Let's Read Surah Kahf Today (Friday) -- Manners in Seeking Knowledge

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

Allah, Exalted is He, relates in the Quran about the journey of Prophet Musa (peace be upon him), 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 it. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam said, “The only reason I have been sent is to perfect good manners”.

May Allah grant us noble character and remove our blameworthy traits and replace them with praiseworthy traits. Ameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all.

Wassalaam

Let's Read Surah Kahf Today (Friday) -- Towards Success

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

If you haven't been reciting Surah Kahf every Friday,  make it a goal to recite it every Friday. In it there are many lessons to help us in our personal transformation and achieving a successful life inshaa Allah.

Other than reciting it, we should take the opportunity today to really understand Surah Kahf by first, know what you read in terms of the meaning, and find a good tafsir and commit to finish reading it today. This may take a few hours, but it is well worth your day. Don't put this off for procrastination is one of the potent tricks of Shaytan to prevent us from achieving success in this life and the next.

As Muslims we should constantly be assessing our lives and setting goals and making resolutions, rather than waiting for special days during the year to perform the exercise. This is the attitude of successful people.

We don't need to dig far to know this. We see a powerful example in the life of Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and grant him peace) whose endless efforts and perseverance with the help of Allah, brought guidance to humanity at large and as a result of which we see more than a billion Muslims on this planet today. He was committed to Allah's religion, and through his wisdom, hard work, commitment, perseverance, and Allah’s will, he achieved what he had set out to achieve.

In the stories of Surah Al-Kahf, we can see more great examples:

The young companions of the cave were committed to Allah's religion that they were willing to leave the comfort of their "homes" and retreated to a cave. Allah complimented them and increased them in guidance.

The neighbor of the man with the two splendid gardens was committed to the religion of Allah that he, despite the man's arrogance and his put downs towards him, he patiently remained with the man to help him repent to Allah. He was successful, by the help of Allah.

Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) was committed to seeking knowledge that he was willing to travel a long and difficult journey to find the teacher who Allah says is more knowledgeable than him. He was successful in finding him and learned valuable lessons.

Zulkarnain, a powerful King, was committed to a mission and so he traveled east and west and established good and justice.

The question you need to ask yourself is where do you stand in your commitment to the religion of Allah and what are you doing to achieve it?

You can start thinking about it now and set some goals and resolutions. If you don’t set your goals, you don’t move forward. If you set them and don’t follow through, you still don’t move forward. Goals are the specific steps that propel your life forward toward your goals while still immersed in the daily chores of life; resolutions are about how your behavior impacts other people’s lives; More importantly, resolutions are about your relationship with your Creator and how you strengthen that relationship by living life in accordance to His guidance.

If you are not in the habit of setting goals and resolutions, you should review the direction of your life and assess how your actions are contributing to your betterment and to your family and loved ones in accordance with the teachings of your Creator?

If you have a mere general idea on where you are heading simply because you are too busy to chart out a more directed course of action, you may not be fully harnessing your God-gifted abilities.

Setting goals and resolutions therefore enable you to step away and analyze the clutter in your life; they let you rise above the daily chores that keep you busy and keep you from organizing. The process is therefore about prioritizing and highlighting what is more important to make your life more meaningful.

It is about “actions” and execution – Setting a resolution is much more than dreaming, thinking and planning about what you want to change. It is about real execution – about doing something – about undertaking a course of action that actually starts bringing you closer to what you want to achieve. Many a people, organizations and countries fail in their lives and in their pursuits simply because of lack of execution. They plan but then can’t follow through; they talk but they can’t perform.

Even in the religion of Islam that emphasizes asking your Creator and Sustainer about your needs, there is an equal and parallel importance of your personal actions and deeds. Once 'Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) got very angry with youth who were simply spending time in the masjid and told them: “Go out and seek sustenance, for the sky does not send down rain of gold or silver.” Confucious, a famous philosopher once said: “The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.” Florence Nightingale who had a lasting contribution in founding the modern nursing profession once said: “You ask me why I do not write something...I think one’s feelings waste themselves in words, they ought all to be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results.”

How many times have you planned but failed to execute? Isn’t it time to actually get on with a sustained course of action?

It is about using time wisely – Setting resolutions helps us maximize our time in life instead of squandering the valuable moments away. We all know how time flies but unfortunately many times we do not make full use of our time and life in general. The big fitnah (trials) of our time is the internet/wifi and social media at our fingertips. Lots of people, young and old, waste a lot of time with and in it, as if their lives revolve around it.  Some use it in the name of the religion. Just look around you.

Mu`adh ibn Jabal reported the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) as saying: “A servant of Allah will remain standing on the Day of Resurrection until he is asked about four things: his life and how he spent it, his youth and how he used it up, his property and how he acquired and managed it and his knowledge and how he utilized it.”

We should therefore remind ourselves that we too have an end that is approaching. So, why squander our time away on nonessential pursuits?

It is about focused actions and tasks – Resolutions and goals help you focus on the right actions and tasks. Think about when you are about to take a long trip away from home. Our productivity in the number of tasks we complete before we take a trip is phenomenal simply because we have a deadline to meet and our energies are extremely focused. The closer you get to your time of travel, the more you ensure that you utilize each and every second available to you.

Can you imagine how much you will be able to accomplish daily only if you became half that productive and efficient?

It is about behavioral change – Setting goals and resolutions involves completely stepping away from behaviors you want to change – In Islam, this parallels the concept of “Repentance” or “Taubah” because the psychological, spiritual and physical dynamics is almost the same. Repentance in Islam entails stopping bad behavior, regretting past indulgence in that behavior, understanding the need to shy away from the bad behavior, making a strong intention not to return to the old behavior and finally substituting bad with good behaviors (better deeds).

Why not then apply the same dynamics to change any of your undesirable behaviors and habits, and embark on a major journey of personal progress?

It is about clarity of vision – Setting goals requires that you are clear about who you are and what you want to achieve. A confused mind can not set meaningful goals. A person not confident about his beliefs and values is rarely successful in charting out a meaningful course of action. This is why the Sahaba (companions of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) were able to unilaterally commit to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and his cause. They clearly understood their role in this life. Once when in Madinah, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) had to send a group to Yemen for teaching new Muslims there about Islam. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi was sallam) picked Mu’adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) as their leader (even though Muadh was very young – perhaps in his early twenties). The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “The most knowledgeable of my ummah [community] in matters of Halal [permitted, allowed, lawful or legal] and Haram [forbidden] is Mu’adh bin Jabal.”

If Muadh was able to get that clarity at such a young age where he was chosen by the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) to lead a group of mentors and teachers to a foreign land, why can’t we get clearer on who we are?

رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً وَهَيِّئْ لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًا

Our Lord, grant us from Yourself mercy and prepare for us from our affair right guidance.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all.

Wassalaam