Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #068 The Importance of Revision and Uninterrupted Study in Attaining Knowledge
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The speaker discusses the importance of practicing and learning a subject, rather than just reading and giving away with no backed up, and emphasizes the need for purposeful practice and consistent practice. He advises people to focus on mastering their knowledge rather than just memorizing everything and to look at their time and build up their knowledge. He gives advice on achieving success in their study, emphasizing focus and understanding their time, and provides a one week break in the week. A donation is given to seekers with Sheikh F runway.
AI: Summary ©
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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 imams are nudges guidance for
seekers of knowledge regarding the ways of seeking
knowledge.
Alhamdulillah,
we're continuing to look
at
guidance
for seekers of knowledge
from Talim Al Mutalim of Imam,
Zarrnuji Rahimahu Ta'ala.
And this chapter
is on how one arranges
his practical
counsel on how one arranges one studies.
So he tells us,
It is proper for a student of knowledge
to review
the previous
lesson,
literally yesterday's lesson, the previous lesson 5 times.
And
the lesson before that, 4 times.
And the lesson before that, 3 times.
Right?
And the one before that, twice.
And the one before that,
once.
Because this is
closer
to
mem memorizing,
to retaining.
And he mentioned it's not merely about memory,
about memorization,
understanding,
depth of understanding,
getting the subtleties and nuances.
Right?
But it it is only possible
through review.
Right? It is only possible
through
review.
And it's proper that one not become
accustomed to simply
silently reviewing.
Because one's
study and one's review upon studies,
it's proper that they be with strength and
vigor.
So one should do so with a raised
voice.
Okay. With a raised voice.
Because one of the reasons is
that
what he mentions here that it it's gives
you strength and
and and vigor.
And the second is the more senses you
engage
in your studies,
the more you will retain what you study.
So by raising your voice, you are not
simply
using the sense of sight,
but you're also hearing
as well.
So all of this is more conducive to
retaining it.
But at the same time,
but however, one does not raise one's voice
in a manner that would tire one out.
Lest one
you know, one
review
because the best of matters are the most
balanced.
So this is one of the practical things
that to have extensive review and you suggest
one thing that whatever lesson that you you've
taken
before the next lesson, you review it 5
times.
And the lesson before that, you review it
4 times. And the lesson before that, 3
times.
So you have constant review.
Right? Constant review. The sign of sufficient review
is that at any time, if we said,
okay, now
Monday's class, what did we cover? Can you
explain the whole thing without having to to
prepare?
Right? Last week's class, what was it? What
did you cover? What was it about?
What what are the definitions? What are the
key issues?
What are the exceptions to that? Right? And
that's the sign that the Olamat mentioned
of
being properly prepared for a class that you
could explain it before the class.
But
you but because you're attending the class is
because there's some you have some gaps, some
things that you're not clear about,
some things that you're confused about, some things
you have questions about.
Right?
But besides those points, you could present it
at least acceptably,
better than that proficiently,
better than that, you could present it as
well as the teacher,
and the ideal is that you could present
it better than the teacher.
Because the teacher already knows the subject so
they don't
in theory they don't have to prepare for
it.
But you
you
you prepared for it. You look things up,
you research the issues,
you put
in blood, sweat, and tears.
Right? And there are people who prepared like
that.
The least
ideal is that when one finishes
a text, one could teach it. If one
doesn't,
then
one wasted a lot of one's time.
Right?
You complete something, you should be able to
teach it.
Now that doesn't mean that you can teach
it. You want to always seeks permission before
anything like that, but one could teach it
without
having to
take recourse to one's notes.
That if just the text only was opened
without any accompanying notes,
one could teach it because one
retained it.
And even without the text, one could explain
the concepts,
the issues, the definitions
even without the text.
And if one can't then
the
the only thing between
between you and mastery
is effort
and review.
As
ibn al Jazari says
in his
Muqaddim and Tajweed,
the only thing between a person upholding
and leaving
the rule of is
practice
with one's mouth because relates to pronunciation.
Right?
The only thing between you and mastery is
practice.
Right?
And the olema have and this is something
that people have been talking about for a
long time. If you want sort of the
modern scientific way of looking at it, if
you look at Anders Ericsson's work on peak,
where he talks about how mastery is attained,
that's where
Malcolm Gladwell
took the 10000 hour rule,
quote, unquote.
But it's not so much about the 10000
hours, but it's about
about about mentored
purposeful
practice.
It is mentored to its guided practice. You
don't just do whatever you feel like but
it's mentored,
it's guided
but
there's consistent
practice. That's the only way of mastering something.
One of the scholars said, the only thing
between you and mastering a subject
after study, you know, with studying it, it's
you and your desk.
Right?
In terms of the world of means, ultimately,
it's all from Allah, but that's
that's a spiritual reality, but Allah gives
through the means.
So it's related that Abu Yusuf used
to review with the with
the scholars of
with strength and vigor.
And his who's the?
The brother-in-law.
The brother-in-law was with him,
and his brother-in-law would be amazed.
I
know that he's been hungry for 5 days.
And despite that, he would discuss
with strength and vigor.
Because they really wanted it. They really cared
about it.
And it befits a seeker of knowledge not
to have
breaks.
Right? Because this is
grave harm. And breaks here does not mean
that you have it a day where you
you you go
for a picnic, where you
rest, but that you don't take time off
your studies.
Because that
time off where you disconnect,
you lose your routines.
Right? There there's benefit
in taking breaks.
Right? But they but they have to be
suitable and purposeful breaks. Right? That they're they're
not breaks that break habits.
Right?
And ideally, the breaks should be things that
renew you spiritually.
Right? That that give you that give you
rest,
give you give you a break, but then
refresh you spiritually.
Right? So the the the the the break
taken by a student of knowledge would not
be like the break taken
by
the people of Duniya.
They take a break, for example, like, you
know, on a weekend, they go
camping, for example, or they go
hiking or whatever,
but they use that time
to
enter into
reflection and remembrance.
Maybe
to, you know, to go with with good
company
or to use it as an opportunity
to to to connect with family
with a good way. One takes
one's one's cousins and others. One has
aims in it or, you know, one goes
to 1,000 islands but one stops on the
way in Kingston, Ontario where there's this elderly
righteous scholar. So one goes and drops in
and,
you know, seeks
their their counsel, for example. So one structures
it in a manner that brings meaning to
it.
Right? Similarly, if one travels,
etcetera,
that one one considers
the spiritual
renewal in it
and the also the the knowledge benefit. But
one does not, one has to be very
careful not to break one's routines.
Routines are
precious.
Right? Routines are precious
and which is why
historically,
the
you know, they say it takes about 2
years
to build your core routines.
It takes about 2 years to build
your core routines.
So you want to go full tilt, and
full tilt means that you put no less
than
50 hours, 60 hours a week of study,
a week. That's,
you know, good. That's what
that's what a full someone works a full
time job.
That's what they put in.
And those who believe are more intense in
their love of Allah.
But it takes time to build that up
and to build up the routines
of study
of
and this is something
keep
you know, it's a given, but it takes
time to build up, but it's easy to
break.
Right? So one has to be careful of
how one structures
week to week how one structures one's breaks
that they shouldn't be breaks that
that break one's routines or cause one to
lose one's focus because focus is
precious and fleeting.
And that should be a criteria for what
kind of other activities one does. Does this
affect affect my routines? Does it affect my
focus?
If it doesn't,
of course, there's religious concern. Is it halal?
Is
it makru? Is it waste of time? But
also there's the focus test. Does it affect
your your focus?
And his teacher,
meaning
Isaiah. He said I only
went ahead of my peers.
Only gained preeminence over my peers,
the partners in seeking knowledge
because I had no
fetra.
I had no
breaks
in my seeking knowledge,
in the in the time of attaining knowledge.
Right?
Because it we took the 6 conditions for
seeking knowledge from the other.
You need
focus,
time,
your focus time over a lengthy period. Right?
That only happens through consistent routines that just
stay in place.
Is related from Sheikh Islam is Bijabi, one
of the great Hanafis.
Related that
during his learning
and study,
he had a break of 12 years
because
of the an
in because of an overthrow
of the
the government.
You know, one ruler took over another and
there's
turbulent times.
So he left with
his partner
in
in discussion here. Doesn't mean debate, in discussion
in discussion.
Right?
To wherever they were able to continue to
seek knowledge.
So they remained
just studying it together for 12 years.
So at least Bijebi,
you know, he's from,
yes,
Central Asia
and
there was political upheaval and unrest.
So it wasn't safe to be in the
cities and when there's unrest the rulers crack
down upon the scholars, etcetera.
So he could not remain in the city.
So he him and his
friend, his partner in seeking knowledge,
they
they went around wherever
they could go
and they remained there 12 years just reviewing
together.
Right? But this is also high hope. High
hope is not contingent upon creation.
In the sense that, oh, we we can't
find a teacher means we stop.
You continue
and you
find the opportunity.
And
so his companion became
the
Sheikh Islam, the formal scholar for the
and
his companion studies was so they weren't even
reviewing fiqh together or maybe they were. Right?
It
says, and our
teacher, the sheikh, the Qadi, the imam, Fakhrul
Islam, the pride of Islam, Qadhi Khan, this
great Hanafi jurist,
who's intimidating. Like, he
he writes with such authority, like, wow.
That's why. Yes. You don't have to know
his biography to know why they said.
Country
of
he had a
you can tell the strength of his legal
state
in his writing that this is the ruling.
But not with sternness, but just with
authority.
He said it befits
this the the seeker
of Fiq, the one seeking
understanding of the science of Fiq
to that they memorize one book of the
books of fiqh
constantly.
Meaning,
you have a book that the in Sham
many of the scholars refer to this as
your ommda.
Is this is your reliance.
In every subject, they say that the student
of knowledge in every subject should have a
Umda.
Right?
That this is a book that they mastered
in that subject. So whatever you ask about
in the Fiqh of worship,
you know, this is this is your umdah.
In Aqidah,
you have
a solid text that you have mastered. In
the signs of hadith, there's solid text that
you've mastered.
Right?
And then
everything else then is built
above and around that.
Right?
So after that,
one can retain the rest of
and the same thing applies
to other subjects.
And that's why they say
whoever masters
the core texts,
the attains the sciences.
And whoever just reads the large books but
without memorizing,
without retaining
have attained nothing.
Meaning it's
you can say I read such and such.
So we it was okay. We'll give we'll
give the standing ovation later.
You can just play a recording of go
to YouTube and type standing ovation and
play it for yourself.
But no one really cares what you've read.
Right?
Knowledge
is what remains.
Not what was taken.
Right? So
this is,
yeah, this is his
advice about
having
focus
in
in in seeking
in seeking knowledge.
And it's always meant to be difficult. They
say,
anything precious
is meant to be challenging. That's the sunnah
of Allah in creation.
Your motherhood's precious.
We don't we don't just like, you know,
the stork doesn't come down from the sky
and say, here's your your child. It's difficult.
Right?
You know,
some people say marriage is difficult.
Right? A lot of people give up hope.
Why? Because anything that is
valuable
is testing,
even faith itself.
Right? It's it's not meant to be easy.
Those who believe in the unseen.
Right? There's a there's a test.
Right? It's testing
and you will be tested in it.
Right? Attaining it is testing
and you'll be tested in it.
Right?
And that's just the nature of life.
So that he may try you and the
greater the greater what you seek is
the more trying
it will be.
The people most tested
are the prophets and then the foremost after
them, then the foremost after them. That's just
that's just the nature of things. Right?
They say
Divine acceptance without test
never was
and never will be. That's just the nature.
If you don't think you're being tested, that
means you're deluded.
K? Because you are being tested, but you
just don't know how,
which is a bad situation
to be in.
I think the clock's ticking, and you don't
know that you're writing an exam. Right?
So,
but
this
you know, so so looking
at one's looking at one's time
is precious. And I'd advise those who have
been following this chapter on arranging one studies
to go back and look at what, you
know, to list what are the main advices
that the author has given.
And and the key is,
you know, to look at one's time and
how can one
build up to maximize
the time
that one is able to direct towards one
studies. And in everything that one is studying,
how do I
master
what it is that I'm studying? Don't be
content
with mediocrity.
Don't be content with mediocrity.
Appreciate
what you're studying. Sheikh Adib, even when he's
teaching something that he taught many times,
right, he'd have
a childlike glee
teaching it.
There are these Algerian brothers, and they were
rather
challenged in their akhlaq and
challenging in their conduct.
They're they're studying logic
with Sheikh Hadib.
Sheikh Hadib used to keep this tape recorder
so that students wouldn't have to use up
their own batteries. It'd be connected.
And
one of the most detailed lessons
in logic is on is
the different ways you can structure an argument.
And she and it's one of the challenging
things.
And Sheikh Adib used
to teach it he had all these different
ways he would point the different ways you
can structure an argument.
Did the whole thing,
but they'd accidentally press press play rather than
record.
And when it finished, they said, Sheikh,
we
we we didn't press record.
And he's like, he apologized to them. I'm
so sorry about that. I wanted to, like,
hit them hard. 1, because they're taking my
class time. I'm sitting waiting for these guys.
And he apologized. I'm so sorry. I should
have noticed. It was wallah. It was right
in front of me.
I'm so sorry.
He
said
prepare the the tape.
So they
rewound it.
It says,
really? Like, come tomorrow. Like, he spent 20:25
minutes explaining the whole thing and then to
repeat it, and he repeated it exactly the
same way.
K?
And I was like,
I really wanted to hit them hard.
But why?
Because,
you know, this is this is precious.
Right? This is precious.
Other, you know, other things that you've been
teaching for decades.
Right? Been teaching at that time for 60
years.
And people come and study the same things.
Be very excited about it. Why? Because the,
you know, because the the prophet the person,
the Sahabi who came and said to the
prophet
the
prophet said,
welcome to the seeker of knowledge. Right? It's
a great this is,
you know, this is,
you know, the whole purpose of creation is
facilitated
through knowledge.
Right?
The angels lower their wings to the seeker
of knowledge. Right? Because the whole purpose of
creation
is that Allah be known and that Allah
be worshipped.
And that and the key to knowing Allah,
the key to worshiping Allah,
the key
to light in creation is knowledge.
Right? Light
is knowledge
unveiled.
That's all that light is. Right?
So
that's why
it is critical to look at and one
has a 168
hours in the week.
How can one
set up
routines that get one to maximize the amount
of time one is able to invest
in one studies?
And the people of
did nothing less than 10 hours a day.
Right? That's what we hear again and again
from
from from the the people of knowledge
from many different areas.
And
but that is the the aspect of effort.
There's another aspect
that is also required,
which is
trust in Allah.
Right? Because it is not by your effort
that you will attain,
but you will not attain without effort.
Your effort is required,
but it is not what will make you
reach.
Right?
Effort is adab with Allah.
The adab of standing at the door. It
is Allah
who is Al Fata. He is the opener
of
of doors.
He can open it even if
you're a brute,
barbarian,
banging at the door, or snoring at the
door.
But typically, it
it's if you do things in the right
way, the right door is open
in the at the right time.
So
is key.
And it's actually
trust in Allah is the greatest of means.
Trust in Allah
and good opinion of Allah
is the most powerful of means.
Call upon Allah
with certitude in his response.
And this call upon Allah
with certitude in his response,
but you must call.
So we ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to
facilitate
that for us. Inshallah, we're going to have
a 1 week break in the in the
Rojas
from here at the hub.
Because I'm travelling.
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