Ask like the fools ask…

Ibraaheem ibn al-Mahdi said,

“Ask like the fools ask, but learn and memorize like the smart ones do.”

[Jami’ Bayan al-’ilm wa fadhlihi]

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Beauty and Knowledge

Ibn Al-Qayyim, rahimahullaah, said:

“When Allah granted Prophet Yoosuf (`alayhis-Salaam) physical beauty it caused him to be locked up in the prison; but when Allah granted him knowledge (when he interpreted the dream of the king) it not only took him out of prison, but elevated his rank in society, clearly showing us the virtue of knowledge and that physical beauty does not mean anything.”

Al-‘Ilm wa Fadhluhu wa Sharafuhu p. 32

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Time and the student of knowledge Pt. 1/2

Time is from the favours of Allah which the majority of people either waste, kill and lose out on.Time is one of the most precious commodities of the student of knowledge therefore it is either he cuts it or it cuts him.Hence, we have to know how to do ‘time management’ and do not worry you do not have to go to a university to learn it.A student should use at least 6 hours a day to seek knowledge and only to seek knowledge. And the time he has otherwise he arranges it in a suitable manner.Therefore, forget that after Fajr nap you love so much. You must sit down after Fajr and give yourself 45 minutes to memorize and one hour and 15 minutes to review what you have
memorized from before.

In other words what you review is much more important than what you are about to memorize. 

For example, do not try to be like Ibn Taymeeyah and memorize by reading once. You have to repeat and repeat and repeat until you actually get a mental picture of what you have memorized.

In other words you have repeated it so many times you can picture the page in front of you. When you can do that you have memorized it without doubt.

It also means…

You memorize little and review much.

Let us use an example:

You are memorizing Qur’an, and if you wish the three fundamental principles, or 40 Nawawi. So what do you do?

Do you take Surah Anfaal and try to do it in one shot? And then take 20 Hadeeth from 40 Nawawi or 20 lines from the 3 principles?

Maybe if your name is Ahmad Ibn Hanbal or Ibn Taymeeyah or Imam Ash Shafi’ee then go ahead.

Note well: Imam Ash Shafi’ee memorized Muwatta in eight days and I heard a story of Ibn Taymeeyah from a tape of Shaikh Ahmad An Najmi  that a man came to him and
wrote ten Hadeeth for him on a board. He looked at it once and memorized it. And then he wrote another ten. The Shaikh read the Ahadeeth once and memorized it. And the man
did that until he reached 70 Hadeeth in one day. 

As for Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, well we do not even need to go into that. One million Ahadeeth, nuff said.

If you are not then take this advice

You memorize 3-5 lines of the Qur’an and 2 lines from the three principles or one Hadeeth (if it is short) from 40 Nawawi.

When the month has ended you have at least…

5-6 pages of Qur’an (1 Juz every 4 months) and at least 20 Hadeeth from 40 Nawawi.

So the next month (and by that time your brain may be stronger) you would have 1/2 a juz and the rest of 40 Nawawi.

And you continue…

So the calculation is that once you go upon this advice for two years you would have:

6 Juz and 240 Hadeeth (at least 190 from ‘Umdah Al Ahkaam)

In about 4 years you have…

12 Juz and 440 Hadeeth or even more. Because your memory may be stronger and your vocabulary bank may be larger. So I would assume about 15-16 Juz and 500-550 Hadeeth.

And by 8 years you memorize the Qur’an and you have a further 500 or 700 (1000-1200 Hadeeth)

See how it is when you take it step by step? 

And this is by taking less than an hour to memorize. And if one takes more than one hour to review then this is a must.

As for another two hours it is needed to…

Review what you have memorized during the day itself, by reading it twenty times (1/2 hour or less). This could be done at the same time as the review in the morning.

Review the Mutoon that have been previously studied.

And this can be done before and after the Salaat, during Lunch or otherwise.

So if you studied the three principles then you take time to read through some of the explanations of the book.

And then another two hours are needed to…

1. Read books/ Do research/ give Da’wah (if one is capable of doing so)

2. Study new Mutoon (treatises) whether this be in the masjid (preferable) or listening to the tapes of the scholars. And this is whether the person is memorizing or not memorizing
the texts because not everything studied is memorized. Rather for every science one should memorize one text that covers the whole science. 

And this should be done either after Isha or the last third of the night. However, everyone needs to arrange their time according to their capacity. But these six hours are precious every day
and if lost then we ask Allah’s help and safety.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters do not waste your time and use it to the best of your ability. And if you decide on which six hours to use do not let ANYONE distract you
from that.

Wa Billahi Tawfeeq.

http://aa.trinimuslims.com/f91/time-and-the-student-of-knowledge-9655/

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Is there a criterion that a person can use to distinguish a true scholar from an imitator?‏

Question: There are several individuals these days who claim to possess knowledge and, because of this, people have become very confused in their religion. Is there a criterion that a person can use to distinguish a true scholar from an imitator? Please benefit us, may Allaah grant you much good.

Answer by Shaikh ‘Abdul-Azeez bin Baaz (rahimahullaah):

Quote:

In the Name of Allaah, and all praise belongs to Him. The sign of a true scholar is clear; he is the individual who presents the Qur`aan and the Sunnah as proofs. You become aware of his correctness by asking the people of knowledge who know him. Also, a person should investigate and ask the trustworthy people about him, in order to be safe that he is (actually) from the people of knowledge. The true scholar is furthermore known by his (correct) religion and uprightness, and his diligence in seeking verdicts, and by the proofs he presents. He is also known by his actions in addition to the recommendations mentioned by those who know him. It is not befitting that a person takes this matter lightly and asks anybody; rather one should investigate, as it relates to his religion, and ask the trustworthy and reliable from amongst the people of knowledge in his country or in the country he travels to. This should be done in order for him to be at ease, because he has asked the people of knowledge regarding this matter. 

(Al Fatawa, pg. 118)

Translated by: Abu Isma’eel Mustafa George
Source: Clear Advice For Benefiting From Islaamic Lectures [Seminars, Conferences], lectured by Shaykh Salih bin ‘Abdul-‘Azeez Ala Shaykh (hafidhahullaah)

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“If only all young women were of this kind.”

ASPIRING TO MARRY A STUDENT OF KNOWLEDGE
source: silsilat ul-hudaa wa nnoor, tape no. 345/7
asaheeha translations

Question: “Is it allowed for a woman to make a condition that the one proposing to her must be a student of knowledge?”
Shaykh al-Albaani (rahimahullaah) answers:

“She wants the one proposing to be from the students of knowledge, so what’s the problem? Just like her wanting a righteous man, (here) she keenly desires one who is (both) righteous and a student of knowledge. Of course, when she is making this requirement for him to be a student of knowledge, she does not mean someone who is not righteous. Thus, she means one who is (both) righteous and a student of knowledge. What is the problem with this? If only all young women were of this kind.”

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His heart is broken by his not being able to see him…

“The blessing of studying Islaamic knowledge and the blessing of the prescence of scholars amidst us, by Allaah, my brothers is indeed a great blessing that many people are deprived of. And many of them yearn to see our scholars – just to look at them once or to sit with them for an hour. If one of them speaks to him over the telephone, it is as if his heart is broken by his not being able to see him…”

— Shaykh Yahya al-Hajooree,  My Experiences in Great Britain

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If knowledge could be poured into a glass…

” Oh my children, I swear by Allah if knowledge could be poured into a glass, I would pour it for you, but it is not obtained except by hard work, exhaustion and scraping of knees.”

[Shaykh Muqbil Rahimullaah]

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Seek more knowledge even if you have some

It is narrated that an-Nawawi said “The fact that Moosa travelled to Khidr to seek knowledge, shows that it is recommended to seek more knowledge even if you have some.” [Taken from The Book “Sharh Saheeh Muslim” by Imaam an-Nawawi]

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Ask Those Who Know

Question: Some who are seeking knowledge are very hasty in giving rulings in matters of halaal and haraam, and this is a common noticeable defect. What is your advice to such people?

Response: We have spoken on this issue long before, and we said that Allaah the Wise has divided the Muslim community into two types of people: the Ahl adh-Dhikr (the people of knowledge, i.e. the scholars), and those that depend on the Ahl adh-Dhikr. As Allaah says to the ordinary people:

{then ask those who possess the Message (Ahl adh-Dhikr) if you do not know} [Soorah 21, Aayah 7 and Soorah 6, Aayah 43].

The Ahl adh-Dhikr, as we all know, are the Ahl al-Qur.aan and the Ahl al-Hadeeth, those who know the authentic from the unauthentic, the general from the specific, the abrogating from the abrogated, and other such principles of fiqh and hadeeth. Hence, it is not allowed for a Muslim to begin giving fataawa (plural of fatwa) on the basis of some hadeeth, simply because he came across it in some book, although he does not know if it is saheeh (sound) according to the criteria of the scholars of hadeeth.

On the other hand, he knows that he is not sufficiently well-versed in knowledge and competence in the Arabic language to explain the meanings and ideas behind The Book (Qur.aan) and the Sunnah. Therefore, anyone who has not decided to undertake acquiring knowledge and persevere in it for many years, until the people of knowledge testify that he can guide the people and direct them towards good, it is not permissible for him to think that he is an ‘aalim (scholar) simply because he has read some ahaadeeth (plural of hadeeth) and memorised some aayaat (plural of aayah).

We often hear of some of them who cannot even read the Qur.aan properly, nor the ahaadeeth of the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam). This is why I advise the seekers of knowledge to study two fundamentals:
a) the principles of fiqh, and
b) the principles of hadeeth.

I have mentioned before that it is not easy for one to deduce the intended aim of the Lawgiver from any text unless he consults as far as possible, all the texts of the Qur.aan and the Sunnah. I will give a clear example: Allaah says:

{Forbidden for you are dead meat, blood,…} [Soorah 5, Aayah 4].

If a beginner who is studying the Qur.aan and has no knowledge of hadeeth is asked regarding dead fish, he will immediately bring this aayah as proof to clearly forbid it since it prohibits dead meat. But were he to look into the ahaadeeth, he would know that the Prophet (sal-Allaahu `alayhe wa sallam) excepted two types of animals, fish and locusts, from this prohibition, so he could rule accordingly. Briefly, the student must learn these two fundamental branches of learning to help to understand the Qur.aan and the Sunnah as correctly as possible.

Shaykh al-Albaanee

Published: 5 December 1999
Source: http://abdurrahman.org

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The Etiquettes of Seeking Knowledge

An excerpt from: The Etiquettes of Seeking Knowledge

… to adorn oneself with beautiful etiquette, noble manners, good behavior, and pious conduct are distinguishing characteristics of the people of Islam, and knowledge – the most precious pearl in the crown of the purified Sharee’ah – cannot be attained except by those who adorn themselves with its etiquette and those who leave evil qualities associated to it.

-Shaykh Bakr Abū Zayd rahimahullaah

This work is so beneficial, that Shaykh ibn Uthaymeen himself rahimahullaah did a sharh (explanation) of it.

One of my favourite books wa lilaahil hamd.  Buy it inshaaAllaah.

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