THE TWO ESSENTIALS
By the Shaykh Mashhoor ibn
Hasan[1]
Allaah - the Most Perfect, the Most High responded to the supplication of His Prophet Ibraaheem 'alayhis-salaam when he said:
"Our Lord!
Send to them a Messenger from themselves, reciting to them Your Signs, teaching
them the Book and the Wisdom and purifying them. Indeed You are the Most
Powerful, the Most Wise." [Soorah al-Baqarah 2:129].
So Allaah - the
Mighty and Majestic - said:
"It is
Allaah who has sent to the unlettered people a Messenger from amongst
themselves, reciting to them His Signs, purifying them and teaching them the
Book and the Wisdom, whereas before that, they had been in clear
misguidance." [Soorah al-Jumu'ah 62:2].
So here the
Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam has been characterized with two
tasks: ta'leem (teaching) and tazkiyah (purification). In his
request, Ibraaheem 'alayhis-salaam mentioned ta'leem before tazkiyah.
However, Allaah - the Mighty and Majestic - answered him, but by giving tazkiyah
precedence to ta'leem.
And Allaah
blessed the Believers by sending the Messenger who carried out these two tasks,
so He - the Mighty and Majestic - said:
"As We
sent to you a Messenger from amongst yourselves, reciting to you Our Signs,
purifying you, and teaching you the Book and the Wisdom, that which you did not
know." [Soorah
al-Baqarah 2:151]
So in this aayah
(verse) also, Allaah - the Mighty and Majestic - mentions purification before
teaching. Thus, as is known, purification is one of the fruits of acting upon
knowledge; and that knowledge causes harm for its possessor if it is not
accompanied by action. Indeed, whosoever increases in knowledge, but does not
increase in taqwaa (piety and obedience to Allaah), then let him be
suspicious about his knowledge.
Imaam Ibn
al-Qayyim (d.751H) rahimahullaah - said: "The Scholar who does not
act upon his knowledge, will be punished before the worshippers of idols."
And our Salaf
(Pious Predecessors) used to inherit purification from each other, as
part of good and fine manners. This was due to their sitting with the Shaykh
and accompanying him. So 'Abdullaah ibn Maslamah al-Qa'nabee (d.221H) said:
"We used to sit with Imaam Maalik and take from his manners and conduct,
just as we would take from his knowledge." [2]
However, in the
later generations, Sharee'ah knowledge has almost become restricted to
just colleges and universities and sitting in front of the doctors and teachers
for short periods of time. So the students do not take any benefit from good
manners and conduct - even if those teachers have a share of it. And we often
see and hear about many shortcomings of both the students and the teachers!
Thus, the religion has become weak, yaqeen (certainty of faith) has
dwindled, sabr (patient perseverance) - with its wide Islaamic understanding
- has passed away, as has zuhd (praiseworthy abstinence from this world)
except for those whom my Lord has mercy upon.
So knowledge
alone, without good manners and conduct, will not produce any fruit in a way
that the people can be benefited by its possessor - from what is seen and what
is spoken. And through seeking knowledge alone, the Muslims will not be saved
from hypocrisy. Rather, seeking knowledge must be accompanied by good manners
and conduct, so that he remains safe, derives benefit and is saved from sin and
its causes, and also from being burdened. This is attested to by what
at-Tirmidhee relates:
The Prophet sallallaahu
'alayhi wa sallam said:
"There are
two qualities which do not come together in a hypocrite: Good manners and
conduct, and the understanding of the religion."[3]
So in this hadeeth,
good manners and conduct are mentioned before understanding of the religion.
Indeed, the greatest and most valuable fruits of purification are sabr
(patience) and zuhd (praiseworthy abstinence from this world). Whilst
the greatest and most precious fruits of 'ilm (knowledge) is yaqeen
(certainty). So he who gains both patience and certainty, in this way, then he
is one of the leaders of the religion, and this is testified to by the saying
of Allaah - the Most High:
"We made
from them leaders, giving guidance by Our Command, because they had sabr
(patient perseverance) and had yaqeen (certainty) in Out Signs." [Soorah Sajdah
32:24].
So patience is
the fruit of purification, whilst certainty is the fruit of knowledge and
teaching. And here also patience is mentioned before certainty. Shaykhul-Islaam
Ibn Taymiyyah (d.728H) used to say: "Through sabr and yaqeen
leadership in the religion is attained."[4]
Indeed! That is so because he who gains
them both, then he has attained and actualized the two tasks of Allaah's
Messenger sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, and has thus become an
inheritor of the Prophet - and the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam
is the leader of all the leaders.
Finally, we
must draw attention to the Fact that the Salafus-Saaliheen (Pious
Predecessors) - may Allaah be pleased with them all - actualized these two
tasks and therefore they achieved rectification of themselves and rectification
of others. 'Abdullaah ibn al-Mubaarak (d.181H) used to say: "The latter
part of this Ummah will not be rectified, except by that which rectified its
first part: zuhd and yaqeen." And zuhd cannot be
attained except by means of sabr, which cannot be attained except
through tazkiyah (purification). And yaqeen cannot be attained
except through purified Sharee'ah knowledge.
So would that
we had realized that our misfortune lies in the absence of these two matters
from our lives, and that he who calls to them, persisting in this and refusing
to be pre-occupied from them by anything else, then he is upon the correct manhaj
(methodology) and upon the Straight Path.
[1] This article was taken from Al-Asaalah magazine (no.10 / Shawaal 1414H).
[2] The likes of this has been related by adh-Dhahabee in Siyaar A'laamun-Nubalaa (3/285).
[3] Saheeh: Related by at-Tirmidhee (no.2837), from Abu Hurayrah radiallaahu 'anhu. It was authenticated by Shaykh al-Albaanee in as-Saheehah.
[4] Related by Ibn al-Qayyim in Madaarijus-Saalikeen (1/132).