By: Muhammad Al-Shareef
Many years ago in Uzbekistan, a baby boy was born blind. His Mother, the strong
Mu'minah that she was, did not lose sight of He who had the Power to cure him. She prayed
and prayed for her sons sight. And within a few years the boy regained his eyes.
She was widowed, the boy an orphan. She traveled with him to Makkah so that he could
receive an Islamic Education. She arranged that he attend the circles of the scholars, and in
those circles, he began excelling in the science of Hadeeth. He traveled to distant villages in
search of the most authentic sayings of Rasul Allah (pbuh). He would pray two raka'at
before accepting a Hadeeth. His mother named him: Muhammad ibn Isma'il. And many of
us know him today by the book he compiled, the book that stands after the Qur'an in
authenticity: Saheeh Al-Imam Al-Bukhari!
In another land, in another time, chilly Baghdad winds would wake up another boy. Much
before Fajr, his mother would bundle him in warm shawls and escort him through the
darkness, making sure he reached the Masjid safely. After Fajr, she would wait for him as he
read Hadeeth to the biggest scholars of the land. Then, long after the sun had come up, she
would meet him outside and together they would walk home. She was a strong mother
indeed, for her son grew up to become an Imam of the Muslim Ummah, an Imam by the
name of Ahmad ibn Hanbal. (Manaaqib Ahmad, by Ibn Al-Jowzee)
Imam Suyuti authored his first book, Tafseer Bismillaah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheeem, when he
was in grade 2!
Dear brothers and sisters, why should we try to follow in the footsteps of these many other
stars of Islam? The information that we shall in sha' Allah learn is not like anything else.
This knowledge is the law of Allah and the inheritance of the Prophets. It is our duty to
preserve and protect the estate of Rasul Allah (pbuh), something that cannot happen
without there being serious and sincere brothers and sisters spending long days and nights
reading, reflecting, and teaching others.
Every Islamic revival that takes place is built on something. Some revivals are built on
emotions, others on politics. Do you know which shall remain firm when the wind of woe
blows? It shall be the one that was built on sound knowledge of the words of Allah and the
Sunnah of Rasul Allah.
A sincere man once stood on the beach shore watching, to his dismay, the waves thrashing a
fish up and down, left and right. The man concluded that he must save the fish. He thrashed
into the water and grabbed the fish by the tail. He then thrashed back to shore and threw
the fish on the beach, satisfied that he had saved it from the water!
Dear brothers and sisters, when we work for the sake of Allah without knowledge of what
the path of Allah is, many times we do as that young man did.
We are living in an age of information. We have lights in every corner of the house when
only yesterday our ancestors read by the light of the moon. We have publishing houses
when only yesterday our ancestors wrote the books they owned with their own hands. We
have CD's to search the Hadeeth archives when our scholars spent days upon days
searching for proof and evidence in their libraries. Shouldn't the knowledge increase with
all this ease? It should. But it has not.
Dear brothers and sisters, we know that when a prize is great, the responsibility, and the
work required for that prize shall also be great. And because of this, we see the enormous
reward promised to those scholars and students of Islam due to the heavy work required.
The Prophet (pbuh) said, "Whoever seeks out a path to acquire knowledge (of the deen),
Allah makes easy a path for them to Jannah!" - Muslim
Shaykh Abdur-Rahman As-Sa'dee said, "Thus any path a person takes, whether physical or
otherwise, something that will help them in acquiring knowledge of the Deen, they enter in
the words of the Prophet, "Whoever seeks out a path to acquire knowledge (of the deen),
Allah makes easy a path for them to Jannah." "
Rasul Allah told us that when a person seeks out a path to learn about Islam, this is a sign
that Allah loves them and that He wants good for them in this life and the next.
From Mu'aawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, the Prophet (pbuh) said, "Whoever Allah wishes good
for, he grants them Fiqh (understading) of the Deen."
And Rasul Allah told us that the sincere scholars have a place with Allah that no one else
can reach, and that they are the inheritors of the Prophet's estate in passing it on to the
world.
Rasul Allah said, "The virtue of the scholar to a worshipper (Aabid) is similar to the virtue
of the moon when it is full to the rest of the stars. And verily the scholars are the inheritors
of the Prophets. Verily the Prophets did not leave behind dirhams and deenars, but rather
they left behind knowledge. Thus whoever takes it, takes it as a bountiful share." -
Authentic, narrated by Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi, and IbnMajah.
The position of the people of Islamic knowledge reached such a level that Allah (Jalla
Thanaa'uhu wa taqaddasat Asmaa'uhu) and the Angels pray for them!
From Abu Umaamah: Rasul Allah said, "Verily Allah and His angels, even the ant in its
hole and the fish in the sea, verily (they all) pray for he who teaches people good." -
authentic, narrated by Tabraanee.
Rasul Allah prayed for them also. He said, as narrated by Zayd ibn Thabit, "May Allah
grant light (and happiness and beauty in the face) of someone who hears a hadith from us
and memorizes it until he passes it on to others!" - authentic, narrated by Tirmidhi.
One of the Hadeeth scholars that Imam Bukhari took from, Hisham ibn Ammar narrates a
story that happened to him when he was 8 years old. He says, "My father sold a house of his
for 20 Deenaars so that I could go for Hajj (and study Islam). When I arrived in Madinah, I
went to the circle of Imam Maalik. He was sitting amongst his students like a king. People
would ask him questions and he would answer. When I entered the crowd and my turn
came up I said, 'Haddithnee (recite to me)!' He said, 'Rather you read.' I said, 'No, you
haddithnee!' Imam Maalik said, 'No you read!' When I talked back and argued, he got angry
and said to another student, go with this boy outside and smack him 15 times!' That student
took me outside and smacked me 15 times with a stick and then brought me back to Imam
Maalik. I said, 'You have Dhulm (wronged) me! My father sold his house so that I could
come to you and be honored by listening to your teaching and seek knowledge from you.
And you smacked me 15 times without any crime on my part, I shall not forgive you!' Imam
Maalik then said, 'What is the expiation for this Dhulm (wronging)?' I said, 'You have to
recite 15 Ahadeeth to me, that is the expiation.' So Imam Maalik began reciting the
Ahadeeth to me until he completed 15. When he ended I told him, 'Beat me more and read
more Hadeeth to me." Imam Maalik laughed and said, 'be off.' - From the book Ma'rifat Al-
Qurraa' al-Kibaar by Imam Adh-Dhahabi.
From the beginning of time, there has been a race between the doers of good and the doers
of evil. Adam and Iblees, Musa and Fir'own, Muhammad and Abu Jahl. Today that race has
not ended. Think: How hard are the doers of evil working and how hard are we?
Umar once said, "I seek Allah's protection from Jalad (the strength and enthusiasm) of the
sinner, and the laziness of the God-fearer." Subhaan Allah, it is as if he is contemplating the
time that we are now living in.
How can one of us be too lazy to pray 2 raka'at at night, when the people of the Dunya
spend the entire night watching movies, some of which they have to read the translation on
the bottom of the screen? How can we be too lazy to read for 2 hours, when the people of
the Dunya - those who just want more money to continue their sin - spend days upon days
of all-nighters studying for their exams? Why do we cringe at paying 6 dollars for an Islamic
book, when the people of the Dunya spend hundreds, rather thousands in pursuit of their
sin?
What's wrong? What has happened to us?
Listen to those who came before us. Some Fuqahaa' said, "For years I desired to eat
Hareesah (a sweet dish) and I wasn't able to because it was only sold during class time."
Imam Su'bah said, "If I ever saw someone running in the streets of the village I would only
think one of two things: He was either crazy or a student of Hadeeth!"
And Ibn Al-Jowzee said, "I haven't seen a flaw more sad in the community than those who
stop working even though they have the ability to continue."
How do we correct the situation dear brothers and sisters? Let us reflect on the following:
Firstly: We must be sincere in our desire to learn Islam. We are learning this Deen to rid
ourselves, firstly, of ignorance and then to help others to rid themselves of ignorance.
Do you know the first Hadeeth in Sahih Bukhari, and in many many other Hadith books? It
is not a coincidence that the first Hadeeth is:
"Verily Actions are (judged) by their
intentions." The scholars are reminding us from the very beginning of our path to learning,
from page one, that it must be for the sake of Allah.
Allah ordered us to be sincere to Him in what we do:
"And they have been commanded
no more than this: to worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, being true
(in faith)." Al Bayyinah, 5
Rasul Allah said, "Whoever studies that which is meant for the sake of Allah, desiring only
a piece of the Dunya, he shall not smell the frangrance of Jannah on the Day of
Judgement." - authentic, narrated by Ahmad, and Tirmidhi.
Ibn Abbas said, "Verily a man shall be protected (by Allah) in proportion to his niyyah
(intention for doing what it is he is doing)."
And this issue of intention is not an easy matter. Sufyan ath-Thowree said, "I have never
nursed something more rebellious than my intentions." - from the book, Al-Ja'mi' li akhlaaq
al-Raawee, by Al-Khateeb al-Baghdaadi.
Listen to the advice of Imam Ibn Jamaa'ah if you want to know what it takes to correct your
intention, "A proper and sincere intention when studying Islam is to intend to win the
pleasure of Allah by what you are doing. You should intend to practice what you learn, to
resurrect the Shariah, hoping that this knowledge will shine light on your heart, cleanse
your soul, and bring you closer to Allah on the day of Judgement. Your intention for
studying Islam should not be to win any worldly commodity, like leadership or fame or
riches. It should not be learnt so that you can show off to your colleagues or so that people
will revere you and sit you in a chief position in their gatherings, and so on." - from Imam
Ibn Jamaa'ah's book, Tadhkirat as-Saami' wal Mutakallim.
Secondly: We should understand that we are in a continuous war with Shaytaan, and he
does not want us to succeed in this studying. Allah ta'aala says, "When thou does read the
Qur'an, seek Allah's protection from Satan the Rejected One." An-Nahl, 98
The Shaytaan shall sit in the face of every good thing that you try to do. Rasul Allah told us,
"The Shaytaan sits in the path (of every goodness) that the son of Aadam (may try to
take). He sat in front of him when he took the path to Islam and told him, 'how could you
leave the religion of your fathers and your fore-fathers?' But he disobeyed him and
became Muslim. Then Shaytaan sat in front of him in his path to Hijrah and said, 'How
could you leave your land and your sky?' But he disobeyed him and migrated (from
Makkah). Then he sat in front of him in his path of Jihaad and said, 'Why should you do
Jihad? It will only exhaust your wealth and body. You'll be killed, your wife will marry
someone else, and your wealth will be divided (to others).' But he disobeyed him and went
for Jihad." Rasul Allah then said, "Whoever does this, it is a duty upon Allah that He shall
enter him into Jannah!"
How will the Shaytaan sit in your face:
He will tell you to study tomorrow, and when tomorrow comes, study tomorrow.
Procrastination is from the Shaytaan!
Shaytaan will tell you that you are busy now and that later in your life you shall take the
time out to study Islam. After marriage, after graduation, after you get a job. Life shall pass
and the 'after' shall live forever.
Shaytaan will tell you that the situation of the Ummah is lost and that you studying will not
help anything, so don't waste your time. Combat this with what you've seen from the Jihad
of knowledge and teaching that Rasul Allah and those that came before us did.
Shaytaan will tell you that there are enough scholars, they don't need you. Combat this with
the fact that scholars shall die, and if the knowledge is not passed on to the next generation,
it shall die in the community. There are 1.4 billion Muslims and the problem that always
comes up is that there are not enough teachers and scholars. Everyone is a shepherd and
everyone shall be responsible for his or her flock!
Thirdly: We should never forget to pray to Allah to bless us with His Mercy in succeeding in
our intentions to learn Islam for His sake.
Allah ta'aala says "When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close
(to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me."
Surah Al-Baqarah, 186
Let us pray to Allah now to make this effort we are doing to learn His Deen, to learn His
Shariah, sincere for His sake. And that He blesses us by His Mercy to succeed in what we
intend. Verily, he has the Power to do anything.
Ameen.
