Abu Taymiyyah – Shaykh Faisal Jaasim How to Master Knowledge [Day 2 Session 4]
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Respected,
brothers and sisters.
The title of today's lecture will be mastering
and preserving knowledge,
the ways to seek it, and how to
perfect it.
And we're not going to talk about the
virtue of Islamic knowledge and the Islamic scholars
since the respected chiefs have explained it already.
And the fact is that mastering and preserving
knowledge is an extremely important topic.
Because people who tread the path of seeking
knowledge are many, but the people who truly
master knowledge and understand it correctly are few.
And to prove that point, just look at
the number of universities, Islamic universities and faculties,
and the many thousands of people attending classes
all around the world.
And then look at the people who are
able to teach and give fatwa and answer
questions
properly, and you will find that they are
very few indeed.
And when we say preserving and mastering knowledge,
we do not mean anything except correctly understanding
it. We do not mean to just memorize
and keep memorizing
things, but we mean to know,
the
principles based upon which the person can understand
knowledge and implement it correctly.
And that's why we must differentiate
between someone who memorizes a lot and remembers
a lot,
and he knows a lot, but he doesn't
understand. And the person who understands,
and he can use that knowledge to extract
rulings.
And that's why Allah ordered us to reflect
and think about the Quran
as he said in the ayah that we
have indeed revealed it,
an Arabic Quran
so that you may think about it.
And Allah said he gives wisdom to whom
he wills. And whoever is given wisdom, then
he has been given a lot of good.
And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with
him, said that hikmah wisdom means the Quran
and its understanding.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said
that there may be a person who carries
the fiqh,
the understanding to someone
who
is, who is someone who is more knowledgeable
than him, and the person who may carry
the fiqh may not actually understand it himself.
And one of the greatest benefits of understanding
and mastering knowledge is that the person is
able to refute the doubtful matters that come
his way. For example, today, we have a
lot of doubts regarding jihad
in the Gahapidah, the tukhid of the Muslims
in relation to names and attributes of Allah.
And Umar
used to write to Abu Musa Lash ari
radhiallahu anhu who was a judge in Iraq
for on behalf of Umar,
ordering him to concentrate on understanding
issues properly.
And
what the scholars have said in relation to
the importance of understanding knowledge and the difference
they made between
understanding and
remembering a lot and learning things by heart.
Their sayings are many, but we don't want
to increase the length of the lecture by
that.
So in a in a word, we can
say that knowledge is not a lot of
memorization.
And knowledge is not reading much or knowing
a lot of books.
And knowledge is not even a lot of
sheiks and lessons.
But rather knowledge
means mastering it and preserving it and understanding
it.
That's why the strange sayings and opinions generally
appear from people who may have read a
lot and memorized a lot, but they're not
people who may understand everything correctly.
And from the,
effects of not actually correctly understanding,
the Islamic
knowledge is what we see today
from people and groups
declaring many Muslims to be non Muslims
and going to extremes in that.
And, actually, even between the Salafis, what we
have some of them decree declaring others to
be innovators,
even that comes from the fact that the
people have not understood the knowledge.
And due to that, some people have initiated
from themselves,
principles
which we have never seen before and based
on those principles
have declared many good people to be innovators.
And the the examples
explaining the difference between
simply seeking knowledge and understanding knowledge are many
indeed.
Inshallah, we will give some examples that will
show it clearly.
And for example, we can say, when is
the time that the person who makes a
mistake who's upon the sunnah
and that mistakes takes him out of the
Sunnah? Meaning that, it's no longer a mistake.
It renders him to be from the innovators.
And this is a very important and big
issue. A lot of people talk about it,
but very few really understand it.
That's right. The real scholars of Islam, they
differentiate between a mistake
and an innovation and the person becoming an
innovator.
And because they say not every person who
falls into in a real even innovation
becomes an innovator.
For example, we we will give you some
examples. To consider something Allah made haram
impermissible
halal, permissible.
The people of the Sunnah
upon the consensus
that anyone who makes something Allah made Haram.
He he makes it halal and believes it
halal. He's not a Muslim anymore.
And some people mistakenly
believe that insisting upon an act of disobedience,
it takes the person out of Islam and
based on that, declare some Muslims to be
non Muslims.
And,
they know that to make something halal is
happens in the heart and the mind of
the person, and it's based
upon the creed and the belief of the
person. But they believe also that, for example,
granting commercial licenses
to Haram Establishments
like banks operating upon Riba or with Riba,
is considered to be
making it permissible.
And therefore, they make whole countries to be
disbelievers.
And this is from ignorance because there's a
huge difference
between someone
doing something
and him believing that it's permissible.
And we inshallah give an example from Fiqh,
which is clear to us and close to
us.
If someone rents a property, is he allowed
to sublet it to someone else?
Sure. What do you think?
It's permissible for him to sublet
it to someone like him because he, by
that contract,
has, benefited and he has received the permission
to use that property.
There is a difference between actually owning the
property
and having the ability to use the property.
Someone gave you his flat to borrow, meaning
for a time.
Are you allowed to let it out to
someone?
What's the difference between these two issues
that we've just mentioned?
There's a difference between being able to benefit
from the flat
by paying for it and by by just
being able someone giving it to you to
use it for limit period.
Benefit.
Owning the benefit. Owning. There's difference between owning
the benefit. I'm retired. And you can you
can benefit from it.
Shall I speak Arabic?
What are the things that the person who
is seeking knowledge can do in order to
understand and master knowledge?
And of course, this doesn't mean that the
person will not make any mistakes.
This is something inherent in the human beings.
And there's a difference between someone because he
didn't do enough to master knowledge
and someone who makes a mistake for another
reason.
And the means through which the person can
master and understand knowledge can be divided into
2 groups.
The first one is the characteristics
which must be present in the student of
knowledge.
And the second is the methodology that he
must follow in order to master and understand
knowledge.
Due to the fact that we don't have
much time, we will not mention the,
proofs that we use, but we will just
mention
the points themselves.
The characteristics of the student of knowledge are
many.
The most important are the following.
The very first and the most important is
Ikhlas to be sincere
in you seeking the knowledge.
Because a person who doesn't seek knowledge sincerely
for the sake of Allah, maybe for the
dunya for this worldly for the worldly gain
will not be able to master knowledge ever.
Abdul Abdul Mubarak says
the beginning of knowledge is the intention.
And, Shafi'i Rahmahullah said, I wish that people
memorized and benefited from the knowledge that I
have and I've written, and nothing of it
was attributed to me as a person in
my name.
Because he doesn't want to make his name
big and people saying we learned from this
sheikh and that sheikh by name. All he
wants is for the people to benefit and
learn.
The second is to be truthful in
seeking knowledge.
And there's a difference between sincerity
and being truthful.
And truthfulness
means that he only wants to seek knowledge
and he doesn't
make other things come into it.
Because he doesn't seek knowledge only when he
has time, but all of his time is
for the seeking of knowledge.
And he's not distracted by anything, by trading,
by business,
by politics, by whatever someone said and someone
said about someone.
He makes his time and effort solely for
the purpose of seeking knowledge.
And the third is, to have high ambitions
and to persevere and have sabr in the
path of seeking knowledge.
And some who mentioned inshallah
some of the statements of the scholars
and, what did we find in the Quran
and Sunnah is a lot.
And the
said that knowledge is not possible to seek
while having rest.
And it was said to Imam Sha'abi. How
did you gain all this knowledge that you
have?
He mentioned 4 things.
Through different countries by seeking for seeking knowledge.
And to be patient like the donkey.
And to seek it early like the crow
in the beginning of the day.
And the imam Malik said,
this knowledge is not sought
until the student of knowledge
tastes the taste of poverty.
And
the Imam Abu Yusuf, the student of Imam
Abu Hanifa
And knowledge Islamic knowledge is something
that will not give you something until you
give all of yourself
to it. Meaning that if you dedicate all
of yourself to the knowledge, it will only
give you some of it.
The 4th feature that the student of knowledge
must have is acting upon his knowledge.
And, acting upon it means to use it
in your worship and also to teach it
to others and spread it among the people.
Asif Al Khamis, sir.
The the 5th feature.
And not to rush to,
seek the fruit of the steward of seeking
knowledge
and not to rush to become a sheikh
or to be called a sheikh and to
be in charge of something.
When some of the companions came to the
prophet, alaihis salam, and complained to him about
the the rough treatment that they were receiving
from the police in Mecca,
He said you are people who are rushing
fruits of your suburb.
And that shows that if you want to,
achieve high status and great knowledge
and other things, you cannot rush those things.
And many of people now they want to
become Sheikh very quickly and this is a
big mistake.
And Imam Azuhir Rahimullah says while he was
advising one of his students,
And he said, do not try
to learn knowledge quickly because the knowledge consists
of many parts like valleys.
You have to go slowly through them.
But take it through the days and nights,
meaning with,
patience and perseverance.
And don't take all of the knowledge straight
away in one go.
Because who takes knowledge
quickly in one go, he will lose it
quickly in one go.
That's why we now see,
young people, young brothers who give fatwa about
issues that many big scholars
are scared to give fatwa about, and they
rush to make themselves big,
shares.
The 6th characteristic
is to,
follow and be with the real scholars of
Islam because you cannot understand knowledge and master
it except when you take it from the
ulama, not from books.
And that is why what scholars said
prohibiting people to just learn from books only
are many indeed.
Therefore, it's very important
to have shares and ulama
from whom the person takes the knowledge and
understanding.
And now we come to the second part,
which is the correct methodology
in preserving and mastering and understanding
knowledge.
1st of all is to learn knowledge gradually
in steps
one after another
to starting from small things to big things
in order to understand
it.
And the Allah said but rather be Rabbaniil
and Ibn Abbas radiAllahu anhu maha said,
Rabbani is the scholar
who teaches the easy and small issues to
the people before the big and important ones.
Therefore, the student of knowledge must start with
the most important things like Tawhid,
and the 'Abidah, the creed, and that he
must go from there.
And he must start in every
area of Islamic knowledge from the texts that
are easy. Then he should go step by
step and going from level to level.
And the stages are generally divided into 4.
The first one is foundation.
Behave
Which means that the person must be given
by the scholar who is teaching him, and
he must take the easiest of the text
for every area of knowledge. And he must
be able to know it, to memorize it,
understand it with the help of his
sheikh.
Therefore, the correct text must be chosen.
And, must be read to a sheikh who
understands and can correct him correctly.
This is the foundation stage.
The the second stage is the to know
the proofs for the issues that he has
learned.
So to that so that he knows where
those issues come from.
For example, the Hadith that proves this point
and how it proves it.
And other branches and issues that may actually
branch out from this issue.
And this requires,
text that is harder little bit than the
first level,
and the sheikh who knows it very well
and repetition and memorization.
We have, examples inshallah. This will be printed
hopefully, and we can benefit from it.
And the third is comparative knowledge where we
look at a wider picture.
And when we look, for example, at the
issues of knowledge,
we we will notice that they go back
to a common, for example,
foundation.
And at this point and at this level,
we will also know the the proofs and
the issues of the people who may be
different with us.
No. Because the first two stages, we will
only know one opinion
and with with some proofs. At the 3rd
stage, we will already have some idea
of the opinions of other people.
The 4th, which is the last in this
point at this point is to be able
to analyze the knowledge and the issues
and to be able to extract the rulings.
And at this stage, the person must be
able
and must concern himself
with
the big reference books because they are the
ones that he will be able and he
must be using.
Another
For example, in terms of Haqida and Tawhid,
we can, give some examples of books that
we can use. The first and write it
down, please, brothers.
The first is, the 3,
salafah usul, the 3,
Principles. Principles, and the 4,
Kaway principles.
The second stage, we can take the
explanation of.
And the 3rd stage, we can take Fathil
Majeed explanation.
We can take a reputation of Bakri both
by shayatul Islam ibn Taymiyrahima.
For example, we will give a book for
each stage.
The first one, Adidat Ahlul Hadith by imam,
Al Ismailik.
The second, we can take the explanation of
The third stage, the explanation of
The 4th stage, you can take the
the the
the confusion of the jahmia
by Ibtaimir.
And
And this is just these are quick examples.
Otherwise, we can give more.
Khamz? Khamz Marativ.
At every stage and in every issue, the
person requires to follow the 5 following steps.
The first is to can can can correctly
understand the issue and picture it in one's
head.
For example, what we mentioned in relation to
renting
to own the benefit of that,
rented accommodation.
Borrowing
or,
giving someone to borrow, that means that the
person is able to benefit for a limited
period.
Because we must differentiate between owning the benefit
or the usage rather
and actually using it for a limited period.
Another example is the,
gold, that is used by the person, by
ladies. Is it is is there any zakah
on it or not?
What is the meaning of used?
Does it mean that the lady is actually
wearing it, or is it just there to
be used?
And this is the the job of the
sheikh to make the student understand the issue.
For example, the scholars say that the non
Muslims are 1 of 4 categories.
Who lives in the protection of the Islamic
State.
What's the meaning of harbi? Does it mean
the person who's constantly
is in a state of war with us?
For example, another example, people of the sunnah
say that iman
consists of statements, sayings, and actions.
Because what is the meaning of statements and
actions? There are 5 things that come under
this.
For example, in terms of Aida, the people
of the Sunnah say that the names and
attributes of Allah must be left upon their
apparent meanings. What does it mean? We must
understand.
The second step
The first step is to understand it correctly.
The second is to know the hokum. Ruling.
I need the the the 5 things that
the sheikh has mentioned permissible, impermissible,
obligatory, not allowed, permissible.
The third step and level is to know
the Dalil, the proof of it.
None. If someone says what's the the proof
that there is Zakat that must be payable
or must be paid upon the gold that
is used by women, you must know the
proof from the Quran or the Sunnah
or Ijma consensus
or for example saying of a companion or
the like.
And what differentiates between them. Because some issues
may look different, but they're actually similar. Another
black Muslim.
In Hajj, you give example.
Conditions that, can be made in Hajj are
3 types.
The,
conditions that make the Hajj correct
And the conditions that,
make the Hajj,
any,
you can say sufficient,
acceptable.
And those that, must be fulfilled. Those those
that,
for I need the person must fulfill.
What is the difference between these three types
of conditions in Hajj?
The 4 categories of non Muslims that were
mentioned,
what are the differences between them?
A person, for example, who has lice head
lice in his hair and Hajj, if he
shaves his head, then he must give Fidya,
his expiration.
If he has
he is very cold,
he can wear trousers,
and he doesn't have to pay Fidya expiation.
Both are not permissible. So why did we
say in the first one, he must pay
expiration and the second, we didn't?
Al Mufti.
Mufti and judge.
He's,
both of them give the information in relation
to the Huqum, the the ruling in the
Sharia.
But there is a difference between them in
is it obligatory or not to take?
If we exchange gold for gold, then we're
not allowed except to give similar weight
and of similar value.
Can be rented to someone or given,
for a limited period. With that. For for
for in exchange for gold for a limited
period.
The first one is that exchange,
meaning buying or selling gold for gold is
not permissible
except to those conditions.
The second,
to let it out or rent it for
a period is permissible.
What's the
difference what's the difference between those two even
though
both in both cases, gold changes hands?
A person who divorced his wife
after he has consummated the marriage
3 times at once. The scholars say the
3, all of them happen at once.
And the person who divorces his wife
three times, but he has not consummated yet
his marriage by the the consensus of the
scholars only once happened.
What's the difference
between those 2? Another black middle.
Someone prayed with a garment made of silk.
A lot of scholars say that his prayer
is invalid.
And if he prays with the imam made
of silk,
his, prayer is valid
by the consensus of the scholars.
What is the difference between those 2?
And therefore, this what we're trying to show
is that there are some issues that may
look the same, but they have differences
and some that may look different, but they're
the same.
The 5th, level
is to know
the levels of different issues. For example, we
may have issues that are obligatory,
but some are more obligatory than others.
Yeah. For example?
Someone has a wife and a child.
And both are about to die, the wife
and the
child.
And he only has food for 1.
Who should he give?
Who should he give?
Why should he prefer to give it to
the wife rather than the child?
Because we have a principle in Sharia
upon which we base it.
What's more important? To be good and dutiful
to your parents or jihad?
What's your opinion?
No. And when we have no choice, sometimes
we have to know what's more important, what's
more obligatory
when we have no choice, of course.
No. In every issue of knowledge, we have
5 stages
which you must go through.
To correctly understand and imagine the issue.
To know the proof.
To know the ruling.
The
the
the foundation upon which we can base it
and know the difference from.
And the correct,
level that we may know in terms
of the those rulings obligation and other.
Some issues that we must pay attention to
very important. We will quickly, because we have
a little time, quickly give them time.
The first one.
Because at every
For example, someone at the first stage, he's
studying the three principles.
For example, he reads explanation of this ilim.
I mean, she had mentioned them. That ilim
that ilim and everyone, that's not correct.
And this is a problem, actually. We have
that you must try to concentrate
what the sheikh is explaining
and,
try to understand and memorize that.
You must not wait,
spend more time than necessary
reading more than necessary.
Try to concentrate on what the sheikh has
given you.
The second issue is to try and be
keen to memorize.
To memorize the issues. What akham? And the
rulings. What dalaal.
And the proofs.
It can be achieved in 2 ways.
The the first one is how we normally
memorize to keep repeating until we memorize.
For example, Kitabat Tawhid, he keeps repeating the
the chapter until he knows it by heart.
The second way.
And the the second is to keep referring
and repeating those issues
until the person thinks that almost as if
he memorizes it even though he doesn't exactly
memorize it.
The third note that we must have a
look at.
Don't go to the next stage until you
actually has have mastered the the one you're
at.
Yeah.
For example, you are trying to understand and
memorize the,
then don't go out to kitabut tawhid or
explanation of kitabut tawhid
until you finish that stage.
What does it mean to actually master and
understand
For example, that means that someone gives you
and
he says explain it.
No. And if he's able to actually take
it and explain it, that means he has
mastered
Now if he says no, I will go
back and check and revise
and things like this, then it means that
he hasn't actually mastered it. Yeah.
For example.
The nice book, Dalilu Talib.
If he's given that book and said, try
to explain it, he says, no. I have
to have a look and go and check.
Then that means he hasn't mastered it.
Because mastering knowledge and understanding it means that
he understands the issues and the rulings and
the proofs,
and he's able to explain it,
And therefore, it means that you should not
go from a book to another
and from a level to another until you
actually have completely mastered that, particular level of
book.
And a lot of students, they want to
do it quickly and quickly past the stage,
and that makes them actually,
leave behind a lot of good knowledge.
The 4th point of note
that the student of knowledge, once he completes
the these levels of seeking knowledge.
From every field of Islamic science, he must
choose one book that he constantly refers to,
and he uses a reference point that he
has mastered, and he knows exactly what it
means.
That book means that that's the book that
he constantly refers to, reads, and revises,
and he makes notes of. And that's the
the foundation, the the the book that he
uses in that particular subject.
An example of that.
For example,
the explanation of
he constantly refers to it, and he constantly
checks it and memorizes it and, tries to
understand to the extent that he almost knows
it by heart, and he's able to understand
it and teach it.
For example, in,
Aqidah, he goes and takes
Imam Ibnu Abil 'Israel
of Taha'iyah,
and he's able and he's pays so much
attention to it that he's able to correctly
understand it and completely master it.
And therefore, what we're trying to prove and
to show that the the student of knowledge
must have at least 1 or 2 books,
where he refers to them constantly in every
science, in every field of Islamic knowledge
that he refers back to and he constantly
revises.
At Thembi al Khamis
The 5th point
To be very keen to revise
and with his fellow students and fellow,
students of knowledge and to memorize the proofs
and issues and, rulings.
The
the the issue that you discussed with your
fellow student or friend,
generally, you will never forget it.
The 6th point.
And the student of knowledge must have,
methodical
way of actually reading a book. Not just
read, but get benefits on how to record
those and things like this.
And that's, what Sheikh Ibrahim Rahil inshallah will
discuss or has discussed
in in terms of methodology of reading books
and benefiting from them.
The 7th point.
That we must be able to actually return
the branches
of the knowledge
to the those foundation principles
from which they stem. If you're able to
actually understand the principle,
then you're able to include a lot of
different issues under it.
Examples.
For example,
a sock that has some holes. Is it
permissible to wipe over it or not in
The scholars have divided. Some said no. Some
said yes.
So, but what is the reason that they
divided and differed?
Because this goes back to a principle.
Because they differed. What is the reason why
we are allowed to wipe over the sock?
The reason we're allowed to do it is
because some said because the the foot is
covered.
Therefore, those who said that the the reason
for allowing us to wipe
is because it's covered.
Anything that uncovers some part of the foot
renders it impermissible to wipe.
But whereas the other say, the reason we're
allowed to wipe over the sock is because
it's difficult to constantly take it off and
put it back on.
Because the people who say this, they say
there's no difference between
a a sock that has, holes and a
sock that doesn't because both are equal in
the fact that it's not easy to take
it off and put it back on again.
Therefore, if you go back to the reason
why the scholars have differed,
you'll be able to understand this, difference.
Another example.
For example, a person who has seen with
his own eyes the new moon of Ramadan
by himself, but the people didn't fast. Is
it obligatory for him to fast by on
his own or not?
So the ulama have differed. Some said he
must fast and others said no, he can't
fast. He must fast to the people.
And this is based upon a principle
issue.
No. Because they differ.
Does the word Hilal, the new moon, does
it mean that what we see in the
sky
or something that has become well known among
the people?
So some said that it's what we see
in the sky. If he's seen, he must
fast.
Therefore and say another group of scholars said
that it means that something that has become
well known and famous and spread among the
people.
Therefore, if it's not if it's, not
like that, then no fasting.
Shala number 8.
The person must be keen to avoid being
strange and being
going against the majority of the scholars when
he's seeking knowledge.
And, by the majority, we mean the modern
scholars. If the majority are upon 1 fatwa,
then don't come and make yourself strange by
following the minority.
And generally,
strange sayings do not come except from strange
people.
The 9th point.
To be careful not to actually sacrifice
understanding and mastering knowledge,
by reading more than necessary.
The nature of the student of knowledge by
definition,
he loves
to
read. And what must be, to given preference
to,
to read, for example, for an hour a
new book
or to, revise something he has already learned
during this hour.
Because, generally, the desire is to read new
some new material.
But, actually, the correct thing to do is
to revise the old material
that has been studied so that the person
can
understand it properly.
10th note.
There are some books by the scholars
who have analyzed a lot of the material
that actually will, make you not need many
books.
And will make the road to real knowledge
much shorter than, usual.
For example, the books of Imam Ibn Taymiyyah
Rahimahullah
will make the path to understanding and knowledge
much shorter and easier.
By Imam Ibn Hajar,
and he's a great book.
If a person dedicates 10 years to Fath
Albari, it's it's not much actually. It's little.
The hashi, which is the you can see
the explanation of Raul al Murbeh, book in
by, ibn Qasim will make the job easier
for you to understand Firk in a very
short way.
And what we're trying to say is that
there are certain books and scholars
that will make the job much easier than
others.
And the notes number 11.
It's extremely important for the student of knowledge
to actually learn and know the
fatawah of the modern scholars and to read
in other different aspects of knowledge.
Because the fatawa means
actually applying the knowledge that we're trying to
learn to our modern life.
Note
number 12.
We must actually benefit from the experience of
the real.
Do not start where others started. Start where
others finished.
Because for example, certain,
editions of certain books may not be suitable
or some may be better, so you must
ask before you buy and start reading and
benefiting from books, which books are better in
the opinion of the
Because the person must have a shaykh who
must be able to tell him which book
to choose,
which edition,
who actually checked it, and all these issues
are important.
Last
note.
And therefore, if you this is a very
important issue. If you seek knowledge, you must
follow one way. For example, you come to
a one sheikh and he says, you say,
in this field of expertise and knowledge, what
books and what for way I should follow?
He gives you the way and the books.
Then you go to another sheikh. He gives
you another way and the other books. Then
you go to a third one. So this
is going to waste your time and not
make you understand. So you must follow one
way.
And, what is important is you find the
proper sheikh, Alim, who understands and is,
and he has
achieved great,
heights in his field, and he's an expert
and follow his advice.
We will finish by what said
in a beautiful way.
Ibn Uqayim
said the knowledge is of 6 levels.
The first is to correctly ask a question.
The second is to correctly listen and
third is to correctly understand.
The 4th is to memorize.
The 5th is to teach.
And the 6th is the actual fruit of
the knowledge is to act upon it.
It's a very important topic.
Sheikh Faisal and Yaqir Al Jaza. Inshallah, the
sheikh will make it into a little booklet.
Hopefully, we'll benefit from it, because almost everything
he has mentioned,
unfortunately, a lot of people don't follow.