Seeking Knowledge

Doesn’t everyone have at least one of those days that nothing seems to be going right and you haven’t accomplished anything. I don’t know about you but I know when I look back on those days I find that I have lost my priorities. I have forgotten that my priority is to worship Allah, not to preoccupy myself with the numerous daily tasks that seem so important to fulfill. But in order for me to increase my worship I must also increase my Islamic knowledge.

Zainab Al-Ghazali stated in a recent interview, that we as women can become too absorbed with the care of our children and our homes. Yes, these jobs are important and we will receive blessings for doing them but we have to ensure that our worshipping of Allah and our attempts to increase our knowledge is not sacrificed. She suggested that each woman set aside two hours a day for purely the pursuit of increasing our religious knowledge and the worship of Allah.

When I first read this I thought how could I possibly spare two hours every day. I already feel as though there are not enough hours in the day as it is. But when I really examined it, I found that two hours is not unattainable.

One day equals 24 hours. Minus eight hours for sleeping. ( I know I am being generous on this one because I have yet to meet a parent that gets eight hours of sleep). So now we have 16 hours for the day. Subtract prayer time( this of course will vary on length of recitation) approximately 1 hour.[This is a very very conservative estimate. I have also included the time to make wudu and get dressed. Although, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could pray for two or three hours for one prayer the way the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) did. In sha’Allah this is a goal that I pray all of us may reach.] So now we are at 15 hours alhumdulillah. Subtract one hour for the specific duas that are to recited in the morning (between Fajr and sunrise) and in the evening (between Asr and Magarib). 14 hours remain and from this we can subtract the two hours of seeking knowledge and further worshipping of Allah. Alhumdulillah we have 12 hours to complete everything else that we need to complete during the day. Twelve hours seems like such alot of time to do the various tasks that need to be done. So many times we hurry through the day without a thought to how we are spending our time and in what proportion. What percentage of our time is spent worshipping Allah, making dhikr, increasing our Ilm(knowledge) and passing that knowledge to our children?

Now that we have examined how we are able to set the time aside for us to seek knowledge, let us examine some important components of seeking knowledge in sha’Allah.

Six Etiquette’s for Learning

Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullah) said: "There are six stages to knowledge:

Firstly: Asking questions in a good manner. Secondly: Remaining quiet and listening attentively.

Thirdly: Understanding well.

Fourthly: Memorizing. Fifthly: Teaching.

Sixthly - and it is its fruit: Acting upon the knowledge and keeping to its limits. (Miftaah Daarus-Sa’aadah p.283.)

Knowledge and Humility

Imaam adh-Dhahabee(d748H) (rahimahullah) said: "Whosoever seeks knowledge for actions, then his knowledge makes him humble and fearful, and causes him to weep at (the deficiencies in) himself. But whosoever seeks knowledge for the sake of merely teaching, giving verdicts, in order to brag, or to show-off; becomes foolish, arrogant and looks down in contempt at the people, and is destroyed by pride, and the people hate him. "Truly he succeeds who purifies his soul, and he fails who corrupts it" (Soorah ash-Shams 99:4-5). Meaning that it is corrupted with sin and disobedience.

Purifying the Heart

Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullah) said: "There is no doubt that the heart becomes covered with rust, just as metal dishes - silver, and their like - become rusty. So the rust of the heart is polished with dhikr (remembrance of Allah), for dhikr polishes the heart until it becomes like a shiny mirror. However, when dhikr is abandoned, the rust returns; and when it commences then the heart again begins to be cleansed. Thus the heart becoming rusty is due to two matters: sins and ahafah (neglecting remembrance of Allah). Likewise, it is cleansed and polished by two things: istighfaar (seeking Allah’s forgiveness) and dhikr." Al-Waabilus-Sayyib (p.80)

Jihad Against the Self

"Jihad (striving) against the soul has four stages:

Firstly: To strive in learning guidance and the religion of truth, without which there will be no success. Indeed, there can be no true happiness, nor any delight in this world and in the Hereafter, except through it.

Secondly: Striving to act upon what has been learnt, since knowledge without action will not benefit, rather it will cause harm.

Thirdly: Striving to invite others towards it and to teach those who do not know, otherwise he may be considered from those who hide what Allah has revealed of guidance and clear explanation. Such knowledge will neither benefit, nor save a person from the punishment of Allah.

Fourthly: Striving to be patient and persevering against those who oppose this da’wah (call) to Allah and those who seek to cause harm - patiently bearing all these hardships for the sake of Allah.

When these four stages are completed then such a person is considered to be amongst the Rabbaaniyyoon. The Salaf were agreed that a Scholar does not deserve the title of Rabbaanee until he recognizes and knows the truth, acts upon it, and teaches it to others. So whosoever has knowledge, acts upon it, and teaches this knowledge to others, is considered from the Rabbaaniyyoon."

Fawaa’id: points of Benefit by Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah