In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
All humans are dead except those who have knowledge; and all those who have knowledge are asleep, except those who do good deeds; and those who do good deeds are deceived, except those who are sincere; and those who are sincere are always in a state of worry. -- Imam Shafi'i
If you want knowledge, there will be struggles and hardships. This is part of the process.
Based on the level of your struggle you will gain a high lofty station. [Imam Shafi'i]
Don't let the struggles of other people or lack thereof define for you how much you should struggle. They achieve their station with their struggle and you will achieve your station with your struggle. If you struggle a little you will get a little station.
Allah has put signs in His creation for us to ponder and reflect. Look at how diamonds are formed. The carbon didn't become diamond without going through immense pressure. There is a lot of pressure, the weight of the overlying rock bearing down, so that combination of high temperature and high pressure is what's necessary to grow diamond crystals in the Earth, 100 miles below the surface, which is very hot. [Smithsonianmag.com] You can be that precious diamond or remain a worthless carbon that no one would want on their fingers and around their necks.
You have to give your all. Knowledge will not give you a little of it until you give it all yourself [Imam Malik]
Don't say, "I am too busy to study," "I don't have time." All of us have time to study. Our problem is not about not having time but poor time management. If you have time surfing topics known to mankind on the internet, twitting, or texting for 2 or more hours a day, you definitely have plenty of time to seek knowledge.
And don't blame it on your spouse, your children or your family for taking all your time or for not being supportive. When we blame other people for the situation we are in, we are blaming Allah. Allah chose the situation we are in. We have to work with what Allah has given us.
Allah has given us an example: The wife of Fir'aun, Asiya, one of the four greatest women of all time, alongside with Maryam (the mother of Prophet Isa,) Khadijah (the first wife of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace,) and Fatimah (the daughter of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace.) Fir'aun was the most oppressive and evil man in history. Asiya went through immense struggles but she never lost her faith. She was tortured to death and Allah granted her request for a home in Paradise.
وَضَرَبَ اللَّـهُ مَثَلًا لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا امْرَأَتَ فِرْعَوْنَ إِذْ قَالَتْ رَبِّ ابْنِ لِي عِندَكَ بَيْتًا فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَنَجِّنِي مِن فِرْعَوْنَ وَعَمَلِهِ وَنَجِّنِي مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ ﴿١١[Qur'an At-Tahrim 66:11]
And Allah presents an example of those who believed: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said, "My Lord, build for me near You a house in Paradise and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds and save me from the wrongdoing people." (11)
Recall the experience of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, during his seclusion in the cave of Hiraa' on a mountain near Makkah before he was given knowledge. Angel Jibril (alayhissalaam) came down to the him and told him to read but he said he couldn't read. Then Jibril squeezed him so hard that he felt that he could crush him to death. Only after the third time of Jibril asking and squeezing him, the first revelation was given to him.
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
The angel caught me (forcibly) and pressed me so hard that I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read. I replied, "I do not know how to read". Thereupon he caught me again and pressed me a second time till I could not bear it any more. He then released me and again asked me to read, but again I replied, "I do not know how to read" (or what shall I read?). Thereupon he caught me for the third time and pressed me, and then released me and said, (Recite in the name of your Lord who created - Created man from a clinging substance. Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous - Who taught by the pen - Taught man that which he knew not. Qur'an Al-Alaq 96:1-5)
Aisha, the Mother of the Believers, narrated that Al-Harith ibn Hisham asked the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, "O Allah's apostle. How is the divine inspiration revealed to you?" The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, replied, "Sometimes it is 'revealed like the ringing of a bell, this is the hardest of all, and then it passes off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says." [Bukhari]
The ulama' have derived from this experience that knowledge can only be given through pressure and hardship. It came with a price. Any normal human being would not be able to carry it. The revelation that can crush mountains, the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, was able to carry it. For the remainder of humanity that pressure is spread out over a period of time but it has to be there. The beautiful knowledge cannot be gotten without immense pressure and hardships.
You have to remove every obstacles that come your way of treading the path of knowledge--the path to reach the lofty station with Allah. Sometimes you have to make financial sacrifices--delay your career or leave your career, drop out of college (not necessarily you don't come back to it), or take lower paying job or take a pay cut. Sometimes you have to move to a far away land. Sometimes you have to let go the comfort/luxury/conveniences that you have been accustomed to. Sometimes you have to move away from your family.
Make your intention to seek knowledge purely for the sake of Allah. Knowledge is sought for other than for the sake of Allah will refuse to come to us.
May Allah give us strength, dedication and commitment to seek the sacred knowledge and grant us tawfiq to live by the knowledge we have gained and teach it to others. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
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