Abu Taymiyyah – Shaykh Ibraheem Ar Ruhaylee How to Obtain Knowledge & The Means [Day 1 Session 2]
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AI: Transcript ©
In the name of Allah, the most merciful,
the one who bestows
mercy. Indeed all praise is due to Allah
the Lord of the worlds
and may peace and blessings be upon our
beloved prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
and all his companions.
Verily seeking knowledge
is the most virtuous
action that a person can spend his years
seeking
and it is the most virtuous
effort
that
So
successful in this life and in the hereafter.
Because of knowledge,
a person will be happy in this life
and in the here
after and acquiring knowledge
is the objective
of every Muslim who wants goodness for himself
in this life and the hereafter.
And
act of worship,
there are 2 conditions that have to be
fulfilled,
I. E. Al Ikhlas,
sincerity
and Al Mutaba'
following the guidance of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam,
then the same can be said for knowledge.
The knowledge also has
these two conditions.
A person
has to follow the correct methodology,
the correct guidelines in seeking knowledge and this
is al mutaba'a,
this is following
the sunnah.
And also a person has to be sincere
when he seeks knowledge.
He has to be truthful to Allah when
he seeks knowledge and this is Al
Ikhlas.
And before we speak about
how a person should seek knowledge and how
to acquire knowledge,
we have to know the meaning of a
'ilm, the definition of the word 'ilm and
also the different classifications
of Al'ilm.
So
the meaning of Al'ilm
is Idraku shey, is to comprehend something
and to understand something. This is the meaning
of the word 'ilm.
So if the 'ilm if the knowledge is
Islamic knowledge,
then it is
understanding
this matter according to how Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala wants it to be understood.
If the knowledge is Sharri, if the knowledge
is Islamic,
then it is understanding and comprehending this matter
according to how Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala wants
it to be understood.
And if
the
branch of knowledge
is worldly,
I. E.
Sciences,
then the meaning of knowledge is
understanding
and comprehending this matter according to its correct
reality. It has to your understanding
has to conform to the reality of that
which you are studying. So even for example,
medicine
them is comprehending them according to their reality.
And because
our lecture is about acquiring
Islamic knowledge, then we are going to restrict
our speech to Islamic Sciences and Islamic
knowledge. So the definition of ilmun sharri,
the definition of Islamic knowledge
is
knowing this subject matter which Allah has legislated
and understanding
and comprehending it according to how Allah has
legislated for his slaves.
Islamic knowledge
according to different
classification.
So for example,
if we want to
categorize
knowledge
with regards to the subject matter,
then we can say that some of Islamic
knowledge is regarding Ithikad,
regarding belief
and some of it goes back to physical
acts of worship, Ibadah
and some of it goes back to a
Suruk,
which is the mannerisms
of a person
and some of it goes to Muhamalat
interacting with people.
And according to a different classic
classification, we can categorize
Ilm
knowledge I. E. Islamic knowledge
with 2 types.
Knowledge regarding Allah and knowledge regarding His legislation
or knowledge regarding the Sharia.
So knowledge regarding Allah is knowing
our Lord and knowing His names,
descriptions
and actions,
so we can know who He is.
And as for knowledge regarding the Sharia,
then it is knowing those commandments
which Allah has legislated
for us to fulfill.
So
all of the religion
we can classify
into this, that knowledge is either knowledge regarding
Allah and He's the Lord of the worlds,
knowing who we worship
or knowledge regarding the Sharia, meaning how to
worship Him I. E. Acts of worship.
And according to a different classification,
we can categorize
knowledge
into
also 2 types.
Knowing that which Allah has legislated
for us to do and knowing that which
Allah has forbidden us from doing. So all
of knowledge it is
either knowing what Allah ordered us to do
or knowing what Allah told us to stay
away from.
Knowing what Allah told us to do is
either wajib
or Mustahab,
I. E. Something which Allah obligated
or something which Allah recommends and encourages us
to do. And knowledge regarding
has forbidden
totally
and makru is something which Allah dislikes. So
a person,
he learns about both Mashruoor
and Mamnooh, he learns about that which Allah
told us to do so we can do
it, and a person learns about those things
which Allah told us not to do so
he can stay away from it.
And with regards to seeking knowledge or acquiring
knowledge,
then also we can divide or classify this
according to different categorizations.
So one of the categorizations is what a
person is actually acquiring
and this is 2 types,
either
a person is acquiring the text,
this is the first or secondly a person
is acquiring the knowledge
or the understanding.
So the first is acquiring the text and
the second is acquiring
the understanding.
With regards to acquiring the text
it means hifth I. E memorizing
the text.
A person memorizes the Quran,
a person memorizes
the Sunnah, a person memorizes
issues which the Ulama
have spoken about
and this person
who acquires the text
he is called a Hafid.
He's Hafid of the knowledge, I. E. He's
a memorizer
of the knowledge.
The second type
which is understanding
of the text, not just memorizing the text
itself,
This is Fahm, I comprehending
and understanding
the text and a person
who seeks to comprehend and understand the text
and not merely memorize it, he's called a
Fatiha
and the Fatiha
is better than the Hafid.
So from both of these two types,
if you were to compare between memorizing the
and for this reason the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam said
convey from me even if it is an
Ayah, because perhaps the one who is conveying
under understands more than the one who is,
listening. Meaning the one who is conveying
because he has understanding of the text,
he understands it better than the one who
is merely memorizing.
So fiqh
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
in the hadith of Mu'awiya Mu'awiya bin Nabi
Sufyan
and the hadith is in Sahib Bukhari and
Muslim, the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said
whoever
Allah wants goodness for, he gives him fiqh,
he gives him understanding
of the religion
and he didn't say he gives him
the ability to memorize the religion.
So here fiqh was mentioned I. E. Understanding
and memory was not mentioned.
And yet
when the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam when
he described the Khawarij,
he said regarding them that they recite the
Quran, meaning they memorize the Quran
yet it does not it does not pass
their throats.
And in those days
the Khwariz they were called Quran, they were
the reciters or the memorizers of the Quran.
They used to memorize it. However,
fiqh, there was no understanding
behind what they were memorizing
and neither did they act and implement that
which they had memorized
and neither did it cause them
to have a humility and fear Allah Jallafirullah.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said regarding
those people
who truly acquire knowledge, he said
verily
the people who really fear Allah from amongst
his slaves are the people of
knowledge.
And then another way of classifying
how a person should acquire and seek knowledge
is
with the categorization
of the avenue of seeking knowledge. Either two
main avenues by which a person can acquire
knowledge.
The first is Taqleed
and the second is Al Ishtihadwanathar.
At Taqleed means that a student of knowledge,
he takes his knowledge from his teacher, he
learns it from his teacher, and this is
the student of knowledge
at the first levels or the first step
of seeking knowledge. That he doesn't go to
the books immediately,
he doesn't go to the Islamic texts and
the evidences immediately,
rather he goes back to his teacher, to
his shayf, to the people of knowledge,
and he learns his knowledge through them, and
this is the first avenue.
After this person has sought knowledge with his
teachers, and he has
Al
Istihad
1
Nava.
And
Al
Istihad
1
Nava is Al Istihadwanathar.
And Al Istihadwanathar
is a person himself
looking into the books
and looking into the Islamic texts and the
evidences
and then deducing
and understanding
from them.
So a person for example looks into the
Quran
or looks into the hadith
and because he has enough knowledge with him,
which he sought with his scholars, he is
now
I Taqleid, following I Taqleed
following or taking your knowledge from a Sheikh,
then this has been mentioned in the Quran.
Allah said, Fasaloo
ahladzikriin
kuntumlaata'alamun
ask
the people of remembrance, I acknowledge if you
do not know. And this Noble Ayah
it contains 3 things
that who is the one who should
ask, who is the one who is asked,
and
when is the question asked. So look how
this short ayah
it contains these three different meanings.
As for
who is the person
who is
asked, Allah said, Fasaloo ahladzikr.
Ask the people of remembrance, I. E. The
people of knowledge. So they are the ones
who we have to ask, the people of
knowledge.
And as for the person who asks who
is he? Allah said
If you do not know, I. E. It
is a person who is ignorant and he
doesn't know, he's the one who has to
ask and the scholar said that the opposite
can also be understood from this Ayah, that
when a person knows something
then he does not need to
ask. And as for when a person should
ask, then again in the statement in Kuntum
Latalamun,
when you do not know. So this questioning
and this asking
has to be when you do not know.
So
to summarize,
acquiring knowledge.
Either it is Taqleid
through your Sheikh, through your teacher following his
teachings
or it is Istihal or it is you
yourself striving and
Istihad, scholar and from your teacher.
As for the subject of Ijtihad,
then we're going to leave this for a
separate lecture which we are going to do
tomorrow,
which is entitled
the correct methodology in reading books. Because
the correct methodology in reading books because the
correct
methodology in reading books would teach us how
to investigate and how to deduce and how
a person looks into the books.
So with regards to
acquiring knowledge
through Taqleed,
through following
your Sheikh
and acquiring knowledge from your teachers,
then there are 4 pillars
that this
level of seeking knowledge is based upon. Four
levels.
And each one of these four levels,
there are conditions linked to it and there
are manners
and etiquettes linked to it.
So seeking knowledge in this way,
it has to fulfill 4 pillars.
Each one of these 4 pillars contains conditions
which have to be fulfilled
etiquettes which a person should assume.
The first
or the the 4 pillars
of seeking knowledge in this way
is firstly
the mutalaki,
either one who is acquiring the knowledge, the
one who is seeking the knowledge, meaning the
student.
And there are conditions for being a student
and etiquette that a student should assume.
The second
pillar
is
an is the one from whom knowledge is
sought,
for the one from whom knowledge is acquired,
either teacher
or the Sheikh
and again there are conditions
and etiquettes when it comes to the teacher
and the Sheikh.
Then the third
pillar
is
the that which is being sought, either knowledge
or the subject matter
which is being studied.
And then the 4th pillar is the Tariqah.
The 4th pillar is the way in which
to acquire
the knowledge and again the way or the
etiquettes of acquiring the knowledge
from the teacher by the student has conditions
and it has etiquettes.
And sometimes
authors or speakers,
they will concentrate on one of these 4
pillars and perhaps ignore the other three pillars.
So for example, some of the authors
they may publish a volume
which
is regarding the student only,
and the etiquettes of the student
and the the mannerisms
that the student should have.
However, this is deficiency in reality
because they are neglecting
the other three pillars.
So if a person
wants to
acquire knowledge etiquettes
of
being
a
student.
Secondly, the etiquettes of being a student.
Secondly, the etiquettes of the shayf.
Thirdly,
the that which is being studied, the actual
knowledge and the subject matter,
and fourthly,
the methodology
or the way that a person traverses in
order to acquire the knowledge.
So with regards to the etiquettes
and the manners
of the first pillar of seeking knowledge either
student, the one who is learning the knowledge,
then there are various etiquettes and various manners,
and
these
etiquettes
have to be fulfilled in order for this
knowledge to be sought. And if these etiquettes
etiquettes are not present
then he will be prevented from seeking knowledge,
and the first of these etiquettes
and this is one of the greatest etiquette
and it is the greatest
pillar or foundation of our religion is Al
Ikhlas,
sincerity
that a person seeks knowledge sincerely and purely
for the sake of Allah
because this knowledge is Aziz, this knowledge is
something which is honorable
and something which is great
and therefore it cannot be acquired except through
Al Ikhlas, except through
sincerity,
meaning
a person
he seeks the reward of Allah. His intention
behind seeking the knowledge is he learns because
he wants the reward of Allah,
and he seeks knowledge because he wants this
reward of Allah from Allah,
and he seeks the knowledge
in order to remove ignorance
from himself.
This is the meaning of Al Ikhlas when
it comes to seeking knowledge that your objective
is
raafaljahl
an nafsikh that you're removing ignorance
from yourself.
And also
from Ikhlas is that a person wants to
be from the Ulama.
A person intends to be from the Ulama
and this is sincerity.
However, every single person has to
ask that he wants to be from the
Ulama for which reason. Why does he want
to be from the Ulama? And everybody should
stop
and take a moment to contemplate regarding themselves
because
here this issue or this question is when
the paths will separate
that
people want to be from the Ulama, but
why do you want to be from the
Ulama?
So
the answer is you want to be from
the Ulama because you want to enter into
Jannah.
You want to be from the Ulama because
you want to worship Allah upon
insight.
And the story of the narration,
which is mentioned regarding a group of youth
and they were all sitting in the shadow
of the Kaaba.
And Rurwa
ibn Zubayl, he was among those youth,
and each one of those youth was mentioning
his hopes and his ambitions.
So the turn came to Rurwa
and it was asked what do you hope?
What do you really desire? What's your ambition?
And he said that my ambition is that
I become from the scholars and I enter
into Jannah.
As for the others, then they would mention
other
ambitions.
So
his
ambition
wasn't to become from the scholars in order
for his head to be kissed,
or in order for his name to be
mentioned,
or for in order for him to be
mentioned in the gatherings and the sittings,
rather he only wanted to become a scholar
in order to enter into
Jannah.
And
also
from also the reason why you should want
to be from the scholars is because of
the reward which Allah gives to the scholars.
That Allah said in the Quran,
Allah
raises
those amongst you who have Iman
and those who have been given knowledge in
various ranks.
And this word Darajat
ranks,
it has come in a way
which
shows us that there are many different ranks
and these are the ranks of paradise.
And there are so many ranks only Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala knows regarding the ranks of
Jannah, and according to a person's knowledge
is his rank in
Jannah. So this person, he doesn't want
to be heard, he doesn't want to seek
knowledge in order to be heard,
he doesn't want to seek knowledge in order
to be seen, rather he wants knowledge in
order to be
in Jannah.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
told us about those people
who want to be from the ulama
in order for it to be said regarding
him that he's an alim or he is
a fakih. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
wa sallam mentioned the final refuge and the
ending place of this person.
He mentioned to us 3 people,
the first of them is a person who
sought knowledge,
and the second of them is a person
who would give in charity,
and the third of them is a person
who fought
jihad.
So the first person will be bought and
it will be said to him why did
you seek knowledge?
And he will say oh Allah, I sought
knowledge for your sake
and it will be said to him you
have lied,
rather you only sought knowledge
so you can be called a scholar
or you can be called a Fakih,
and therefore he will be dragged into the
fire.
And the second
your sake. It will be said to him
you are lying
rather you only
used to give in order for it to
be said that you are
generous
and you are kind and it was said
and he will be dragged to the fire
upon his face. And then the third person,
the one who used to fight,
it will be said to him why did
he used to fight? And he will say
I used to fight in your sake, in
the sake of Allah, and it will be
said to him you have lied rather you
only fought in order for it to be
said you are brave and you are courageous
and it was said and he will also
be sent to the fire. And my brothers,
this hadith
it is something
which should be a lesson for every single
person.
That the first person,
the Hadith mentions
he wanted to be called a scholar in
the Dunya and he was called a scholar
in the Dunya,
meaning he fulfilled his objective, he wanted to
be known as a scholar and he was
known as a scholar.
And this shows that just because somebody becomes
known as a scholar does not guarantee his
safety because this person
was also known as a scholar, and just
because
people go towards this scholar and consider him
to be a scholar
does not guarantee his safety in the hereafter.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he's wise,
he gives people that which they want.
So compare
the 2 evidences which we mentioned.
In the first evidence Allah says he raises
in rank I. E. In paradise
according to Iman and
knowledge
because those people wanted the rank in the
here after in Jannah due to their knowledge,
Allah gave it to them. And as for
the second hadith
the person wanted to be called a scholar
and Allah also gave him this, he gave
him his objective, he was called a scholar
in the dunya, but in the hereafter
he was
in the fire. So perhaps
these two scholars,
they used to sit in the same gathering,
and they had the same sheikh, the same
teacher,
and the way in which they sought knowledge
was very similar.
However, one of them intended that which was
with Allah
and the other one intended
that which is in the Dunya. And therefore,
the greatest
foundation
and the greatest principle which we have is
Al Ikhlas,
sincerity.
And the ulama have mentioned
that sincerity when it comes to seeking knowledge
is
a person intending to remove ignorance from
himself. So a person, he doesn't want to
be known as a Faqih,
neither does he want to write books, or
give sermons,
or give admonishments
rather he only wants to remove ignorance from
himself. He only wants to worship Allah upon
insight.
If he does this,
then he will find himself
desiring to give dawah,
he will find himself desiring to
give this goodness to the other people.
And the second etiquette
that every student of knowledge
must adorn himself is
is Al Istiqaamah,
and Al Istiqaamah is being upright
and practicing and implementing
the teachings
that a person shows obedience to Allah Jallafillah
and that a person he avoids innovations
and a person avoids avoids Maasi, avoids sinning,
and that a person is,
constant in his obedience and worship of Allah
Azzawajal.
And for this reason Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
he mentioned in the ayah,
wataq'ullah,
have taq'hu of Allah, have piety of Allah
and he will teach you. And there are
2, the Mufasirun,
there are 2 statements
you having is a cause for Allah to
teach you.
And then the second meaning is that Allah
is ordering people to have Taqwa and then
informing them that Allah is the one who
teaches them.
And also
the famous piece of poetry that Al Imam
al Shafi'ir Rahimullah said is also regarding this.
He said I complained
to Waqir
who was his teacher. I complained to wakir
regarding the weakness of my memory.
And wakir said to me, stay away
from sinning.
And then he said to him, you should
know
that
knowledge is light
and the light of Allah does not come
to a person who is sinful.
The light which is from Allah is not
given to a person who is always
sinning. So this knowledge, this light, it isn't
given to a Farsik, it isn't given to
a person who is openly disobedient,
it isn't given to a person who is
treacherous,
it isn't given to a person who is
a compulsive liar,
it isn't not given to an innovator,
rather Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he's hakeen, he
is all wise, he has wisdom,
and from wisdom
is placing everything in its proper place,
meaning Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
he has chosen certain men
and then he has prepared these men in
order to
take and carry and convey that knowledge.
And these men are men of Istikamah,
those who are upright,
those who worship Allah, those who stay away
from innovations,
those who stay away from
sins. And for this reason you will
notice that there are many students of knowledge.
There are many people who are seeking knowledge.
However, the ulama amongst them are very few
and then from those ulama,
the fuqaha,
the ones of truly deep
of the very small minority
from that minority of the few people.
And for this reason if a person
was to look through Islamic history
from the time of the Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam until our time today,
you'll find only a very small number of
people
who were known and became famous
for their efforts in and their striving to
rectify
society.
And for this reason the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam
said Allah sends
at the head of every 100 years
a person, a man who will revive the
religion. At the head of a 100 years,
one person who will revive
the religion. So you should know that acquiring
knowledge is not due to you revising a
lot or studying a lot, rather it is
due to Taqwa, due to piety of Allah,
and it is due to Istikaman,
being upright in the worship of Allah. It
is due to a person being truthful in
that which he says and
etiquette of Ikhlas, sincerity and the
etiquette of Taqwa of piety,
then goodness is hoped for him.
And then the third etiquette which a student
of knowledge must adorn himself with
is being focused
and trying hard in his studies and when
it comes to seeking knowledge.
And note we said
the first etiquette was alikhla, sincerity,
and the second etiquette was being upright.
The third etiquette is striving and trying hard
and being focused and diligent in seeking knowledge,
meaning
sometimes it isn't enough and sufficient for a
person
to have Ikhlas and to be upright and
worship Allah. You may find a person who
is very sincere
and he worships Allah, but he's lazy and
he doesn't he doesn't try hard when it
comes to seeking knowledge. This type of person
will not be able to acquire that knowledge
and for this reason Ibn Abbas radiAllahu anhuama
when he when it was when he was
asked how did you
acquire this knowledge? He said with a heart
which is understanding
and intelligent
and with a tongue which is always asking
questions.
Meaning
his heart or a person has to be
very intelligent in always trying to understand the
issue.
And also when somebody doesn't know anything,
then shyness does not prevent your tongue from
asking the question,
and this shows hirs. This shows trying hard
and being diligent
and in another narration when he was asked
he said how did he acquire knowledge? He
said being early like the crow because it
is known that the crow is the earliest
bird or one of the earliest birds which
comes out. And against this shows the how
diligent a person has to be when it
comes to seeking knowledge, and it is narrated
regarding Al Imamu Ahmed Rahimullah,
that when he used to go out out
to seek knowledge when he was young, he
used to go out before dawn when it
was still at when it was still dark,
and his mother used to exit with him
because she used to be scared
about him, and Ibn Abbas radiallahu anhu man
it is narrated regarding him that he would
sometimes sleep on the street
or sleep
in the pathway that the companions would be
walking or using or sometimes he would sleep
and stay near the door of the companions.
So a benefit does not miss him, and
he's able to ask them questions, and this
is how these young companions
became great scholars. And this is why Ibn
Abbas he's called Tarjamanl
Quran.
This is why he's called Hebru Ummah, the
great scholar of this Ummah. For this reason
Al Imam Muhammad is called Imam of Sunnah,
the Imam of the Sunnah.
Yes, the beginning is very difficult.
There are difficulties in the beginning of this
path.
However,
the final ending is very honorable
that a person becomes an imam of the
religion,
and that which Allah has prepared for him
in the hereafter
is greater than the small difficulties he had
in this Duniya.
Sometimes you notice from some of the students
that they become bored very quickly,
if they are sitting for example in a
gathering of an hour
or more than an hour, they become bored
and they stop concentrating
and maybe one day he's absent
and the second day he is present and
then there are excuses for his absences.
This type of person
will never be able to seek knowledge, rather
after a short time he will seek off
from cutting
knowledge and this is because this knowledge, this
il, it only comes with working hard and
striving hard and being patient
and having a strong determination,
and a person sincerely wanting it for the
sake of Allah.
When is
Rob Sanchez.
And because there isn't a lot of time,
but really this subject can go on. There's
many etiquettes and many conditions,
so we're going to try to summarize them
as much as possible.
We spoke about the etiquette of the student
who is seeking knowledge.
The second pillar we mentioned is the scholar,
the one from whom the knowledge is sought,
either teacher.
And also
for a person to be a scholar,
for a person to be worthy of being
learned from him and studied with him, there
are certain conditions that he has to have.
The first condition is abbabt,
that he has to be precise in his
knowledge
and this precision in knowledge is 2 types.
Precision in knowledge
and precision and precision in conveying the knowledge.
So precision in knowledge is that he understands
and comprehends properly
the science which he is teaching or the
branch of knowledge, which is being sought from
him. And as for the second precision, then
it is in conveying that not only does
he understand it properly, but he's able
And then the sec second condition that the
scholar or the teacher must have is that
he also has to be diligent
and he cares about benefiting
the people and cares about spreading
the knowledge, because a person, a scholar who
has no concern for spreading the knowledge,
then there's no benefit in him. So the
scholar has to be somebody
who has care for his students
and he wants to teach his students, and
he's open to answering their questions.
And as for the person
who doesn't have this concern for his students,
then maybe when it comes for him to
explain the lesson, then he will fall short
or he will become angry if too many
questions are answered, or he feels restricted if
students come to him.
And then the third condition
that the scholar must have from whom you
seek knowledge is that his aqeedah has to
be sound
and also he has to be sound,
in terms of his actions that he is
away
from sinning and innovations and disobedience and so
on and so forth. And if we said
these etiquettes about the student, we said regarding
the
student that also he should have the correct
aqeedah
and he should have the correct,
manners, then with regards to the scholar this
is more important.
And then with regards to the knowledge which
is being sought,
then again there are conditions for this knowledge
and this is something which has to be
understood
properly.
That when it comes to seeking knowledge,
the first thing a person, a student of
knowledge should be should begin with is that
which the Sharia requires from him.
So the acts of worship are 2 types,
what is Wajib
obligatory and that which is recommended,
and it isn't correct for
person
to busy himself with the recommended actions, the
voluntary actions
before the wajib or obligatory actions,
unlike this with seeking knowledge.
The first a person has to learn that
which is obligatory upon him to know and
do, and then after this he learns the
other subsidiary matters.
So the first thing that the student of
knowledge
learns is the greatest and foremost obligation at
Tawhid
and that which opposes it I. E. A
shirk
and knowing the pillars of Al Iman,
and that which Allah has required
from him, and he does not go to
the subsidiary
matters before learning
these
these obligations,
and also a person learns the principles or
the foundations or the core of this religion
before moving on to the branches
of knowledge.
So if a person
seeks knowledge like this with the correct way,
with the correct etiquettes, then it is hope
for him that he will be able to
acquire a lot of knowledge and become firm
in a short amount of time.
And with regards to the knowledge which you
are seeking
also
there are 2 types of knowledge which we
alluded to earlier on. That there is knowledge
regarding the truth and goodness
and there's
knowledge regarding evil and falsehood and the student
of knowledge has to know both of these
branches of knowledge.
So he knows and he learns about the
truth and the goodness so he can act
by it. And he learns about the evil
and the falsehood, so he can stay away
away from it. But
with both of these types of knowledge,
you have to know it Mujmalan
very generally
or from a very broad scope and then
know it in detail.
More intensively with finer details.
More intensively
with finer details
and also when it comes to the falsehood.
1st, a person generally learns about the falsehood
and evil. For example, a statement of shirk,
what shirk is and what the deviations of
aqeed are very broadly speaking.
Then after this he intensively starts to study
those,
mistakes and those deviations
in Aqeedah,
so he becomes aware of them and he
has with him the weapon of knowledge which
he can reply.
So if a person learns like this then
it is hoped he will become an imam,
somebody who is precise in knowledge. He learned
goodness broadly and then he delved into it
and then he learned the evil broadly, so
he could stay away from it, and then
he afterwards he studied it more intensely so
he can stay away from it. He learns
the good so he can act upon it
it and he learns the evil generally so
he can stay away from it.
And then the 4th pillar is how to
seek knowledge or how to acquire this knowledge.
In reality, everything which we have mentioned
relates back to this pillar. How to
seek knowledge or the methodology of gaining methodology
of gaining knowledge.
When it comes to the methodology of gaining
knowledge,
it is 2 types. Either we are talking
about the Shar methodology
or we are talking about personal practices which
are effective to a person himself.
So for example,
some
people when it comes to seeking knowledge, they
focus on memorizing a lot.
Other people, they will focus on writing
understanding the benefits.
Some people will write benefits on the side
of the book or the footnotes of the
book, whereas other people might have separate notepad,
a separate book for all of their benefits
and notes. Other people might have small like
revision cards in which he writes the benefits
and various categorizations of knowledge.
The point is that these types of practices
is personal
to to each individual, how effective it is
to you, and you choose from all of
these various avenues what works best for you.
With regards to the Shar'i,
methodology,
then we have mentioned a person goes back
the book and the sunnah
and he returns to the people of knowledge
and he takes from a scholar who's precise
in his knowledge and he assumes the correct
etiquettes or down the etiquettes of knowledge. But
as for
the turuq adiyah
are those avenues which are personal to individuals
then a person chooses what works for him.
And we'll and although we can carry on
going and there's many benefits and many etiquettes
and conditions,
but because of the shortage of time we'll
stop with this. Insha'Allah, in the next lessons
we'll try to complete,
that which remains and we ask Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala to give tawfiq to everybody.
And if anybody has a question then you
are free to ask your question.
I will take a few questions.
Is there any question? Forgot and didn't mention.
Any questions?
A question that living in this country in
Britain where we don't have scholars amongst us,
then how are we able to seek knowledge
from them?
And first
ly, any student of knowledge must travel in
order to seek knowledge and those who came
before as a great scholar they used to
travel in order to seek knowledge. So ima
al imamu Ahmed al Rahimullah,
he traveled from Baghdad all the way to
Yemen by foot in order to seek hadith
from Abdulazak Hassan Ali.
And nowadays,
nobody amongst us is even willing to fly
for 3 days, for example. If you were
to stop by the airport for a day
and then fly for 2 days, people aren't
able to do this.
So a person has to be diligent
and wants and strives in seeking knowledge and
traveling to the people of knowledge. However, if
a person cannot do this, then he can
go to the books of the scholars in
which they have explained
their text, and he starts with the easy
books and then the more advanced books and
anything whilst a person is reading,
anything that he does not understand, he puts
a note next to it and then he
asks the scholar, he rings them up, especially
nowadays with easy communication,
we're able to ring the scholar and ask
them, questions. And also there's or there's audio
in which a person can follow the lessons
of the scholars.
And brothers, just a clarification, the hadith of
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
mistranslated
it is the one who conveys
may convey to the one who is more
understanding
than him.
Okay. We take one more question. I'm gonna
go for a break at 7:30
for
Salat.
Firstly, with regards to the brothers and all
of you who have confessed,
outwardly,
our love towards the Sheikh, he said may
the one for whom you loved me for
also love you. And may Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala make us all from those who love
each other for the sake of Allah and
those who enter the mercy of Allah and
those who are honored by Allah. With regards
to the question,
there are some people who say that when
you seek knowledge, you should seek knowledge you
should start by learning the Quran and the
Arabic language
and not with Al Qaeda and Fiqh. And
this is an important issue that we have
to
Tawhid
is learnt because this is the final objective.
The final objective behind knowledge is
so every single person has to learn about
Tawhid
even if he doesn't know the knowledge. He
has to have a broad understanding of Tawhid
and he has to have knowledge of Tawhid
so he can stay away from a shirk.
So he generally knows what is Tawhid, what
is the meaning of Tawhid, what opposes Tawhid.
This this doesn't necessarily mean
that he has to know Tawhid in all
of its final
details. He generally and broadly knows that which
Allah has obligated upon him. When he then
wants to study further and delve further into
these sciences,
then he looks at the other types of
knowledge, which are an avenue towards a Tawhid.
Like, for example, learning the Arabic language and
other branches of knowledge.