Assalaamu alaikum Ayser,
(smile) I found the following that I thought you might find interesting. I was reminded of something I read many years ago, that was said by a great scholar (though unfortunately, I do not recall his name; this was in the days when all the Arab names seemed so long and alien to me that I had trouble keeping track of who was who!). He was asked about the learned person who had no manners. He replied (to the best of my recollection): A person who has no manners is not learned.
I understood this as meaning that no matter if you learned many ahadith and memorized the Qur'an and had read many scholarly texts... if you did not behave well, then obviously the meanings of all these sources were not clear to you. That you were not, in fact, a person of knowledge.
(smile) But there is also a very positive meaning to this, too, I think. For if you are not able to access certain kinds of teaching at present, you can certainly try to improve the way you behave. And that this is
part of the journey to knowledge. Indeed, it lays a good, solid foundation, so that when you can finally access the educational resources that you seek, you will be like freshly tilled soil: ready to germinate the seeds you are gifted with.
May Allah, the Wise, Gift those who thirst to better understand His Will with a solid foundation.
Etiquettes of Seeking Islamic Knowledge
- Sheikh `Alî Bâdahdah
Sat, 06/02/2007
Religious knowledge is the legacy of the Prophets. The scholars are their inheritors. When a person acquires religious knowledge, he comes into a share of that inheritance. This is why seeking Islamic knowledge is one of the greatest and noblest acts of worship a person can engage in.
A seeker of this knowledge should therefore adorn himself with the noblest conduct, and exhibit the best manners. The various etiquettes that a student should observe can be divided into five broad categories – since some of these etiquettes pertain to the student’s relationship with his Lord, other etiquettes pertain to his attitude towards the scholars, others guide his dealings with his teachers, others govern his conduct with his peers, and still others focus on his relationship with himself.
We will be discussing a number of the etiquettes that come under each of these five broad categories.
Etiquettes Pertaining to the Student’s Relationship with His Lord:
1. The student should be sincere to Allah in his intentions for seeking knowledge. He should not seek Islamic knowledge for fame or status.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Do not acquire knowledge in order to vie with scholars or dispute with the ignorant or turn people’s glances your way. Whoever does that is in the Fire.” [
Sunan Ibn Mâjah (259) – declared a good (
hasan) hadîth by al-Albânî]
2. The student should not transgress the limits set by Allah.
Allah says: “And so amongst men and crawling creatures and cattle, are they of various colors. Those truly fear Allah, among His Servants, who have knowledge: for surely Allah is Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving.” [
Sûrah Fâtir: 28]
The more a person grows in knowledge, the more humble he becomes before his Lord.
Mâlik b. Dînâr said: “Whoever does not acquire knowledge that restrains his conduct, then what knowledge he has acquired is of no benefit to him.”
3. A student of religious knowledge should feel strongly about the teachings of his faith. He should feel enough concern to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Religion is Sincerity.”
We asked: “To whom, O Messenger of Allah?”
He said: “To Allah, His Book, His Messenger, and the leaders of the Muslims and to the common Muslim.” [
Sahîh Muslim (82)]
4. The student should accept what Allah has set forth in the scriptures of religious rulings and teachings. He should not give his personal opinions preference over the clear dictates of the Qur’ân and Sunnah.
Allah says: “O you who believe! Put not yourselves forward before Allah and His Messenger; but fear Allah: for Allah is He Who hears and knows all things.” [
Sûrah al-Hujurât: 1]
Etiquettes Pertaining to the Student’s Attitude towards the Scholars:
1. The student should show respect and deference to the scholars, and he should beseech Allah’s mercy and forgiveness upon them in his prayers.
2. The student should focus on the scholars’ strengths and overlook their shortcomings.
3. The student should always assume the best about the scholars. He should never disparage any of them on account of an opinion that he might have held. He should assume that the scholar espoused that opinion because he believed it to be right and believed it to be what is pleasing to his Lord. A scholar who exercised his judgment and was correct received a double reward. A scholar who exercised his judgment and made a mistake received from his Lord a single reward.
The student should beseech Allah to reward the scholars for what they got right and to forgive them for their mistakes and shortcomings.
Etiquettes Pertaining to the Student’s Relationship with His Teachers:
1. The student should take as much care as he can to select teachers known for their piety, humility, and religious commitment.
Ibn Sîrîn was among the many scholars who said: “This knowledge is of the religion. Be careful who you take your religion from.”
Al-Khatîb al-Baghdâdî said: “A student should seek out a legal scholar who is known for being religious, who has a reputation for good conduct as well as proficiency.”
2. The student should behave humbly in his teachers’ presence and should show them respect.
Allah says: “Allah will exalt those who believe among you, and those who have knowledge, to high ranks. Allah is well acquainted with what you do.” [
Sûrah al-Mujâdalah: 11]
`Ubâdah b. al-Sâmit relates that Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever fails to show honor to our elders, mercy to our children, and due deference to our scholars is not one of us.” [
Musnad Ahmad (21693) – Al-Haythamî declares its chain of transmission to be good (
hasan) in
Majma` al-Zawâ’id (1/127)]
3. A student should remain under his teachers’ tutelage in order to benefit from their conduct and their practice. He should seek to emulate their good manners and behaviors. He should avoid behaving contrarily.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever emulates a people is from among them.” [
Sunan Abî Dâwûd (4031)]
3. The student should sit in the presence of his teachers attentively. He should not let his mind wander. Allah says: “Allah has not assigned to any man two hearts within his body.” [
Sûrah al-Ahzâb: 4]
4. The student should bear patiently any harsh treatment or sternness that his teachers might sometimes exhibit. He should find some excuse for their behavior.
5. The student should be considerate and polite in asking his teachers questions. Indeed, one of the best approaches to seeking knowledge is to ask questions in the right way. If the teacher remains silent, the student should not press him to answer.
Ibn `Abbâs was once asked: “How did you acquire this knowledge that you have?”
He replied: “With a questioning tongue and a discerning heart.”
6. The student should be attentive, even when the topic is one that he is already well versed in. This is one of the best manners a student of knowledge can exhibit.
`Atâ’ b. Rabâh said: “If I hear a youngster relate a hadîth, I listen as if I have no knowledge of it at all.”
He also said: “I will hear a youngster relate a hadîth and listen to him as if I had never heard the hadîth before, even though the truth is I heard it before he was born.”
Etiquettes Pertaining to the Student’s Relationship with His Classmates:
1. A student of religious knowledge should show humility when he is among his classmates. He should never behave arrogantly. He should never set himself above them. If he has a stronger memory or a quicker grasp of things, he should know that it is Allah’s blessing upon him and he should be thankful.
2. A student should work with his classmates in improving their knowledge together. He should benefit them with whatever he may have learned, and he should not be too proud to learn from them as well.
Al-Khalîl b. Ahmad was asked how he came to acquire all the knowledge the he had. He replied: “Whenever I met a scholar, I would take knowledge from him and impart knowledge to him.”
3. The student should desire for his peers the same success that he desires for himself. He should encourage and help his classmates as much as he can.
4. A student should not joke around too much with his fellows. He should never belittle any of them them or envy them.
Etiquettes Pertaining to the Student’s Personal Conduct:
1. A student of religious knowledge should put what he learns into practice.
He should not let the following verse apply to him: “The likeness of those who were entrusted with the Torah, but who did not apply it, is as the likeness of a donkey carrying books.” [
Sûrah al-Jumu`ah: 5]
There is a hadîth that tells us a person will not pass by on the Day of Judgment until he is asked about four things, one of which will be “his knowledge and how he acted upon it.”
Al-Sha`bî said: “We used to aid our memorization of a hadîth by acting upon it. We used to aid our learning of hadîth with fasting.”
Wakî` b. al-Jarrâh said: “If you want to remember a hadîth, then act upon it.”
2. The student should inculcate good conduct in his personality as he learns it from his teachers.
Mâlik said: “My mother used to put my turban on and say: ‘Go to Rabî`ah and learn good manners from him before learning from his knowledge’.”
`Abd Allah b. al-Mubârak said: “They used to learn good manners before acquiring knowledge.”
He also said: “It is as if good manners are two-thirds of knowledge.”
Abû Zakariyyâ al-`Anbarî said: “Having knowledge without good manners is like having a fire without fuel. Having manners without knowledge is like having a body without a soul.”
3. The student should be diligent and patient in his studies. Yahyâ b. Abî kathîr said: “Knowledge does not come without physical effort.”
He should not procrastinate and put off his acquisition of knowledge until he has free time. There is always something to busy one and there will always be an excuse. A student should always aspire to greater knowledge and never be content with what he already has.
His motto should be the following prayer: “O my Lord! Increase me in knowledge.”
4. The student should approach the task of learning one step at a time. This is a general rule for learning. A student who seeks to learn everything at one’s loses everything. He can learn one or two hadîth at a time.
This may be one of the reasons why Allah sent the Qur’ân down gradually over the whole time of the Prophet’s mission, and why he ordered the Prophet (peace be upon him) to
Allah says: “And it is a Qur’ân which We have revealed in stages so that you may read it to the people at intervals, and We have thus revealed it.” [
Sûrah al-Isrâ’: 106]
5. The student should strive to acquaint himself with as much of the knowledge of his day as he can. He should be acquainted with all fields.
Al-Ghazâlî writes in
Ihyâ’ `Ulûm al-Dîn (1/55):
A student should not neglect any respectable discipline or branch of knowledge. He should at least be acquainted with its general subject and its objectives. If his lifetime permits, he should make a detailed study of it all. Otherwise, he should prioritize, dealing exhaustively with what is most important and a making an overview of the rest.
This is because the different branches of knowledge augment one another and relate to one another.
A scholar will benefit from a branch of knowledge as soon as his hostility towards it is broken because of his unfamiliarity with it. People are hostile to that which they are ignorant of. Allah says: “And since they will not be guided by it, they say: ‘This is an ancient lie’.” [Sûrah al-Ahqâf: 11]
6. The student must pay the dues that his knowledge requires of him. This is for him to impart it to others. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Convey form me if but a single verse.” [
Sahîh al-Bukhârî (3461)]
Source: http://en.islamtoday.net/artshow-421-3073.htm