بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
A Word on Seeking Knowledge by Shaikh Saleh Aal-Shaikh حفظه الله
Shaikh Saleh
Aal-Shaikh mentioned in his explanation of Kitab at-Tawheed:
فإن الاهتمام بالعلم، والرّغب فيه، والحرص عليه، والإقبال عليه، دليل صحة القلوب؛ لأن القلب إذا صحَّ لنفسه، وعرف ما ينفعُه فإنه سيحرِص على العلم؛ ذلك لأن الله جل جلاله مدح أهل العلم، ورفعهم على غيرهم درجات، قال سبحانه﴿يَرْفَعْ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ﴾[المجادلة:11]، وقال جل وعلا﴿أَمَّنْ هُوَ قَانِتٌ آنَاءَ اللَّيْلِ سَاجِدًا وَقَائِمًا يَحْذَرُ الْآخِرَةَ وَيَرْجُو رَحْمَةَ رَبِّهِ قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ إِنَّمَا يَتَذَكَّرُ أُوْلُوا الْأَلْبَابِ﴾[الزمر:9], فعدم استواء من يعلم مع من لا يعلم, هذا إنما يذكره ويعيه أهل الألباب؛ (إِنَّمَا يَتَذَكَّرُ أُوْلُوا الْأَلْبَابِ)
Indeed, giving importance to knowledge, desiring it, being keen to attain it, and directing ones attention to it is an an evidence of the wellness of the heart. This is because if the heart is well and recognizes what benefits it, it will be keen to attain knowledge, because Allah praised the People of Knowledge and elevated them above others in ranks. He said Surah Al-Mujadalah [58:11]:
"Allah will exalt in degree those of you who believe, and those who have been granted knowledge."
.
And in Surah az-Zumar [39:9]:
"Is one who is obedient to Allah, prostrating himself or standing (in prayer) during the hours of the night, fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the Mercy of his Lord (like one who disbelieves)? Say: "Are those who know equal to those who know not?" It is only men of understanding who will remember (i.e. get a lesson from Allah's Signs and Verses)."
The lack of equality between the those who know and those are do not know are only remembered and heeded by the Ulol Albab (Men of Understanding).
وأما الجاهل فهو لا يعرف أنه جاهل، ويقنع بالجهالة، ثم هو لا يعلم معنى العلم وأهمية العلم، وأنَّ العلم هو الشرف الأعظم في هذه الحياة؛ ولهذا قال العلماء: من دلائل أهمية العلم أن الله جل جلاله ما أمر نبيه صلى الله عليه وسلم أن يدعُوَ بالازدياد من شيء إلا من العلم، فقال سبحانه لنبيه ﴿وَقُلْ رَبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا﴾[طه:114]،وما أمره بالازدياد، أو بدعاء الازدياد من غير العلم، وكفى بذلك شرفا.
As for the ignorant, he does not know that he is an ignorant and is content with his ignorance. In addition to that, he does not know the meaning of knowledge and its importance, and that knowledge is the greatest nobility in this life. For this reason, the Scholars said: Of the evidences of the importance of knowledge is that Allah did not commanded the Prophet ﷺ to invoke Him for an increase in anything save knowledge. He said in Surah Ta-Ha [20:114]:
"and say: "My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.""
He did not order with increase, or to invoke for increase in anything besides knowledge, and that is sufficient as an honour.
العلم يشترك كثيرون في الاهتمام به، لكن لا يستوون في أخذه، ولا في طريقة أخذه، وهم طبقات
Many people give importance to knowledge,
however they are not equal in their acquisition of it nor in the way they acquire it. They are of different categories:
فمنهم المتعجل: الذي يظن أن العلم يحصَّل في أسابيع، أو في أشهر، أو في سنين معدودة، وهذا بعيد عن الصواب؛ لأن العلم لا ينتهِي حتى يموت المرء وبقي من العلم أشياء كثيرة لم يعلمها، فإن العلم واسع الأطراف، واسع الجنبات، والله جل وعلا هو ذو العلم الكامل، وأعطى البشر بمجموعهم بعض علمه، فهذا يفوت عليه شيء من العلم، وذاك يفوت عليه شيء من العلم؛ ولكن بمجموعهم لو جُمع علم من فيها لكان شيئا قليلا جدا من علم الله، كما تضع الإبرة في البحر ثم تخرجها لم تُنقص من ماء البحر شيئا.
Among them is the hasty person who thinks that knowledge can be acquired in weeks, or in months, or in a few years. This is far from what is correct because there is no end to knowledge. A person will die and there will remain much of knowledge which he did not know, for knowledge is vast and has many vast sides. Allah is the Possesor of Perfect Knowledge, and He gave humankind in its entirety a part of this knowledge. A person will lack a certain part of knowledge and another person will lack another, yet, if all of mans knowledge was gathered in entirety it would be something very little in comparison to the knowledge of Allah. It would be like the dipping of the sparrows beak in water and then taking it out; it does not cause any reduction to the water in the sea in the least.
وإذا كان كذلك، فإن رَوْمَ العلم لا يمكن أن يكون بإطلاق؛ بل ينبغي لطالب العلم أن يكون متدرجا فيه؛ والتدرج سنة لا بد منها، هي سنة النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وهي سنة الصحابة، وهي سنة أهل العلم بعدهم؛ فالنبي عليه الصلاة والسلام ما علّم الصحابةَ العلم جملة واحدة، وإنما علَّمهم في سنين عددا، في مكة علمهم أصل الأصول، الذي به سلامة القلب وصحته وسلامة العقل وصحته، ألا وهو توحيد الله جل جلاله والبراءة من كل ما سوى الرب جل وعلا، ثم بعد ذلك أتى العلم شيئا فشيئا لصحابة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وكلٌّ أخذ من العلم بقدر ما يُسِّر له وقُدّر له.
And if that is the case, then seeking knowledge cannot be done unrestrictedly. Rather, it is incumbent on the student of knowledge to take it step by step. And learning knowledge step by step is a Sunnah that must be done. It is the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ and the Sunnah of the Companions and the Sunnah of the People of Knowledge after them. The Prophet ﷺ did not teach the Companions knowledge all at once, rather he did so throughoit the course of many years. In Makkah he taught them the basics by which they would attain the soundness and wellness of their hearts and minds. He taught them the Tawheed of Allah and disassociation from everything other than Him. Then after that, knowledge came part by part to the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ and each one took from it according to what Allah made easy and decreed for them.
هكذا أهل العلم من بعد الصحابة لا تجد أنَّ أولئك خاضوا العلم خوضا واحدا، فمنهم من برّز في العربية، ومنهم من برّز في علم الأصول، ومنهم من برّز في التفسير، ومنهم من برّز في الحديث، ومنهم من برّز في علوم الآلة الأخرى كالمصطلح ونحوه، ومنهم من برّز في الفقه، وهكذا في علوم شتى.
Similarly, you did not find the People of Knowledge after the Companions taking it as a whole. There were those who excelled in Arabic, and those who excelled in Usool, and some in Tafseer, and others in Hadith, or in Fiqh, etc.
وإذا كان كذلك، كانت وصية ابن شهاب الزهري، التي لابد أن نحفظها، كانت وصيته نعم الوصية حيث قال: من رام العلم جملة ذهب عنه جملةإنما يطلب العلم على مر الأيام والليالي.فالمتعجلون لا يحصلون العلم، فلا بد -إذن- من التدرج.
We should thus memorize the great advice of Ibn Shihab Az-Zuhri, who said, “Whoever seeks knowledge altogether at once, it will leave him altogether at once. Rather, knowledge is only acquired throughout the days and nights. The hasty will not acquire knowledge, therefore it is a must to acquire knowledge
gradually.”
ثُم ثَم صنف أيضا من الشباب، أو من طلاب العلم وهم المتذوقون. المتذوقون: أهل التذوق في أخذ العلم؛ يأتي ويطلب علما ما مدة قليلة، ثم يأتي ويحكم على هذا العلم، أو يحكم على من يُعلّم ذاك العلم، وأيضا ينتقل إلى آخر، ثم يحكم على ذلك العلم الآخر، وعلى من يُعلّم ذلك العلم الآخر
There is another category of youth or students of knowledge and they are the Mutadhawiqoon (tasters). They are tasters when it comes to acquiring knowledge; they come and acquire knowledge for a short period of time, then they come and judge this knowledge or judge the teacher who taught this knowledge. Then they move to another teacher, judge that knowledge and the teacher who taught it, and so on.
وهذا دليل نقص في العلم، ونقص في الإدراك والعقل؛ لأن العلوم لا يحكم عليها إلا من حواها من جميع جنباتها، وأحاط من ورائها. وهذا لا يتأتى لأكثر الشباب الذين يتذوقون؛ تجد أنه في مدة من الزمن أشهر أو سنة حضر عند فلان من أهل العلم، أو من المعلِّمين من طلبة العلم، فحكم على نفسه، أو على ذلك المعلم بأنه كذا وكذا، ثم انتقل إلى غيره.
This is an indication of deficient knowledge and a lack of understanding and intellect. This is because knowledge cannot be judged except by one who has comprehended it from all its sides, and this does not exist in most of the youth who taste knowledge. You find them during a period of time, perhaps a month or a year, attending with a certain teacher from the people of knowledge, then he judges that teacher with such and such and moves on to someone else.
ثم في الآخِر تجد أن هذا النوع ييأس ولا يحصّل علما كثيرا؛ ذلك لأنه تعجَّل، وكان متذوقا في العلم، والتذوق بمعنى كثرة التنقل،والأخذ من هذا بشيء والأخذ من ذاك بشيء، هذا لا يكون المرء به عالما، ولا طالب علم،وإنما كما قال الأولون يكون أديبا؛ لأنهم عرّفوا الأدب بأنه:الأخذ من كل علم بطرف. وهذا مما لا ينبغي أن يُسلك، يعني أن يكون طالب العلم الذي أراد صحة العلم، وصحة السلوك فيه، لا يصلح أن يكون متذوقا.
In the end, you will find this type of student of knowledge despairing and not having acquired much knowledge. This is because he was hasty and tasted the knowledge. And by tasting we mean profusely transferring from teacher to teacher. He takes something from this and something from that, and a person can never be a Scholar in this way, nor a student of knowledge. He is but as the early generations used to call, an "Adeeb", because they defined Al-Adab as taking a part from every knowledge. It is not befitting for the student of knowledge who wants sound knowledge and to attain it in a sound way to be a taster.
إذن فرجع السبيل إلى أن يكون مؤصِّلا نفسه، متدرجا في العلم، والتأصيل أمره عزيزٌ جدا؛ تأصيل العلم وتأصيل طلب العلم وأن يحفظ كما حفظ الأولون.
أنظر إنْ كنت معتبرا، أنظر كتب التراجم حيث ترجم أولئك المصنفون لأهل العلم؛ تجد أنه في ترجمة إمام من الأئمة، وحافظ من الحفاظ، تجد أنهم يذكرون في أوائل ترجمته أنه قرأ الكتاب الفلاني من الكتب القصيرة من المتون المختصرة وقرأ الكتاب الفلاني، وحفظ كذا،وحفظ كذا، لماذا يذكرون هذا، ويجعلونه منقبة لأولئك؟ لأن حفظ تلك المتون، وقراءة تلك المختصرات هي طريقة العلم في الواقع، وهذه سنة العلماء، ومن تركها فقد ترك سنة العلماء في العلم والتعليم، منذ تشعَّب العلم بعد القرن الرابع الهجري. لهذا ينبغي لك أن تكون حريصا على التأني في طلب العلم، وأن تُحكِم ما تسمع وما تقرأ شيئا فشيئا.
Therefore, the student of
knowledge should return to:
1) Establishing himself in the basics.
2) Acquiring knowledge gradually.
3) Memorizing as the earliest generations memorized.
Look into the biographies of any Scholar or Imam, they mention in the beginning of the biography how they used to read such-and-such short book from the summarized texts, and how they read such-and-such book, and memorized such-and-such. Why do they mention this? And why did they consider it a good trait in them? Because memorizing these texts and reading those concise books is the way to knowledge in reality. This is the Sunnah of the Scholars and whoever abandons it has abandoned the way of the Scholars in knowledge and learning ever since knowledge branched out after the fourth century.
Therefore, one should strive to be deliberate in acquiring knowledge and perfect what he hears and reads little by little.
ومن المهمات أيضا ألاّ تُدخل عقلك إلا صورة صحيحة من العلم، لا تهتمَّ بكثرة المعلومات، بقدر ما تهتم بأنْ لا يدخل العقل إلا صورة صحيحة للعلم، إذا أردت أن تتناولها تناولتها بالاحتجاج أو بالذكر أو بالاستفادة، تناولتها تناولا صحيحا، أما إذا كنت تُدخل في عقلك مسائل كثيرة، وإذا أتى النقاش لحظت من نفسك أنَّ هذه المسألة فهمتها على غير وجهها، والثانية فهمتها على غير وجهها، لها قيد لم تهتم به، لها ضوابط ما اعتنيت بها،فتكون الصور في الذهن كثيرة، وتكون المسائل كثيرة؛ لكن غير منضبطة، وليس ذلك بالعلم.
Another important matter is to not enter in your mind except the correct form of knowledge. Do not be concerned about plentiful information as much as you are concerned about not entering into your mind except the correct form of knowledge. If you want to acquire it, acquire it with proofs, with remembrance, with benefit. Then you would have attained it correctly. However, if you enter many issues into your mind, and you enter a discussion and notice that you did not understand the issue correctly or there was a restriction which you did give heed to and regulations which you did not take care of, you will have many images and issues in your mind, yet they will be not be in order, and that is not knowledge.
إنما العلم أن تكون الصورة في الذهن للمسألة العلمية منضبطة؛ من جهة الصورة -صورة المسألة-، ومن جهة الحكم، ومن جهة الدليل،ومن جهة وجه الاستدلال، فهذه الأربع تهتم بها جدا:
الأولى: صورة المسألة.الثانية: حكم المسألة، في أي علم: في الفقه أو الحديث أو المصطلح أو الأصول أو النحو أو التفسير...إلخ.
الثالثة:دليلها،ما دليل هذا الذي قال كذا وكذا؟
الرابعة: ما وجه الاستدلال؟استدل بدليل، كيف أعمل عقله في هذا الدليل فاستنبط منه الحكم؟
Knowledge is for the picture in your mind of the information to be in order, from the aspects of the form of the issue, its ruling, its evidence, and the derivation of its evidence. The student of knowledge should thus take care of these four matters:
1) The form of the issue
2) Its ruling - i.e. In which of the sciences of knowledge is it? is it in Fiqh, or Hadeeth, or Terminology, or Usool, or Grammar, or Tafseer, etc?
3) Its evidence
4) The derivation of the evidence - How did the Scholar derive the ruling from this evidence?
فإذا عوّدت ذهنك في هذه الأربع سرت مسيرا جيّدا في فهم العلم، والذي يحيط بذلك الاهتمام باللغة العربية، الاهتمام بألفاظ أهل العلم؛ لأنَّ من لم يهتمّ بألفاظ أهل العلم وبلغة العلم لم يدرك مراداتهم من كلامهم.
If you train your
mind upon these four, you will walk well in the understanding of knowledge. And what surrounds all that is giving importance to the Arabic language and taking care of the words used by the People of Knowledge, because whoever does not give importance to the words the People of Knowledge use will not be able to grasp what they mean from their speech.
The Importance of Knowing أسماء الله (The Names of Allah)
1- The Importance of Names (علم الاسماء)
The first position in the Qur'an where the word “أسماء" (Asmaa) is mentioned is in Surah Al-Baqarah [2:31] in the Story of Adam عليه السلام, when Allah says:
"And He taught Adam all the names (of everything) , then He showed them to the angels and said, "Tell Me the names of these if you are truthful."
The Angels replied:
"They (angels) said: "Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what you have taught us. Verily, it is You, the All-Knower, the All-Wise."
Why do the Angels say "سبحانك" (Glory be to You)? Because no creature
could ever acquire any part of Allah’s knowledge except by His permission, nor could anyone know anything except if Allah teaches them.
This indicates that knowledge about the names is a very important knowledge. Adam عليه السلام's distinction and superiority was shown by it.
-> Allah taught Adam عليه السلام the names of everything; the names that people use such as human, animal, sky, earth, land, sea, tree, donkey, and all other species, etc.
-> Allah taught Adam عليه السلام the proper names of everything and the names of their characteristics and what they do, just as Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهما mentioned about the terms of passing wind.
-> Allah even taught him التصغير و التكبير (Minaturization and Enlargement of Names)
E.g. عبد and عبيد.
So Adam’s superiority
was shown by this type of knowledge – علم الإسماء (Knowledge of the Names). But why this particular
knowledge?
a) By names, people distinguish between things.
E.g.
The relationship between people is based on names. When you know their names you can distinguish them from others.
E.g. You say: "Bring this to me"
'This' is nothing to you without a name. Unless you name it, it will not be clear to the other person what you mean.
E.g. Imagine
this life without names. Imagine if the streets have no names and the areas
have no names.
Without names, we cannot live in this life. Therefore the basis of knowledge is knowledge of the names.
b) Names imply meanings. Behind each name is a reality; a fact.
E.g. When Allah addressed those who worship others besides him, He
said in Surah an-Najm [53:23]:
"They are but names which you have named, you and your fathers, for which Allah has sent down no authority. They follow but a guess and that which they themselves desire, whereas there has surely come to them the Guidance from their Lord!"
And Yusuf عليه السلام said in Surah
Yusuf [12:40]:
"You do not worship besides Him but only names which you have named (forged), you and your fathers, for which Allah has sent down no authority. The command (or the judgement) is for none but Allah. He has commanded that you worship none but Him (i.e. His Monotheism), that is the (true) straight religion, but most men know not."
Allah emphasized a
fact – that these are just names which you have named and they have no reality to them.
E.g. Brand named items. People magnified it to an extent that they think they will not be happy unless they have from such and such brand. They consider you low class if you do not have brand-name items. We do not have idols but we have what is similar to it.
c) The foundation of thinking is
based on knowledge of the names. The human being will not be able to think except after knowing the names. Names are the foundation of thought.
d) In order to think correctly, names should correspond with the things they are named with.
If names do not conform with the things they are named for, it will cause the thoughts to be corrupted. Correct names make the person think correctly, and incorrect names causes corruption in thinking.
This is why we have to choose and use the correct names.
There are people who use the good
names which Allah sent down in the Qur’an and Sunnah with wrong implications. They do not change the name, but what it implies of meaning. This accordingly affects the way of thinking.
E.g. They say "This person is a
‘good’ person" meaning naive.
E.g. Or "The organization is going on by ‘Barakah’" meaning that its not organized; they’re
in a mess.
E.g. Someone wants to
pardon another. They say: Don’t do that, it is weak. They call pardoning weak.
E.g. The education of
children upon the Religion is extremity or forcefulness or harshness.
E.g. Wine = مشروبات روحية (Drinks for the Soul)
E.g. Do you want to be
happy? Take drugs.
E.g. To say Tarbiyah = cruelty
Tawheed = Extremity
Hijab = Oppresson and Backwardness
Nudity = Modernity and Fashion
E.g Happiness for the people is to have a certain amount of money,
have a certain life standard. This is happiness to them, although happiness as mentioned in the
Qur’an is entering Paradise on the Day of
Judgement.
There are two blameworthy actions:
1) Calling things wrong names. This will accordingly confuse the minds.
(E.g. Calling alcohol a spiritual drink)
2) Giving things names which have no reality to them.
(E.g. Saying that Tawheed is extremism)
People restrict loss and success to worldly matters although the word Fawz (success) in the Qur'an is only mentioned in relation to Paradise. Yet nowdays people relate it to games, football matches,
lottery, etc.
2 - Why is it important to
learn the names of Allah?
There are names of Allah which are very common and known to the people - such as the name Ar-Razzaq - yet they do not know what it implies of facts, and even if they do, they have no feelings towards these facts. This is why we are studying the name of Allah ar-Razzaq.
1) To be able to invoke Allah by them.
2) And accordingly live that meaning in
your life.
The names of Allah affect the actions of
your heart. Your truthfulness will increase and your watchfulness of Allah will
increase. Your heart will be moved by that name. If that name is dead in
your heart - for example, if you hear Al-Muhaymin and it has no effect - its because you do not know its meaning.
3) As you know Allah more, as your love for Him will increase.
This is
the nature of the human thing. As one knows more information about certain people and their characteristics, as he will love it more.
E.g.
We did not see the companions but when you read their biographies in detail you
feel love for them. When you hear about Abu Lahab
and his hostility against the Prophet ﷺ you begin to hate him, although did not did not see his hostility. This is our nature. And this is why it is forbidden in Islam to backbite, because if someone defames someone you have a good
relationship with, your feelings will change. Information affects our
feelings.
Therefore, our relationship with our Lord is based on humility, submission, love, etc. which is the result of hearing news about Allah. This means that the space in your heart where you receive news should be vacant when hearing about Allah, in order for the news to have an effect on your feelings.
Allah told us about His Noble Self in His Noble Book and on the tongue of His Messenger ﷺ; news after news. Why? To listen attentively, understand them, and think about them until your feelings are occupied and busy with them.
When
you know about Allah, you will love Him more. Allah distinguished the human being and characterized him with feelings. Do not spend this high noble matter in a place or on people who do not deserve it. Do not spend your
feelings on worldly matters. Your feelings are your capital which Allah gave
you. Allah gifted us with feelings. Do not direct these feelings which are
gifts fom Allah to other than Allah or for other than the sake of Allah.
We learn the Names of Allah because knowledge helps us discipline our feelings and causes us to love Allah and put our feelings in the right place.
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