Part 7

‘The author, may Allah have mercy upon him, discusses this issue at length in his treatise, Mas’alab al Sam‘

THE EXCELLENCE OF KNOWLEDGE

Whoever suffices with this, makes his intention sincere - seeking the Face of Allah, Mighty and Magnificent - and seeks His aid, He will aid him, guide him, grant him the divine accord, make him firm, grant him understanding, and bestow upon him inspiration. At this juncture this knowledge will sprout its special fruit: the fear of Allah, just as He, Mighty and Magnificent, says,

It is only the learned amongst His servants who truly fear Allah.'"

Ibn Mas‘id and others said, ‘Sufficient knowledge is it that one fears Allah, and sufficient ignorance is it to be deceived of Allah." Some of the Salaf said, ‘Knowledge is not narrating a great deal but knowledge is the fear of Allah.” Others said, ‘Whoever fears Allah is the scholar and whoever disobeys him is the ignoramus.”" There are many quotes from them carrying this meaning,

' Tbn ‘Abdu'l-Barr #1514; Ahmad, a/-Zuhd, p. 158; iba Abi Shaybah and it is sahih.

bn ‘Abdu’l-Barr #962 and Suyati, a/-Durr al-Manthar, vol. 4, p. 470, also quotes the saying of Masriiq, ‘Sufficient knowledge is it that one fear Allah, and sufficient ignorance is it for one to be deceived by his own actions.’ It is also sahih.

1 Tbn ‘Abdu’l-Barr #1400-1401; Tabarani, a/-Kabir #8534 as the words of ibn Mas‘id.

Haythami, vol. 10, p. 235, declared the isnad to be mungati’. ' Tbn ‘Abdu’l-Barr #1544 quotes the first half as a statement of ‘Ata’ with a

da‘if isnad. However the meaning is established and quoted from a group of the Salaf as referenced in Suydti, a/-Durr al-Mantbur, vol. 5, p. 470.

2.10 Beneficial Knowledge with regards the ‘Inner Sciences’

The reason for this is that beneficial knowledge effectuates two matters:

1. Knowledge of Allah and what befits Him of Beautiful Names, Lofty Attributes, and Awe-Inspiring Actions. This necessarily leads to venetating Him, glorifying Him, having fear of Him, being in awe of Him, loving Him, having hope in Him, putting ones reliance in Him, being content with His decree, and bearing His trials with patience.

2. Knowledge of what He loves and is pleased with and that which He detests and angers Him of beliefs, actions - the outer and inner, and statements. This leads one to rush towards performing that which Allah loves and is pleased with and avoiding all that He detests and angers Him.

When knowledge sprouts these fruits, it is beneficial knowledge. When knowledge is beneficial and takes root in the heart, the heart fears Allah, submits to Him, and humbles itself in awe, glorification, fear, love, and veneration. When this happens the soul is content with the humblest of lawful worldly provisions and this in turn leads it to turn away from the world and all temporal effects. As such their remains no property, status, or surplus effects that is looked at wantonly by the servant which would be a cause for the decrease of his portion with Allah of the bliss of the Hereafter. This was stated by ibn ‘Umar and others from amongst the Salaf and has been reported from the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him.

When all of this happens, a special relationship between Allah, Mighty and Magnificent, and the servant is engendered. If he asks, He grants, and and if he supplicates, He answers as is mentioned in the hadith qudsi, “...my servant continues to draw closer

THE EXCELLENCE OF KNOWLEDGE

to Me by performing the optional deeds until I love him. When I love him, I am his hearing by which he hears, his sight by which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his leg with which he walks. Were he to ask of Me, I would grant him, and were he to take refuge with Me, I would grant him refuge,”!> and in another narration, “Were he to supplicate to Me, I would tespond.”""

In his, peace and blessing be upon him, advice that was directed to ibn ‘Abbas there occurs, “Be mindful of Ailah, He will be mindful of you. Be mindful of Allah and you will find Him in front of you. Know Allah in times of ease and He will know you in times of hardship.”"””

The goal of the servant is that there be, in his heart, a specific gnosis between him and His Lord whereby he finds Him close all the time and takes comfort with Him in times of solitude. He finds pleasure in remembering Him, supplicating to Him, privately discoursing with Him, and serving Him. None would experience this except he who obeys Him in open and in secret. It was asked of Wuhayb ibn al-Ward, ‘Can one who disobeys [Allah] experience the sweetness of obedience?’ He replied, ‘No, and neither can one who merely wishes to disobey him,”

"5 Bukhari #6502 on the authority of Aba Hurayrah.

1% Ahmad #26193 on the authority of ‘A’ishah. Refer to Haythami, vol. 10, p. 269; and ibn Rajab, Jami‘ al-'Ulim, vol. 2, pp. 330+.

2.10 Beneficial Knowledge with regards the ‘Inner Sciences’

When this is actualised in the servant, he can then be said to have gnosis of his Lord and a special relationship develops between the two such that when he asks, He grants; when he supplicates, He answers. Sha‘wanah said to Fudayl when he asked her to supplicate for him, ‘Does there not exist between you and your Lord a relationship such that if you supplicate to Him, he answers you?’ upon which he fell unconscious.”

Tt was asked of Ma‘rif, ‘What is it that has roused in you the desire for seclusion?” The questioner mentioned death, the grave, the place of the final standing, Paradise and Hell as possible causes to which he replied, ‘All of this is in His hand, when there exists a gnosis between you and Him, He suffices you during all of this.’

So beneficial knowledge is that which engenders a gnosis be-

Abi Nu‘aym, vol. 8, p. 116 #11567, the narrative continues to quote Fudayl as

saying, ‘Ennoble us with the nobility of obedience and do not humiliate us with the humiliation of disobedience.’

"" Gl Barzakh, refers to a batrier placed between a person who has deceased and this worldly life. It is a way of referring to the first stages of the life of the Hereafter. A very good treatment of a/-Barzakh and the issues related to it can be found in Muhammad al-Jibaly, ‘Life in a/-Bargakh' [Al-Kitaab & As-Sunnab publishing, 1998}.

THE EXCELLENCE OF KNOWLEDGE

tween the servant and his Lord and leads to it such that he comes to know his Lord, singles him out alone in belief and worship, takes comfort in Him, develops a sense of shyness (Aaya’) of Him, and worships Him as if he sees Him.

This is why a group of the Companions said, ‘The first knowledge to be raised from the people would by humility (Ahusha)."""' Ibn Mas‘id said, ‘There are people who recite the Qur’an yet it does not descend beyond their throats; were it to reach the heart and take root therein, it is then that it would benefit."

al-Hasan said, ‘Knowledge is of two types: knowledge that is superficial utterance upon the tongue, that is Allah’s proof against the children of Adam; and knowledge that takes root in the heart and that is beneficial knowledge.’'"* The Salaf used to say, ‘The scholars are of three categories: the scholar who knows Allah and His commands; the scholar who knows Allah but not His commands; and the scholar who knows His commands but does not know Allah. The best and most complete of them is the first - he is the one who truly fears Allah and knows His rulings.’"*

The fundamental matter here is that the servant uses knowl-

‘Ahmad #23990 from Shaddad bin Aws and it was ruled sahih by ibn Hibban #4572 and Hakim #337 with Dhahabi agreeing; Tirmidhi #2653 on the authority of ‘Ubadah ibn al-Samit and he said it was hasan gharib and it was ruled sahih by Hakim #338 with Dhahabi agreeing; and Hakim #8448 on the authority of Hudhayfah and he said it was sahih.

"2 Muslim #822 ‘8 Darimi #376 and ibn Abi Shaybah, vol. 13, p. 235 and ic is sahih.

‘4 Darimi #375 and ibn ‘Abdu’l-Barr #1543 on the authority of Sufyan ibn “Uyaynah and the isnad is sahih.

2.11 The Foundation of Knowledge

edge to engender a gnosis of his Lord. When this comes to fruition he will find Him close. When this happens, He will bring him close and answer his supplications. It is mentioned in a JudeoChristian narration, ‘Son of Adam! Seek me and you will find Me, when you find Me you will find everything. However if you don’t find Me, you will have lost everything. I am more beloved to you than anything else.”

Dha’l-Nin used to repeat these verses by night,

2.11 The Foundation of Knowledge

Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy upon him, used to say about Ma‘raf, ‘He possesses the foundation of knowledge: the fear of Allah.’ Therefore the foundation of knowledge is that knowledge which leads to fearing Him, loving Him, drawing close to Him, taking comfort with Him, and ardently desiring Him. Then this is followed by knowledge of the rulings of Allah, all that He loves and is pleased with from the servant of statement, action, spiritual condition, and belief. Whoever realises these two types of knowledge has found beneficial knowledge; he has attained beneficial knowledge, a fearful heart, a content soul, and a supplication that is responded to.

THE EXCELLENCE OF KNOWLEDGE

Whoever does not attain this knowledge will fall into the four matters that the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, sought refuge from and his knowledge will actually become a source of misery for him and a proof against him. He will not benefit by it because it did not make his heart fearful of his Lord, it did not satisfy the desires of the soul for this world, rather it only strengthened it, his supplication went unheard because he did not obey the commands of his Lord and avoid all that He detests and angers Him. This provided that his knowledge is that knowledge from which benefit can be hoped, ie. that knowledge derived from the Book and Sunnah. Whatever knowledge may be derived from other than these two sources is not beneficial and there is no hope of deriving benefit through it, indeed its harm is greater than its benefit!