The Knowledge Crisis – 7 Ways on How to Internalise What You know

Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim in Alhamdulillah wa Salatu was Salam ala Rasulillah. Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatu, who brothers and sisters and friends, may the peace and blessings of Allah of God be upon every single one of you. Welcome to this new video. And we're going to be talking about a very important topic brothers and sisters and friends. And that topic is the crisis of knowledge, the knowledge crisis, our crisis of knowledge. And I want you to think about a few things. As an introduction. I want you to write down or think about what you need to do to become a healthy person to become a healthier version of yourself. Now ask yourself the question, Are you the

healthiest version of yourself?

I want you to think about and write down what you need to do in order to become a righteous Muslim, in order to have God consciousness Taqwa. Now, ask yourself the question. Are you a righteous Muslim? Do you have Taqwa God consciousness,

I want you to think about and write down what you need to do to become a great parent, or to be a great son or daughter to your parents. Now, ask yourself the question. Are you a great parent? Are you a great son or daughter, to your parents? Now, for many of us, if we're authentic, we're probably going to say no, we're probably going to say, there's more to do. I need to do much more to optimize myself. So what does this teach us brothers and sisters, it teaches us that you may know something, you may know how to be a great parent, to be a great son or daughter, you may know how to be extremely healthy. You may know how to achieve taqwa, God consciousness and be a righteous

Muslim. But that knowledge alone does not give you access to being transforming your state of being.

knowledge alone doesn't transform you there is a gap between abstract information, abstract knowing, memorization, and internalization, and actualization and who you become.

This is so important brothers and sisters, it is our current date crisis. This is so significant for us to take seriously, there is a gap between what we know and who we become.

And we need to bridge this gap. And in this video, Inshallah, God willing, I'm going to give you seven points on how to try and bridge that gap. Now, before we get into this, we need to focus on this whole understanding of way of being. Because this is very important, because a way of being is essentially what's in your heart, what's on your tongue, how you relate to yourself, how you relate to others, and how you relate to Allah subhanho wa Taala from this perspective, to be is to be related. So your way of being is what's in your heart, what's on your tongue, and your actions, how you relate to yourself, how you relate to others, and how you relate to Allah subhana wa Tada. This

is important to understand why, because knowledge alone is not going to necessarily transform what's in your heart, what's on your tongue, and how you act, how you relate to yourself, how you relate to others and how you relate to Allah subhanho wa Taala and therefore it will make you realize, well, this give you a distinction between abstract knowledge and your way of being and your transformation. And it would also make you understand that knowledge alone is not enough that abstract memorization is not enough. Let me give you another example. Take the Quran. Take the Quranic verses on remembering Allah on the vicar of Allah subhanaw taala. You may have memorized or

know about all or most of the verses concerning the remembrance of Allah.

You may know about or have memorized or have access to the prophetic traditions of the Prophet sallallahu ala who was salam concerning remembering Allah, the vicar of Allah subhanho wa taala.

You may know more verses than most people, more prophetic traditions than most people consenting, remember remembering God. But ask yourself this question. Are you someone who remembers God regularly?

For many of us, we may say no, there is a gap between this knowledge we have access to this knowledge that we have memorized and not internalized and who we have become, because we need to internalize this

As knowledge and actualize this knowledge in order for us to become people of vicar, people of remembering Allah, but how do we do that? And that's what we're going to discuss today in sha Allah. Before we do this, I want to focus on what it means to be a Muslim because it relates to what I've just said previously, because if you really think about what I said about way of being, it's what's in your heart, what's in your tongue, and how you act and how you relate to yourself, how you relate to others, and how you relate to Allah subhanaw taala. This is essentially Iman, right? Because this is gonna see Iman is what's in your heart, what's on your tongue, and your actions. And from the

perspective of being a Muslim, we have to understand that being a Muslim, a Muslim, is not an ethnocentric identity marker is not what you wear, clothes you wear or a badge that you put on yourself. It's not a label. From that perspective. Being a Muslim is being in a way of being in a state of being.

For example, when we say someone is engaging in struggle, they're engaging in jihad. They are a Mujahid a Mujahid, it's their way of being. Similarly, someone who is surrendering themselves to Allah submitting themselves to Allah is a Muslim and Muslim. It's a way of being. Islam, being a Muslim is affirming the truth that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah. And that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is the final messenger. And that is affirmed in your heart, you have full conviction, and it changes and transforms what's on your tongue, how you express yourself, and it changes your actions, how you relate to yourself, how you relate to others, and how you

relate to Allah subhanho wa Taala it transforms your way of being. And this is extremely important for us to understand.

And let's zoom in on the Quran itself just to give us a few more examples. Or to really reiterate what we've been talking about. Many of you watching this brothers and sisters know more Quran, no more Quran than some Sahaba if you know if this half the Quran, or the whole of the Quran, you know more Quran than some of the Sahaba the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the best generation of the prophets to have walked this planet.

But since you know more Quran and some Sahaba does it mean that you're better than the Sahaba than the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam, of course, you never say such a thing. And this teaches us again, that abstract memorization abstract information, abstract knowledge, is not enough alone to give you access to being to changing your way of being.

And this is so important for us to understand. So why is there a gap between our knowledge and our memorization? And how we have internalized that knowledge and who we have become, is because especially from a Quranic perspective, we're not learning the Quran properly, we're just memorizing it without trying to understand it and implement it. And this is very important for us to understand in an authentic tradition that can be found in the Tafseer of tombery. Abdul Rahman, salami said, Those who used to teach us Quran told us that they used to learn it from the Prophet sallallahu ala who was salam. So he's referring to the Sahaba, the companions of the Prophet sallallahu, ala who

was salam. And when they learned 10 verses, they will not move on from them until they acted upon what they contained of deeds. So we learn the Quran and how to act upon it at the same time. This was

this is a paradigm shift for us, or at least it shouldn't be. Memorizing the Quran alone is not enough to change your way of being we need to follow the methodology of the best people who have walked this planet after the prophets. And these people are the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and when they would memorize 10 verses of the Quran, they will not move forward until they became those 10 verses. It changed the way of being. And this is this echoes what Hassan had been. Ali said he said, the people before you considered the Quran to be a correspondence from the Lord. So they would ponder it by night and act upon it by day. And we know the famous Hadith of

the of Aisha Radi Allahu anha, the Mother of the Believers, the wife of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and this hadith is narrated in Muslim it's a sahih Hadith in Sahih. Muslim is the authentic hadith.

I show Rajala, who Anna was asked about the character of the messenger of allah sallallahu ala who was sent them and she said to the Narita,

do you not read the Quran? And he said yes and up

On this she said, the character of the messenger of allah sallallahu alayhi wa salam was the Quran. So this is what we should aim to achieve, we should walk in the footsteps of the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and of the messenger of allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. It's not just about memorization, it's about internalization, and actualization, bridging the gap between abstract information abstract knowing and who we become. This is extremely important.

In a narration that is narrated by Ahmed this can be found in muslin Ahmed and the similar wedding in the Sunnah of ear or Musa ibn Abi Shaybah aucuba Rajala Han said that the messenger of allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, the majority of the hypocrites of this ummah will be its readers. In other words, those who read the Quran and do not act according to it. This is a very, very, very scary and very serious message, that a sign of the FARC a sign of hypocrisy is that you recite the Quran. And that can imply that you just memorize the Quran, but you do not act upon it. So this is a very serious message.

Also, we have various traditions, from the best people that have walked this planet from the Sahaba and from the pious people.

And we're going to speak about these in a few moments. But before I do that, I want to make a distinction between Islamic knowledge versus knowledge itself. Because sometimes when we even think about ailment, knowledge, we have a kind of secular understanding of this. But when you look at the Quranic paradigm, and even the prophetic approach concerning knowledge, there is a link between knowing something in the tradition and our state of being, there is a connection. It's not just about abstract memorization and an abstract understanding.

For example, look at the kind of supplication of the Prophet sallallahu ala he was and this is found in the authentic compilation of Sahih Muslim, the messenger of allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, Oh Allah, I seek refuge in You from knowledge that does not benefit from a heart that is not reverent from a soul that is not content, and from a supplication that is not answered. So what do we learn here from the perspective of knowledge, we learn that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was seeking refuge in Allah from knowledge that does not benefit. In other words, knowledge must benefit us and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was supplicating to Allah, in order for

him to have knowledge that benefits and we should do the same. And we should traverse a path that ensures that we gain knowledge that benefits

and the Quran is very clear concerning what LM should do what knowledge should do. If you're a person of knowledge, there is a certain impact it should have an implication on your way of being. And this is like a paradigm shift on how we understand knowledge. It's not just about abstract memorization. For example, the Quran in chapter 35, verse 28, says, Of all of Allah servant, all servants, only the knowledgeable are truly in awe of him. Allah is indeed Almighty or forgiving. So what do we see here we see that if you have any knowledge or personal knowledge, you can have all of Allah Subhana Allah to Allah and being in a state of all is going to facilitate you being a servant

to Allah, a worship of Allah, that you're going to have your internal and your external acts of worship, singled out and directed to Allah alone is going to change your character, how you relate to yourself, how you relate to others, and how you relate to Allah subhanaw taala and other profound verse in the Quran in chapter 39, verse nine says, is one who is devoutly obedient during periods of the night, prostrating and standing in prayer, sharing the hereafter, and hoping for the most of his Lord, like the one who does not say, of those who know equal to those who do not know, Allahu Akbar, Allah is greater.

That's what I'm saying. That's not from the Quran. I am saying this as a result of reading this verse, Allah is indeed greater, we should praise Him. Because think about what Allah is trying to teach us here. He's Allah subhanho wa Taala is basically saying that those who have knowledge, true knowledge are going to be obedient. During the nights, they're going to prostrate and stand in prayer, they're going to fear the hereafter hoping the mercy of their Lord because Allah says say are those who know equal to those who don't know. So those who know or those who actually are obedient to Allah, they worship Allah, they are servants to Allah. They fear the Hereafter they are

conscious of the hereafter. They hope

They hope, mercy, the hope for mercy from their Lord.

It changes their way of being. They become servants to Allah. It changes what's in their heart. It changes what's on their tongue. It changes how they relate to themselves, how they relate to others, and how they relate to Allah subhanho wa taala.

And, as I said, we'll mention what some of the pious spiritual masters and scholars have said about this

Sofian authority, may Allah have mercy on him, said, Verily, sacred knowledge is only studied to become mindful of Allah. Knowledge is only favored over other virtues, because it makes one mindful of Allah. This is a key purpose objective of having LM it's not just to memorize lots of things, but it's for you to become mindful of Allah, as echoed by the verses that we've just mentioned. Also, the oft repeated statement of Imam Malik, one of the famous scholars of Islam, may Allah have mercy on him, he said, knowledge is a node is a light that Allah places wherever he wills, it does not consist of memorizing many generations. And another narration attribute to Imam Malik, may Allah

have mercy on him. He said, knowledge is not knowing many narrations verily, knowledge is only a light that Allah places in the hearts and we have many more statements from our pious masters. For example, Habib, bien evade said, may Allah have mercy on him, learn knowledge, understand it and benefit from it. In other words, live by it, and do not study it in order to decorate yourself with it. For if you live long, you would likely see a time when knowledge will be used for beautification, like a man beautifies himself with his garments. Also, you have another pious predecessor, a bulky labor, heat, may Allah have mercy on him, he said, Oh, are you when Allah

brings about knowledge for you, bring about worship of Him, and do not let your sole concern be to just generate it. This is very important, it should change your way of being it should change the way you relate to Allah subhanho wa Taala knowledge shouldn't just be there to learn in an abstract way, and just to publicly express it to show that you're smart or you have some kind of knowledge. True Knowledge is going to impact what's in your heart, how you express yourself, how you relate to yourself, how you relate to Allah and how you relate to other people. Also, you have MADI. bingeable may Allah have may Allah be pleased with him said, act as you wish, after you have learned for Allah

Almighty will never reward you for knowledge until you act upon it. We need to take knowledge seriously brothers and sisters, when we gain knowledge, we must act upon it, it must become part of who we are, we must actualize it and internalize it.

So

the most important or the most important parts of today's video, how do we internalize what we know and what we memorize. So here are seven points brothers and sisters. Point number one, make the distinction between knowing and truly knowing. Understand the abstract knowledge and memorization alone is not sufficient to change your way of being. And this is very important once we understand the distinction between knowing and truly knowing. In other words, abstract memorization, abstract, knowledge, abstract information, abstract data, we know that there is a difference between that and the Islamic paradigm of knowledge because knowledge is supposed to make you have more of Allah is

supposed to make you mindful of alignment supposed to change your heart, change what's on your tongue, how you express yourself and change how you act, how you relate to yourself, how you relate to Allah and how you relate to other people. If you know that's the whole point of knowledge to change your way of being hat making that distinction is part of the journey. So make that distinction. That's the first point and make the distinction of knowing the difference between having just abstract information and who you become. Understand that abstract knowledge in this sense, doesn't give you access to being doesn't transform you there is a gap and we need to bridge

that gap. So this is the first point. Second point, understand and be cognizant of the purpose and objectives of knowledge. Remember, we want to gain the pleasure of Allah subhanho wa Taala we want to transform ourselves into being worshipers of Allah to be true servants of the King of all kings. We want to call others to the religion and the worship of Allah subhanho wa Taala we want to preserve the deen of Allah subhanho wa Taala we want to be become people who have true eemaan We are in a way of being that can be described as submitting ourselves to Allah subhanho wa Taala

Which means changing what's in our heart, what's on our tongue, and how we act, how we relate to ourselves, how we relate to to others, and how we relate to Allah subhanho wa taala. These are some of the objectives of knowledge. So if you know that these are the objectives, then that is part of the journey, that's part of the process in internalizing what you know. Because if you know, the objective is not just merely to memorize an abstract sense and have lots of information, but if you know, the objective is that you should change me, then this is a fantastic start to your journey. Third point, understand and remind yourself of the consequences of not internalizing knowledge, and

the consequences of internalizing knowledge. If you don't internalize knowledge, you won't be in a true state of being, you might have signs of hypocrisy, you're not going to act upon what you know. And this could be an argument against you on the Day of Judgment or argument for you.

And also from that perspective, you may not be an optimal worship of Allah subhanho wa taala. You be like a donkey carrying books like that. Alternatively, or conversely, if you understand the implications of internalizing your knowledge, and that would encourage you, because internalizing your knowledge means that it's going to change the way you are, you're going to be a true servant of Allah subhanaw taala, it's going to be positive, it's going to positively positively transform your heart, what you say on your tongue and how you act, how you worship Allah, how you relate to yourself, and how you relate to others. And once that happens, then you are eligible for the greater

success. And what does Allah say is the greatest triumph is entering Jannah paradise, eternal bliss, with ALLAH SubhanA water and in the hereafter. Point number four, focus on your club on your heart. Brothers and sisters, the occult, the intellect is a function of the heart according to the most of the scholars, the Islamic scholars, and the heart that called this tackle Looby wavers and the heart brothers and sisters can be diseased. Remember, the four major spiritual diseases of the heart include Ria, ostentation, or job SELF amazement, vanity, Kibber, arrogance, Hassard, blameworthy, jealousy. And if your heart is diseased, and it's hardened from sins, then no matter how much you

memorize, and how much you you know, in an abstract sense, how good your actual and your intellect is, it's not going to function properly because it's, it's part of the heart, it's a function of the heart. So it's not going to fulfill its true function because the heart itself is diseased with the spirit to diseases or it's hardened with sins. So we need to traverse a spiritual path in line in line with the Quran and the Sunnah to soften our hearts to remove the spiritual diseases of our hearts and the four major spiritual diseases that we just mentioned. Kibber arrogance Ria, ostentation has that blameworthy jealousy and urges self amazement and vanity. And we're going to be

unpacking this much more with a chef about eylea in a forthcoming video on this channel in sha Allah. Point number five, have mentors and close companions. And these people should have internalized knowledge and have achieved the objectives of knowledge. Remember, you are the product of the people around you. Remember states of being give rise to states of being love give gives rise to love. Passion gives rise to passion, transformed people gives rise to transformed people to transformations. This is well known in social psychology and social influence in theories of conformity. This is well established in the Quran and the Sunnah concerning your environment, your

friends, and your companions. We know the famous prophetic traditions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam you're going to be, you know, you're going to be with those that you love, on the day of judgment in the Accra in paradise or not, you're going to, you know, be affected by your environment, if you go to the blacksmith, you're going to be affected by the environment, you might get bent closer, you're gonna smell of a blacksmith. If you go to the person who's who smells, who sells perfume, you're going to be impacted and affected by that you're going to smell very nice as well. And these are all based on the traditions of the Prophet sallallahu ala he was sending and we

know there are many verses that talks about the importance of companionship and friendship, and we're going to unpack this much more in a forthcoming video. But many of you know this anywhere and it's quite intuitive that you are the product of the people around you. So it's very important as a way to internalize knowledge to have mentors and close companions who have internalized knowledge, or at least they have achieved the objectives of knowledge. Remember, states of being give rise to states of being passionate gives rise to passion, compassion,

gives rise to compassion. Certainty gives rise to certainty. Love gives rise to love, transformed people give rides, gives rise to transformations and to transform people.

Number six, purify your intention. Ask yourself the question, why are you seeking this knowledge in the first place? For whom are you learning this knowledge for? What do you really want to achieve? If you ask yourself these questions, and this is the power of questioning in a very sincere, authentic sense, before you engage in learning knowledge on a daily basis, just take a snapshot of yourself, be conscious of yourself. Just sit back and ask yourself

oh Hamza, for example, ask myself or Hamza, why, why are you doing this in the first place? Why you gain this knowledge? For whom are you gaining this knowledge for? What do you want to achieve? Do you truly want to achieve transformations? Do you really want to change your heart, your tongue and how you act that can and all of that can be described as someone who is a true Muslim, a Mothman, someone who truly submits the will to Allah, someone who is a servant of Allah, someone who is compassionate, who is courageous, who is connected to Allah? Who is who has Yaqeen, who has certainty in the message of Allah? Do you want to be someone like this? Do you want to be someone

who achieved the greatest triumph which is eternal bliss and Paradise?

Do you want to help preserve the deen do to share this knowledge in a way that transforms other people as well?

If that's the case, then that would change the way you understand knowledge, how you acquire knowledge and also makes you realize I need to internalize, not just memorize I need to actualize not just acquire. I need to become that which I know.

The final point the seventh point, brothers and sisters, make dua, supplicate to Allah subhanho wa taala. Make dua to Allah know that dua is the essence of worship is the brain of worship as per the words of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And think about this, ultimately, fundamentally, only Allah can change your state, only Allah can make you understand that you shouldn't just memorize and just gain abstract information and knowledge. But you must internalize and only Allah can change your way of being fundamentally, everything else. Most of the things that I've said previously, are just as bad. They're just causes that Allah uses in order for you to attain much

needed transformation. But in reality, it's all because of Allah. And remember, Allah is so mad, he is the independent, Allah is Alleghany, he is the free of any need. So therefore we are utterly dependent on Allah. And we utterly in desperately need need Allah subhanho wa taala. So this is to be expressed through our dua through our supplication to him and say, Oh, Allah helped me traverse a path of Elam and knowledge that makes me transform into a true believer that I have conviction in my heart, that I changed the way I express myself and what I say. And I have positive transformation term in terms of the way I relate to myself, the way I really enact towards others, and the way I

relate to you, you're ALLAH SubhanA, Allah to Allah, give me beneficial knowledge, knowledge that transforms me, that facilitates generated for those that the highest level of paradise that helps me transforms other transforms other people as well for your sake,

make these types of supplications

and inshallah Allah is going to help every single one of us and brothers and sisters, this advice is for myself is to myself, first and foremost. I know that sounds like a spiritual cliche these days. But I have to remind myself that I whatever I know the very little that I know, I must become what I know. It must change my heart, my tongue and how I act. And I pray that's the case for you as well. And hopefully, hopefully this has become somewhat of a paradigm shift in terms of how you want to acquire knowledge. We've understood what the crisis of knowledge is, there is a gap between what we know and abstract sense and who we become. We need to bridge that gap. And hopefully these seven

points that I've mentioned, is going to help you do that. May Allah bless every single one of you. I love you all for the sake of Allah Subhana Allah to Allah, as salam Wa alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh