I need a little help

[Ummu Sufyaan]

:sl:
Well i need alittle advice in regards to knowledge seeking. Alhamduliah, i am very interested in this, however, i am a little unconfortable with my intention amoungst other things.

In regards to my intention: I read this piece of info:
"One of the pitfalls that a student can fall into is to seek knowledge for its own sake. Knowledge is a desire like any other human desire. It can be sought for the pure pleasure of acquiring it and not for the sake of Allah. People love to discover new things. It is a natural human inclination. When a person strives long and hard to find something out, then comes upon the answer, it can be quite exhilarating. This encourages him to study further."
i am one of the above people. I just want to know how does one acheive the right intention, because to be honest, i think im gaining knowledge to learn, as opposed to doing i for the sake of allah. so yeah, how does one change the intention?? sometimes my intention is genuine. sometimes i feel that i need to gain knowledge because there has been so many fatwas that i have misunderstood due to to my lack of knowledge. I also feel that i need to gain knowledge to increase my khusoo in prayer.

In regards to other the things: one thing that makes me reluctant to seek knowledge is that i may not practice it. so im scared of finding out something that i will not practise. or even being reluctant not to give dawah because some people are so arrogant. so in other words im scared that i will be called to account fr all the knowledge i may have gained, but not practiced or passed it on, etc.

:sl:

[Ghira]

:sl:
Well i need alittle advice in regards to knowledge seeking. Alhamduliah, i am very interested in this, however, i am a little unconfortable with my intention amoungst other things.

In regards to my intention: I read this piece of info:
"One of the pitfalls that a student can fall into is to seek knowledge for its own sake. Knowledge is a desire like any other human desire. It can be sought for the pure pleasure of acquiring it and not for the sake of Allah. People love to discover new things. It is a natural human inclination. When a person strives long and hard to find something out, then comes upon the answer, it can be quite exhilarating. This encourages him to study further."
i am one of the above people. I just want to know how does one acheive the right intention, because to be honest, i think im gaining knowledge to learn, as opposed to doing i for the sake of allah. so yeah, how does one change the intention?? sometimes my intention is genuine. sometimes i feel that i need to gain knowledge because there has been so many fatwas that i have misunderstood due to to my lack of knowledge. I also feel that i need to gain knowledge to increase my khusoo in prayer.

In regards to other the things: one thing that makes me reluctant to seek knowledge is that i may not practice it. so im scared of finding out something that i will not practise. or even being reluctant not to give dawah because some people are so arrogant. so in other words im scared that i will be called to account fr all the knowledge i may have gained, but not practiced or passed it on, etc.

:sl:

Walakum Asalaam

I really like your question. I had this similar question. I may have a long response and I do apologize in advance sister.

We must gain knowledge for the sake of Allah (swt) just like we should argue/debate with people not for the sake of debating but for the sake of speaking the truth to others who are still blind to see it. One job we have is to help guide others and their help them see the purpose of their existence. We give the message and it is up to the Creator to open their hearts to that truth. I think if you take knowledge as a way to benefit yourself, your family, and hopefully the ummah you have correct intention when seeking knowledge. Couple hadith Qudsi (Allah said this to Prophet (saw) but not in Quran) comes to mind main one goes along doing something for the sake of Allah (swt).

"O son of Adam, I fell ill and you visited Me not. He will say: O Lord, and how should I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so had fallen ill and you visited him not? Did you not know that had you visited him you would have found Me with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you fed Me not. He will say: O Lord, and how should I feed You when You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: Did you not know that My servant So-and-so asked you for food and you fed him not? Did you not know that had you fed him you would surely have found that (the reward for doing so) with Me? O son of Adam, I asked you to give Me to drink and you gave Me not to drink. He will say: O Lord, how should I give You to drink whin You are the Lord of the worlds? He will say: My servant So-and-so asked you to give him to drink and you gave him not to drink. Had you given him to drink you would have surely found that with Me." (Related by Muslim Saheeh)

This hadith tells us that to perform deeds to help others is gaining the pleasure of our Creator. How is Allah (swt) harmed or benefitted from what we do in this world?

Doing it for the sake of Allah does not cause any benefit nor harm to Allah (swt). It is in the end benefit to us, our temporary existency in this world, and our judgement in the hereafter. As stated in hadith Allah says (Qudsi hadith)

"O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you. O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and will not attain benefitting Me so as to benefit Me." (That is not the whole hadith only part Saheeh related by Muslim)

So when you are gaining knowledge inshaAllah have the correct intention and gain the knowledge to attain the pleasure of your Creator. The way we Muslims attain Allah's pleasure is to do what benefits us and His creation. Take fasting as an example. Does not Allah say in the Quran that "Fasting has been prescribed for you as it has been prescribed for those before you so that you may attain taqwa." Taqwa means protecting yourself from the wrath of Allah by doing good deeds with correct intention, and avoiding all bad deeds that may harm you. Does not Allah say in the Quran "Establish prayer for my rememberence." and "In the rememberence of Allah do hearts find peace/tranquilty and "Indeed prayer helps you refrain from evil and shameful deeds." These are all prescribed to us for our benefit and we can gain success in this world and the hereafter.

Just read the Quran and look at the countless ayah that encourage contemplation of the creations of Allah. Allah says "Indeed these are ayateen (signs, proofs, evidence) of people of understand." Read begining of sura Mulk and what people of hell-fire regret doing they say ""Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we should not (now) be among the Companions of the Blazing Fire!" So people of learning, people of knowledge, people of intellect are people who are saved and get a broader understanding of the world around them. They are the saved individuals who get the knowledge and put it to good use.

This Hadith Qudsi is long I will only give a part of it to explain my point.

....Another man who has studied [religious] knowledge and has taught it and who used to recite the Quran. He will be brought and Allah will make known to his His favours and he will recognize them. [The Almighty] will say: And what did you do about them? He will say: I studied [religious] knowledge and I taught it and I recited the Quran for Your sake. He will say: You have lied - you did but study [religious] knowledge that it might be said [of you]: He is learned. And you recited the Quran that it might be said [of you]: He is a reciter. And so it was said. Then he will be ordered to be dragged along on his face until he is cast into Hell-fire. (Related by Muslim, Tirmidhi, and others Saheeh)

We learn from this that he did not gain the knowledge to please his Creator and spread essential knowledge. He did it to please the Creation and impress them. Very dangerous and considered minor shirk. (major sin).

Now your last point about being scared of gaining knowledge because you might not share it with others or use it yourself... Personally, I feel that is no excuse for not gaining knowledge. If you are talking about religious knowledge....that is obligatory and needs to be done by every sane person. They say ignorance is bliss but ignorance is also a way to waste the precious life and time that Allah (swt) has given you. Make good use of that time and gain knowledge, practice in moderation, and teach it to your offspring. That is the best and I will stop here since this is longer than expected. Hope that helps sister :D...:w:

[Ummu Sufyaan]

:sl:
Thanks for that.
i have another question though. i am a little worried that if/when inshallah i do become more involved in seeking knowlege, that i may find out or i may be faced with things i am not interested in studying, and therefore i would be studying them out of force. for example i was reading in another thread about what is required of the seeker of knowlede, and it mentioned that for example one may be interested in studying the sciences of hadeeth, and one thing that this needs is to know the biographies of narrators, etc. if i were one of these people, im not sure that i would want to be memeorzing such things.
so my point is, how do i deal with this if it come up. how does one do something that is of interest??
:sl:

[Muslim Woman]

:sl:


did not read the whole posts ...a quick look & saw it

so im scared of finding out something that i will not practise

haha , ignorance won't be a good excuse on the last day. So , we must try to learn about Islam as much as possible :statisfie


Allah has made Islam easy for us . So , we must try to learn & practice it




verses we all need for this life & the hereafter


O our Lord, do not hold us responsible if we forget or make a mistake.


O our Lord, do not lay on us a burden such as You laid on those before us.

O our Lord, do not impose upon us that which we have not the strength (to bear).


Pardon us, and forgive us, and have mercy on us.

You are our Lord-master, so help us against the unbelieving people.



(Al BAQARAH: 286) :)

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[tryinghard]

Thank you sister for bringing up this concern. I sometimes feel the same way, but always remember that our intentions for knowledge should be for Allah SWT. You should study with Allah SWT in mind. There's nothing wrong with wanting to learn more. Self-improvement is by no means condemned in Islam, but try and study for Islamic reasons as well, for example to benefit the Ummah.

And, yes once you learn something, you must practice it. It may be difficult in the beginning but once you get started, I think it will not be so much of a problem. And as someone mentioned earlier, ignorance will not be a suitable answer for the Day of Judgment. And, yes there are things that you will find more interesting than others. Try to study everything at least an overview, but then go on and advance in what you're interested in, keeping in mind to review the older things from time to time.

I hope this helps and is not too confusing. Insha Allah, you'll have no trouble, and I wish you the best in your pursuit of knowledge.

[Ghira]

:sl:
Thanks for that.
i have another question though. i am a little worried that if/when inshallah i do become more involved in seeking knowlege, that i may find out or i may be faced with things i am not interested in studying, and therefore i would be studying them out of force. for example i was reading in another thread about what is required of the seeker of knowlede, and it mentioned that for example one may be interested in studying the sciences of hadeeth, and one thing that this needs is to know the biographies of narrators, etc. if i were one of these people, im not sure that i would want to be memeorzing such things.
so my point is, how do i deal with this if it come up. how does one do something that is of interest??
:sl:

If you are talking about studying mainly about religion certain topics are essential. Topics like Aqeedah, Fiqh of Salaat, fiqh of fasting, fiqh of hajj, fiqh in general are essential. Also you need to study the ruling behind topics that you are in currently. For example if a person is in the field of business they must study that particular fiqh and understand an islamic view of that area. This is in order to correctly deal with people, their business, and understand what is haram/halal in business setting. Or if you are trying to get married you would need to understand the fiqh of marriage. What is the process, what is wali, knowing your wali, rights and responsibilities pertaining to marriage, main things that pertain to divorce...etc. Now, if you want to teach then you need general knowledge on many topics and specialize in one particular area like area of business, or tafsir, or tajweed.

for example i was reading in another thread about what is required of the seeker of knowlede, and it mentioned that for example one may be interested in studying the sciences of hadeeth, and one thing that this needs is to know the biographies of narrators,

Ok people who go into details of knowing biographies of narrators are trying to see the authenticity of a particular hadith that is being narrated. The general thing that needs to be known is that every authentic hadiths has narrators that fit a strict criteria that all the scholars of Islam follow, for example, have good character, never lied, and time and place where they lived. These people who specialize in this are Muhadithateen or Muhadith. You as a normal practicer of the Islamic faith is not obligated to know the details of biography of a narrator. Unless you have a high interest in that or you want to teach others and narrate hadiths to individuals I don't think it is necessary to know that.

how do i deal with this if it come up. how does one do something that is of interest??

Issues on fiqh of fasting, prayer, knowledge of who your Creator is, your basic Aqeedah (belief), The Prophet (saw) biography/seerah, are all essential and needs to be known so you can correctly follow the deen. Unfortunately, there neeeds to be interest in these topics and 'force' yourself to learn these topics. What are you not interested in particular? Here is an ayah to help you out Allah says in the Quran.

"Allah will exalt in degree those of you who believe, and those who have been granted knowledge."
and also "It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah."

The Prophet (saw) said:
"If Allah wants good for someone, He helps him learn the deen."

The Prophet (saw) said:
"An ‘Aalim (learned person in the deen) is as much superior to an ‘Aabid (Worshiper) as I am superior to the lowest among you."

A way a righteous deed like fasting or prayer is accepted is by (1) Performing it the way Prophet (saw) performed it...following Sunnah (2) Having the correct intention when doing the action...sincere intention of doing for sake of Allah (swt) not to please the creation.

I answered the question from a religious knowledge point of view. From worldly knowledge it is a bit different. Hope that helps sister :D . OH!! and remember that in the Quran Allah asked the best of creation to ask the Creator of the worlds to increase him in one thing and one thing only. It is not wealth, it is not children, it is not love, it is knowledge "wa qul Rabi zidni ilma" -"And say, My Lord increase me in knowledge." So I ask Allah (swt) to increase you in knowledge and empower you to use that beneficial knowledge..ameen.

[Ummu Sufyaan]

:sl:
jazakllahu khair all for your beneficial advice. inshallah, i will be able to put it into practice. im still alittle scared that certain thigs may come up (in the brances of knowledeg that i am interested in studying), that i may not be interested in. hope that makes sence.
:sl: