All praises be to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Him from the evil of our inner-selves and the evil of our actions. Whoever Allah guides, no one can misguide, and whoever Allah misguides, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no God worthy of being worshipped except for Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger, there is no Prophet after him.
Why should we learn the etiquettes in Islam sin pursuit of seeking knowledge? And why should we apply them in our daily lives? So, I would like to share a quote from Hasan Al-Bashri to answer these questions.
Hasan Al-Bashri said:
لَوْ لَا العِلْمُ، لَكَانَ النَّاسُ كَالْبَهَائِمِ.[1]
Meaning: “If it weren’t for knowledge, humans would be like beasts (animals).”
In this saying, Hasan Al-Bashri was trying to tell us what differentiates a human being and an animal is his capacity to learn and seek knowledge. In order to be a righteous and educated person, one must spend his life seeking Islamic knowledge (‘Ilm Syar’i). He or she must learn the etiquettes in seeking knowledge. For this reason, there are etiquettes for even the smallest of things like sleeping and eating. Through learning etiquette and Adaab, we would then be able to emulate the Prophet Muhammad’s way of life.
When seeking knowledge, one should be aware of the etiquettes, according to its field. If we want to learn the Quran, we must know the etiquettes in learning and internalising it. In learning the Qur’an one should be wary of the Adaab behind it and they are:
Firstly, Sincerity (الإخلاص), which means to have a right intention in seeking knowledge. We seek knowledge for the sake of Allah in order to ease our path into Jannah. This can be manifested by educating ourselves, applying what we have learnt and then teaching it to others. One should not seek knowledge to attain worldly pleasures, to gain fame, or to be recognized by others. Nonetheless, the fear of insincerity should not hinder us from fulfilling this obligation. Instead, we should correct ourselves with istighfar and ask help from Allah to grant us istiqamah in our decisions. We should be reminded that such mindset tends to come from syaithan, in order to obstruct us from seeking knowledge and we should ask guidance from Allah. ‘Umar bin Khattab mentioned in a hadith regarding having right intentions, he said:
“I heard Rasulullah ﷺ say: Actions are judged by motives (niyyah), so each man will have what he intended. Thus, he whose migration (hijrah) was to Allah and His Messenger, his migration is to Allah and His Messenger; but he whose migration was for some wordly thing he might gain, or for a wife he might marry, his migration is to that for which he migrated.”
[Narrated by Al-Bukhari & Muslim].
عَنْ أَمِيرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَبِي حَفْصٍ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ: ” إنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى، فَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ إلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ فَهِجْرَتُهُ إلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ، وَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ لِدُنْيَا يُصِيبُهَا أَوْ امْرَأَةٍ يَنْكِحُهَا فَهِجْرَتُهُ إلَى مَا هَاجَرَ إلَيْهِ”.
رَوَاهُ إِمَامَا الْمُحَدِّثِينَ أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ إِسْمَاعِيل بن إِبْرَاهِيم بن الْمُغِيرَة بن بَرْدِزبَه الْبُخَارِيُّ الجُعْفِيُّ [رقم:1]، وَ أَبُو الحُسَين مُسلِمُ بنُ الحَجَّاجُ بنُ مُسلِمُ القُشَيرِيُّ النَّيسَابُورِيُّ [رقم:1907] فِي “صَحِيحَيْهِمَا” الَّلذَينِ هُمَا أَصَحُّ الْكُتُبِ الْمُصَنَّفَةِ.
Reference: 40 Hadits Arba’in 1.
Secondly, Asking help from Allah (الإستعانة بالله)[2], Syaikh ‘Abdur-Razzaq Al-Badr explained in his book “At-Tibyaan Syarhu Akhlaaqi Hamalatil Quran” of the reality of students today, who are only zealous in applying an information learnt for the first few days. As time goes by, they tend to forget and eventually leave the practice.
In order to apply the advice that have been given by our scholars and teachers, we should first start by ask help from Allah, and doing so consistently. It is only by the will of Allah SWT that we are able to do things. After achieving something, most of us will credit our achievements to ourselves and our own hard work. We would attribute all goodness to our own efforts, but when faced with failures, we blame Allah; forgetting that we could not have achieved anything without his assistance. Without His help, we are unable to do anything. Asking Him and seeking His guidance is crucial, and He is sure to answer it, in His divine time and decision. Indeed, He knows what is best for us.
The path of being a knowledge seeker is not easy. However, the virtues and rewards are tremendous, and one must never lose the opportunity to learn and continuously seek wisdom for Allah SWT.
Thirdly, Striving to fight against nafs or lust (مجاهدة النفس)[3]. In order to understand the knowledge that we seek, we must strive to fight against our nafs or lust such as our laziness, and try to avoid things that will keep us away from Allah, such as worldly distractions and things that are non-beneficial. Only then will a knowledge seeker be able to get closer to Allah and be able to understand with Allah’s guidance. Allah says in the Quran:
وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَاۚ وَإِنَّ الله لَمَعَ المُحْسِنِينَ. [العنكبوت: ٦۹].
Meaning: “As for those who strive hard in Us (Our cause), We will surely guide them to Our paths (i.e. Allah’s religion – Islamic Monotheism). And verily, Allah is with the Muhsinun (Good doers).” [Al-‘Ankabut: 69].
This is the oath that Allah SWT has promised upon those who seek His divine knowledge.
Fourthly, know the priorities in studying Al-Quran, applying it and teaching it.
In order to understand the Quran, one must also know the priorities in learning it. One example would be in the hadith narrated by ‘Aisyah r.a about the person who is able to read the Quran well to be amongst the Angels (Safaratul Kiramul Bararah). In this hadith, Aisyah r.a said:
و عن عائشة رضي الله عنها قالت: ((الماهر بالقرآن مع السفرة الكرام البررة، والذي يقرأ القرآن و يتعتع [4] فيه وهو عليه شاق له أجران)).
Meaning: “Whoever is skilled in reciting the Quran will be with the honourable an obedient scribe (angels), and he who recites the Quran and finds it difficult to recite, doing his best to recite it in the best way possible, will have two rewards.”[5]
One must also know the priorities in learning Quran and its purpose If we are unaware, we may lose sense our of focus and end up like the pagans who merely followed without knowing the true purpose of their acts.
In conclusion, the path of being a knowledge seeker is not easy. However, the virtues and rewards are tremendous, and one must never lose the opportunity to learn and continuously seek wisdom for Allah SWT. May we all stay steadfast in our path of seeking knowledge, Ameen.
Bibliography:
an-Nawawi, Yahya bin Syarf Diin an-Nawawi, Al-Arba’un An-Nawawiyyah, tahqiq: ‘Ali bin Nayif Asy-Syuhud. First printing. 2013 M/1434 H.
al-Badr, ‘Abdur-Razzaq bin ‘Abdul Muhsin Al-Badr, At-Tibyaan Syarhu Akhlaaqi Hamalatil Quran, tahqiq: Daar Mirats An-Nabawi. First printing. 2019 M/1441 H. Saudi ‘Arabia: Daar Mirats An-Nabawi.
al-‘Ushoimi, Shalih bin Abdullah bin Hamd Al-‘Ushoimi, Fadhailul Quran, tahqiq: Abdullah bin Sholih bin Abdul Abdul Hamid. First printing. 2007 M/1428 H. Riyadh: Al-Ma’arif Quraniyyah.
Footnotes:
[1] ) Hasan Al-Bashri’s quote.
[2] Syaikh Abdur-Razzaq said: The situation that happened to most of us nowadays is: most of us after hearing an advice or taushiyyah, we’ll apply it, but maybe only for a day, two days or three days, then will easily forget it; because we’re too focused with the wordly things. He added: so, if one receives an advice, he needs two things: 1) Asking help from Allah, 2) Strive to fight against his nafs. So here, the Syaikh was trying to compare between us and the scholars when receiving an advice.
[3] See At-Tibyaan Syarhu Akhlaaqi Hamalatil Quran (pg, 51). What made Syaikh explained about this is when he found out the story of a companion named ‘Ashim bin Bahdalah when he tried to learn a hadith and was asked by another companion named Mush’ab bin Sa’ad within forty years.
[4] Syaikh Sholih al-‘Ushoimi explained in his book Fadhailul Quran the meaning of يتتعتع is to repeat in his reading, and his tongue is wet. See Fadhailul Quran (pg, 24).
[5] Al-Bukhari and Muslim, see Riyadhus Shalihin 994, book 8, hadith 4.