بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Allah relates in the Qur'an about the journey of Prophet Musa alayhissalaam, with his young companion. If there ever existed a person who had no need to travel to seek knowledge, it was Prophet Musa, for Allah had spoken to him and given him the Torah. Nonetheless, when Allah informed him of a man who had been favored with knowledge, Prophet Musa inquired about meeting him, and then set out with his companion to find this man, Al-Khidr alayhissalaam.
وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِفَتَىٰهُ لَآ أَبْرَحُ حَتَّىٰٓ أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ ٱلْبَحْرَيْنِ أَوْ أَمْضِىَ حُقُبًا ﴿٦٠
And [mention] when Musa said to his servant, "I will not cease [traveling] until I reach the junction of the two seas or continue for a long period." [Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:60]
Upon meeting Al-Khidr, Prophet Musa asked of him,
قَالَ لَهُۥ مُوسَىٰ هَلْ أَتَّبِعُكَ عَلَىٰٓ أَن تُعَلِّمَنِ مِمَّا عُلِّمْتَ رُشْدًا ﴿٦٦
Musa said to him, "May I follow you on in order that you may teach me of the knowledge you have been given." [Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:66]
قَالَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسْتَطِيعَ مَعِىَ صَبْرًۭا ﴿٦٧﴾ وَكَيْفَ تَصْبِرُ عَلَىٰ مَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِۦ خُبْرًۭا ﴿٦٨﴾ قَالَ سَتَجِدُنِىٓ إِن شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ صَابِرًۭا وَلَآ أَعْصِى لَكَ أَمْرًۭا ﴿٦٩﴾ قَالَ فَإِنِ ٱتَّبَعْتَنِى فَلَا تَسْـَٔلْنِى عَن شَىْءٍ حَتَّىٰٓ أُحْدِثَ لَكَ مِنْهُ ذِكْرًۭا ﴿٧٠
He (al-Khidr) said, "Indeed, with me you will never be able to have patience. (67) And how can you have patience for what you do not encompass in knowledge?" (68) [Moses] said, "You will find me, if Allah wills, patient, and I will not disobey you in [any] order." (69) He said, "Then if you follow me, do not ask me about anything until I make to you about it mention." (70) [Qur'an, Al-Kahf 18:67-0]
The Islamic tradition teaches us that both students of sacred knowledge and their teachers have lofty principles and refined codes of conduct that they must adhere to in order to ensure that they can truly achieve virtue through their knowledge and that Allah opens up for them (futūḥ) the full extent of wisdom and perception.
Humility is an essential characteristic that a student must have to truly benefit from his or her teacher.
In the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam), when the angel Jibrīl (alayhissalaam) came to ask the Prophet ( sallallahu alayhi wassallam) about Islam, Imān, and Iḥsān, he is described as having, “put his knees against the knees [of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam] and placed his hands on his thighs.”[Muslim]
When the Companions used to sit with the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam), they did not used to raise their heads up to him out of their reverence for him. It is reported on the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), “If the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) used to enter the mosque, none of us used to raise our heads except Abū Bakr and ʽUmar. They used to smile at him and he used to smile at them.”
It is also reported on the authority of ʽUbāda b. al-Ṣāmit that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) said regarding respecting scholars and honoring them, “He is not from my community who does not venerate our elders, have mercy on our youth, and know the rights of our scholars.”
Imam ʽAlī ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) would say regarding the manners of respect a student should have with his or her teacher, “From the rights of the scholar over you is that you give greeting to people generally and greet him specifically, that you do not ask him questions excessively, you do not meet his answers with discord, you do not pressure him if he tires, you do not grab his garment if he sets forth, you do not reveal to him secrets, you do not back bite anyone in his presence, you do not seek out his shortcomings, and if he makes a mistake you accept his excuse. It is incumbent upon you to respect and honor him for the sake of Allah as long as he adheres to the commands of Allah. And [you must not] sit with your back towards him, and if he has a need you should hasten before everyone in serving him.”
It is related by Shaʽbī that, Zayd b. Thābit (may Allah be pleased with him) led a funeral prayer. He then brought his riding animal near so he could ride it and Ibn ʽAbbās came to assist him in mounting. Upon this, Zayd said, “Do not do this O, son of the Messenger of Allah’s uncle.” Ibn ʽAbbās replied, “This is how he ordered us to treat our scholars and elders.”
Sufyān al-Thawrī entered the gathering of Imām Mālik while his students around him were seated as if there were birds perched on their heads. He later recited the following poem to describe this:
يأبى الجواب فلا يراجع هيبة والسائلون نواكس الأذقان
أدب الوقار وعز سلطان التقى فهو المهيب وليس ذا سلطان
He refuses to answer [excessive questions and the questioner] will not return out of awe
Those who ask [in his presence] sit with their necks bent
Refined manners, grace, and the dignity of a chief of piety
He inspires awe [in hearts] yet he is no king
Al-Shāfiʽī said: “Out of my reverence for him, I used to turn pages while being seated in the presence of Mālik with gentleness so that he does not hear the pages turn.”
It is related by Ṣāliḥ b. Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, “Al-Shāfiʽī came one day to visit my father while he was ill. He [Ibn Ḥanbal] lept towards him, kissed him between the eyes, made him sit in his place and he sat in front of him.” He said, “Then he spoke to him for an hour. When al-Shāfiʽī got up to leave, my father rose and took hold of his saddle and walked with him. When [news] of this reached Yaḥya b. Maʽīn, he questioned my father saying, ‘O Abū ʽAbd Allāh, subḥānallah! Were you forced to walk by the side of al-Shāfiʽī’s riding animal?' My father replied, ‘And you O Abū Zakariyya, had you walked on the other side you would have benefited.’ Then he said, ‘Who wishes for goodness should follow the tail of that beast.’” It was said to Iskandar, “Why is your reverence for your spiritual guide (al-muʽaddib) greater than your reverence for your father?” He said, “Because my father is the cause of my temporary life while my spiritual guide is the cause of [success] in my eternal life.”
Many of the Muslim rulers and caliphs also used to give immense importance to knowledge and the reverence of scholars. It is related that Hārūn al-Rashīd used to send his two sons al-Amīn and al-Māʼmūn to learn from Imām al-Kisāʼī who was one of the seven reciters of the Qur’an. One day after class was finished; al-Amīn and al-Maʼmūn were competing to carry the sandals of the shaykh. Each one wanted to carry them and then they settled for each of them carrying one sandal. Meanwhile, Hārūn al-Rashīd was watching them from an elevated place in his residence. He later invited him to a table he had prepared for him. He then asked him during the meal, “Who is the happiest of people?” The Shaykh said to him: “You are O Leader of the Believers.” He said, “No. The happiest of people is the one who the two heirs of the Leader of the Believers (amīr al-muʼminīn) quarrel to carry his sandals.”
From amongst the forms of respect that students must have for teachers is that they should listen with complete attentiveness, even if the teacher is saying something which they already know from a quote, story, or poem. ʽAṭāʼ said, “I listen to a hadith from a man and I am more knowledgeable of it than him. However, I do not show him that I surpass him in anything.” Similarly, he should not precede the teacher in explaining a matter or answering a question posed by one of the students. It is said, “Learn silence the way you learn to speak. And be more vigilant about listening than speaking.”
As for humility, this not only means that students should be in a state of humbleness while learning but that they must also humble themselves to knowledge in the exertion of their efforts to seek it. Ibn ʽAbbās (may Allah be pleased with both father and son) used to say, “I lowered myself seeking, and then I became sought (dhalaltu ṭāliban fafiztu maṭlūban).” It is also related that he said, “When the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) died, I said to a man from the Anṣār come lets seek out the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) for they are many today. He said, ‘I am surprised by you, O Ibn ʽAbbās! Whom amongst the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) do you see as better than yourself?’ He said, ‘So I left him and I set out to ask the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) and [news of] a hadith from a man had reached me. I came to the door of the one saying [the hadith] and I spread my cloak on his doorstep, all the while the wind was blowing sand in my face.
He came out and saw me and said, ‘O son of the Messenger of Allah’s (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) uncle, what brought you here? Had you sent for me, I would have come.’ I said to him, ‘It is more fitting that I should come to you.’ He said, ‘And I asked him about the hadith. This man of the Anṣār then lived until he saw me when people had gathered around me asking me, and he would say ‘This youth is more intelligent than me.’”
It is also related that Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī would not abandon anyone he knew to possess any knowledge except that he sought him out and found him. Ibrāhīm b. Saʽd said, “I asked my father, how did Ibn Shihāb surpass you?” He said, ‘He used to come to the center of gatherings and not leave an elderly person except that he asked him and not leave a youth except that he asked him. Then he used to go to the homes of the Anṣār and he would not leave a youth he did not ask or an elderly person he did not ask. He used to even speak to the women of the households.’”
It is incumbent that a student does not acquire pride or vanity after having gained an amount of knowledge, remembering that it is ultimately Allah who granted this to him or her. Also because the amount of knowledge that one has accumulated regardless of the heights a student has reached is insignificant in comparison to the knowledge of Allah the Exalted and High.
Allah Most High says in the Qur’an,
عَلَّمَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ
He has taught humans what they knew not.[Qur'an, Al-Alaq 96:5]
وَٱللَّهُ أَخْرَجَكُم مِّنۢ بُطُونِ أُمَّهَـٰتِكُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ شَيْـًٔا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ ٱلسَّمْعَ وَٱلْأَبْصَـٰرَ وَٱلْأَفْـِٔدَةَ ۙ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿٧٨
And Allah has extracted you from the wombs of your mothers not knowing a thing, and He made for you hearing and vision and intellect that perhaps you would be grateful. (78) [Qur'an, Al-Nahl 16:78]
وَيَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلرُّوحِ ۖ قُلِ ٱلرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّى وَمَآ أُوتِيتُم مِّنَ ٱلْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا ﴿٨٥
And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about the soul. Say, "The soul is of the affair of my Lord. And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little." (85) [Qur'an, Al-Isra' 16:85]
Have proper adab (manners)– you can only have adab if you learn about it. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said, “The only reason I have been sent is to perfect good manners”.
May Allah grant us tawfiq and increase us in beneficial knowledge. Ameen.
And Allah knows best and He alone grant success.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.
Wassalaam
Adapted from seekershub.org
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