Contemplate

With our fast, busy, always-on-the-move lifestyles, we barely give ourselves a chance to stop and contemplate. Do we ever take time out to think about life, our choices and our future? Probably not. This is another trick from Shaytaan. He wants us to be to busy to contemplate. BUSY = Being Under Satan’s Yoke (i.e. under his control).

Therefore, a student of knowledge must take out time to think. In fact, Allah has asked everybody to do this in numerous ayaat of the Quran.

Contemplation also requires a bit of asceticism (zuhd). This means keeping away from people for a while. This does not mean monasticism which is what monks to (keep away from the real world all the time). A believer needs to mix with the world as necessary but everybody needs “me time”. Tahajjud ( pre-dawn prayers) is a good way of doing this as is itikaaf (seclusion in the masjid in the last ten days of Ramadan).

Reducing socialization will also increase asceticism and will improve a person’s chances of success. Look around. Don’t you see that all the “successful” personalities of today have their mind on their goals and have no place for useless gatherings? Subhan-Allah, this is something that even the disbelievers understand. So when will we get it?

Be patient

Patience – one simple world that encompasses a lot of meanings. Ibn al-Qayyim mentions that patience has three levels:

1. Patience in continuing to do good deeds (i.e. obey Allah)
2. Patience in keeping away from sins
3. Patience during trials

From this, we can understand that patience is needed in all our matters. As the quest for knowledge is a long and hard one, patient is a must.

Be humble and well mannered (because nobody likes nasty, arrogant people)

Many new students of knowledge think that completing one course makes them scholars! They start talking about what is lawful and what is forbidden. They argue with others and when doing so they act like - how does one put it? – toads. Yes, toads. They behave arrogantly (“I have so much knowledge now and my family is still so ignorant!”) and rudely (“You don’t know anything!”). Unfortunately, this disease harms the person as well as those around him. Those people witnessing him behave this way assume that knowledge is useless (“It didn’t improve you!”).

A student of knowledge must be humble. As his knowledge increase, his humility MUST grow. Once a student realizes that knowledge is vast, and that he himself knows nothing, he’ll be able to make that leap from arrogance to humility. It is said that saying “I don’t know” when one does not know is half of knowledge! We see many people (and if truth be told, we are amongst them) who are too ashamed to say these four little words. Instead, they pretend to know. This is dangerous as now the person is speaking without knowledge.

As for good manners, this is something that all Muslims need to have. This is a right of other people on us and we need to fulfill it. The Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) was the best of people and he was also the most well mannered one.

“Indeed in the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam)) you have a good example to follow for him who hopes in (the Meeting with) Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much.”³²

This is an area in which many people fall short unfortunately.

Your companions define who you are – so keep great ones!

As the saying goes, “One rotten apple spoils the barrel”.

The Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: “A person is upon the religion of his close friend, so beware whom you befriend."³³

Abu Musa (radiallahu 'anhu) narrated: The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said, "The example of a good companion (who sits with you) in comparison with a bad one, is I like that of the musk seller and the blacksmith's bellows (or furnace); from the first you would either buy musk or enjoy its good smell while the bellows would either burn your clothes or your house, or you get a bad nasty smell thereof."³⁴

Now is the time to learn how to REALLY benefit from a book or a lecture

Most of us yawned our way through high school and university. We slept during lectures and only the read the textbook on the night before the exam. Ah, the good old days. Unfortunately, that will not work with the precious knowledge of Islam. It requires you to work for it; otherwise it will just run away from you.

Therefore, one needs to LOVE books. Books are where the knowledge is trapped. However, a seeker of knowledge must always study a book under a teacher as the scholars are the ones with the keys to books (i.e. the keys to understanding).

The etiquette of student during his lectures is mentioned in a later section.

As for the etiquette of learning from a book or an audio lecture, then the simplest, most important advice that anybody good ever give you is TAKE NOTES. There is no point in mindlessly reading the book or listening to the lecture. One needs to interact by taking notes. Take good, comprehensive notes. Taking notes does NOT mean that you copy the book or transcribe the lecture word-for-word. What it means is that you should be able to capture the important points and be able to explain them. Summarising information is a skill that is needed for the seeker. You can’t expect to read a 500 page book again and again and again. Rather, one can make life easy by summarizing the information in a manner that catches all the important points (along with their references).

In fact, a real student of knowledge needs to take notes all the time. He needs to keep a notebook handy where he can record his questions (a very important aspect), his thoughts, etc. For today’s generation, Microsoft One Note (a virtual notebook) would do the trick if one is used to typing rather than writing.

Taking notes needs to be followed by studying. In the Islamic sciences, memorization is a very important aspect to attaining knowledge. Once this is done, constant revision is necessary.

Abdullah (radiallahu 'anhu) narrated: The Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said, "It is a bad thing that some of you say, 'I have forgotten such-and-such verse of the Quran,' for indeed, he has been caused (by Allah) to forget it. So you must keep on reciting the Quran because it escapes from the hearts of men faster than camel do."³⁵

These days, we study from books other than the Quran as well, therefore we need to revise even more.

Comprehend and APPLY knowledge

Many times we gain knowledge but fail to apply it. However, knowledge is sought in order to be able to apply it. Actions are the fruit of knowledge. So, we need to understand what we study and apply it accordingly. The Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) did just that which is why his wife Aishah (radiallahu 'anha) described him as a walking Quran.

Don’t waste your time

Time is something that all people (rich, poor, past, present, fair, dark, etc) have in common. Every human being from the time of Adam ('alayhi salaam) onwards only has 24 hours in a day. The difference between people then is the way they spend this time. The successful ones are the ones that squeeze every minute for what it’s worth. All they are acts are done for Allah’s sake therefore Allah blesses their time. This is why we see some people who can get so much done as opposed do those who cannot anything done in the same amount of time. Money can be recovered but time cannot be.

Sleep less, eat less and talk less

Oh yes. The above will increase your time, decrease your weight and make you a dignified individual as opposed to an obese, lazy chatterbox.

The Etiquettes of the Student of Knowledge with HIS TEACHER

This topic might seem to be unnecessary. After all, everyone has had teachers and we all know how to behave with them, right? If only that were truly the case…

Choose a good teacher

Everyone wants to study under the best so we should search for a knowledgeable teacher. Not only that, he should be someone who exhibits the good manners of the scholars.

Make sure that this scholar is not from Ahlul bidaa (the people of innovation). Why? Well, as Ibn Sireen said, “This knowledge is the religion, so be careful from whom you take your knowledge.”

If we learn under someone who does not follow the way of the Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam), we will be misled and this knowledge will not benefit us at all.

Display good manners towards your teacher

Be polite to your teacher. Teachers are considered second parents and nobody would have a good opinion of those who are rude to their parents.

Your teacher is a human so he will make mistakes. Don’t rub your hands with glee when he does so. Rather, we should tolerate his errors and correct him politely. This doesn’t mean we take his words as revelation and go overboard some people do (you know who) in being good to our teachers.

Show enthusiasm during lessons and take notes

There is nothing more depressing for a lecturer then an audience that’s half-asleep. Granted, some people are better public speakers then others. Still, not everyone can be that way. In either case, we need to pay attention in our lessons and take notes.

Ask questions where necessary

Maymoom ibn Mihran said, “Asking questions in a good manner is half of knowledge.”³⁶

Raise hands when asking questions and please do not cut off the poor teacher in mid-speech.