Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #066 Seeking Benefit from Everyone Anytime in any Circumstance
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The speakers discuss the importance of seeking benefit from people and their families, balancing pure and impure, and finding the right balance between pursuing benefits from people and their families. They emphasize the importance of learning and understanding before pursuing a path of knowledge to earn a living or provide for others. The speakers stress the importance of age and maturity, being a sincere teacher, and being mindful of one's wealth. They encourage listeners to support the community and make monthly donations.
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You're listening to the daily
guidance for seekers with Sheikh Rasra Behni, who
will be covering Imam Yusuf al Nabhani's beautiful
collection of 40 sets of 40 hadith of
the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,
as well as imam Zarnooji's guidance for seekers
of knowledge regarding the ways of seeking knowledge.
In our daily Roja,
we're
continuing to look at some of the guidance
of the prophet
and
and advice for this for students of knowledge
from Talim Al Muta'alim. Today, we're going to
to spend the rowha looking at
what we're covering in Talim Al Muta'alim,
and we've reached the section on
how one goes about
arranging one's studies
and he
begins
today. Imam.
Correct?
One,
you know, the way of the student of
knowledge
and the student of knowledge is a seeker
of benefit.
They should be seeking benefit
in all
circumstances
and all times from all people.
Right?
From all people. One should this is the
concern.
Always
seek benefit.
Right?
In all states and all times from all
people.
Everyone has something you could gain from them.
And
eve even people of worldly
ask them, you know. So let's say you
have a cousin who's a financial expert. Now
you're not
do investing, you're not doing anything, but ask
them. So when you give people financial advice,
what what what do you focus on?
Right?
So you gain some insight about
investing.
Right?
And that's one of the ways of keeping
good company with people
is to see what benefit could you gain
from them.
Either immediate or gradual. You don't have children
right now, but someone,
you
know, seems to be
taking good care of their children.
They seem to be an active father, for
example.
Just ask them. So how do you
yeah. What have you found useful in terms
of being an active father?
Right? So you benefit. Instead of just sitting,
talking about the Toronto Maple Leafs because, you
know, they're gonna lose, like, why I talk
about, you know,
a done deal.
Rather, you focus on benefit, and that's the
attitude
of the believer
in all states
and all times.
So much so one of the great
scholars of our times,
he mentioned regarding his father. So Mufti Taqi
Usmani mentioned about his father that his father
would be distressed
that, well,
one of the places where
he found that he couldn't
really
do much that was beneficial
was in the toilet.
Because you're not supposed to be. So what
he said that he may just made a
commitment that anytime he'd used the toilet, he
tried to leave it better,
then he found it.
Right? So he'd
wash the
the the the water jug.
Yeah. Clean up something. Right? So
one does something
of benefit.
Right? And that's the attitude of the believer.
How
anything you do, how do I bring benefit
that lasts through this?
So
in that respect, then he continues and he
says,
The Messenger of Allah is reported to have
said, wisdom
is the lost property
of the believer.
The
literally refers to
the the animal
that is lost.
Right?
So it's
it went away. And
is to go away
from
the known
way forward.
Or to be at a loss with respect
to the right way forward. But the the
one that went away.
Right?
So it's the lost property
of the believer.
Wherever they find it, they take it.
Because that's one of the defining characteristics of
the believer.
Right. Faith itself
is knowledge that is accepted.
Right.
What is faith but knowledge
that you accept as true?
Right?
And then then then he says,
and that's why it has been said, take
what is pure and leave what is impure.
But there's
there's ways of doing this. Right? Take what
is pure and leave what is impure.
That
in anything in life, right, seek out what
is pure from it. But this does not
mean that seek your knowledge anywhere and say,
I'll take the good points.
That's a fallacy.
Right? And one can only do that when
one has the capacity of distinguishing
between the pure and the impure.
Right?
So this does not apply as is clear
from the teachings of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam, and we looked at in previous
chapters on this. Take what is pure that
when you choose,
when you have discretion,
you take only the pure source.
You don't just say, well, I'll read any
old book on Islam, and then I'll take
the good points. Because when you don't know,
you can't distinguish the good points. This is
this is not about your discretionary choice of
where you gain knowledge from.
But in the circumstances of life,
seek out what is beneficial. That's that's the
point here.
So he's heard from the great scholar, Fakhruddin,
Al Kashani, was also
is it's
it's kashan.
It's the it's arabised as
kashani
or kashani
or Kashani.
Because Arabic and Farsi pronunciation
are significantly different. So the Arabis in distinct
ways. Ya'kul, he used to say,
Abu Yusuf
There was a slave girl belonging to Abu
Yusuf, the student of Abu Hanifa.
Who mean
given as a trust to Muhammad Al Hasa.
That she she can work for you.
Muhammad.
So, Muhammad,
this great imam, student
of He had a servant given to him
by
Abu Yusuf. So he went to the the
servant.
Right?
Said, do you recall anything
right now
in from Abu Yusuf?
And Mohammed bin Hassan
only spent 4 years studying with Abu Hanifa.
The rest of his studies were under Abu
Yusuf.
So Abu Yusuf
was both his
his companion
in study under Abu Hanifa,
but
Muhammad Al Hassan was much younger, and he
studied directly with Abu Yusuf. But he is
I study with him. Right? So
a servant,
right? He asked her, do you recall anything
in right now from Abu Yusuf?
Said no.
Says, except that he used to say the
share
of,
you the the the
the portion
of the circle
is not counted.
Right?
And this has to do with
an issue in inheritance law. Right?
The share of
your the the the circle is not counted.
And this solved for him an issue in
it that he was wondering about in in
inheritance law. Right?
So
you memorize that from the servant.
There's a a error in my copy of
it. Allah,
Mohammed. He he he was confused about this
issue.
And that confusion was lifted by this statement.
And he came to know that seeking benefit,
which is
seeking benefit is possible from each person.
This is why Abu Yusuf himself was the
senior most student of Abu Hanifa
when he was asked, how did you attain
this knowledge?
Yeah.
With what did you attain knowledge?
He said, I never turned away from seeking
benefit,
and I was never
stingy
with giving benefit.
Right?
And that's why
they say that there's 2 categories of people
who cannot gain not, who will not acquire
knowledge.
The one who's too shy
and the one who's too arrogant.
Too shy? Why? They're too shy to ask.
I didn't get it.
I didn't understand.
Ask.
Right?
And sometimes some a question that you may
think is dumb or silly or useless may
be actually something that's very common.
It may be confusing.
It may be difficult.
So ask it.
Right? And the sincere teacher
is one who wants to benefit people. You
don't just want someone who will be like
a fan. Tell me something else that's really
cool. No. They want benefit. So someone sincere,
a sincere teacher will appreciate a sincere question
even if it's the worst that matters.
Right? The biggest of struggles,
the greatest of confusions.
Or an arrogant person. So
that's, you know, like, I don't wanna teach
them little things. And if I'm major, you
know, Sheikh Adib Kalas, for example,
even though he was one of the senior
most Muftis of the of of Damascus, one
of the greatest living
Hanafi scholars of his time,
Rahimahullah,
a great theologian,
a great a lemah by the definition of
the word, a scholar with mastery of many
sciences.
In his eighties, he could quote alfiyat ibn
Malik
from the middle of the work like the
a line. What did Ibn Malik say about
Tamiz?
And he pull off the line just from
the which is not an easy thing to
do.
Right? He could quote entire passages from large
yeah,
while being very humble about it.
But if you went to him with a
basic
methan, a basic primer in a subject,
he would teach it with the same enthusiasm
as teaching advanced books and subjects that he
loved.
Right?
Why? Because that's humility. Right? That doesn't matter
who the student is. One would,
you know, not consider oneself too high to
to to to teach the basics. Someone said,
how do I make wudu?
I'm gonna teach you wudu. Go ask anybody.
No.
Right? So that's
and to never to be too stingy to
give benefit.
And it was said to Ibn Abbas the
son of the uncle of the Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam
How did you attain knowledge?
And these are good questions. Right? That,
you know, not just out of curiosity,
but in order.
Right? Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says
Follow the
the the path of those who have turned
to me. So
one
asks these good questions so that one, you
know,
as
says,
anyone who treads
a trodden path reaches.
And I'm telling him the path of those
you blessed before us.
And so that's one of the things when
scholars come. One of the questions to ask
is
and it's not out of curiosity because you
could ask about curiosity. So, tell us the
story of how you became a scholar.
Cool. Right? And that's it. But you ask
why? Because you want to?
To, you know, because whoever
takes the same steps will attain what others
attain because the giver
is 1.
So
how
do you attain
knowledge?
He said, may Allah be well pleased with
him.
With a tongue
ever asking
and a heart
ever
considering,
right, ever reflecting,
ever thinking.
And that's why I say Nohmar
used to include. He had a council of
senior companions whom he used to consult.
And the Arabs considered
only those above 40 to be mature.
Before a person is a sheb, a person
is young until 40.
And the shebab,
they say
youth is a type of madness.
They're they're mad.
They're still trying to get married,
you know, get a job, get this. You
know, they're just crazy.
Right?
Maturity is when you settle.
Right?
So, under 40,
right? And then once you settle, you become
mature. So, a sheikh
would be someone who's matured
and then have
experience.
So even Abbas at that time
was barely out of his twenties
or barely in sorry, barely in his twenties
during the Khalaf of Sayna Omar
or the early part.
They asked, like, why do you include him?
He's a boy.
He says,
This is that young man
who is
wise and experienced.
He has a tongue that is always asking
and a heart that is always considering.
Right? So it's not just a matter of
age, it's a matter of
maturity
and keenness.
Says, the student of knowledge used to be
called
what do you say? That that they used
to be called them. The that's what do
you say.
Because
of how much
in the early
times
people used to ask the question,
what do you have to say
about such and such?
That's one of the the ways people would
ask a question.
Like, on especially on issues where there's difference
opinion.
What do how do you explain on?
What what do you say about, you know,
the issues of or
where there's confusion.
You know, do you ask these scholars?
What do you have to say about?
One of the narrators where there's a lot
of discussion about.
K.
So and so was a a narrator, for
example.
Says and Abu Hanifa himself
only acquired
deep
understanding,
tafakk'o,
by
a lot of,
a lot of discussion,
and a lot of review in his shop.
He used to be a cloth merchant.
He didn't direct himself to seeking knowledge in
until his late twenties,
like, formally.
But while working,
because he was a religious man
associated with religious people, People used to, you
know, religious people used to come to and
the used to come. She used to ask
questions, discuss things.
You used to have other people come and
sit and but what they used to discuss?
Not just the prices of,
different cloth.
Accomplished ones whom
their trade and transaction does not distract from
remembering Allah. And it's remembering Allah himself
and remembering
the the the way to Allah, and religious
knowledge is all part of the way to
Allah. It's a description of the way to
when
he was a cloth merchant.
And by this, it is known.
And by this, it is known
that acquiring knowledge
and deep understanding, fiqh is deep religious understanding,
can be found with
earning a living.
Right?
And different people have different circumstances
in this.
Right? And it's not a question of what
you want. It's where you where Allah has
placed you and what he is facilitating for
you. But wherever you are, it is possible
to pursue a path
from right? Since
whoever wishes,
let them pursue
to their lord
a path
or
a a path of returning.
Right?
And this is
a choice for anyone.
Right? So this is the the opportunity.
So if someone
is a student of knowledge, they've decided, I
want to study the deen
to benefit myself
in drawing closer to Allah and being a
source of benefit to others with the greatest
benefit they can acquire, which is understanding of
religion by which they can
themselves
benefit themselves in drawing closer to Allah.
And this is the this is the
source of good in God's creation is
what the prophets have come with.
But we we live in this world if
the seeker of knowledge needs
with
their seeking of knowledge to earn a living,
to provide
for their family, for example, or others,
then
let them do so.
Then let them earn a
living. Well, you but
let them consistently review their knowledge.
What do you do in your in your
spare moments at work? You learn.
Right? You take a book with you.
Take the opportunity
to listen to the lesson, to review, to
memorize.
Right? You give the work its due,
but what are you thinking about?
Right? You don't go and check, oh, Real
Madrid won. They lost. What happened to this?
Right? Many people,
they say.
Each one sings.
Each one is singing about their beloved.
And
the the seeker of knowledge,
they see knowledge
as being what they present
to the beloved, to Allah.
Right?
So, while
you let them be reviewing their knowledge. Meaning,
during their work, on the way to their
work, on the way back from their work.
While
you and let them take the opportunities
to review with others.
Have.
You have lunch breaks. What do you do
in your lunch breaks? Make
take the opportunities that do present themselves
to review the knowledge with others.
And don't allow yourself to be lazy
because your time is more precious
than someone who's freed themselves up to study.
And then he says,
what the fuck?
And there is no excuse
whatsoever
for anyone of sound body and sound mind
in
learning and gaining deep religious understanding.
There's no excuse.
And this and this is an
leaving,
seeking knowledge,
and seeking
deep understanding of religion.
There is no excuse for 1 of sound
body and sound mind in leaving,
learning, and gaining deep understanding of religion.
They
explain.
Because what you could not be more poor
than Abu Yusuf was.
And that did not prevent him from gaining
understanding of religion. And his mother
was content for him. You know, the at
that time, even children would go off to
the marketplace to earn what they could to
become an errand boy, etcetera. She used to
drop him off and then leave him to
attend the gatherings of Abu Hanifa
despite their poverty.
Right?
And if one has much wealth,
then what a good thing. This
paraphrasing hadith of the prophet
then what a good thing
is good wealth
in the hands
of
a good person.
Right?
Righteous wealth, wealth acquired right, spent right in
the hands of a righteous
person.
Who who is
which is directed towards the path of knowledge.
You acquired all this wealth.
What do you do? Free yourself up to
gain knowledge.
Right?
To be able to benefit people.
And it was said to a personal knowledge,
how did you acquire knowledge?
Said by a wealthy father.
Right?
Now because
the father used to support
through
his wealth,
the people of knowledge, and the people of
virtue.
And and they say,
as you are, social you find,
and how you are,
social you find with your children.
They say how you are with your parents
will be reflected in how your children will
be with you. There's hadiths about that. This
is at one of the wisdoms we find
across civilizations.
And be careful how you are with your
parents, for your children will be with you
as you are with your parents.
And it's not an absolute, but it's a
general
reality.
And likewise, how you are. If you want
your children to be righteous, to be learned,
then support those who are righteous and learn.
Be with them, etcetera.
Right? So this scholar, his father used to
support the people of knowledge and virtue.
This is the cause for gaining knowledge
oneself
and in one's family.
Because it is an expression of gratitude for
the for the blessing
of
intellect
and knowledge.
And it meaning gratitude is the cause of
increase because Allah says,
If you are grateful, then we will grant
you increase.
Said, I only gain knowledge by praising Allah
and by gratitude.
He said because I never
understood anything
of
knowledge
nor did I attain
any understanding
or wisdom
except that I said
all praise belongs to Allah.
Right?
So my knowledge increased,
and more than half
the more than half of Sunni Islam
follows Abu Hanifa.
That's an amazing thing.
Right? If you are grateful, we'll grant you.
This is the sunnah of the prophet.
Whoever finds good, let them praise Allah.
And and that's something we should practice. Anything
you gain understanding
now, thank Allah but with the tongue and
the heart and a heart that is grateful
and appreciative.
And this is how it befits the seeker
of knowledge.
This is how it befits the seeker of
knowledge to busy themselves with gratitude
with the tongue
through praising Allah
wal janan and with one's heart
by deep
appreciation
and
the limbs
by directing one every blessing
through one's actions
towards what Allah created it for, which is
to draw closer to him.
And
gratitude through one's wealth to spending it in
ways
that are pleasing to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And for the seeker of knowledge with that,
to have gratitude
in every way and to see their understanding
and their knowledge and their facilitation
as being from Allah Most High.
So that's the second thing. The third
thing
and to seek guidance from Allah most high.
By supplication from him.
Right? Because what is beneficial knowledge? It is.
It is guidance.
Right? One of them is learn Arabic. Well,
right now, I'm learning Arabic. Why? Because I
need to learn Arabic to learn be able
to do this, to do that. You see
this? That these are
the means of guidance. And why do you
want guidance? Because you want to get closer
to Allah.
K. It's all about why am I learning
Arabic? For Allah subhanahu. You have an urgent
need, and that's what
is neediness.
So if you don't have need,
you wouldn't seek.
Right? They
say
the basis of seeking
the Arabs in the desert what would they
seek? They seek water, you
you
you you stop somewhere what do you seek?
You seek water.
Why? Because otherwise, you'll be thirsty.
You seek firewood because without it, you'll be
cold and desperate at night.
That the talab arises from
from intense need, which is why in Urdu
and Farsi, talab
means urgent need for something.
How?
By making du'a to Allah and ask yourself
if you're seek knowledge, how much du'a do
you make
in general for knowledge?
And secondly, specifically, you're studying a whole bunch
of things.
How much du'a are you making for those
things? If you're taking a class online or
in person and you don't make week you're
taking a weekly class, but if you don't
make weekly du'a for it, you don't get
it.
Because
the giver is Allah.
So if you're not asking,
like, he's willing to give you, but you
just didn't ask.
And beseeching Allah
right, and humbling yourself before him.
For he is the one who guides those
who seek guidance from him.
Right?
And then he'll talk about who are the
people of guidance
next.
And the reason he mentions it here is
part of what you seek is to be
guided
to the
straight and right path. So he describes,
and we'll look at this tomorrow, what is
the path of the mainstream
and the inward qualities of how one pursues
it. So we'll look at that,
tomorrow evening.
Thank you for listening to the daily guidance
for seekers with Sheikh Farazrabani.
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