Part of Lives of the Salaf — the Pious Predecessors (series completed)
· Lesson 5 of 72
The life of the predecessors between words and deeds | Episode (5) | Defining science and explaining its virtues
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
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The life of the salaf: between speech and action.
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Defining knowledge, the method of acquiring it, and an explanation of its virtue.
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On the authority of Kumayl ibn Ziyad, who said:
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Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, took me by the hand,
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and led me out toward the outskirts of the graveyard.
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When we reached the open desert,
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he sat down, then sighed deeply,
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and said:
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"O Kumayl ibn Ziyad,
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hearts are like vessels;
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the best of them are those that hold the most.
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Memorize what I say to you:
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People are of three types:
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A scholar rooted in divine knowledge,
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a student on the path of salvation,
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and the rabble—the mindless masses,
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who follow every caller,
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swaying with every wind,
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who have not sought illumination from the light of knowledge,
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nor have they sought refuge in a firm pillar."
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Knowledge is better than wealth.
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Knowledge guards you,
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while you must guard wealth.
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Knowledge increases through practice,
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while wealth is diminished by spending.
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Loving the scholar is a religious duty by which one is judged.
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Knowledge earns the scholar obedience during his life,
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and a beautiful legacy after his death.
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The benefit of wealth vanishes as it disappears.
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The hoarders of wealth are dead even while they are alive,
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while the scholars remain as long as time endures.
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Their physical forms are lost,
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but their examples remain present in the hearts.
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Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
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"Knowledge is not the abundance of narration,
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rather, knowledge is fear of Allah."
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On the authority of Mu‘adh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
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"Seek knowledge,
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for learning it for the sake of Allah is fear of Him,
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seeking it is an act of worship,
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studying it is a glorification of Allah,
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researching it is a struggle in the path of Allah,
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teaching it to those who do not know it is charity,
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and expending it for those who deserve it is a means of drawing near to Allah.
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Through it, Allah raises up people,
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making them leaders in goodness,
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and imams whose footsteps are followed,
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whose actions are emulated,
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and whose opinions are the final word."
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On the authority of Abu al-Darda’, may Allah be pleased with him,
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he said:
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"People are of three types:
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A scholar and a student,
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and there is no good in those beyond them."
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On the authority of al-Zuhri, may Allah have mercy on him, who said:
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"Allah is not worshipped with anything better than knowledge."
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A man asked al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, about something,
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and he replied.
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The man said, "But the jurists (fuqaha’) say such and such."
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Al-Hasan replied:
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"The true jurist is the one who is ascetic regarding this world,
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desirous of the Hereafter,
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insightful regarding the affairs of his religion,
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and constant in the worship of his Lord, the Almighty and Majestic."
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On the authority of Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, may Allah have mercy on him, who said:
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"The inheritance of knowledge is better than the inheritance of gold and silver."
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"And a righteous soul is better than pearls."
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Qatadah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"A chapter of knowledge that a man memorizes,
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seeking through it the rectification of his own soul and the rectification of the people,
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is better than a full year of worship."
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On the authority of Makhul, may Allah have mercy on him, who said:
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"Whoever goes out to seek knowledge,
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he is on the path to Paradise until he returns."
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Sufyan al-Thawri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"A man is in greater need of knowledge than he is of bread and meat."
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He also said, may Allah have mercy on him:
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"I know of no deed better than seeking knowledge and preserving it,
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for one whom Allah, the Exalted, intends good."
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On the authority of Mutarrif ibn Abdullah ibn al-Shikhkhir, may Allah have mercy on him, he said:
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"The virtue of knowledge is better than the virtue of worship."
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Al-Bayhaqi said: "This is an authentic statement from Mutarrif."
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On the authority of Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah, may Allah have mercy on him, who said:
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"The scholar is not the one who knows good from evil;
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rather, the scholar is the one who knows the good and follows it,
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and knows the evil and avoids it."
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Al-Shafi‘i, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"Knowledge is what benefits, not what is memorized."
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Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"Knowledge is better than action for the one who is ignorant,
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and action is better than knowledge for the one who has knowledge."
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Al-Asma‘i, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"Whoever does not endure the humiliation of learning for an hour,
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will remain in the humiliation of ignorance forever."
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Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"When Abu Zur‘ah al-Razi, may Allah have mercy on him, arrived,
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he stayed with my father.
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He engaged in much academic discussion with him.
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I heard my father say one day:
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'I did not pray anything other than the obligatory prayers;
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I prioritized the academic discussion with Abu Zur‘ah over my voluntary prayers.'"
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Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
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"People are only kept alive by their scholars;
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if the scholars are gone, then what is left?"
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He also said: "People are only sustained by their scholars;
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if the scholars are gone, then life is meaningless."
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He also said, may Allah have mercy on him:
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"People are in need of knowledge,
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just like bread and water,
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because knowledge is needed at every moment,
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while bread and water are needed only once or twice a day."
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Muhanna said:
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"I asked Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him:
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'What is the best of deeds?'
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He said: 'Seeking knowledge, for the one whose intention is sound.'
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I asked: 'And what is the sound intention?'
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He said: 'To intend to humble himself through it,
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and to dispel ignorance from himself.'"
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The Qadi Abu Bakr ibn Abi Tahir said:
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"Whoever serves the inkwells,
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the pulpits will serve him."