Value Ilm
There are two ways of recognizing how to value and appreciate ilm,
(1) Become a seeker of knowledge (taalibe ilm).
(2) Do not restrict this knowledge to knowing only.
Mufti Mohammed Shafi (r.a.)
"Surely, the true religion in Allah's sight is Islam" (3:19)
There are two ways of recognizing how to value and appreciate ilm,
(1) Become a seeker of knowledge (taalibe ilm).
(2) Do not restrict this knowledge to knowing only.
Mufti Mohammed Shafi (r.a.)
عَنْ ابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ
لَا تَزُولُ قَدَمُ ابْنِ آدَمَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مِنْ عِنْدِ رَبِّهِ حَتَّى يُسْأَلَ عَنْ خَمْسٍ عَنْ عُمُرِهِ فِيمَ أَفْنَاهُ وَعَنْ شَبَابِهِ فِيمَ أَبْلَاهُ وَمَالِهِ مِنْ أَيْنَ اكْتَسَبَهُ وَفِيمَ أَنْفَقَهُ وَمَاذَا عَمِلَ فِيمَا عَلِمَ
2416 سنن الترمذي
Imām Tirmidhī relates in his sunnan that on the Day of Judgement a person will not shift until they have been questioned about five things:
1. Where did they while away their age?
2. How did they spend their youth?
3. Where did they acquire their wealth?
4. How did they spend their wealth?
5. How did they act on the knowledge that was given to them?
The key points of this ḥadīth are the first two questions, relating to how a person spends their time and more specifically how they spent their youth. We are often conscious of how we generate our wealth and spend it, however our time is a free commodity given to us by Allāh which we will also be questioned about.
Whoever desires to be one who inherits from the prophets and one who reaps from their fields of cultivation, let him learn beneficial knowledge – it being knowledge of dīn – for in a ḥadīth [it is mentioned], ‘The ʿulamāʾ are the heirs of the prophets.’ Let him also attend the gatherings of ʿulamāʾ, for indeed they are meadows of Paradise.
(Ibn al-Jawzī, al-Tadhkirah fī al-Waʿẓ 55: Dār al-Maʿrifah)
“The difference between a learned person (true Alim) and an ignorant person (Jahil) is that the ignorant person severs relationships due to a difference of opinion, whereas a learned person does not allow it to affect established relationships.”
Mufti Saeed Palanpuri RA
Source: Madrassah Al Zahra Publication – Al ‘Ilmun Nafi’
Before one sets out to seek knowledge we must bear in mind there are etiquettes for seeking knowledge. Only when one attains knowledge according to them, will the knowledge gained be beneficial. If we have no respect for the knowledge that we gain, that knowledge will merely remain information. Knowledge can only be beneficial for us if we gain it according to the following guidelines:
I have been in hard worship for 30 years, but I didnt find anything more difficult than being practical about ones knowledge.
Hazrat Abu Yazid Bustami
I complained to Imam Waqee of my weak memory; he advised me to abstain from sins; for, verily, knowledge is a nur from Allah; and this nur of Allah is not awarded to sinners.
Imam Shafiee
Knowledge makes you free from the chains of ignorance, and revives your heart, knowledge takes you out from the darkness of suspicions and superstitions, and gives a new light to your eyes.
Hazrat Abu Ali Saqfi