Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #067 Means to Attaining Knowledge Turning to God and Being Generous
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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 Roha, we look at some
of the guidance of the prophet
each day,
And we also are looking at guidance for
seekers of knowledge
from Imam
Burhanuddin Azarnuji's work, Talim Al Muta'alim.
And
we're going to start today by looking at
Talim al Muta'alim,
and
the author, Rahim
tells
us
in the told us in the previous lesson
on the importance
of the seeker of knowledge seeing
their knowledge
as being from Allah
and the importance
of always praising
Allah
for that knowledge.
Because it is Allah
who gives and it is Allah
who guides
and this is one of the signs of
sincerity
in
seeking.
So he says,
right, that Allah guides those who seek his
guidance. Then he
explains
who are the people of guidance, and this
is very important. Why?
Because if you see the guidance as being
from Allah
and you thank him for it,
you thank him for the knowledge,
then the part of Allah guiding is that
there is a way of guidance.
Right?
There is a way of guidance.
Guide us to the path that is straight.
The path of those you blessed before us.
The path of those whom Allah blessed before.
This is the mainstream
understanding of
Islam and understanding that is wide,
that is comprehensive,
that is diverse,
but it is clear.
Right? It has clear parameters.
So it says,
So he said, so the people of truth
are the people of
the prophetic way
and the mainstream.
Al Jama'a, the mainstream.
Right?
They have an outward reality
which is this is these are the mainstream
schools of Sunni Islam,
in theology,
in beliefs,
the mainstream schools in
Islamic law, the 4 schools of Sunni Islam,
and
mainstream
Sharia based Islamic spirituality.
Right? In Islam, ima in iman, Islam, and
ihsan.
And the mainstream is clearly known. But they
also have a spiritual quality
which
is They sought the truth from Allah most
high.
Who is
the real,
the manifesting,
the guiding, the protecting.
So Allah guided them
and he protected them from misguidance.
And the people of misguidance
were impressed by their own opinions.
And their own intellects.
They sought the truth from
incapable
creation, meaning
themselves
and their own
intellects.
From the intellect.
Because the intellect, though a means
of cognition,
does not recognize all things.
Like
eyesight, it does not see all things.
So they were veiled
and incapable
and misguided
and misguiding.
This is ascribed to the prophet
though it is more soundly ascribed from the
words of
according to some.
Though, Sheikh Ahmed al Sadiq al Umari in
his of
disagrees with this ascription.
So it's from some of the that
whoever knows themselves
knows their lord.
Whoever knows themselves
knows their Lord.
You oh people, you are the ones in
absolute need of Allah.
And Allah, he is the one free of
all need, worthy of all praise. But until
you realize your absolute neediness, you cannot realize
what it means for Allah to be the
one absolutely free of all need
and absolutely worthy of all praise.
If one knows
one's own incapacity,
one knows
Allah's ability.
Most exalted,
mighty, and majestic is he.
And one does not rely on oneself and
one's own intellect.
But rather one trusts in Allah and seeks
the truth from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And Allah has guaranteed
whoever places their trust upon Allah, he is
their sufficiency.
And he will guide him,
and he will guide them to a path
that is straight.
So now he goes on to a separate
discussion. But this is an important there is
a spiritual approach of,
which is neediness to Allah.
And taking the means completely reliant upon Allah.
This applies to worldly means, but also applies
to intellectual
means.
Now one sees the means as being from
Allah
But part of that as well
is taking the means that Allah has placed.
And 2 of the protective means
to
approaching
guidance in the right way
are
consulting before acting
consulting before acting. And this is rare. People
do it. Like, they'll say, well, I've decided
this. Is that okay? Well, if you've decided,
then, I mean, by definite, it's already okay
because what are you gonna do?
Right? And people do that all the time,
but,
right,
that's number 1,
consulting.
And the other is
deference
is deference.
Right? Deference to one's teachers,
deference to those more learned, and deference to
the imams of Islam.
Because
without deference, consulting is only token.
I say, what do you think if I
went and studied here? Okay. Go.
You you you it's that's not real consulting.
True consulting
is with the sense of deference. And you
see this quality amongst the great scholars of
Islam. Imam Noe, for example, is one of
the great imams of Islam in his Majmoor,
Shahal Muhazab, one of the masterpieces of Islamic
scholarship, which he never finished and no one
managed to complete it
even though several completions were written. But even
the great scholars who tried to complete it,
their completions could not compare to his.
In
a number of places, he disagrees with the
majority opinion,
sometimes with the consensus opinion on something. He
but he defers. They said that's what they
said and Allah knows best.
Right? And there's a sense of deference. Then
maybe I missed something.
And the deference arises from humility, of course.
Right? And whoever
humbles themselves to Allah,
Allah honors.
Then he says, and whoever has wealth, they
should not be miserly with it.
They should spend. And this is easy to
become miserly in seeking knowledge. Why? Because you
have limited means.
Right? So you may have some wealth. You're
like, well, I have to save for this
and that. No. Right? And that's why
and that's why knowledge is empowering.
And what is miserliness?
Right? It has a limit. There's a prohibited
miserliness
and a dislike
miserliness.
And its opposite, which is a virtue, which
is to be generous, there's an obligatory generosity,
which is to give what is obligatory upon
you in terms of Zakat, but also when
necessary
and a recommended giving.
Right? So one that's the seeker of knowledge
is one who's guided by their knowledge towards
the good,
towards virtue,
and who strives to act upon it and
who sees that they're falling short that they're
falling short.
And it is befitting the seeker of knowledge
that they seek refuge in Allah most high
from miserliness.
What ailment
is more harmful
than miserliness?
Because it's as if you doubt the promise
of Allah
that if you give,
he will grant you increase.
That he grants increase
to to to charity.
And Allah
says that whoever is miserly,
They're only being miserly with themselves. You're you
are depriving
yourself of the good.
That's why the people of the spiritual path
said,
The most odious of odious qualities
is someone of the spiritual path who is
stingy.
The merciful are granted mercy by the all
merciful.
Be merciful to those on earth, and the
Lord of the heavens will be merciful to
you. If you don't give to the people
around you, why would Allah give to you?
And he still will,
but not like
to those who give.
Right?
And whatever you give for,
Allah
grants
of that type of thing beyond measure and
the like of it
and things that you could not imagine
and never sought. That's from
the effulgence of divine generosity. That anything you
give from, Allah grants you the like of
that thing
and the like and more of similar things
and beyond that in ways that you never
sought.
K.
That's from the
multiple manifestations
of divine
generosity.
Right?
And and this quality of stinginess in a
seeker of knowledge,
right, which relates to many things to to
to benefit.
That there's a class someone could benefit by
saying, no. I prefer to I prefer
just to be me and the teacher, for
example. Right? And there'd be someone who could
clearly benefit. So one wants the benefit for
others.
One gets finds some good book. So one's
studying
a particular commentary on Johorat I Tawhid. One
found a really useful commentary that the teacher
said is really good, but you don't tell
someone else why.
So I can
I can ask the good questions in class?
That's not
the way of a student or knowledge
because whoever does that
will see
find the deprivation.
And then
if you withhold the benefit
there, then when the benefit is called for
later,
which is when you are to benefit others,
then the benefit will will be held back.
So,
The father of the great imam,
He was poor.
He used to sell sweets
called
the sweet maker.
He was poor. He didn't make sweets. But
he used to give he couldn't give he
couldn't support the scholars. Whatever we used to
give them, sweets.
And he used to say, pray for my
son.
And by the blessing of his
generosity, his giving,
and his belief,
right, his belief in
the rank of the scholars.
Right? And his
his
humbling himself
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He felt that
he was in need of
all means of facilitation.
His son attained what he attained. He's called
Shemsul A'imah, the shining sun
of
the Imams and one of the great Imams
of the Hanafi's
What does one do with wealth if one
has surplus? Of course, the first one spends
on others.
Right? And one spends on books. Right?
Right? And one seeks
these wives so that they serve as an
aid to learning
and gaining understanding.
Because these are tools of knowledge. Books are
tools of they're not for decoration.
Muhammad ibn Hasan, the great student of Imam
Abu Hanifa, had great wealth.
He had 300 people who who were
agents of his to dispose over his wealth.
And he spent all of it in knowledge
and until all he didn't even have one
valuable
garment.
Abu Yusuf. So Abu Yusuf saw him. And
Abu Yusuf was the Qadid al Qadat,
the chief justice.
Right?
And had himself great wealth.
So Abu Yusuf saw Muhammad al Hassan in
a worn out thobe, a worn out garment.
So he sent to him precious garments
befitting
a great scholar.
And he did not accept them.
Said, it was hastened for you and delayed
for us,
meaning the the the reward. Of course, there's
not a put down. Right? It's that you
got the good in this life and the
next, and we're waiting for it for in
the next.
Right?
And perhaps, says Imam Zanuji,
he didn't Muhammad Al Hassan did not accept
the gift from
Abu Yusuf,
even though accepting gifts is because
of what he saw
in it
of abasing
himself.
Right?
Because it's related to the prophet said, the
believer
should not
humiliate themselves. There's difference between humbling oneself and
accepting humiliation.
Right?
And especially
someone who's in an honored position, like a
person of knowledge,
they they guard their self respect,
and they should not be in a situation
where they are
in a situation where others have favor upon
them.
Right?
Which is of the of the believer, but
particularly of the people of knowledge.
So scholars be very careful about how and
when they accepted gifts and how and when
they did not.
And they were very careful
not to accept any gifts related to their
teaching itself.
Right?
We do not ask you
for it any recompense
or
any reward. Our reward is only with Allah.
Right? So, Sheikh Adib, for example, anytime if
someone wanted to read a book that he
didn't have or he couldn't find because his
library kept kept getting messed up.
Especially at that time, one of their granddaughters
was very young.
So several times it happened that him and
his wife were taking care of their granddaughter,
and their granddaughter went in his library
and rearrange once she rearranged some of the
books by color.
So the books went off. So he couldn't
so
but he'd always
pay full price for the book
even if you got a discount,
it's written that it's 75
lira. So you you pay that, but I
only paid 50 for it.
Right? Why?
Because there's a dignity
to to knowledge. Right?
Right? To the station of knowledge.
Right? It's related to one of the great
scholars.
He gathered
the rinds of watermelons,
and he washed that that had been thrown
in an empty, you know, in an empty
place.
And he washed them and he ate them
because he didn't have anything.
Right?
So
a, you know, a a slave girl saw
him and she informed
her her master
and that one of the great scholars is
eating leftover
watermelon rinds, so he arranged a big feast
for him.
Right? But it's almost like like, poor guy,
here's a right? And he did not accept
it.
Right?
He says,
and this is what befits the seeker of
knowledge.
And that one have high resolve.
One should not be avid
for people's wealth.
It's related the prophet said, beware
of avidness,
right, of greed
because it is immediate poverty.
Right?
You know,
right, so I have high resolve that if
you don't have, but you you you keep
you keep going. Right? You take the means,
but you don't become reliant
on others.
Right?
And one should not be stingy with what
one has of wealth.
But rather one spends on oneself
in what benefits
and what is good and upon others.
And it's related, the prophet said, people in
their fear of poverty are in poverty.
In the first
generations, people used to learn a trade and
then
seek knowledge.
So they would not be avid for people's
wealth.
It's related
in,
you know, in,
you know, in an aphorism.
Whoever finds their sufficiency in the wealth of
others,
impoverishes themselves.
This is when it's done out of the
sense of dependency.
Right? And the adab of assisting the scholars
or people of knowledge is to do so
in a manner that is dignified.
And to take care of their needs in
a manner that honors them and does not
make them needy. So you don't delay
the assistance
you assist them in a manner that doesn't
just cover the bare minimums, but that that
is that is generous.
Right? And in ways that are
proper.
Right?
And that's a collective obligation.
Right?
And a scholar, a person of knowledge, if
they're greedy,
the
inviolability
of knowledge, the the respect, dignity, and inviolability
of knowledge does not remain on them, and
then people won't respect it.
And then they won't be able to speak
the truth.
And this is, of course, at the community
level, a great harm. Right? The way our
institutions are structured,
like an imam of a masjid, etcetera, becomes
dependent on the board of the mosque and
so on. So they're constrained. They can't say
what needs to be said.
And we have to look at how,
you know, our scholars can be funded independent
of their
professions
within the community. So they're not subject
to anyone's opinion, and we need to structure
our communities in ways that
give scholars the dignity that they deserve. Of
course, we need to
nurture scholars who have that self dignity and
who have the knowledge
and understanding
and state by which they're respected.
And that's why the law giver, our beloved
messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam used to seek
refuge in this from this state and it
said that he used to say, I seek
refuge in Allah from
avidness
that becomes
a trait.
And it befits the believer, let alone the
seeker of knowledge,
to hope only from Allah most high.
And to fear only from him.
Our hope and fear are only from Allah,
which is why one of the greatest statements
of Islamic
spirituality, the hikam of begins
From the signs of relying on actions
is losing hope when downfalls occur.
Actions, whether your own actions, signs of relying
on your actions or the actions of others,
is losing hope
or acquiring fear
or being shaken
when any
disliked matters take place.
Right? Because the hope and fear, reliance and
trust
are only from Allah Subha'ala.
And what's the sign of true hope and
true fear? True reliance and true trust? True
generosity and true miserliness?
And this is manifest in going past the
limits
of
divine guidance
and not going past the limits of divine
guidance.
So whoever disobeys Allah
out of fear of creation
has feared other than Allah.
Someone does something haram.
Why? Because what if
and put insert whatever fear of people that
there is.
That's fearing other than Allah.
Whoever does something
wrong, hoping that people will accept you,
has hoped in other than Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
Of
course, this does not mean to not care
about what what
not to be considerate of circumstances and people,
but the right approach, the balance that the
sunnah teaches is Mudara.
Right? It's circumspection
and consideration,
which is to uphold what is
true
in a manner that is true,
right,
with consideration of people and circumstances,
but not to leave the truth
because of people and circumstances.
It's to uphold the the truth with true
consideration
of people and circumstances.
This is the consideration.
How is that known? It's known by
proper understanding
of the way of the prophet, sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam, which is only through sound knowledge.
Right?
So therefore,
one does not disobey Allah because of fear
of creation,
and one is vigilant of the limits
of divine guidance. So therefore, one does not
fear other than Allah, but rather one's fear
is only of Allah. And likewise, with respect
to hope.
One's hope is with Allah and expressed in
accordance with the limits of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
Then he
says,
Returning back to, you know, the the day
to day of the seeker of knowledge. It
befits a seeker of knowledge
to
define
to prepare for oneself and define for themselves
a specified amount of review
that one does.
Because knowledge will not remain within 1
until one reaches that amount. You know how
much you need to review to retain.
And until you review the amount that you
need till you retain, it won't remain.
And knowledge is what remains, not what was
taken.
And then he he tells us
how one goes about reviewing.
So we'll look at that,
tomorrow,
he tells us how to go about reviewing
and share some of the
examples of some of the great early scholars
in their review.
And with that, we'll have reached the end
of how one structures one study, and then
he talks about,
trust in Allah, which we'll look at
subsequently.
Thank you for listening to the daily guidance
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