بِسْم الله الرحمن الرحيم
7) Adorn yourself with the splendor of knowledge
To adorn yourself with the splendor of knowledge is to have beautiful manners, pious conduct; such as continuous peacefulness, awe, humility, humbleness, adhesion to the clear path; by filling ones outer and inner-self (with these qualities) and leaving all the characteristics that oppose them.
It was narrated that Ibn Sireen رحمه الله said, "They (i.e. The Salaf) used to learn manners as they would learn knowledge"
Ibn Sireen is one of the Tabi'een, who is best known for his Book of Dreams. However that book of Dream Interpretation isn't authentic, not because he interpreted inauthentic material, but the interpretations attributed to him are false. This is just like the Tafseer of Ibn Abbas which is in circulation in many parts of the Muslim World, which is full of weak and false narrations. However, a scholar in Makkah compiled the authentic narrations of Ibn Abbas, but it's not very large, and the entire Qur'an isn't covered.
Anyway, this famous statement by Ibn Sireen shows us the connection between knowledge and good character. There's no separation between the two. The teacher wouldn't just teach his students knowledge, but good character, and advise them in accordance to Islamic Principles when he saw them behaving in a manner which was not befitting. So the students would learn from their observation of how the teacher carried himself and from his own corrections. So they learned good conduct at the same time they learnt knowledge.
It was narrated that Rajaa Ibn AlHaywa رحمه الله once said to a man: "Narrate (i.e. Hadith) and do not narrate to me through a person who is lifeless or a slanderer"
Narrated by Al-Khateeb in Al-Jaami', and then he commented further by saying:
"It is incumbent upon the seeker of Hadith to refrain from play, idle fiddling, and displaying vulgar manners in these gatherings by acting foolishly, giggling, laughing loudly, or excessive and continual joking. For indeed joking is only permissible if it is in small amounts, and if it is occasional, and subtle, and the type that does not exceed the boundaries of good manners, and the way of knowledge.
As for continual joking (and that which is) vulgar and foolish and that which arouses bitter feelings and attracts evil, then it is blameworthy. Excessive joking and laughing degrades your rank and your honour"
There is a saying, "Whoever is excessive in something will be recognized by it", so avoid these flaws in your gatherings and in your speech.
Nowadays, people seperate between character and knowledge. There's no insistence on good character; whoever gains it, gains it and whoever doesn't, doesn't. So over here, Raja' Ibn UlHaywa, stressed this issue in seeking knowledge of Hadith. It's a sacred area of knowledge and there is a character that should be associated with it. It shouldn't be that of a joker, who looks at life in a frivolous manner, making fun of everything, and known for loud, excessive laughing.
Islam doesn't prevent forms of play, but there's a place and time for that. And they need to be controlled, because the process of seeking knowledge is a dedicated process in which one has to maximize their time for the goal they're seeking.
When we look back at the early scholars, many of them died in their 40's and 50's, yet were able to produce huge amounts of work. Ibn Taymiya was in jail, Imam AnNawawi, Ibn AlQayyim - how did they find the time to write all the material they did and gather all this knowledge? They didn't waste their time. They didn't have time to kill. Time was valuable, and they used it in the best way.
Ibn Uthaymeen said in commentary:
This is among the best of what has been said concerning the etiquette of the seeker of knowledge. He should avoid playfulness and useless activities, except what is confirmed in the Shari'ah - like playing with spears and swords, and horses for the one who has a horse. These are among the things for which play was approved of because it helps one in times of Jihaad in the path of Allah.
And then he goes on to say that whatever is equivalent to these things in contemporary times (like playing with sporting rifles [something like paintballing]) and the like, which would help one in times of Jihaad and protecting ones family, these are what the student of knowledge should play with. Take Karate or Judo, for example. There's a certain amount of play and enjoyment involved, but it teaches you needed skills.
In terms of directing our children, we should keep these things in mind. In Muslims schools we should have games which serve some kind of purpose. The benefit from basketball or football is very limited. It has health benefits, like it strengthens ones legs, but it doesn't really prepare you to deal with an enemy. The only value in it is that the youth are so attached to it, it's best to have some sort of link to them and related activities for Da'wah purposes and to reach out to them. But in terms of those who seek religious knowledge, they have to be vigilant in terms of how they utilize their time.
Then he goes on to say:
Likewise, useless activities, doing meaningless and futile things, or talking nonsense and foolish behaviour in gatherings involving absurd statements, loud laughing, and continuous joking among the common people should be avoided. Frivolous behaviour among ones classmates and friends isn't as serious. The consequences are less, but even in the privacy of your inner circles, it should be controlled.
But beware of doing it in the general public, because it will open to you the doors of trials. It'll remove feelings of dignity and prestige from the hearts of the people. They will not respect you, nor the knowledge you are bringing them, seeing you as being like the rest of them, silly, wasting time, and just hanging out.
We may think it's a better way to do Da'wah to be like people, but in terms of conveying knowledge of the Deen, there should be a certain level of respect to it.
And whoever is excessive in something will be recognized by it.
Amongst those who are ignorant, there are some that think there is relaxation in doing this excessively.
It was narrated that Al-Ahnaf Ibn Qays said, "Preserve your gatherings from the mention of women and food, for indeed I hate a man who describes his private parts and his stomach"
It's not appropriate for the student of knowledge to speak in this way and to chat about women. If someone speaks about what he does with his wife in the bedroom, he's among the worst people before Allah on the Day of Judgement.
أَبَا سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيَّ يَقُولُ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِنَّ مِنْ أَشَرِّ النَّاسِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ مَنْزِلَةً يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ الرَّجُلَ يُفْضِي إِلَى امْرَأَتِهِ وَتُفْضِي إِلَيْهِ ثُمَّ يَنْشُرُ سِرَّهَا
Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Verily, the most evil of people in front of Allah on the Day of Resurrection is a man who is intimate with his wife and then spreads her secrets.” [Bukhari]
Asmâ' bint Yazîd relates: I was once in the company of a group of men and women seated in the presence of Allah's Messenger ﷺ.
He said to them: "Perhaps a man will mention what he did with his wife, and perhaps a woman will mention what she did with her husband."
The people sat in embarrassed silence until I spoke up and said: "Indeed, O Messenger of Allah, they do so quite often."
He said: "That is just like a male devil meeting a female devil and having intercourse while people look on." [This is related in Musnad Ahmad (6/456). Al-Albanî says in Adâb al-Zafâf (1/71): "This hadîth, with the help of its supporting narrations, is authentic (sahîh) or at least good (hasan)]
It's not appropriate for the student of knowledge to join people in these kind of things, especially when men get together. They usually end up talking about women in a manner which is not inappropriate, and spend much of their time in doing that. Or they're talking about food, not from the Islamic perspective of Halal and Haraam, but the types of food and where the best restaurant is, etc.
The seeker of knowledge should scrupulously avoid these types of conversations. If he ends up being in a gathering where these things are entertained he has to advise people that it's not appropriate, and that we should be talking about things which are more beneficial. It doesn't mean we have to only talk about Islam. We can still talk about life, but in a respectful manner. It may happen in the course of talking, people often seek to outdo each other, and things just get out of hand, going from bad to worse. So these things are better to be controlled from the very beginning.
All this addresses our priorities - which is primarily religious knowledge; and our conduct should reflect that. It doesn't mean we may not have some element of play or joking around, but it should always be within the proper bounds. Allah said in [17:27]:
We shouldn't be known as comedians. There are people who convey knowledge and joke to such a degree that the knowledge they're taking won't be taken seriously.
The relationship between the teacher and student is a blessed one. The Prophet ﷺ said:
أَلَا إِنَّ الدُّنْيَا مَلْعُونَةٌ مَلْعُونٌ مَا فِيهَا إِلَّا ذِكْرُ اللَّهِ وَمَا وَالَاهُ وَعَالِمٌ أَوْ مُتَعَلِّمٌ
“Is not the world cursed and everything in it? It is so except for the remembrance of Allah and what facilitates it, the scholar and the seeker of knowledge.” [Bukhari]
Everything outside this relationship is cursed. So this special relationship is broken when seeking knowledge becomes a means of livelihood, instead of worshipping Allah through conveying that knowledge. We also have to ask Allah to protect us from falling into the trap where we don't live in accordance to what we teach. Allah said in [2:44]:
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