The virtue of seeking knowledge
Allāh Most High says: “Allāh bears witness that there is no god but He and so do the angels and the people of knowledge. He upholds justice. There is no god but He, the Mighty, the Wise.”[1]
And He Most High says: “Allāh will raise in ranks those who believe among you, particularly those who have been given knowledge. And Allāh is aware of what you do.”[2]
And He Most High says: “But it is a clear set of signs in the chests of those who have knowledge.”[3]
And He Most High says: “Indeed, only the scholars from amongst His slaves truly fear Allāh. Indeed Allāh is Mighty and Forgiving.”[4]
Mu’āwiyah (may Allāh be pleased with him) narrates that he heard the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ saying: “Whoever Allāh intends good for, He grants him deep understanding of the religion”.[5]
Anas (may Allāh be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim.”[6] [7]
Abū’l Darda (may Allāh be pleased with him) said: ‘I heard the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ saying “Whoever travels a path seeking knowledge, Allāh will ease for him a path to paradise.’[8] Indeed the angels place their wings for the seeker of knowledge out of pleasure of what he is doing. And indeed all those in the heavens and the earth, even the fish in the water, seek forgiveness for the scholar. The virtue of the scholar above the worshipper is like the virtue of the moon over the rest of the stars. Indeed the scholars are the inheritors of the prophets. And the prophets do not leave behind dinars and dirhams. They only leave behind knowledge. So whoever takes it has taken an abundant portion of goodness.”’[9] [10]
Safwān ibn Assāl al-Murādi (may Allāh be pleased with him) said that: ‘I went to the Prophet ﷺ whilst he was in the Masjid leaning on a red garment. So I said to him: ‘’O Messenger of Allāh. I have come seeking knowledge. So he ﷺ said “Welcome to the seeker of knowledge. The angels surround the seeker of knowledge with their wings and then travel with each other until they reach the sky of the dunya out of their love for what he is seeking.”’[11]
Abū Dharr (may Allāh be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said “O Abū Dharr. For you to wake up and learn one āyah from the Book of Allāh is better for you than praying one hundred units of prayer. And for you to wake up and learn one portion of knowledge, whether you act upon it or not, is better for you than praying one thousand units of prayer.”[12]
Abū Hurayrah (may Allāh be pleased with him) narrates that: ‘I heard the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ say “The dunya and what it contains is cursed, except the remembrance of Allāh and what facilitates it, the scholar and the learner.”’[13]
Anas (may Allāh be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Indeed the example of the scholars in the earth is like the example of the stars through which people are guided in the dark land and sea. When the stars disappear, the wayfarers will soon lose their way.”[14]
Abū Umamah (may Allāh be pleased with him) said that: ‘Two types of men were mentioned to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. One was a worshipper and the other was a scholar. So he ﷺ said: “The virtue of the scholar over the worshipper is like my virtue over the least of you.”
Then he ﷺ said: “Indeed, Allāh, His angels, the people of the heavens and the earth, even the ant in its hole, and even the fish; all of them send blessings upon the one who teaches the people goodness.”’[15]
Abū’l Darda (may Allāh be pleased with him) said that: ‘I heard the Prophet ﷺ saying “Whoever goes out in the morning intending to learn knowledge for the sake of Allāh; Allāh opens for him a door to Paradise, the Angels spread out their wings for him, and the angels of the heavens and the fish in the sea send blessings upon him.”
Ibn Abbās (may Allāh be pleased with them) said that the Prophet ﷺ said: “O Allāh, show mercy to my deputies (khulafā)”. We said “O Messenger of Allāh, who are your deputies?”. He ﷺ said “Those who come after me, narrate my hadith, and teach them to the people”.[16]
It is narrated by Jābir (may Allāh be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: “The scholar and the worshipper will be resurrected and it will be said to the worshipper ‘enter paradise’. And it will be said to the scholar ‘Do not move until you intercede for the people, due to how you beautified their manners’.”[17]
Anas (may Allāh be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “Whoever goes out to seek knowledge, he is considered to be in the path of Allāh (fi sabīlillāh) until he returns.”[18]
Some of the etiquettes of the seeker of knowledge
Abū Hurayrah (may Allāh be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “Learn knowledge and learn to have tranquillity and respect for the knowledge. And have humility with those whom you learn from”.[19]
Some of the Ulama said that knowledge has six degrees:
- Asking good questions
- Listening well
- Understanding well
- Memorisation
- Teaching others
- Acting upon the knowledge and observing its limits (and this is the fruit of knowledge)
Knowledge will only be withheld from the one who fails to fulfil some of the conditions of these degrees. So amongst people will be the one who is prevented from knowledge due to a lack of good questioning. Either he does not ask questions at all, or he asks about unimportant things whilst neglecting the important. Or he asks stubbornly and to argue.
Some will be prevented from knowledge due to poor listening skills. Some will be prevented due to a lack of understanding. Some will be prevented due to not memorising.
Some will be prevented from knowledge due to not spreading it and teaching it. Whoever conceals his knowledge and does not spread it, Allāh Most High will afflict him by causing the knowledge to be forgotten and removed from him as a befitting recompense (for concealing the knowledge).
And amongst them will be those prevented from knowledge due to not acting upon it.
Some of the Salaf said: “We used to seek assistance in memorising knowledge by acting upon it.”
The virtues of teaching and calling to Allāh Most High
Allāh Most High says: “And who is better in speech than someone who calls others to Allāh, does good, and says, ‘I am truly one of those who submit.’”
It has been narrated about al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allāh be pleased with him) that when he recited this āyah he said: “This is the beloved of Allāh Most High. This is the friend of Allāh Most High. This is the elite servant of Allāh Most High. This is the best servant of Allāh. This is the most beloved of the people of earth to Allāh. He responded to Allāh’s call and he called the people to that which he responded to. And he did good deeds as his response (to Allāh) and said ‘I am truly one of those who submit’. This is the khalīfa of Allāh Most High.”
Imām Ahmad narrates from Mu’ādh ibn Jabal (may Allāh be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: “O Mu’ādh. For Allāh to guide through you one man from the people of idolatry (shirk), is better for you than having red camels.”
Imām al-Tabarāni narrates that Abū Rāfi (may Allāh be pleased with him) said: ‘The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ sent Ali (may Allāh be pleased with him) to Yemen and granted him a staff (liwā). After he had departed, he ﷺ said (to me) :“O Abū Rāfi. Catch up with him and do not call him from behind. Let him stop and not turn until I come to him.”. So he ﷺ came to him and advised him with whatever he wanted. And he ﷺ said “That Allāh guides one man through you is better for you than everything which the sun rises and sets upon.”
It is narrated in the Sahīh of Imām al-Bukhāri from Sahl (may Allāh be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said to Ali (may Allāh be pleased with him) on the day of Khaybar, “Wait calmly until you reach them. Then invite them to Islam and inform them about what is necessary upon them regarding the rights of Allāh. For by Allāh, that He guide one man through you is better for you than having red camels.”
It is narrated in Musnad al-Firdaws that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever learns a chapter of knowledge in order to teach the people will be granted the reward of seventy Siddiqīn.”
Our Master Īsa (upon our Prophet and upon him be blessings and peace) said: “Whoever learns, teaches, and acts (upon the knowledge) will be called great in the Heavenly Kingdom (malakūt as-samā).”
Abū Hurayrah (may Allāh be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever possesses some knowledge and is then asked about it yet conceals it; will be brought on the Day of Standing bridled with a bridle of fire.”[20]
Abū Sa’īd (may Allāh be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever conceals knowledge through which Allāh benefits people in their religious affairs; Allāh will bridle him with a bridle of fire on the Day of Standing.”[21]
Ibn Abbās (may Allāh be pleased with them) narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said: “What an excellent gift is a word of truth (kalima al-haqq) which you hear and then carry to a Muslim brother of yours and teach it to him.”[22]
Abū Umāmah (may Allāh be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Indeed Allāh and His angels, the people of His heavens and His earth, even the ant in its hole, send blessings on the one who teaches the people goodness.”[23]
Ibn al-Mundakir (may Allāh be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Of the greatest benefits is a good narration which a man hears and then narrates to his brother.”[24]
Ibn Umar (may Allāh be pleased with them) narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said: “A Muslim cannot gift his brother anything better than a word of wisdom which increases him in guidance or drives him away from destruction.”[25]
Ibn Umar (may Allāh be pleased with them) narrates that: “The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ once entered the Masjid and saw two groups of people; one of the groups was collectively supplicating to Allāh and earnestly requesting from Him. The other group was learning and teaching knowledge (fiqh). The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: ‘Both of the groups are upon goodness but one is better than the other. As for those, they are supplicating to Allāh and earnestly requesting from Him; if He wills He will give them and if He wills He will not give. As for those, they are learning and teaching the ignorant, and I was only sent as a teacher. So they are better.’ Then he ﷺ went and sat with them.”[26]
The author of al-Qūt, may Allāh be pleased with him, said; It was related that one of the Salaf (pious ancestors) said: “I entered the mosque one day and there were two gatherings; one of the groups were relating stories and making supplications whilst the other group was discussing knowledge and fiqh. I went towards the gathering of supplication and sat with them but then I was overcome by sleep. A voice called out to me (during sleep) saying: ‘You sat with these and you abandoned the gathering of knowledge. If you had sat with them instead you surely would have found Jibril (upon him be peace) amongst them!’”
Encouragement to attend the gathering of the scholars
Ibn Abbās (may Allāh be pleased with them) narrates that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said, “When you pass by the gardens of paradise, graze (in them).” They asked: “O Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, what are the gardens of paradise?”. He ﷺ said, “The gatherings of knowledge.”.[27] [28]
Abū Umāmah (may Allāh be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “Luqmān said to his son: ‘O dear son! You must attend the gatherings of the scholars and listen to the speech of the wise. For indeed, Allāh resurrects the dead heart through the light of wisdom, just like He resurrects the earth through downpours of rain.’”[29]
Ibn Abbās (may Allāh be pleased with them) narrates that it was said: “O Messenger of Allāh, who is the best kind of person to sit with?” He ﷺ said, “The one whose sight reminds you of Allāh, whose speech increases your knowledge, and whose actions remind of the hereafter.”[30]
Sahl ibn Abd Allāh al-Tustari (may Allāh be pleased with him) said: “Whoever wants to look at the gatherings of the prophets, then let him look at the gatherings of the scholars. For they are the successors (khulafā)[31] of the Messengers amongst their nations and the inheritors of their knowledge. So, their gatherings are gatherings of prophetic successorship (khilāfa al-Nubuwwah).
What has been narrated about honouring and respecting the scholars
Ubāda ibn al-Sāmit (may Allāh be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said, “The one who does not honour our elders, have mercy on our youngsters, and acknowledge the rights of our scholars, is not from my Ummah.”[32]
Abū Hurayrah (may Allāh be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “Learn knowledge and learn to have tranquillity and respect for the knowledge. And have humility with those whom you learn from”.[33]
Abū Umāmah (may Allāh be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said: “There are three people whom only a hypocrite (munāfiq) looks down upon: somebody whose hair turns grey in Islam, a person of knowledge, and a just leader.”[34]
The gatherings of the scholars who implement their knowledge is never devoid of benefit:
Either he will benefit from a point of knowledge which increases him in God-consciousness (taqwā), faith (imān), or certainty (yaqīn). Or he will allow his heart to open for a moment of humility, his eye will shed a tear, and darkness will be removed from his heart such that it emits the light of the Lord Glorified and Exalted is He.
And if neither of these benefits are attained, then (at the very least) the one who sits with a people ends up resembling them (man jālasa jānasa). And related to this is the forthcoming statement from the Hadith which states: “And Allāh Blessed and Exalted says: I have forgiven him. Those are a people, whoever sits with them, will never be wretched!”.
My reminder
O my noble brother! Let me advise you for the sake of Allāh Most High:
You must attend the gatherings of the righteous and pure people. And you must beware of the gatherings of the evil wicked people. Allāh Most High has commanded us to do some things and prohibited us from others. From amongst that which He has commanded us with is being with the truthful people (sādiqīn). He said, “O you who believe, fear Allāh and be with the truthful ones.” When He commanded us to have taqwā, which is submitting to the commands and avoiding the prohibitions, He (also) commanded us to be with the truthful ones (sādiqīn), such that true taqwā may be realised and that your taqwā be preserved and your actions be made firm.
And from amongst what He has prohibited us from is any type of inclination towards the evildoers. He Most High says: “And do not incline towards the unjust, for the fire will touch you – and you do not have any supporter other than Allāh – then you will not be helped.” Ponder over this āyah. You will expose yourself to great dangers by mixing with wrongdoers, so He has forbidden us from inclining towards them. And (the word) ‘inclining’ (rukūn) means to have even the slightest leaning towards them. This includes an outward leaning or an inward leaning, or leaning with the intellect, so that you do not incline towards them with your body by mixing with them or sitting in their company, except in cases of absolute necessity, and even then, you do so only to the required extent. You should not incline towards them through your heart with even the slightest bit of love or approval for what (evil) they are involved in, or what (evil things) they believe, especially in the case of the misguided innovators. You should not incline towards them with your intellect lest you begin to think well of their views and invalid opinions which are detested by Allāh Most High and his Messenger ﷺ. This applies to all wrongdoing groups whether that be the shameless open sinners, the misguided innovators, or the unbelieving apostates. That is why al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allāh be pleased with him) said: “The Religion has been gathered in two āyah’s which begin with Lā (i.e. the prohibitive particle)”, namely Allāh Most High’s words, “And do not transgress. Indeed He sees what you do.” And His words, “And do not incline towards the unjust.”
It has been narrated that al-Muwafaq Abū Ahmad Talha al-Abbāsi heard the Imām reciting this āyah in the prayer and he fainted. When he regained consciousness, he was asked about this and he said, “This (āyah) is regarding the one who inclines towards the wrongdoer so what about the wrongdoer himself!”
It has also been narrated that a man said to (Imām) Sufyan: “I sew clothes for wrongdoers. Am I counted as one of their helpers?” Imām Sufyan replied, “No, you are one of them! The one who sells you the needle is of their helpers. ‘Indeed we belong to Allāh and to Him we will return.’”
The greatest cause of corruption which devastates the Muslim youth is no doubt mixing with rebellious wrongdoers and sitting in their gatherings.[35]
[1] Allāh Almighty has attached [and equalled] the bearing witness of the Ulama with that of the angels. And the bearing witness of the angels is then attached to the bearing witness of Allah. In this is an indication to the lofty rank of the scholars, being amongst the rank of angels (peace be upon them).
[2] Allāh raises the ranks of the believers in general, with a generic raising of ranks. And He raises the ranks of the scholars with a specific raising of ranks.
[3] Allāh Most High makes clear the reason for the nobility and virtue of the scholars; it is purely the Quranic light and Divine Proof which they preserved in their chests. They are the carriers of the secrets of Allāh and His signs.
[4] Allāh Most High explains the characteristic of the Ulama who attain the high and noble ranks. It is the characteristic of fearing Allāh Most High. So whoever’s knowledge does not lead to fear of Allāh Most High, then he is not a true possessor of knowledge.
[5] Imam al-Bukhāri and Muslim narrated it as did Ibn Mājah and Abū Ya’la whose narration includes the following addition: “And whoever He does not grant deep understanding, He does not care about him”.
[6] The scholars differed regarding exactly which knowledge is an obligation to learn. What is apparent is that it is the ilm al-hāl i.e. that knowledge through which a person’s aqidah is sound and his actions which he is legally responsible to perform are correct in terms of commands and prohibitions.
[7] Al-Bayhaqi, al-Tabarāni and others narrated it. Al-Suyūti hinted that the report is sound and al-Sakhāwi narrated it with a chain containing reliable narrators from Anas (may Allāh be pleased with him). He said: ‘Around twenty Successors (tābi’ūn) narrated it from Anas (may Allāh be pleased with him).’ Ibn Mājah narrated it with the following addition: “And placing knowledge with those who are not suitable for it is like adorning a swine with jewels, pearls and gold.”
[8] So whoever leaves his house intending to go to a gathering of knowledge to learn a matter from his dīn and shariah, then his path is connected to the path of paradise.
[9] It is known from this (hadith) that the term ‘Ulama’ (scholars) by itself should not be used except for the inheritors of the prophets i.e. those who have conveyed from them the sharia and the teaching of the deen. It is not permissible to use the term ‘Ulama’ for the enemies of the religion, those who are the enemies of the prophets. Rather, such people should be addressed specifically as a scholar of their field e.g. he is a scholar of such and such discipline. As for ‘Ulama’ (when the term is used by itself), they are the inheritors of the prophets as per the text of this Hadith. And Allāh Most High knows best.
[10] Abū Dāwud, al-Tirmidhi and others narrated it.
[11] Imām Ahmad reported it as did al-Tabarāni with a good chain and this is his wording.
[12] Ibn Mājah narrated it with a good chain.
[13] Al-Tirmidhi narrated it and declared it hasan.
[14] Imām Ahmad narrated it.
[15] Al-Tirmidhi narrates it and said it is hasan sahīh.
[16] Al-Tabarāni and others narrated it.
[17] Imām al-Bayhaqi and others narrated it.
[18] Al-Tirmidhi narrated it and said it is hasan.
[19] Al-Tabarāni narrated it.
[20] Narrated by al-Tirmidhi.
[21] Narrated by Ibn Mājah.
[22] Narrated by al-Tabarāni.
[23] Narrated by al-Tirmidhi who also authenticated it.
[24] Narrated by Ibn Abd al-Barr with a good chain.
[25] Abū Nu’aym narrated it.
[26] Al-Tabarāni narrated it.
[27] Al-Tabarāni narrated it.
[28] Al-Mundhiri said, “It contains an unnamed narrator.”
[29] Al-Tabarāni narrated it.
[30] Abū Ya’la narrated it.
[31] From this we learn of the ignorance of the ignorant ones who deceive themselves. They do not care about the people of knowledge and have no interest in them!
[32] Imam Ahmad narrated it with a good chain.
[33] Al-Tabarāni narrated it.
[34] Al-Tabarāni narrated it.
[35] Translated from Al-Ad’iyah wa al-Adhkār (Pages 8-18) of Sheikh Abdullah Sirāj al-Dīn. A special thank you to Dr Hafiz Ather Hussain al-Azhari for his help and advice with this translation.
Orthodox Muslim 