Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #029 Entering Paradise is Only By Gods Mercy Choosing Knowledge Subjects
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AI: Summary ©
The messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be
upon him, encouraged us to strive for uprightness
by seeking assistance in the early mornings, late
afternoons at and something of the depths of
the night. From this tradition, the scholars made
it a habit to briefly read text of
religious guidance in the late afternoon and often
term such readings the daily.
The term refers to the late afternoon, but
also to a time of rest from worldly
toils and reinvigoration of one's spirit.
In this day, Sheikh Harazrabani will be covering
2 texts. Imam Zarrnouji's primer on the etiquette
of seeking knowledge,
and Imam Youssef Anabahani's beautiful collection of 40
sets of 40 prophetic hadith.
Hadith.
Alhamdulillah, we've reached
hadith number
15
of
the 40 hadiths in praise of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
In
the second set of 40 hadiths
in praise
of Allah
mighty and majestic.
And these are not all hadiths
that are explicitly
praising Allah
but
in all of them the praise of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
is understood.
So the 15th hadith
The messenger of Allah
peace and blessings be upon him came out
to us.
Said,
and the messenger of Allah said,
my dearly my my intimate companion Jibril
just left
my company
now.
Muhammad and he had said,
So the prophet
came out to the companions and he said
that
my my intimate companion, Jibril,
just left.
And the word Jibril
is.
It's Arabized. It can be said in a
number of ways.
Right? And when it comes in the Quran,
we read it as has come.
And this it's come. Like Jibrael and different
read it differently in the various places.
And here it's written
and also in the hadith is to read
it according to
the and he said, oh, Muhammad, by the
one who sent you with the truth,
truly
Allah had a servant from amongst his servants
who worship Allah
500 years
on the top of a mountain
in the,
you know, on
an island in the sea.
An island whose width and length was
30 30
arm lengths,
30 hand span, which would be just 15
meters by 15 meters, basically like a rock.
Right?
And
it was surrounded by the sea.
Right?
For 4,000 farsakh.
Right? For thousands of miles
from each direction.
But Allah brought out for him a spring,
a of
sweet water
whose width
was a finger
that would bring out a little, you know,
bring out
a little
sweet water.
Is sweet water.
Sweet not meaning that sugared. Sweet as
in sweet to drink
with a good taste
that would pull up.
It would gather up
at the bottom
of
the mountain
and a pomegranate
tree, shajarati roman,
that each night would bring out 1 pomegranate,
And
this servant of Allah would worship by day.
And when when night time came, when
the messa,
when nighttime came, he would go down
and make
and take that pomegranate.
And
he would eat from it.
And then he'd go back to to devotion.
So he was devoted the whole time. The
only time he'd take a break was
to make to renew his wudu,
to drink
some water and have the pomegranate.
That's it.
And he asked his lord
that when the time came, when his apportioned
time came,
is a time period,
when his apportioned
time
came that he
take him
in the state of prostration. So he's so
devoted.
Not only did he live worshiping,
but he asked
to be
taken in a state of prostration.
Right? And not to make the earth nor
anything
ruin his body.
Right?
In in any way,
not to allow anything
to
corrupt his body.
Until Allah would resurrect
him
in a state of prostration.
And Allah did so. So we passed by
him
when
we descended and when we ascended.
Who's who's speaking here?
Sayna Jibril alayhis salam. So the angels see
this man who who was taken in the
state of prostration.
Right? But we know
from knowledge meaning from Allah's knowledge
and what he has disclosed to the angels
that this servant will be made to stand
on the day of resurrection. This devoted servant
worship the whole time
didn't take anything of the dunya except the
extent of
the the water for his wudu and a
pomegranate to nourish himself.
We made to stand before Allah.
So the lord will say to him,
And
the servant will say, but by my action.
So Allah repeats, make my servant enter paradise
by
my action, by my mercy.
He said,
oh lord,
by my actions.
He said, compare for my servant between
my blessings upon him and by his actions.
So it is found that the blessing of
sight alone has encompassed
encompassed
the worship of 500 years.
And the blessing of the rest of the
body remains
as a blessing upon him.
So then Allah most high says make my
servant enter * fire
and he'll be dragged to *.
So then the this devotee will say, oh
lord,
by your mercy make me enter paradise.
Then he's told to return and he made
the stand before Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
When he's standing before Allah, Allah will ask
him, oh my servant, who created you when
you were nothing? And he will say,
you,
oh lord,
Then Allah will ask him, who granted you
the strength for my worship?
For 500 years.
And he will say you oh lord.
And he asks, and and who
allowed you to be on a mountaintop in
the middle of
the
ocean
and who brought forth for you sweet water
from the salty water of this
sea
while surrounded by the salty water of the
sea and who brought forth for you every
night a pomegranate
when they only come out once a year.
And you asked him
to take you back
in prostration, and he did so.
And the servant say, you, oh lord.
Said, so all that was by my mercy.
All of it. All the things that you
think you did and all the means that
were facilitated for it were all by Allah's
mercy.
And Allah made him enter.
Sorry.
And by my mercy will I make you
enter paradise.
Then Allah commands the angels make my servant
enter paradise.
For what a good servant you were.
Oh, my servant.
And Allah made him enter paradise.
Of course, there's many
lessons in this.
Right?
The central lesson is the one mentioned by
Sayyidina Jibril in this conversation with the prophet
SAW ISAW. Sayyidina
Jibril
And this hadith is related by Al Hakim.
And Imam Al Hafid Al Mufiri said that
this is a hadith of with sound with
rigorously authentic
chain of transmission.
Define what is a shade?
And they say
Like, it's in.
That's your matter of belief that,
a thing, refers to something that exists.
So
all existent things,
All things, meaning all existent things
are by Allah's mercy.
Why? Because as
There's 2 blessings that nothing that exists is
bereft
of. The blessing
of being originated
and the blessing
of
Allah's
of his sustaining at every moment.
This is one of the
explanations of Allah's being
He's the all merciful
by the mercy of originating
and the particularly merciful
by the the mercy of sustaining.
Was
a distinguished
and has many
important works.
One of them is a is a brilliant
and sometimes sadly neglected in our times of
work because people have distanced themselves from practical
concern for the sunnah of the prophet is
his work at.
The encouragement and warning,
which is a brilliant work. He looked at,
I think, about 15 of the major works
of hadith, all 6 books of
the Sunan, the sitta, Buhari Muslim, and the
other 4 books of Sunan,
and the other secondary
main collections,
and gathered in them and arranged by chapter
all the hadiths
in which there has come some encouragement, which
is
or
some warning.
And it's one of those works that one
should have make an aspiration
to read, like the practice. You know, one's
practical knowledge of the sunnah.
Right?
These are things that are expected of a
believer, that they should yeah, they
Right? You have
an example.
It's not
the prophet is not a legal argument for
you that you say, well, I'm following this
hadith.
That's taken care of. And there's a place
for that. But there's a devotional responsibility.
And it's an amazing and also
these encouragements and warnings, no one would disagree
about them. No one will say that, no,
you
shouldn't
put on your sandals sitting down.
It's very clear. There's adab. There's akhlaq. There's
a lot of and it's a wonderful work,
you know, several 1,000 hadiths.
So that's the hadith that we're going to
look at today. We're we're also
looking
daily
at,
in these daily rakhas at
the work of Imam
Zernooji Rahimahullahahu
ta'ala called Talim Al Mutalim
instructing the student
on the ways of
seeking knowledge,
which is a beautiful,
beautiful
work.
Allah subha'tala, realize us
in the meanings
of being a student of knowledge. And where
did we reach?
Right.
This
the section here
on how one chooses,
right,
how one chooses
knowledge.
How one chooses what to study.
Number 2,
and
the teacher
and
and
the companion
and to remain,
to remain firm on that. So he says,
And these are key ingredients
in pursuing. One has to choose the right
knowledge
to study and to prioritize
in one study.
And one has to seek the right kind
of teacher.
And
any journey, the sunnah of journeys is that
one journey with companions.
Right? And the more dangerous
or challenging the journey,
the more important
your companions are on the journey
because
they facilitate
the journey, and they support you in the
challenges. Right?
Right?
But the shariq,
the the your partner is called shariq
because
you you are it you're sharing.
What are you sharing?
Right?
You are
sharing
in
the goal.
Right? You are sharing in the goal. You
are sharing
the challenges. And they say,
so the and
that they they have a shared goal.
The benefit is that the challenges are shared.
The the one challenge faced by 2 people,
it gets divided up. It it seems it's
easier.
Right? It makes
the challenges more manageable.
Right?
Right? To remain firm. And they say
Whoever remains firm bears fruit.
It it befits the seeker of knowledge to
choose from every knowledge
the best of it.
Right?
Right? And what's the best of it
is what they need and he explained.
What they what they need the most and
what's most important.
Right? And what should be sought first. Right?
So
it is
what they need the most
practically,
number 2, what is most important,
right,
and then what needs to be sought first.
So it serves as a foundation for what
comes after.
And what one needs in the matter of
one's religion
in the immediate.
And then what one needs
afterwards,
what will need afterwards.
So some things right now, let's say you're
not working, but you will need to work.
So you need to learn about it.
If you're if you're
married but but don't have children, but you
will have children, so you learn about the
things that relate to your rights and responsibilities
before you become responsible.
Likewise,
with in in in any other matter.
So one
gives precedence
to the the science of divine oneness
and of knowing Allah.
It
is the science of, what one believes about
Allah.
And what Allah has made incumbent for us
to believe of the matters of belief
and and then he explains what that entails.
Right?
He said, and one should know Allah with
proofs.
And one should know why
one believes
for the for the
for the faith of the one who believes
out of mere following. I believe because my
parents believe.
Even though it is valid according to us,
right, according to us, Imam al Zhanuji is
coming from the maturidi tradition, but also
the the
the absolute majority of
have said that
that the faith
of the the one who makes is valid.
But,
you know, the and this is the same
position of of the later as well. But
they're sinful
for leaving
reasoning,
for leaving istidal, having a way to affirm
your faith.
And you don't need detailed proof, but at
someone is considered no longer if they know
with with conviction, not just by prattling it,
that, well,
this world is created and it needs a
creator, and that creator is Allah. And to
have that level
of understanding, they don't need to have one
only needs more than that if one's faith
is tested or challenged
or one has questions oneself.
And this is something really important,
that one chooses
old knowledge,
not newfangled
things.
Right?
Right? And
here,
that when old knowledge means what is established.
Right? What is established?
What is clearly known?
Not newfangled
theories, ideas, etcetera, untested ideas.
Right?
Right?
They they say.
Right? All good
is in following those who have come before.
And all harm
is in
the innovations
of those who have come after,
meaning in any time, there's people who sort
of do their own thing. They have their
own ideas. Well,
you know, and in general,
if we know,
as says,
everyone who follows a prodded path will reach.
And the funniest thing is when people try
to convince you to pursue a path that
they've not reached the completion of. They say,
learn Arabic. Learn the the Quranic Arabic in
x amount of time. So are you a
master of Quranic Arabic? No. Are they certified
that you're a master of Arabic? No.
So you're basically saying you you'll help me
learn something, that you you're not
a master of yourself.
Very interesting.
Right?
Etcetera. And there's a lot of people
around who
do this kind of stuff. So one chooses
established
knowledge.
And he says
and said, let's seek
what's old and established and beware of newfangled
things. So this has application in the religious
sciences and beware of people who just do
their own thing.
And that's and he's warning in the 6th
Islamic century
that there's people out there who are just
doing their own thing. Right?
And this idea
of knowledge being a trodden path
is important, but also a lot of people
end up spending a lot of time
with new issues.
But
and this is something Sheikh Adib Kallas
would emphasize a lot. The people would go
and say, what about all the typical
controversial,
this,
that,
taqleed, this. I said,
taalam.
Right? If you learn and you'll know.
Right? That
rather than going deeply into individual issues,
what do we say? How do we refute
so and so about this? How do we
refute so and so about that?
If you learn the knowledge,
you know
the answers.
Otherwise, you'll just be picking up scraps here
and there,
but you're still hungry,
and you cannot feed anyone else.
So this is part of what the established
knowledge. That if you want, a lot of
people, they they decide to learn. They they
there's several Vedas. One is being busied with
controversial issues.
But even
contemporary issues, etcetera, there's a place for them.
But they're not a substitute for learning.
Let's say you know everything there is to
know about modernity.
But you don't know what your iman is.
Then your sophisticated understanding of modernity
just leaves you as a sophisticated modern person
who still doesn't know their iman.
So
there's
there's one has to do with controversies, but
also just contemporary
issues, whether it be in faith or law
or spirituality
or,
you know, or political matters, etcetera.
Right?
And,
and even worse is, you know, people and
you you see students of knowledge too. They're
spending hours a day following
the US elections or this and that. Go
read some books.
Go read some books. If you don't know
what to read, ask.
Right? So these are,
you know, this is an an important council.
It says,
and beware of ever busying yourself
with
which is,
debate.
Right, scholastic debate
that manifested after the after the great scholars
departed.
It became very popular because people cared about
din. So people would debate. It wasn't really
for any purpose except for the sake of
debating
because it distances
this this the student of knowledge from which
is building your foundation correctly.
And it wastes one time,
one's life.
And it
bequeaths
alienation between people and enmity.
And it's from the signs
of
the last day
that
debate and disputation about religion
becomes
widespread and this applies
in a scholarly way avoid the debates of
the ulema,
but also in family and so on. Never
be involved in discussions on moon sighting. Never
discuss
halal meat and haram meat and this. If
you can get away with never discussing anything,
do so.
Save your energy to learn properly
and when the time is right, convey
clearly.
And the less you talk about religion, the
more people will listen to you about it.
Right? It's also of the science of the
lifting of knowledge
and the lifting of religious understanding as has
come in hadith.
So this is his emphasis on how one
chooses
a,
Yeah. One chooses
no. Choose what's most important. What you need
all begin
with a clear
understanding of what you believe, and that doesn't
take a lot of time.
Any of the basic
introductory text on Islamic belief
is a good starting point.
But beware of people who go over the
top, who you have to spend years just
learning what you believe. Right? Because
it's important to to begin with that, but
that doesn't take very long at all. Right?
And as Sheikh Hamza said, despite being mocked
by some of our attitudinally divergent friends about
it, but he's right, that all you need
to know about
is contained in.
Directly like what you need to believe about
Allah contained
there.
The statement
of contains all that
all the meanings of
That's how straightforward it is if understood
properly
by
as conveyed by its people.
So it doesn't take a long, long time.
And then he tells us about the choice
of the teacher,
and
we'll just read
that. We ask Allah to guide us to
the teachers who will benefit us.
As for teaching, choosing
the one's teacher,
it
is
it is befitting that one choose
the most learned,
the most
scrupulous,
and
the oldest,
the most senior. Right?
And each of these,
there's clear hadiths
related to it.
Folk you know, the Quran Allah tells us
over everyone
of knowledge is someone more knowing.
The prophet
asked oh lord, increase me knowledge. So you
seek knowledge not just from someone who knows
from but someone who knows more
than others.
Scrupulousness
because it's a foundational principle of our religion.
Leave what makes you doubt for what doesn't
make you doubt.
I'll ascend
the most aged
aged because
with age comes wisdom. And the sunnah itself
has been described as hikmah, as wisdom.
But what's sought by age is not just
age in years, but
that is maturity,
is someone who's mature of judgment,
right, whose knowledge has borne fruit,
who understand just doesn't know the knowledge,
but knows
how it's applied,
etcetera.
And wisdom and there's many hadiths. And
al Khateeb al Baghdadi actually devoted a whole
chapter
in his work, al Khateeb al Mutfaqdeh,
of the narrations in warning against
learning from,
right, the the immature.
That's a fitna.
A lot of people start following
young students of knowledge.
And
there's difference between
someone who's young and enthusiastic sharing benefit,
and
giving their opinion.
Right? And if someone's young and they're giving
too many opinions,
one should generally
keep one's distance. Right? Because that's not a
good thing. Like, what what what do you
and we don't judge them, but the basis
is that,
you know, that opinion is sought from those
who have experience
until one does, unless they're conveying
from those who are
those who have who are fit to do
that. Right? Because the basis is especially on
the big issues, etcetera.
And
but in general, one should be very wary.
People should know
their places.
And there's some things,
like someone went to one of the senior
and said, Alhamdulillah, and I got Ijazah from
so and so on from so and so
on from so and so.
The sheikh said, and did any of them
teach you any adab?
That was a bit of a
and the senior sheikh actually walked away.
It was a bit of a shock. I
heard it from both sides because a couple
of days later, the senior sheikh said, can
you believe what's going on? I said,
what? And the other side said, why is
he upset with me? I said, like,
I just kept quiet because none of my
business. But
there's
it's important to know. Yeah?
And
and
and those who displayed that kind of immaturity,
right, one should be very careful. And as
a student of knowledge, one shouldn't one shouldn't
be that immature person who's just expressing their
thoughts and their opinions and so on.
Right?
Like some, you know, they say, you know,
the cup that is full cannot be filled.
Right?
Right?
So,
and
reflection.
Said I found him
in
a in a mature,
older
of great dignity,
and halim,
and great forbearance, and great patience.
And it is said about Imam Abu Hanifa,
he remained
firm
with Hammad ibn Suleiman,
so he bore fruit.
Then he mentions
that he said that I heard
a wise man
from the wise men of Samarkand.
And these were great cities in Central Asia,
Samarkand and Bukhara,
which were destroyed by the the Mongol hordes.
They're great centers of learning,
say that a student
well, one of the students
consulted him about seeking knowledge when he was
when he had resolved to go to to
seek knowledge. So going from Samarkand to Bukhara,
and he asked this wise scholar for advice.
And
imam
Zarunu
says,
and this is how one should consult about
every matter.
Right?
And just recently, I suggested somewhat, they they
should ask
sheikh so and so whether to do that
thing.
So they said,
I got to meet sheikh so and so
and ask them if it's okay to do
such and such
thing. There's a big difference between asking whether
that you should do this and is it
okay to do it. He says, okay. Okay.
Go ahead.
And that you didn't consult. You just confirmed.
And usually most people
will just let things be
and that's foolish.
For Allah most high commanded his messenger
to consult
in all matters.
Consult them in the affair,
meaning in all things.
And their affairs
are through mutual consultation amongst them.
That's the is
anything of consequence, one consults those worthy of
consulting before it.
Right?
And there was no one who was sharper
of intellect than him, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
And despite that, he was commanded to consult.
And the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam used to consult his companions in all
matters.
Even the needs of the house.
Right?
And we'll we'll look at
the importance of consultation.
So Imam Zanuji
takes an interlude.
Right?
So there's a story,
the narration about the wise man from Samarkand
whom the student consulted with.
And so he puts a foot lays like
a footnote there. And this is how it's
important to consult.
Allah commanded the messenger. The messenger, salaam, used
to consult in all matters. Even the needs
of his house, he used to consult his
companions about them.
Not out of indecisiveness,
but to be to do that which was
decisively
better.
And then he so we we look at
this importance of
consultation and then what what the advice was
of
the wise man from
for the seeker of knowledge. We ask Allah
that he make us of those who are
wise, who consult, and who strive to have
the qualities of those who are who sincerely
seek knowledge and who sincerely convey knowledge. And
may he forgive our short comings and replace
every
ill quality
with its opposite
in the ways beloved to him and reflective
of the example of his beloved messenger.
Thank you for listening to the
daily guidance for seekers
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