25. THE VIRTUE OF PEOPLE OF KNOWLEDGE
Glory be to the One who granted people scholars (‘ulama) and jurists (fuqaha) who understand the objectives {maqsud} of religious orders. They are the preservers of religion, so may Allah reward them handsomely. The devil {Shaytan) avoids them out of fear (kawf) from them, for they are able to harm him and he is unable to harm them.
The devil deceives those with little knowledge (ilm) and understanding (fahm). One of his most amazing deceptions is that he deceives them into abandoning seeking knowledge (tarq al-‘ilm), and into attacking those who do. Little do they understand that this is an attack {qadh) on the Sharfah itself. The Messenger said: “Deliver (what I say) to others.”
And his Lord ordered him to:
“Deliver (the message)” [al-Ma’idah (5):67]
If a person does not busy himself with seeking knowledge then how will he transmit religion to others?
Things like this were said by many major ascetics (kihdr al-^uhhcid). Bishr al-Hafi told ’Abbas Ibn ‘Abdu’l-‘AzIm: ‘Do not sit with seekers of hadith (ashab al-hadith).’
And told Ishaq Ibn al-Daif: ‘You are a student of hadith (sahib al-hadith) so I would like for you not to attend my sessions again.’
He explained his position by saying: “hadith is a form of fitnah, except for those who seek it for Allah’s sake, and if it is not acted upon, then it is better to abandon it.’ This is strange of him. How did he know that hadith students were not sincere or that they do not act upon the knowledge?
There are two types of actions, the first includes obligatory actions. Everyone is obligated to perform them. The second includes voluntary actions (nafila) and they are not obligatory (fard). Busying with [learning] hadith (tashagul bi’l-hadith) is better than performing voluntary fasting (sawm) and prayer [salah).
I think that he was referring to his (own) method of praying at night [tahajjud) and being always in state of hunger (ju). These are things that we cannot blame others for abandoning. If what he meant was not to learn the science of hadith (ulum al-hadith) excessively, then this is also wrong, because all forms of seeking hadith [talab al-hadith) are praiseworthy [mahmud).
If people abandoned hadith then only those like Bishr would be left to give verdicts [fatawa)
So beware of paying attention to the opinion of he who is not a jurist (faqih). And never mind his popular name. May Allah forgive him.
(Source: al-Hafiz Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-jawzl [d. 597AH] “CAPTURED THOUGHTS being” a translation of his masterpiece ‘Sayd al-K hatir)
Comments
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
John Doe
23/3/2019Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.