THE HONOUR OF KNOWLEDGE Our next point is I’lam Rahimak Allah, we are still in the portion of I’lam. Take the honour of knowledge, and this is good for you, it will inspire you not to ever stop learning. *Anas Ibn Malik radhiallahu ‘anhu said the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said: Ibn Maajah, the Prophet salallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, learning knowledge is an obligation on every Muslim. ☆This Hadith is considered weak by some because of matters within its chain, but other scholars have considered it authentic like al-Muzzi, as-Suyooti, and Albaani Rahimahumullah Jamee’an. ♤Ahmad said, one must know that which is essential to establish his Deen. You must, as an obligation, and we’ll talk about this in the next four introductory matters when we talk about knowledge again. Matters like for example, for Salah, Siyaam, that you need to know, it is obligatory, it is Fardh, it is Waajib on you to know. ♤Look more than that, the honour of knowledge that you are doing right now. Allah bears witness in the verse, Allah bears witness that there is none that have a right to be worshipped but He, Allah bears witness to that. And the angels bear witness to that, and look at the third one, and those having knowledge, those people who have knowledge, He maintains justice on this Earth: إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ غَفُور ♤Al-Qurtubi said about this, had there been anyone more honourable than scholars, of the categories of human beings, Allah would have combined them to His Name, and to that of His Angels as He did with the ‘Ulamaa. Allah testified, the angels, and then He said the knowledgeable people. Allah in the Qur’an told the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and say Muhammad: رَّبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا ... Increase me in knowledge, Allah directs His Messenger to ask Allah to gain more knowledge. Had there been anything more honourable to acquire than knowledge, Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala would have directed His Messenger to ask for that. وَقُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا ... He would have asked him to ask for more wealth, or prestige, or fame, or whatever it is, but He told him to ask for more knowledge. The next verse in the Qur’an, Allah says: َ إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ غَفُورٌ It is only those who have knowledge amongst His slaves, that truly fear Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala. ♤Mu’aawiyah Ibn Abi Sufyaan radhiallahu ‘anhuma said: Every time you get relaxed and lazy about knowledge, listen to this Hadith in Bukhari and Muslim. Whoever Allah wishes good for, He gives him profound understanding of the religion. You coming here today is a sign that Inshaa Allah, Allah likes you and wants good for you. ♤In Sahih Muslim, the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, whosoever seeks a path to acquire the knowledge of the Deen, and over here when we are talking, this is knowledge of the Deen, Allah will make the path for him easy to enter Heaven. ♤You, by sitting here, learning and sitting, or those by the computer, learning Islam, that is your path to Jannah Inshaa Allah, you are paving yourself a path for Jannah by what you are doing in studying Islam. ♤Abu Darda said in a Hadith in Ibn Maajah, in Abu Dawood and at-Tirmidhi, he said, look at the value of knowledge, I want you to see how big of an ordeal it is that you are students of knowledge: …Whoever treads a path in search of knowledge, Allah will direct him to tread a path to enter Paradise. ♤This portion of the Hadith of course, we mentioned it, it is in Sahih Muslim. The rest of the Hadith and this part is also mentioned in Ibn Maajah, Sunan Abu Dawood and atTirmidhi. … The angels lower their wings for the student of knowledge, in approval for that which he does. They lower their wings for you in approval for that which you do. ♤The angels love and respect and honour you, the angels come down and lower their wings for you, they humble themselves for you, and protect you and guard you, why? Because you made an effort to study Islam, so they protect you, guard you, lower their wings for you. Look at the Hadith, goes on to say: A person of knowledge, a seeker of knowledge, a knowledgeable person, the Heavens and the Earth seek the forgiveness for the student of knowledge, or the scholar. ♤So one will not get the implication that it is only humans and Jinn making Istighfaar, the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said. Meaning everything, do not assume it is only human beings and Jinn, it is even the fish, it is even the whale, and it is everything else. If it is the whale and fish in the deep dark waters, it is everything else. Do you want everything to make Du’aa for you? Continue steadfast in studying knowledge wherever you are. ☆The next portion of the Hadith, the superiority of a scholar over a worshipper is like the superiority of the full moon at night time over the stars. ♤You see how supreme the moon is over the stars, when you look at night time, you see the moon and you see how glowing and radiant it is and it dominates the sky; and if you do see the stars, they are like little dots. ♤That is what the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam compared a scholar to a worshipper to. In this particular Hadith, the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam compares how supreme a scholar is in comparison to a worshipper, like the moon in comparison to the stars. In another narration, in Sunan at-Tirmidhi, by Abu Umaamah al-Baahili, the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said: ...The supreme status of an ‘Aalim over an ‘Aabid is like how supreme I am over the least one of you. ♤We know the superiority of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam over scholars, or anyone other than that, and less than that or above that. ♤For the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam to compare himself like that is such an honour, all the honour and encouragement for one to continue steadfast in studying this knowledge. ♤Look what the Hadith goes on to say Verily, the scholars are the heirs of the Prophets, they are the heirs of the Prophets. You want to be the heir of the Prophets? Study Islam. Honour after honour, do you know what an honour it is to be called an inheritor of an heir of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam? ♤The Hadith goes on to tell you, verily, the Prophets did not leave as inheritance, Dinar and Dirhams, they did not leave dollars and change, they did not leave wealth. They left behind knowledge, so whoever takes it, has indeed acquired a great fortune. ♤Sometimes people say they want billions to be like the billionaires, like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, or Waleed Ibn Talaal or their likes. Some want to be presidents, or like the presidents, and like the kings, or prominent positions and some seek some certain ranks people look up to so people can look up to them. ♤Some want to look like others in their dress and in their style, everyone has certain things they want to look up to. What really matters is the inheritance of the Messengers, to grab a chunk of that inheritance. ♤That is the least of what people pursue today, people pursue everything wanting to be like kings and leaders, and social statuses and money, but the least pursued today is the inheritance of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. ♤How many people pursue that and how many people raise their kids to pursue that? Abul-Wafaa’ Ibn Aqeel said, Allah guarded me as a youth, I limited my love to all I loved when I was a youth was knowledge. I never mingled with people who were players or foolish people ever, I only enjoined with the students of knowledge. Now that I am in my eighties, I am more eager to learn than when I was in my twenties. ♤Now that I am in my eighties I love to learn more than when I was in my twenties, imagine that! Mutarif said: I love to learn, I think it is better and I would love to learn more than I do worship. It is more beloved to him than to worship and it is not only his saying, it is a saying of many, many other scholars. Yahya Ibn Katheer said: You will never get knowledge, real knowledge, with a lot of rest. You got to take away a little bit of your rest time and a little bit of your sleep time, and I am going to add to that, you are not ever going to become knowledgeable spending a lot of time on Facebook and Twitter. Some brothers spend historical time on it, that I have heard of, fifteen to twenty minutes max. *Ibn Abbaas radhiallahu ‘anhu said, studying knowledge at night is more beloved to me at times than worshipping in it studying Islam is more beloved to me than worshipping. *AzZuhri Rahimhullah said: Allah was never worshipped in a way like knowledge. Meaning studying Islamic knowledge, and memorising, and reading. All types of knowledge, not just Tawheed but we mentioned because that is the mother of knowledges, that is the one that will save you and protect you from Hellfire. ♤Ash-Shaafi’ee Rahimahullah said: Studying ‘Ilm is more important than a Naafilah prayer. What this means is that you got to understand their lifestyle, their lifestyle was full, complete, it had a full schedule to Allah. ♤So at times, they get cornered either I stay up today and pray, or I teach this student or I write this book or I read this book or I prepare for this class, it is one or the other. So at that time, it becomes better than a Naafilah, but we are different. We have plenty of time that we waste and trust me, the way we live, we can accommodate for both because our schedule is not full, we still have not reached their rank in how they filled their schedule. This is how they sacred ‘Ilm, look how they travelled and pursued it.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 04:21:32 +0000
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