalih) recognized this displeasure on his face and said to him, "Is it the likes of me that has caused you to be this way?" So then Aboo Dawood mentioned to him, "There is nothing that bothers me except that I want my child to be sitting in the same circles as the adults. So if you find that he is not able to keep up with the adults, then at that point, exit him out of your sittings." Again, showing the importance the Salaf took in raising their children upon righteousness. And from those Prophetic Sunan that a person should perform in his household are the voluntary prayers in the home. And from those sources regarding this are: His statement, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, "The most virtuous of all of your prayers are the prayers inside your house, except for the obligatory prayers." (At-Tirmidhee) And in another wording, "The most virtuous prayers of a man are the prayers he prays inside his home, except the obligatory prayers." (Saheehayn) So the Messenger, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, most of his voluntary prayers were performed inside his home. And most of the scholars in the past, they would pray most of their voluntary prayers outside of the masjid. Al-Marwazee stated: "And the Imaam Ibnul Qudaamah [Al-Maqdisee], he would not pray two Sunan most of the time except that he would pray them in his home just so he could follow the Sunnah. And in any regard, a person praying voluntary prayers in his home, there are many benefits that come out of this. From them is reviving the Prophetic Sunnah. And another benefit that comes out of this is, the person who prays his voluntary prayers in his home, he is far away from the people. And whenever you pray your voluntary prayers in seclusion, then it increases your level of ikhlaas and the reward is also increased. For the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, stated, 'A man praying the voluntary prayers in seclusion of the people where they can not see him is more virtuous then praying where the people can see him by 25 times.'" And this here is the general rule. There is an exception that comes to this, as Imaam AnNawawee has explained in his explanation of the 40 hadeeth, and that is except if the person is in a position of leadership and he knows that his performing an action in the open will encourage others to perform it or teach others how to perform it correctly. In this instance, it is encouraged for this individual to do it in the open. And also in this action of praying voluntary prayers in the home, there are other cultivative benefits, and that is that a man praying voluntary prayers in his home will have an effect on the people of his household, particularly the children, since they will see their parent praying and they actually get to see their parent praying in front of them. And this is something that becomes ingrained in the child, particularly if the parent is staunch at reviving this. And for this reason you will find some children imitating their parent in the salaat. So you will see them rush to their parent's side when their parent is praying or they will go to the side and pray alone.
And it is also stated concerning raising the children and cultivating the children, one of the most beneficial things for a child is teaching them some of the etiquette and morals from the Sunan that are mustahaab, such as eating and drinking with the right hand, saying Bismillaah when one eats and Alhamdulillah when you are done, when entering the bathroom, entering with the left foot and exiting with the right. And the person should also take the time to teach them some verses of the Qur'aan and ahadeeth. And the parent should repeat these things at the applicable time so that it will become deeply rooted in the child. Likewise, the parent should teach the child supplications said when one goes to sleep and upon awaking. The parent should also teach the child to utter the Shahaadatayn. For Imaam Ibnul Qayyim states in his book Tuhfaatul Mawdood bi Ahkaamul-Mawlood (A Work of Art on Love Concerning the Religious Verdicts of Children), When it is appropriate to do so, you should teach your children to say 'Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah Muhammadur-Rasoolullaah,' so that it is the first thing that strikes their ears, the first thing they are aware of is knowledge of Allaah and His tawheed. And the child should be taught that Allaah subhaana is above His Throne. And he should be taught that Allaah sees him and hears his speech and that Allaah is with him wherever that child is by way of His Knowledge. And the people of Israa'eel would name their children 'Amanwel' or 'Imanwel' and the meaning of this word is 'Our lord is with us.' And for this reason, some of the most beloved names to Allaah are ''Abdullaah' and 'Abdur-Rahmaan.' Since the child, when he is able to comprehend and can ponder and reflect on his name, he will realize that he is actually the slave of Allaah and that Allaah is his Master and Guardian." So, as we draw this section to a close, it is imperative that we bring our attention to something and that we precaution the parents from errors that they make. And that is that some parents will lie in front of their children or they will tell stories and lie and the children can hear what they are saying. A parent may even order their children to lie. And a famous example of this is when someone knocks on the door or calls the home for some need and then the parent orders one of the children to tell the person waiting, "My Abee is not home." So, how many corruptive etiquette are inside these types of actions, when these types of actions teach a child poor manners and morals. And you find some of the parents placing emphasis on affairs that are not as important as religious affairs. For example, a father may emphasize to his child to learn about certain aspects of the creation, such as learning about certain animals, which there is nothing wrong with, but sometimes they will place more emphasis on these things than on religious matters. And if they placed as much emphasis on cognizance of the Hellfire and the punishment of Allaah whenever one disobeys their parents and, at the same time, if the parent teaches the child the merit of doing good and the reward from Allah for doing so, this would be better for him. And speaking about this affair can become very lengthy, so we hope we can take the most benefit from those sources available. And Allaah is the One Who has full sovereignty over our success. *** Section: The Student of Knowledge and Staying Up Late Into the Night The Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, stated: There is no staying up late into the night except for one who is praying or one who is traveling. (Collected by Ahmad on the authority of Ibn Mas'ood, radee Allaahu 'anhu) The people differ concerning their time and how they arrange and organize their time and
their affairs. However, the time period we are speaking about specifically here and the issue we are speaking about specifically here is the issue of staying up late into the night. And here it is good that we mention a quotation of Salmaan. And Salmaan here in this quotation is speaking about the state of the people after Salaatul-'Ishaa'. And after some speech of his, he made the statement, So once the people have prayed the 'Ishaa prayer, after that they are divided into three groups. From them are the people who this time is for them and it is not against them. And from them are the people who this time is against them and it is not for them. And from them are the people who this time is not against them nor is it for them. What's meant here is that after Salaatul-'Ishaa', the people are divided into three categories in accordance with what they do with their time. There are those who it is for them, meaning they are rewarded for that time and they do not do evil deeds during this time. And there are those who it is against them, meaning they are committing sins. And as for those people who it is neither for them nor against them, meaning they neither commit sins nor gain any reward. And Taariq bin Shihaab poses a question concerning this statement of Salmaan: Who is the one who this time period is against him and who is the one who this time period is for him? So you have a man who prays 'Ishaa' and after 'Ishaa' is done, he takes the opportunity to get away from the people and enter into the darkness of the night. And during this time he delves into sins. And this is the one who this time period is against. Then you have a man who abstains from the people after 'Ishaa'. He enters into the depths of the night and this person utilizes this time to pray. And this time period after 'Ishaa' is for him and it is not against him. And then you have a man who sleeps during this time so it is not against him or for him. So this is the categorization of Salmaan. And the way he has categorized people here he has included all of mankind. And people in the way they ascertain the good and deflect harm away from themselves, you have people who do this often and those who do not do it often. And this issue of staying up late, it is an issue that should be discussed due to its importance. And the importance of this affair and its details can be clarified to you by looking at the following issues: Firstly: This issue of staying up late into the night, it has become a general necessity for most of the people. Secondly: A person could be falling into sin if the reason he is staying up late into the night does not bring him benefit. Thirdly: You have to look at the obligations that a person neglects or the obligations that a person pushes off (meaning, he does them late), because of his staying up late in the night. Fourthly: You have to look at the person who stays up late into the night and it becomes difficult for him to pray Salaatul-Witr because of how tired he is from staying up late. And fifthly: You have to look at this late part of the night, that this part of the night is a portion of time and it is a portion of time that we will be asked about on Yaumul-Qiyaamah. So based upon this, there are some types of staying up late that we are discouraged from doing. Rather, some types of staying up late into the night can be haraam if the person knows that his staying up late into the night will be a cause for him to miss the Fajr prayer and this person will only increase in his sins if that which he stayed up in the night for was haraam. And then, as a good narration in this regard that has been recorded by Imaam Maalik in Alhttp://AbdurRahman.Org
Muwatta that 'Umar bin Al-Khattaab, radee Allaahu 'anhu, he didn't see Sulaymaan bin Abee Hathamah during the Fajr prayer. So when he didn't see him, he went out to the market place. And he knew that Sulaymaan lived between the souq and the masjid. So 'Umar went past Shifaa Umm Sulaymaan and said to her, I didn't see Sulaymaan for Salaatul-Fajr. So she said to him, Last night he was praying and then his eyes became heavy on him (meaning, he overslept). So then 'Umar said, That I witness the Fajr prayer in jamaa'ah (congregation) is more beloved to me than standing up at night and praying (tahajjud). Look now how 'Umar found fault with Sulaymaan bin Abee Hathamah even though Sulaymaan bin Abee Hathamah stayed up and his whole night involved praying and supplicating to Allaah. And 'Umar found fault with this because his staying up late and praying tahajjud was cause for him to neglect something more important than that. And Imaam Ash-Shaatabee stated, Imaam Malik would dislike a person staying up all night. And he would say, 'Perhaps he will get up and he will be groggy. And there is a good example in the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam. And there is not a problem with a person doing this if it does not harm his Fajr prayer.' So then how do we look at the case of the individual who stays up late into the night and it wasn't even upon good and excellence. Imaam ibn Hibbaan states in his Saheeh, the mention of a narration that would indicate to us the negativity of staying up late after Salaatul-'Ishaa' for reasons other than the Hereafter. Soon after bringing this chapter heading he brings his chain of narration leading back to Anas bin Maalik that Asyaad bin Hudhayl and another man from the Ansaar were speaking with the Messenger of Allaah during the night and they stayed with him until it was very, very late into the night. They stayed so late that it was extremely dark outside. Then when they left from him, they began walking and each one had with him a stick. And one of them lit their stick with fire so that both of them could walk and see where they were going. Until they got to a point where they were going to go their separate ways. And then one of them took his stick and lit the other's stick so they both could have light to see. Ibn Hibbaan also mentions, in another chapter heading, a second narration that will prove the negativity of staying up late into the night after 'Ishaa', so long as their staying up late into the night was not for the sake of knowledge. Then he brings his chain of transmission and he mentions the hadeeth of Anas bin Maalik when he stated, We were waiting for the Prophet one night, until it was the middle of the night. So, he came, he prayed with us, and then he spoke to us, giving us an admonishment. And he said, 'The people, they have all prayed and they have all laid down to go to sleep. And you all have not ceased to be in a state of khayr if you all had been waiting for me to pray.' And Anas states, And the people do not cease to be in state of khayr so long as they are awaiting khayr. And Ibn Hibbaan also stated the mention of a narration that clearly shows the permissibility of staying up late after 'Ishaa' if you are doing so in order to bring about benefit to the Muslimeen. He brings his chain of narration leading to 'Umar bin Al-Khattaab, who stated, The Messenger of Allaah would continue to stay up late with Aboo Bakr during the night whenever there were some issues of concern for the well-being of the Muslims. And Aboo Bakr stayed up late with him one night and I was with him. So, by looking at all of these ahadeeth and narrations collectively we understand from them that there is no harm in staying up late at night if you are doing so for a good reason, such as reviewing knowledge, or waiting to make salaah, or trying to do something that is for the
well-being of the Muslimeen. This type of staying up late at night is something that is praiseworthy, so long as it does not lead to negligence of something more important than it. And Ibn Taymiyyah called this type of staying up late at night, the legislated staying up late at night. And Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH) has some valuable speech concerning this issue. And he states: So the legislated staying up late at night are those things such as prayer, dhikr, reading, writing, all of these things are diverse according to the diversity of the people. So some of the 'ulamaa' say, 'Writing hadeeth, this is more virtuous than praying voluntary prayers.' And some of the shuyookh they say, 'Praying two raka'ataan in the night when no one can see me is more virtuous than recording 100 ahadeeth.' And there are others amongst the a'immah who say, 'Rather, the best thing to do is to combine between this and that.' The most virtuous act for the person to perform here may differ according to the situations of the people. So there are actions that in general they are virtuous, then at other times these same actions may be more virtuous than other actions. And at other times we may be prohibited from doing them, such as the prayer. Since As-Salaat (the prayer) is more virtuous than reading the Qur'aan. And reading the Qur'aan is more virtuous than dhikr. And dhikr is more virtuous than du'aa. Then you have the prayer at the times that it is prohibited to pray, such as after the Fajr prayr, after the 'Asr prayer, and during the time of the khutbah. These are times that are prohibited to pray in. So since these times are prohibited to pray in, busying oneself with recitation, dhikr, du'aa or listening to something that is virtuous, is more virtuous than making salaah. So have much zeal on pondering over these words so that they will benefit you immensely, by the permission of Allaah. And from those things that it is appropriate that we mention here is waking up for Salaatul-Fajr. And which are the best methods utilized to wake up for Salaatul-Fajr and what are some of the best things that can assist a person in waking up for Salaatul-Fajr so that he can pray in jamaa'ah (congregation). First: A person being true to himself and truly placing importance on this affair. With all his level best abandoning staying up late at night and striving to go to bed early. However, if a person is tried with staying up late then he should seek aid in Allaah and in those things that will aid him to wake up, such as: (alif) utilizing an alarm clock; (baa) utilizing those people who can call one another to wake people up; (jeem) utilizing people to ring someone's doorbell to wake one up; (daal) if a person knows he is one who has difficulty waking up, then he should try not to relax his body when going to sleep at night. And from the amazing example of the Prophet is that if he was traveling throughout the night and he wanted to rest but not the entire the night, he would utilize his hand to rest upon. But if he stopped his travel and it was just before Salaatul-Fajr, he would place his left hand on his right arm and rest upon it. And Imaam An-Nawawee, raheemahullaah, in explaining this hadeeth he states, He would rest on his right hand, meaning he would utilize his right hand as a pillow. And he would sleep like this when he wanted a complete rest and when he knew there was no threat of him missing the Fajr prayer. But if he wanted to rest and he only had a short amount of time before the Fajr prayer, then he would place his head on the palm of hand upright so he would not become relaxed. As has come in the narration of Al-Wazi'. And this method of sleeping will assist others in not missing Fajr. And this is something that has been legislated and something that we can take heed from so that our sleep will not overcome the prayer. So, O student of knowledge, know, may Allaah safeguard you, that the people take you, O student of knowledge as an example, so you are taken as a role model in your statements and
actions. So strive with all your level best, may Allaah safeguard you, that you benefit the people with all that you do. And know as well, O student of knowledge, that your harm can also spread to other people the same way your benefit can spread with other people. And whoever sits with you will normally begin to emulate you. So strive to be from those people who put forth a good sunnah, so you will have your reward and the reward of everyone who follows you in that action until the Day of Resurrection. And do not be of those who put forth a bad deed, so that you will have your sin and the sin of those who follow you until the Day of Resurrection. So if you are able to not not be seen and heard unless you are benefiting the people, then do that. But make sure you are doing this seeking the pleasure of Allaah and upon the guidance of the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam. And also beware of being like some of the people who make it seem that they are upon the khayr and it is the norm of them to stay up late into the depths of the night and they do this so often that they don't know their children except that they are sleeping. And beware of being like these individuals who abandon the Witr prayer because this individual, when he finally does come home, he's extremely tired and all he wants to do is find his bed. And if he is able to pray at all, he'll just pray one short, quick raka'ah. And if he is doing well on that night, he may pray three raka'at very, very fast. And a bigger trial than all of this is this person who stays out late all the time in the name of good and righteousness, his staying out late into the night is a cause of him missing the Fajr prayer or performing it late. And the likes of these individuals, their state is pitiful. So how much of their time have they wasted without benefit? And how many of the rights of their family and children have they wasted? And this will have an effect on the people who know them. They are supposed to be a role model for the people. So by Allaah, we ask Him to guide us to the best of good character. And we know that no one can do this but Allaah. And we ask Him to turn us away from bad character as no one can do this but Him. So it is upon you to flip through and read through the biographies of the Salafus-Saalih. You will see a people who were the most tenacious on not wasting any of their time and spending all of their time in affairs that would bring them benefit. And since we are speaking about staying up late at night specifically, I will give you an example of how the Salaf would use their time at night. Fudhayl bin Ghazwaan stated, We would sit, myself, Ibn Shibrama and Haarith bin Yazeed and Mugheerah and Ta'taa bin Yazeed, we would sit throughout the night reviewing affairs of fiqh with one another. And it may be that we would not get up until we heard the call for Fajr. And it has been conveyed on Ibn Fudhayl, they would stay up late into the night reviewing issues of fiqh and sometimes they wouldn't even get up until Fajr. And lastly, if you are from those people, may Allaah protect and safeguard you, who have been afflicted with insomnia, then strive with all your level best to relieve yourself from this illness by seeking aid from Allaah and striving to make it a normal practice of yours to go to bed early. Since the soul, when it becomes accustomed to something, it will become the norm for that person. And Sulaymaan At-Taymi states, The 'ayn (eye), if it becomes accustomed to sleeping, then it will sleep. And if it becomes accustomed to staying up late at night, then it will stay up late at night. And more comprehensive than this narration is the statement of the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, in Saheeh Al-Jaami', A person gains knowledge through learning. And a person is only able to acquire a mild-mannered personality by practicing mild manners. And whoever strives for the good and makes it a normal practice, then he will be given it. And whoever seeks refuge from the evil, then he will be protected from it. ***
The Student of Knowledge with His Students Shaykh As-Sadhaan: And there is no doubt that the student of knowledge has a station, a position, amongst the people who are striving to seek and acquire knowledge. So, he is their shaykh, according to the level of his good characteristics and according to the level that he has risen to in the eyes of the people. For this reason, you will see those people who accompany the students of knowledge taking on their character and beginning to emulate them. And this is something that is natural. It is possible that spending 10 minutes with an individual can have an effect on them. So how will it be when a person is around one of the students of knowledge for a very long time and they are with him when he is in his residence and they are with him when he is traveling and so on and so forth. So based upon this, the student of knowledge is encouraged to be an example, to be an example in his statements and in his actions. Because the effects of this will be seen in his students and in the character of his students. And from the most beneficial of things to one's students, is sincerely advising them and giving them direction and assisting them in straightening their affairs when they are in need of correcting, each one according to his relative shortcomings. And from those things that are beneficial to one's students is checking in on them and examining and investigating their affairs according to one's ability. And this could be as simple as asking the students about one's other students, about how they are doing, about their lives and if they are in need of things and so and so forth. And from the things that are beneficial to one's students is visiting them in their homes. And this is something that has a profound effect on one's students, causing the students to have strong ties to their teacher and causing the students to have strong love for their teacher. And from the things that the student of knowledge should be cautious of with his students is doing anything that would decrease the level of his honor. Some examples of things that could decrease the level of one's honor, is the likes of joking too much (excessively). And from those things that are beneficial to one's students is accepting your students' invitations when they invite you out, according to your ability. Also, striving to visit them when they are sick. For certainly this is something that has a profound effect upon a person, let alone one's students. It has both a tangible and intangible effect upon them. And from the most important affairs is encouraging your students to seek knowledge and to be continuous in their seeking of knowledge, in their reading, and in their writing, and in their listening to those things that are beneficial, and in their being present at the circles of knowledge or any place where knowledge is being disseminated and the like. And, the teacher should also direct his students to those things that are beneficial for them. Perhaps he will choose a book for his students to read or a lesson for them to attend that he knows there will be immense amount of benefit for his student. And perhaps after that he will continue to follow through with the student in the lessons he is attending or in the books he is reading or in the benefits he is extracting. And from this is giving the students special research topics from time to time. So after they have done their research you go through and review with them and you look at the things that they got correct and you look at the answers they give to your questions and you correct their
mistakes and so on. So based upon all of this, the student of knowledge should uphold the character of the people of knowledge, such as humility; not continuing upon error, rather rushing to return back to the truth once it has become clear to the person what the truth is; having an open chest for those things that his students may observe from him. And this, by the permission of Allaah, is from the things that are extremely beneficial, since they do not only benefit the teacher, but they also benefit whoever sees him and whoever hears from him. And in this is the affair that is not hidden from anyone, and it is that some of your students you may find that they have distinguished signs of nobility. So when you see certain students that stand out from the bunch, the teacher must take the time to cultivate him and to encourage him to seek knowledge and to guide him in seeking knowledge. The likes of this type of student it is important to have great care of him and to be very cautious of neglecting him because in the teacher's doing this you may find the student's ambitions dying off like fire extinguishes water. And after this I would like to give some narrations of some of the examples of our Salaf AsSaalih, so you can see the importance, care and enthusiasm they had with their students from the perspective of knowledge and their intellectual growth. From the examples is from Ibnu Jurayj, who stated: I went to 'Ataa and I wanted this affair (to seek knowledge). And 'Abdullaah bin 'Ubayd bin 'Umayr was with him. So Ibn 'Umayr said to me, "Have you read the Qur'aan?" (And the people of the past when they used the word "qara'a" (read) they actually meant "memorize") So I said, "No." So he said to me, "Go and read (memorize) it and then after that seek knowledge." So I went, I left for a period of time until I had memorized the Qur'aan. Then I came back to 'Ataa and 'Abdullaah was with him. So he said, "Have you learned about those things that are obligatory upon you." I said "No." So he said to me, "Go and learn the obligations upon you and then after that seek knowledge." So I went and learned the obligations upon me and then I came back. So he said to me, "Now you can seek knowledge." So thereafter, I strongly adhered to 'Ataa (I was a student of 'Ataa) for 17 years. Suwayd bin 'Abdul-'Azeez stated, "Aboo-d-Dardaa' would pray the Fajr payer in the central masjid of Damascus. And after the prayer, people would gather around him to read to him. And he would separate them into groups of 10. And he would give each group a teacher's assistant. And he himself would stay standing in the mihrab and he would glance over every single group with his eyes. So if one of them erred he would send him back to the teacher's assistant. And if the teacher's assistant had erred then the student would return back to Abood-Dardaa' to ask about that particular issue." And 'Ikrimah stated, "Ibnu 'Abbaas would place a shackle or a leg iron around his legs in order to learn the Qur'aan and Sunan." So upon this Shaykh As-Sadhaan states: The teacher should be very cautious of becoming annoyed or tired or bored with any one of his students. It is possible that one of his students may catch him off guard with things at times. Or the student may show bad manners toward the teacher or shaykh or student of knowledge. Or the student that is studying with the student of knowledge may take a wrong position on a particular issue here and there. It is possible the shaykh can find in himself dislike towards the student for this, not forgiving him
for his errors. So that because of this bad treatment toward the shaykh or towards the teacher, the shaykh or the teacher or the student of knowledge may interact with the student differently. And there are many legislated affairs that would warn us from doing this. The examples of such are the teacher not being just towards that particular student and towards the rights that particular student has over him. And from this is that the shaykh, teacher or student of knowledge may allow his nafs to overcome him. And from the examples of this is that the teacher or student of knowledge or the shaykh may not answer the questions of this student completely. And if he does not answer the questions of the student completely because of some bad treatment the student has toward him, then he may fall into the error of concealing knowledge. And from the examples of this is that the teacher's bad treatment towards the student may have an effect on the student himself, so that the student picks traits that the end result of are not praiseworthy or the bad treatment may cause the student to abandon knowledge or the circles of knowledge. Rather it may escalate to the point that the student may abandon the good in the people. So it is incumbent upon the student of knowledge, teacher or shaykh, to strive for reconciliation in correcting any shortcomings of his student. And he should do so in a manner that is appropriate and in a manner that will allow him to achieve his goal, all the while his intentions are nothing more than correcting and bringing about reconciliation according to the best of his ability. And if he continues to strive upon this course, after a period of time, Allaah will make his difficulty ease. Research for next class: How does Sooratul-Faatihah show us the virtues of Aboo Bakr As-Siddeeq, radee Allaahu 'anhu, from two different perspectives: 1. How does Sooratul-Faatihah show us that we should follow the way of Aboo Bakr? 2. How does Sooratul-Faatihah show us that Aboo Bakr was the rightful successor to the Prophet (meaning, he was rightfully the first Khaleefah following the death of the Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam)? Answers must include evidences to support them. ***
Our goals in reading through this book are firstly, to learn the ettiquettes of seeking knowledge and the ettiquettes that the student of knowledge should ingrain within themself. After that, we are learning how the Salaf were in many different aspects of their lives, so that we can emulate them. And thereafter, we are leanring general Islaamic manners. So the section we have reached is: The Student of Knowledge in His Community (how should the student of knowledge be in his community)
We covered that the student of knowledge in his community should always have a tranquil heart, meaning, he should always strive to have his heart at peace and at reast. Likewise, after that we discussed the student of knowledge fulfilling the needs of the people according to his
ability. Then we moved on to the next section, which we are currently on, which is breaking promises, which is something that is not from the characteristics of the student of knowledge nor of the Muslim, but rather it is from the characteristics of the Munaafiq (Hypocrite). We are now covering the blame of breaking promises: The first two narrations we mentioned last week are: It is attributed to Sulaymaan bin Daawood, 'alayhimus-salaam, that he said to one of his sons, "O my son, if you make a promise then do not break it, so that the people's love of you will turn towards anger and hatred towards you." 'Abdullaah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal, raheemahullaah, stated, "It has been conveyed to me by Haaroon bin Sufyaan who stated: I said to your father Ahmad bin Hanbal, 'How do you know who the liars are?' He stated, 'By their promises.'" Shaykh 'Abdul-Azeez bin As-Sadhaan states: They (the Salaf) would avoid making promises out of fear of breaking them. Muhammad bin Idrees Al-Handalee stated, "I said to Qubayfah(?), 'Will you promise me something? Will you promise me that you will meet me?' So he stated, 'If you come to me and see me then you have met me.'" Meaning, Muhammad bin Idrees Al-Handalee did not want to actually make a promise to him out of fear that he would break that promise. And from those beautiful verses of poetry that have been stated concerning promises: If you say "na'am (yes)" to anything then complete it (i.e. fulfill it) For certainly na'am (yes) is an obligatory debt on the one who is free And if not (meaning, if you can't fulfill this debt), then say "laa (no)," rest and be at ease with it So that the people cannot say that you are a kaadhib (liar). And in another statement of poetry it is stated: If you were to gather all ill characteristics Then being stingy is the most evil of it And what is more evil than being stingy is breaking one's promise Since there is no good in a statement if the person is a liar And there is no good in a statement if a person doesn't act on it. And Allaah ta'aalaa has stated in Sooratul-A'raaf, verse 199: "Pardon, enjoin the good and turn away from the jaahileen (ignorant)."
Imaam Ibn Katheer, raheemahullaah, quotes Imaam Ibn Jareer At-Tabaree [Note: Many of us know who Ibn Katheer is. And he is quoting Ibn Jareer At-Tabaree. Who is Imaam Ibn Jareer At-Tabaree? He is a mufassir (scholar of tafseer of the Qur'aan) and a historian. And he is not just any scholar of tafseer, but he is the imaam of the scholars of tafseer. His tafseer is known to be the broadest among any of the books of tafseer. And some of the students of knowledge came to him asking him to write a tafseer and he said, "Bring me 30,000 pages so I can write a book of tafseer for you." And this was a summarized tafseer. And the students said that this would be too much for the people. And he stated, "The ambition for knowledge has gone. Their zeal for knowledge has gone." So he said, "Give me 3,000 pages." And this was a summary of his summary of tafseer.) So, Imaam At-Tabaree, in his tafseer of the statement of Allaah, "Pardon, enjoin the good and turn away from the ignorant" stated: "Allaah ordered His prophet to order His servants with the good. And included in this are all acts of obedience. And he also ordered them with turning away from the ignorant. And that is if He ordered His prophet with something then in this is a reprimand, a correcting of those people who oppress others and agress against others (i.e. the jaahileen). And this does not mean to turn away from the people who are ignorant of those obligatory rights that Allaah has over them. Nor does it mean to pardon those who have disbelieved in Allaah and those who are ignorant of his tawheed. And these are the individuals who agress against the Muslims with war." Ibn Katheer also stated, "Some of the scholars have stated that the people are of two types. You have a person who is a muhsin (a good-doer), so you accept this person's excuses, you pardon him and you do not burden him with those things that are beyond his ability. And you do not make things difficult for him. As for the person who is evil, then you order him with the good. And if he persists in his misguidance and disobeys you and continues upon his ignorance, then you turn away from him. For this is likely to deflate his plot. As Allaah ta'aalaa stated: 'And say: O my Lord I seek refuge in You from the whispers of the Shaytaan.' And He ta'aalaa states in Sooratul Fussilaat, verse 34: '
The good deed and the evil deed cannot be equal. Repel (the evil) with one which is better (i.e. Allh ordered the faithful believers to be patient at the time of anger, and to excuse those who treat them badly), then verily! he, between whom and you there was enmity, (will become) as though he was a close friend.'" And Aboo-d-Dardaa' wrote to Salmaan Al-Faarisee and he stated, "Salaamun 'Alayka. Amma Ba'd: After you left, Allaah has provided for me wealth and children. And I now reside in the Holy Land." So Salmaan wrote back to him, "Know, that which is good and excellent is not due to wealth and children. But that which is good and excellent is in you increasing in your level of mild-manneredness and your forbearance. And that your knowledge benefits you. And certainly the earth does not perform good deeds for anyone. So act as though you can see and prepare your soul for that which is going to come after death."
Next section: Being cautious of those things that will lower the level of one's muruu'a (level of a person's integrity) Shaykh As-Sadhaan continues: And that is that falling into those things that lower the level of your integrity are from those things that will lower the level of a people's respect for you. And once your level of respect is lowered amongst the people, then they will be bold enough to try you. And they will try to find deficiencies in you. So the student of knowledge, he is
cautious of this pitfall and he allows to be seen on him the good characteristics of knowledge and its people. Due to this, some of the people of knowledge might leave themselves open to be criticized or to be looked down upon (due to falling into those things that will lower the level of one's muruu'a). For the people of knowledge have stated about one individual that he had little concern for memorizing knowledge and being around the people of knowledge (This is a blameworthyy characteristic). And this was seen by his intermingling with the sufahaa (people who are stupid and foolish, simpletons). And he would dance in the streets and be in the streets hanging out, intermingling with the people who indulge in vulgar and vain speech. So based upon this it is appropriate for the student of knpwledge to preserve his integrity and maintain the level of his respect. Since this is something that will increase the level of his station. And this is something that will cause everyone to have reverence and respect for him. And due to this, our Salaf would be amongst the most enthusiastic in preserving their integrity and abstaining from those things that would violate it. Imaam (Aboo Abdillaah) Muhammad bin Idrees Ash-Shaafi'ee (d. 204 AH, same year that Imaam Muslim was born) Note: Imaam Aboo Haneefah was born in 'Iraaq in the year 80 AH and passed in the year 150 AH. Imaam Ash-Shaafi'ee stated, "Wallaah (I swear by Allaah), if I knew that cold water would decrease the level of my integrity, I wouldn't drink anything except hot water." At-Tawaada' (Humility) The Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, stated in a hadeeth that has come in Saheeh Muslim, "There is no one who humbles himself for the Sake of Allaah except that Allaah will raise him." So humility is from the character of the Prophets and it is the cause to be raised in levels and to be granted might and valor. And in abandoning humility, this is a cause to bring about enmity, hatred and transgressing the rights of one another. He, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, stated in a hadeeth in Saheeh Muslim, "Certainly Allaah has revealed to me that you all should be humble with one another. To the point that no one will have pride over another and no one will transgress against another." Imaam Ibnul Qayyim has stated in this regard: "Humility is making the heart fragile towards Allaah and lowering one's wing, yielding to the creation and being merciful to the creation. To the pint that a person doesn't view himself to have any virtue over another. And he doesn't view himself to have any rights over another; rather he views others to have rights over him." Imaam Ibnul Hazim, raheemahullaah, stated, "Whoever is tested with being amazed by himself, then he should think about his own faults. So if he is amazed by some virtue that he possesses, then he should examine himself with what is within him of lowly, detestable characteristics. And if his faults are hidden from himself, overall, to the point that he can't recognize his own faults, then he should know that he has been afflicted
and put to test forever. So this individual that is this amazed and pleased with himself, he is the greatest of the people in being deficient and having faults. And he is the weakest of them in distinguishing between matters. And in the forefront of all of this, this person, his intellect is weak and he is ignorant. And there is no fault that is worse then these two things (i.e. weak intellect and ignorance). Since the one who has intellect, he can distingush most of his own faults and he strives to suppress and hide his faults. The ignoramous, he is the one who is ignorant of his own faults, either due to the lack of his knowledge, the lack of his ability to distinguish between matters, or due to the weakness of his mind, or that he views his faults to be good characteristics." *** Section: At-Tawaada (Humility) Second statement of Ibnul Haazim: And know, whoever is amazed with himself or he thinks that he has some virtue over other people, then examine the level of his patience when he is suddenly surprised with some grief or some distress or some ailment or some evil or some calamity. This individual will find that he only has but a little patience. If this individual finds that he only has but a little patience then he should know that all of the people that have been tried and tested with their bodies being deformed and leprosy, then all of these individuals that are patient with these ailments are better than him. And if this individual still views himself to have some level of patience then he should know that he has not been given anything that he has not already been preceded with; rather he is at a lower level than others concerning this or he is equal to them. But he is not greater than them. And there has come on Muhammad Al-Qaasim that Abdullaah bin Hazim stated that Abdullaah bin Salaam would pass through the marketplace while carrying bundles of wood on his back. So it was said to Abdullaah bin Salaam, Did Allaah not grant you wealth? And he said, Certainly this is the case. But I wanted to suppress arrogance and do away with arrogance since I heard the Messenger of Allaah stating, No one will enter into the Jannah who has in his heart the equivalent of an atoms weight of arrogance. Shaykh As-Sadhaan states: The Salaf-us-Saalih, they had the most humility amongst the people. And while they were the most humble of the people, they were still the highest of them in level. And it has been reported on some of them that a man stated to Maymoon bin Mihraan, Yaa Aboo Ayyoob, the people will not cease to be upon the good so long as Allaah allows them to remain. So then Maymoon stated, Take your statement back. The people will not cease to be upon good so long as they have taqwaa of their Lord and piety concerning their lord. And a man came to Ahmad bin Hanbal (d. 241 AH, father is Muhammad; kunyah is Aboo Abdillaah) and he asked him about something and then this man stated, May Allaah reward you for the good you have done for Islaam. Imaam Ahmad became angry at this and he stated to him, Who am I so that Allaah can reward me for the good I have done for Islaam? Rather may Allaah reward Islaam for the good it has done for me. Shaykh As-Sadhaan states: And that which will allow a person to reach this level of tawaada (humility) by the permission of Allaah is ikhlaas (sincerity) for the sake of His Lord and being truthful in his worship.
Qataadah has stated: Haram bin Hayyaan would say, The servant does not accept Allaah in his heart accept that Allaah will grant him to be accepted in the hearts of the believers until he is granted their love. And Saeed Az-Zubaydee has stated, I am not amazed (impressed) by those reciters who I meet them with a cheerful face yet they meet me with a frown upon their face, even though the blessing is bestowed upon me because of their worship. And this is something we find amongst the reciters in abundance. This characteristic of being gloomy and having a frown upon their face are from the greatest of reasons to cause the people to flee away from you. And in contrast to this, we find those people who have a cheerful demeanor about them. This is from the greatest of reasons to bring the people together. With this understanding it is an error that a person frowns all the time and he never smiles upon his face thinking that this is an action of virtue or that it will be a cause for him to gain respect. And on the flip-side of this is the one who he just smiles at everybody. This is something that is not praiseworthy either. Rather we must follow legislative guidelines in both states. What is more beautiful and superb than what Imaam Ash-Shaafiee has stated in giving advice to Yoonus bin Abdil-Alaa. He stated, Yaa Yoonus, being gloomy and having low spirits with the people will eventually be a reason for them to have enmity for you. And being too cheerful with them and overextending yourself in that will place you between the horns of evil. So be between the one who is always gloomy and the one who is too cheerful and overextends himself. Now Im going to quote some speech, some golden words of Imaam Adh-Dhahabee (d. 740 AH) in his book Seer Alaam An-Nubala. And according to the extent of my knowledge it is the best that has been written concerning this affair. (Note: Seer Alaam An-Nubula is 28 volumes, containing biographies from the Prophet to the time of Imaam Adh-Dhahabee. And most people who extract biographies of the imams and scholars of the Salaf almost always have to refer to this book. And Imaam Adh-Dhahabee was a student of Imaam Ibn Taymiyyah.) He (Adh-Dhahabee, raheemahullaah) stated, after mentioning about one of the worshippers who would never laugh, Laughing somewhat and then smiling is more virtuous. And when we find from the mashaykh of ilm that do not do this then they are one of two types. One of them is one who in his not smiling is a virtue for him. And this is the one who leaves it off because of etiquettes and manners and him fearing Allaah and him being sad about his poor, heedless soul. So, if a person is not smiling for this reason, then it is praiseworthy. Then you have the second type, which is blameworthy. And this is the individual who does not smile out of pride, arrogance, looking down on the people, like the individual who belittles the people a lot. And there is no doubt that laughing amongst the youth is something that is more excusable than for the ones whp are older in their age. As for having a cheerful demeanor, then these things are of a higher level than all of that in entirety. The Prophet. Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, stated, Smiling in the face of your brother is charity. Jareer has stated, I never saw the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, except that he was smiling. Shaykh As-Sadhaan then continues: This is the good character of Islaam. And the highest of these levels is the one who cries at night yet he smiles during the day.
A riddle from Shaykh As-Sadhaan, which has been conveyed to us from one of the students of knowledge in Kuwait: A Muslim prays Salaatudh-Dhuhr then takes a nap. This person doesnt wake up until Salaatul-Maghrib. Then this person says, Im not going to pray Asr nor am I going to pray Maghrib, and in my leaving it off, I am going to offer it as an act of worship that I am going to offer to Allaah. Who is this person? Second Riddle: Which salaat has three tashaahuds in it? *** Aboo Haneefahs name is An-Numan bin Thaabit At-Taymee Al-Koofee and he resided in Iraq.

Signposts Upon The Path To Seeking Knowledge

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Signposts Upon the Path to Seeking Knowledge Book: Signposts Upon the Path to Seeking Knowledge Author: Shaykh

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