1 00:00:00,820 --> 00:00:04,120 In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:09,560 The life of the salaf: between speech and action. 3 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:18,089 Defining knowledge, the method of acquiring it, and an explanation of its virtue. 4 00:00:18,089 --> 00:00:22,239 On the authority of Kumayl ibn Ziyad, who said: 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:26,239 Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, took me by the hand, 6 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:30,239 and led me out toward the outskirts of the graveyard. 7 00:00:30,239 --> 00:00:32,280 When we reached the open desert, 8 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:34,280 he sat down, then sighed deeply, 9 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:36,280 and said: 10 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:38,340 "O Kumayl ibn Ziyad, 11 00:00:38,340 --> 00:00:40,530 hearts are like vessels; 12 00:00:40,530 --> 00:00:43,530 the best of them are those that hold the most. 13 00:00:43,530 --> 00:00:46,600 Memorize what I say to you: 14 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:48,789 People are of three types: 15 00:00:48,789 --> 00:00:50,789 A scholar rooted in divine knowledge, 16 00:00:50,789 --> 00:00:53,789 a student on the path of salvation, 17 00:00:53,789 --> 00:00:55,789 and the rabble—the mindless masses, 18 00:00:55,789 --> 00:00:57,789 who follow every caller, 19 00:00:57,789 --> 00:01:00,789 swaying with every wind, 20 00:01:00,789 --> 00:01:03,920 who have not sought illumination from the light of knowledge, 21 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:06,920 nor have they sought refuge in a firm pillar." 22 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:10,299 Knowledge is better than wealth. 23 00:01:10,299 --> 00:01:12,299 Knowledge guards you, 24 00:01:12,299 --> 00:01:14,299 while you must guard wealth. 25 00:01:14,299 --> 00:01:17,400 Knowledge increases through practice, 26 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,400 while wealth is diminished by spending. 27 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:24,489 Loving the scholar is a religious duty by which one is judged. 28 00:01:24,489 --> 00:01:28,519 Knowledge earns the scholar obedience during his life, 29 00:01:28,519 --> 00:01:31,519 and a beautiful legacy after his death. 30 00:01:31,519 --> 00:01:35,620 The benefit of wealth vanishes as it disappears. 31 00:01:35,620 --> 00:01:39,750 The hoarders of wealth are dead even while they are alive, 32 00:01:39,750 --> 00:01:43,780 while the scholars remain as long as time endures. 33 00:01:43,780 --> 00:01:46,840 Their physical forms are lost, 34 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:49,840 but their examples remain present in the hearts. 35 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:54,739 Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 36 00:01:54,739 --> 00:01:57,900 "Knowledge is not the abundance of narration, 37 00:01:57,900 --> 00:02:00,900 rather, knowledge is fear of Allah." 38 00:02:00,900 --> 00:02:05,760 On the authority of Mu‘adh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: 39 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:07,959 "Seek knowledge, 40 00:02:07,959 --> 00:02:10,960 for learning it for the sake of Allah is fear of Him, 41 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:12,960 seeking it is an act of worship, 42 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:15,960 studying it is a glorification of Allah, 43 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:17,960 researching it is a struggle in the path of Allah, 44 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,960 teaching it to those who do not know it is charity, 45 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,960 and expending it for those who deserve it is a means of drawing near to Allah. 46 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,020 Through it, Allah raises up people, 47 00:02:28,020 --> 00:02:31,020 making them leaders in goodness, 48 00:02:31,020 --> 00:02:34,020 and imams whose footsteps are followed, 49 00:02:34,020 --> 00:02:37,020 whose actions are emulated, 50 00:02:37,020 --> 00:02:40,020 and whose opinions are the final word." 51 00:02:40,020 --> 00:02:43,979 On the authority of Abu al-Darda’, may Allah be pleased with him, 52 00:02:43,979 --> 00:02:45,979 he said: 53 00:02:45,979 --> 00:02:47,979 "People are of three types: 54 00:02:47,979 --> 00:02:50,979 A scholar and a student, 55 00:02:50,979 --> 00:02:53,979 and there is no good in those beyond them." 56 00:02:53,979 --> 00:02:58,750 On the authority of al-Zuhri, may Allah have mercy on him, who said: 57 00:02:58,750 --> 00:03:02,750 "Allah is not worshipped with anything better than knowledge." 58 00:03:02,750 --> 00:03:08,520 A man asked al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, about something, 59 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:10,520 and he replied. 60 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:13,520 The man said, "But the jurists (fuqaha’) say such and such." 61 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:15,610 Al-Hasan replied: 62 00:03:15,610 --> 00:03:18,610 "The true jurist is the one who is ascetic regarding this world, 63 00:03:18,610 --> 00:03:21,610 desirous of the Hereafter, 64 00:03:21,610 --> 00:03:23,639 insightful regarding the affairs of his religion, 65 00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:28,639 and constant in the worship of his Lord, the Almighty and Majestic." 66 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:33,319 On the authority of Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, who said: 67 00:03:33,319 --> 00:03:38,319 "The inheritance of knowledge is better than the inheritance of gold and silver." 68 00:03:38,319 --> 00:03:43,409 "And a righteous soul is better than pearls." 69 00:03:43,409 --> 00:03:47,370 Qatadah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 70 00:03:47,370 --> 00:03:50,370 "A chapter of knowledge that a man memorizes, 71 00:03:50,370 --> 00:03:54,370 seeking through it the rectification of his own soul and the rectification of the people, 72 00:03:54,370 --> 00:03:58,370 is better than a full year of worship." 73 00:03:58,370 --> 00:04:03,330 On the authority of Makhul, may Allah have mercy on him, who said: 74 00:04:03,330 --> 00:04:06,430 "Whoever goes out to seek knowledge, 75 00:04:06,430 --> 00:04:10,430 he is on the path to Paradise until he returns." 76 00:04:10,430 --> 00:04:15,199 Sufyan al-Thawri, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 77 00:04:15,199 --> 00:04:20,199 "A man is in greater need of knowledge than he is of bread and meat." 78 00:04:20,199 --> 00:04:22,389 He also said, may Allah have mercy on him: 79 00:04:22,389 --> 00:04:27,550 "I know of no deed better than seeking knowledge and preserving it, 80 00:04:27,550 --> 00:04:31,550 for one whom Allah, the Exalted, intends good." 81 00:04:31,550 --> 00:04:38,379 On the authority of Mutarrif ibn Abdullah ibn al-Shikhkhir, may Allah have mercy on him, he said: 82 00:04:38,379 --> 00:04:42,480 "The virtue of knowledge is better than the virtue of worship." 83 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:47,639 Al-Bayhaqi said: "This is an authentic statement from Mutarrif." 84 00:04:47,639 --> 00:04:52,399 On the authority of Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah, may Allah have mercy on him, who said: 85 00:04:52,399 --> 00:04:57,399 "The scholar is not the one who knows good from evil; 86 00:04:57,399 --> 00:05:02,470 rather, the scholar is the one who knows the good and follows it, 87 00:05:02,470 --> 00:05:06,300 and knows the evil and avoids it." 88 00:05:06,300 --> 00:05:09,300 Al-Shafi‘i, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 89 00:05:09,300 --> 00:05:13,300 "Knowledge is what benefits, not what is memorized." 90 00:05:13,300 --> 00:05:18,100 Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 91 00:05:18,100 --> 00:05:22,129 "Knowledge is better than action for the one who is ignorant, 92 00:05:22,129 --> 00:05:26,129 and action is better than knowledge for the one who has knowledge." 93 00:05:26,129 --> 00:05:29,230 Al-Asma‘i, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 94 00:05:29,230 --> 00:05:33,259 "Whoever does not endure the humiliation of learning for an hour, 95 00:05:33,259 --> 00:05:36,259 will remain in the humiliation of ignorance forever." 96 00:05:36,259 --> 00:05:42,089 Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 97 00:05:42,089 --> 00:05:46,089 "When Abu Zur‘ah al-Razi, may Allah have mercy on him, arrived, 98 00:05:46,089 --> 00:05:48,089 he stayed with my father. 99 00:05:48,089 --> 00:05:51,089 He engaged in much academic discussion with him. 100 00:05:51,089 --> 00:05:54,220 I heard my father say one day: 101 00:05:54,220 --> 00:05:57,220 'I did not pray anything other than the obligatory prayers; 102 00:05:57,220 --> 00:06:02,379 I prioritized the academic discussion with Abu Zur‘ah over my voluntary prayers.'" 103 00:06:02,379 --> 00:06:05,990 Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 104 00:06:05,990 --> 00:06:10,019 "People are only kept alive by their scholars; 105 00:06:10,019 --> 00:06:14,079 if the scholars are gone, then what is left?" 106 00:06:14,079 --> 00:06:18,240 He also said: "People are only sustained by their scholars; 107 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:22,240 if the scholars are gone, then life is meaningless." 108 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,009 He also said, may Allah have mercy on him: 109 00:06:26,009 --> 00:06:29,110 "People are in need of knowledge, 110 00:06:29,110 --> 00:06:31,110 just like bread and water, 111 00:06:31,110 --> 00:06:35,199 because knowledge is needed at every moment, 112 00:06:35,199 --> 00:06:41,199 while bread and water are needed only once or twice a day." 113 00:06:41,199 --> 00:06:43,939 Muhanna said: 114 00:06:43,939 --> 00:06:48,000 "I asked Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him: 115 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:50,000 'What is the best of deeds?' 116 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:55,040 He said: 'Seeking knowledge, for the one whose intention is sound.' 117 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:59,230 I asked: 'And what is the sound intention?' 118 00:06:59,230 --> 00:07:03,259 He said: 'To intend to humble himself through it, 119 00:07:03,259 --> 00:07:05,259 and to dispel ignorance from himself.'" 120 00:07:05,259 --> 00:07:09,709 The Qadi Abu Bakr ibn Abi Tahir said: 121 00:07:09,709 --> 00:07:11,769 "Whoever serves the inkwells, 122 00:07:11,769 --> 00:07:14,769 the pulpits will serve him."