بِسْم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Sheikh Bakr Abu Zayd identified various points as being essential for one seeking religious knowledge. For him/her to be successful in that quest, they would need to:
1) First and foremost realize that seeking knowledge in Islam is worship.
2) Then accordingly follow the path of those who were guided by the Prophet ﷺ; his companions and the first generations (I.e. The Salaf)
This doesn't mean you have to belong to a group called "Salafi", but to follow the path of the early generations, whom the Prophet ﷺ praised saying:
"خَيْرُ النَّاسِ قَرْنِي ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ ثُمَّ يَجِيءُ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ قَوْمٌ تَسْبِقُ شَهَادَتُهُمْ أَيْمَانَهُمْ وَأَيْمَانُهُمْ شَهَادَتَهُمْ"
“The best people are those of my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them. Then, there will come people whose witness will precede their oaths and whose oaths will precede their witness.” [Bukhari]
Then Sheikh Bakr Abu Zayd identified two principles which are aspects of Taqwa:
3) الخشية الله
4) المراقبة الله
These aspects are also contained in الاحسان; which is to worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you can't do that, then know that He sees you.
And knowing the observation on Allah upon us brings out the importance of having hope and fear in Allah.
When intending to do an evil deed, fear of Allah should dominate in a persons heart, and prevent him from the sin.
Similarly, we should have fear of Allah during good times, because good times are the times when people most often forget about Allah. When times are bad, everyone, including the disbeliever, remembers God. We become so enagaged and happy with our circumstance that Allah becomes the farthest thing in our minds. And when Allah is the farthest thing in our minds, falling into sin becomes easy. Good times are really bad times if we aren't conscious of Allah.
And we should have hope in Allah, which encourages a person to do good deeds.
5) Lower your Wings and put Arrogance and Pride behind you
"Lowering your wings" is an Arabic expression which basically means to be humble. Allah used this expression in reference to parents, in [17:24]:
He commands us to lower our wings of humility in dealing mercifully with our parents. In humbleness, there is mercy. And it's important to note that Allah linked being good to our parents with Tawheed in the Qur'an many times.
Adorn yourself with personal etiquette such as abstinence, forebearance, patience, humbleness to the truth, and tranquility, bearing the humility of learning for the glory of knowledge, and showing humility in the face of the truth.
a) Abstinence
You shouldn't be driven by the desire to have what other have; it'll destroy your quest for knowledge. The common buzz words we hear nowadays are "good living, good money, good life". If a child wants to go and study the religion the first thing his parents tend to ask is how he's going to make a living. This is the wrong, distorted perspective. We should be happy that they want to come closer to Allah. The concern of making a living should be secondary, not primary. We give it importance because we have to survive in this world, but it's not our primary goal.
A good life is ultimately the life which is lived pleasing to Allah. It may not be like the good life according to standards of the disbelievers or people drowning in materialism; but if it's a life that Allah is pleased with, then it truly is a good life.
So the first thing you should have is self restraint, to not covet what other people have. And you have to have self-restraint from looking at what is forbidden - whether it's the case of a young man looking at women or programs on TV. He says he wants to go and study in Madinah, but he spends most of his time playing video games and watching TV. This is going to be a complete failure. He needs to have a focus in his life. If he isn't using his spare time properly, in a way pleasing to Allah now, he'll just go overseas and end up displeasing Allah there as well.
b) Forbearance
You should not be hasty in punishing those who do bad to you as a student. You're in a midst of other students, and you will have bad experiences. If you don't control your anger, you're going to spend more time getting back at people than focusing on studying and gaining knowledge.
c) Patience
You have to be patient over the things you hear from the common people. You go study in Madina, for example, and go back home. When people hear that, they're going to call you a "Wahhabi".
So you come back with this wonderful intention, trying to pass the knowledge and benefit people, and they're going to come at you with all kinds of names. They don't want to listen to you. If you don't have the patience to deal with that, you can't be a طالب العلم. There will be tests.
Don't forget to seek reward while you are patient with the negative things you hear from those around you. That's what keeps you on track. Allah knows my intention and why I'm here. And have hope that Allah will make things good, because you're here striving to please Him.
d) Humbleness to the Truth
This means that whenever the truth becomes clear, you should submit to it and not desire a substitute for it. Where you can't submit to the truth, you can't be humble. It's pride that prevents a person from being unable to submit.
This is the problem of ignorance in general. People are caught up in customs and traditions, that it's taken the place of Islam and its teachings. So when Islam is brought with full clarity, they'll reject it it of pride in culture. They think: Well our people don't do it that way, in our country we don't say that, etc.
It becomes our country, our people, my family, instead of looking at the truth and submitting to it. And we are faced with this all the time.
Also: When one submits to the truth, he should do so willingly, not because he's just got beaten in an argument, and in his heart he wishes something else. This shouldn't be something else.
Likewise, there should be humility towards Allah's creatures. How many students have opened doors for their teachers which they never reflected on? Don't ever think that those who haven't traversed the path you're on can't pass on any knowledge to you. Don't ever scorn people. Accept the truth from whoever it is.
Take the Hadith of Shaytan with Abu Hurayrah for example, when he taught him Ayat Al-Kursi. The Prophet ﷺ said, "He spoke the truth, even though he is a liar".
So when you seek knowledge you have to be open, especially when dealing with the contemporary world.
e) Tranquility and Dignity
You should avoid frivolity and recklessness, whether it is in your mode of walking, or the way you treat people. You should not laugh a lot in an undignified manner which deadens your heart. You should be gentle and display the etiquettes of a student of knowledge. You should avoid ridiculous and foolish things.
Be a dignified person and treat people in a good, distinguished way.
When you humble yourself in order to learn, you seek the honour of knowledge.
The Prophet ﷺ said,
"من توضع لله رفعه و من تكبر وضعه الله"
If you humble yourself for Allah, Allah will elevate you.
Therefore, beware of all (the evil qualities) that oppose these qualities since they are blameworthy, (and if you do not), you are erecting against yourself a witness that there is a defect in your one, and it is also a sign that you have been prevented from benefiting from your knowledge, and from practicing it. So beware of haughtiness, for it is hypocrisy and pride, and the Salaf were very wary of it.
The disease of haughtiness, sometimes occurs in the minds and hearts of religious students. You have knowledge which people don't have, and they're ignorant, so there can be the tendency to feel "I have knowledge, therefore I should be listened to". So when people don't listen to you, instead of being patient and kind and trying to help the, understand, you take the aforementioned attitude, and this will create a stumbling block which prevents you from being able to benefit others.
With virtually every blessing Allah grants people, people tend to develop the feeling of conceit and arrogance, and believe they are better than others. This is one of the greatest evils - and exactly what caused Shaytan to fall. He had a superiority complex over Adam عليه السلام. In [7:12]:
In the Hadith:
The Prophet ﷺ said, "لا ينظر الله إلى من جر ثوبه خيلاء"
And in another Hadith:
"إزرة المؤمن إلى أنصاف ساقيه، لا جناح عليه ما بينه وبين الكعبين، وما أسفل من الكعبين في النار، يقول ثلاثاً: لا ينظر الله إلى من جر ثوبه بطراً."
When the Prophet ﷺ commanded you not to wear it below your ankle, do you feel shy to wear what the Prophet ﷺ instructed you, and feel good about wearing what he prohibited? Some people say, "We've got the Jews in Palestine, Americans in Afghanistan, the Russians in Chechnya, and you're talking about pants below your ankles"
We say that if you can't deal with having pants below your ankles, you can't deal with the Jews in Palestine, the Americans in Afghanistan, nor with the Russians in Chechnya. If you can't mentally or psychologically deal with having pants above your ankles because of what people will say, how are you going to deal with the Jews in Palestine?
So Ibn Uthaymeen goes on to say that self admiration or conceit occurs in the heart, and if its effects become visible, it becomes خيلاء (haughtiness).
Also, When Sheikh Bakr Abu Zayd says this is hypocrisy, it's hypocrisy according to the linguistic meaning - pretending to be something you aren't. He feels this, and he acts like that. And of course this is ultimately linked to disbelief, so it's something very dangerous and important to be careful to avoid.
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