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Indications
of beneficial Knowledge
Indications
that knowledge is beneficial are that it leads to fine character, good
manners, praiseworthy attributes and Taqwa (fear of Allah). He whose
knowledge does not cause him to weep, can be justifiably considered not to
have been granted beneficial knowledge; since Allah described the people
of knowledge saying:
“Say
believe in it (the Qur’aan) or do not believe. Verily, those who were
given the knowledge before it, when it is recited to them, fall down on
their faces in humble prostration. And they say: “Glory be our Lord!
Truly the promise of our Lord must be fulfilled. And they fall down on
their faces weeping and it adds to their humility.” [Soorah Al-Israa
(17): 107-109]
Indeed,
expression of grief and fear (through weeping) is the clearest sign and
best proof of the knowledge one possesses and one’s truthfulness. Since
he is acquainted about Allah’s Exalted, Perfect, Lofty Attributes, which
causes his heart to humble. He has read in the Book of Allah and the
sayings of Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam), texts
pertaining to the Fire, the terrors of grave and the fearful accounts of
the Resurrection which brings about fear in his heart and causes his eyes
to shed tears, verses pertaining to Paradise and everlasting bliss compel
him to strive for it. He turns to Allah in humbleness, invoking Allah with
sincerity, for his sins to be forgiven in this life and the Hereafter,
hoping to attain the Pleasure of Allah, entering Paradise and being saved
from the Fire.
And
Indeed this act of his i.e. supplication, is a cause of attaining the Love
and Pleasure Allah :
The
Prophet of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) emphasized the fact that
invocation is the noblest and the best form of worship as indicated in his
saying: “Invocation is worship” [Abu Dawood and Saheeh at-Tirmidhee #
2590]
“The
best form of worship is invocation.” [Al-Hakim and others. As-Silsilah
as-Saheehah # 1579]
He
(sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) further said: “No form of worship is
better in the sight of Allah than invocation”
However,
the servant is not granted the acceptance unless he is sincere and true in
his supplication, as the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam)
said: “… and know that Allah doesn’t accept the invocation of an
averted, inattentive heart.”
And
certainly, invocation is one of the means of relieving oneself from the
Fire. As Allah says in His Book:
And
as indicated in the saying of Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi
wa-sallam), When Aa’isha (radhi allahu anha) asked the Messenger of
Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) about Abu Jud’aan Sayin, “O
Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam), in the days of
Jahiliyah, Ibn Jud’aan would join ties of relationship and feed the
poor, so will that benefit him any?” He said: “No, O Aaisha t! He
never once said: “O my Lord, forgive me my sins on the Day of
Judgement.”
So
Ibn Jud’aan’s not turning to Allah in supplication caused him eternal
abode of Hellfire.
Sufyaan
Ath-Thawree, rahimahullaah, said: "The excellence of knowledge is due
only to the fact that it causes a person to fear and obey Allah, otherwise
it is just like anything else." [Related by ibn Rajab]
Consequently, Knowledge that leads to (Taqwa) fear Allah, supplicate to Him with humbleness and sincerity, is the beneficial Knowledge.
How
to Acquire Knowledge?
Knowledge
is acquired by exploring and studying the Deen of Islaam, known according
to the saying of Allah’s Messenger: “Knowledge is acquired by
studying..”
Sources
of Knowledge.
Narrated
Jabir Ibn Abdullah (radhi allahu anhu): “When Allah’s Messenger
(sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) gave a Khutbah (sermon) his eyes became
reddened, his voice raised, and his anger grew to the extent that it were
as if he were one exhorting an army saying. “They will attack you
morning and evening,” and he would say, “I have been sent along with
the (Last) Hour like these two and he joined his forefingers and middle
finger, and would say, “To proceed: Indeed the best speech is the book
of Allah and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad and the worst
affairs are the newly invented matters, and every innovation is
misguidance.”
From
Abdullah ibn Mas’ood (radhi allahu anhu) who said: “Allah’s
Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) drew a line for us, then he said:
“This is my Way.” Then he drew lines to it’s right and left and
said: “These are different ways, upon each is a devil calling to it.”
Then he recited: “And verily this is my straight path, so follow it, and
do not follow other paths for they will separate you away from His
Path.”
Clarification
of the way
Al-Irbaad
Ibn Saaryah who said: “Allah’s Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam)
gave us an admonition which caused our to shed tears and the hearts to
fear, so we said: “O Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam),
this is as if it were a farewell sermon, so with what do you counsel
us?” So he (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said, “I have left you upon
clear proofs, its night if like its day, no one deviates from it except
one who is destroyed, and whoever lives (long) from amongst you will see
great controversy. So stick to what you know from my Sunnah and the Sunnah
of the orthodox, rightly guided caliphs. Cling to that with your molar
teeth, and stick to obedience even if it is took an Abyssinian slave since
the believer is like the submissive camel, wherever he is led, he
follows.”
So
the way is white and pure, manifest and untainted, such that its night is
like its day! And so are the its signposts, as mentioned in the hadeeth of
Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam):
Consequently,
the two main signposts for this way are the Book and the Sunnah, there is
a fine point here which must be noted and mentioned, that being the matter
of how these two references points are to be understood – and the answer
is that it can only be understood by the criterion.
The
Criterion
Allah’s
Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) was asked: “Which of the people
are the best?” So he replied: “Myself and those with me, and
then those who follow them, and then those who follow them.”
Then
it is as if he declined those who remained. So the criterion for the
correct understanding of the Book and the Sunnah is the practice of the
Companions and those who followed their way after them since they are the
best of the people, and those who do not follow their way contain no good.
Whoever claims to be following the Book and the Sunnah without this
criterion, then without doubt they are going astray.
What
to start with?
Tawheed
is the first matter, which is obligatory for a person to have knowledge
of, since it is the first pillar of Islam, one does not enter Islam
without it.
This
is also known by the hadeeth narrated by Ibn Abbaas (radhi allahu anhu):
“When the Prophet of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) sent Mua’dh
(radhi allahu anhu) to the people of Yemen he said to him: “You are
going to the people of the Book. So let the first thing you call them to
that they should make all worship solely for Allaah, the Most High. So if
they realize that then inform them that Allah has obliged upon them zakaat
from their wealth – to be taken from their riches and given to their
poor. If they accept then take it from them, but avoid the best part of
the people’s property.
Allah,
the All Merciful, also emphasized this essence by pointing out to the
basis of salvation i.e. Tawheed without which, it is impossible to be
forgiven. He said:
“Verily!
Allah forgives not (the sin of) setting up partners with Allah in worship
with Him, but He forgives whom he pleases sins other than that, and
whomever sets up partners in worship with Allah, has indeed strayed far
away.”
The
above mentioned verses establish that Allah orders us through Prophet
Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam), to know first that La ilaha illa
Allah i.e. Tawheed and then ask forgiveness, he also emphasized that He
does not forgive shirk (i.e. setting up rivals in worship with Him) except
complete Tawheed, therefore most importantly a Muslim must seek the
knowledge of Allah’s Unity, Tawheed, which opposes Shirk and all that
relates to it in the first place.
This
essence is also manifested when we contemplate over the Manhaj (way) of
Prophet Muhammad’s (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) Dawah. He (sallallahu
alaihi wa-sallam) after attaining the Prophet-hood lived in Makkah for 13
years. In this entire period he (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) invited
people to affirm of only one formula, he (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam)
said: “O People say ‘La ilaha illalla’ and you will prosper.”
Apart from this there was no mentioning of performing Prayers, Fasting,
Zakaat, Hajj etc. The invitation was only to one belief viz; the Unity of
Allah. The main theme of the Prophet of Allah (sallallahu alaihi
wa-sallam) during his life in Makkah was to lay a strong foundation in the
Unity of Allah.
As
the Prophet’s wife – Aaishah (radhi allahu anha) narrated, “(Be
informed) that the first thing that was revealed thereof was a Soorah from
Al-Mufassal, and in it was mentioned Paradise and the Fire. When the
people embraced Islam, the Verses regarding legal and illegal things were
revealed. If the first thing to be revealed was: 'Do not drink alcoholic
drinks,' people would have said, 'We will never leave alcoholic drinks,'
and if there had been revealed, 'Do not commit illegal sexual
intercourse,' they would have said, 'We will never give up illegal sexual
intercourse.' While I was a young girl of playing age, the following Verse
was revealed in Mecca to Muhammad: 'Nay! But the Hour is their appointed
time (for their full recompense), and the Hour will be more grievous and
more bitter.' [Soorah al-Qamar (54): 46] [Sahih al-Bukhari vol.6, no.515.]
This
is because all the actions depend on the heart’s conviction (belief) and
therefore, heart is considered as the most important organ of the body,
known in a Hadeeth of Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said:
“Indeed,
there is a piece of flesh in your body that, if it be sound, then the
whole body will be sound and if it be corrupt then the whole body will be
corrupt. Indeed, it is the heart.” [Saheeh Muslim (4/6221)]
