WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.500 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 00:00:03.500 --> 00:00:10.740 “Is he who payeth adoration in the watches of the night, prostrate and standing, bewaring of the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, (to be accounted equal with a disbeliever)? Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Are those who know equal with those who know not? But only men of understanding will pay heed.” (39:9) 00:00:10.740 --> 00:00:16.739 The Splendor of Knowledge in Wisdom. 00:00:16.739 --> 00:00:21.739 By Dr. Hamzah Ibn Fayi' Al Fathi. 00:00:21.739 --> 00:00:29.600 May Allah preserve him: The Virtue of Fairness. 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:35.590 The great scholar Al Shawkani, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 00:00:35.590 --> 00:00:40.409 Who passed away in the year 1250 AH. 00:00:40.409 --> 00:00:44.409 If you prepare your soul, O student, for fairness, 00:00:44.409 --> 00:00:47.409 And for avoiding partisanship toward any school of thought, 00:00:47.409 --> 00:00:50.409 Or toward any specific scholar, 00:00:50.409 --> 00:00:53.909 And instead regard all people as being on the same footing, 00:00:53.909 --> 00:00:56.909 In that they all belong to the Sharia, 00:00:56.909 --> 00:01:01.909 Governed by it in a way from which they can find no escape, 00:01:01.909 --> 00:01:04.409 Nor can they turn away from it, 00:01:04.409 --> 00:01:08.409 Let alone ascend to a position above that, 00:01:08.409 --> 00:01:12.409 Where it would be mandatory for anyone in the Ummah to act, 00:01:12.409 --> 00:01:14.409 According to the opinion of only one of them, 00:01:14.409 --> 00:01:17.909 Or be bound to follow him and accept his word, 00:01:17.909 --> 00:01:20.909 Then you have attained the greatest benefits of knowledge, 00:01:20.909 --> 00:01:23.409 And gained its most precious treasures. 00:01:23.409 --> 00:01:27.530 Among the most noble qualities of a student of knowledge, 00:01:27.530 --> 00:01:31.530 Is preparing the soul for fairness and justice toward opponents, 00:01:31.530 --> 00:01:35.599 In matters of debate, ijtihad, and critiques. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:40.599 There is no sanctity for a school of thought, a sheikh, a method, or a book, 00:01:40.599 --> 00:01:43.599 At the expense of a proof or an established text, 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:46.099 Or a transmitted consensus. 00:01:46.099 --> 00:01:49.099 Infallibility belongs only to the legal proof, 00:01:49.099 --> 00:01:51.099 Not to the scholar or the jurist, 00:01:51.099 --> 00:01:54.099 Because he is a human being who is sometimes right and sometimes wrong, 00:01:54.099 --> 00:01:57.099 And everyone’s opinion may be accepted or rejected, 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:02.540 Except for the occupant of the greatest grave, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. 00:02:02.540 --> 00:02:05.540 This is the most precious benefit of knowledge: 00:02:05.540 --> 00:02:08.539 Fairness and devotion to the truth, 00:02:08.539 --> 00:02:12.539 And showing no favoritism to anyone whatsoever, 00:02:12.539 --> 00:02:15.539 Because academic sycophancy is a form of partisanship, 00:02:15.539 --> 00:02:17.539 And a distancing from the truth, 00:02:17.539 --> 00:02:20.539 And a corruption of the path and of ijtihad. 00:02:20.539 --> 00:02:22.539 And in the Qur'an: 00:02:22.539 --> 00:02:24.539 "Do not follow desire." 00:02:25.539 --> 00:02:28.639 If a student is raised upon this, 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:31.639 His religion remains intact and his approach becomes wholesome, 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:35.639 His qualities improve, and his knowledge is blessed. 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:39.020 He will never be a true scholar, 00:02:39.020 --> 00:02:43.020 Until he devotes himself to knowledge, casts aside desire, 00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:45.020 Lives for the proof, 00:02:45.020 --> 00:02:48.020 And follows the path of the Imams who preceded us, 00:02:48.020 --> 00:02:51.020 By drinking from the ocean of the Book and the Sunnah, 00:02:51.020 --> 00:02:54.020 Rather than the abyss of blind imitation and partisanship. 00:02:54.020 --> 00:02:57.020 As Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 00:02:57.020 --> 00:03:01.020 "Do not imitate me, nor imitate Malik, nor Al Shafi'i, 00:03:01.020 --> 00:03:04.020 Nor Al Awza'i, nor Al Thawri, 00:03:04.020 --> 00:03:06.020 But take from where they took." 00:03:06.020 --> 00:03:09.020 And the source of their taking is the Revelation, 00:03:09.020 --> 00:03:11.020 Not the venerated books of the school of thought, 00:03:11.020 --> 00:03:13.020 Nor the reliance upon sheikhs, 00:03:13.020 --> 00:03:16.020 Or the repetitive texts studied by students. 00:03:16.020 --> 00:03:18.020 And Allah is the One whose help is sought. 00:03:18.020 --> 00:03:21.280 How beautiful it is for jurists to read, 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:23.280 The books of those who disagree with them, 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:25.280 And to receive them with respect, 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:29.280 Without partisanship for one school of fiqh over another, 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:31.280 But rather seeking the truth, 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:35.280 And becoming acquainted with the views of their opponents, 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:38.280 Especially since some sectarian books, 00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:42.280 Diminish the status or the proofs of others. 00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:45.280 Our judge, for all of us, is the Book and the Sunnah, 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:48.280 And the proper application of evidence from them. 00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:50.280 Peace.