الفصل الثامن: في مراتب العلم وشرفه وما يلحق بهBab 01 Fasl 08 — Ranks Merit and Benefits of Knowledge

Chapter Eight: On the Ranks of Knowledge, Its Nobility, and Matters Connected with It

It contains notices.

The First Notice: On Its Nobility and Excellence

I have confined myself, among the verses and reports transmitted on this subject, to a small selection, because they are well known and the proof is strong. God Most High said: {God will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge by degrees}. He also said: {Say: Are those who know equal to those who do not know?} And He said: {God bears witness that there is no god but He, as do the angels and those endowed with knowledge, maintaining justice}. Consider how He placed the people of knowledge third; this alone suffices as an indication of their nobility, excellence, veneration, and honor.

He said: {Only those of His servants who possess knowledge fear God}. And He said: {Say: God is sufficient as a witness between me and you, and whoever possesses knowledge of the Book}. And He said: {The one who possessed knowledge from the Book said: I shall bring it to you}. This indicates that he was able to accomplish it through the power of knowledge.

And He said: {Those who were given knowledge said: Woe to you; the reward of God is better for whoever believes and acts righteously}. This makes clear that the immense worth of the Hereafter is known through knowledge.

And He said: {None comprehend them except those who possess knowledge}.

And He said: {Those among them who investigate it would have known it}.

And He said: {We brought them a Book which We explained in detail, based on knowledge}.

And He said: {We shall surely recount to them with knowledge}.

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And He said: {Rather, it consists of clear signs in the breasts of those who were given knowledge}.

And He said: {He created the human being; He taught him articulate expression}, and there are other verses besides these.

It is related from Mu'aadh ibn Jabal, may God Most High be pleased with him, that he said: The Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “Learn knowledge, for learning it for God Most High is fear of Him; seeking it is worship; studying it together is glorification; investigating it is striving; teaching it to one who does not know it is charity; and giving it to those entitled to it is an act of drawing near. It is the landmarks of the lawful and the unlawful, the beacon of the paths of the people of Paradise, the companion in solitude, the companion in foreignness, the conversational companion in seclusion, the guide in ease and hardship, the weapon against enemies, and adornment among close companions. Through it God Most High raises peoples, making them leaders and guides in goodness, whose traces are followed and whose deeds are emulated. The angels desire their companionship and wipe them with their wings. Every moist and dry thing, the fish of the sea and its creatures, and the beasts of the land and its livestock seek forgiveness for them. Knowledge is the life of hearts against ignorance and lamps for eyes against darkness. Through knowledge the servant reaches the stations of the excellent and the highest degrees in this world and the Hereafter. Reflection upon it equals fasting, and studying it together equals vigil. Through it ties of kinship are maintained, and through it the lawful and unlawful are known. It is the leader, and action follows it; the fortunate are inspired to it, while the wretched are deprived of it.” Ibn 'Abd al-Barr included it with its chain in his book Jaami' Bayaan al-'Ilm and said: “It is a very good hadith, though its chain contains weakness.” It has also been transmitted through various routes as a statement attributed to Mu'aadh. It may be said that an attributed statement in such a matter has the status of a raised report, since its like is not spoken by personal opinion. Aboo Hurayrah, may God be pleased with him, related: The Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “When a human being dies, his works cease except for three: an ongoing charity, knowledge from which benefit is derived, or a righteous child who prays for him.” Muslim related it. He also related that the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “Whoever follows a path seeking knowledge, God makes easy for him by it a path to Paradise.” Muslim related it.

Aboo al-Dardaa', may God be pleased with him, said: I heard the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, say: “Whoever follows a path seeking knowledge, God takes him by it along one of the paths of Paradise. The angels lower their wings in satisfaction with the seeker of knowledge. Those in the heavens and earth, and the fish in the depths of the water, seek forgiveness for the scholar. The superiority of the scholar over the worshipper is like the superiority of the full moon over all the stars. The scholars are the heirs of the prophets. The prophets did not leave behind a dinar or a dirham; rather, they left knowledge. Whoever takes it has taken an abundant share.” Ahmad, al-Tirmidhee, Aboo Daawood, Ibn Maajah, and al-Daarimee related it.

Aboo Umaamah al-Baahilee, may God be pleased with him, said: Two men were mentioned to the Messenger of God, one a worshipper and the other a scholar. The Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “The superiority of the scholar over the worshipper is like my superiority over the least of you.” Then he said: “God, His angels, and the inhabitants of the heavens and earth—even the ant in its burrow and the fish—invoke blessings upon the teacher of good.” al-Tirmidhee related it.

Aboo Sa'eed al-Khudree, may God be pleased with him, said: The Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “People follow you, and men will come to you from the regions of the earth to gain understanding of the religion. When they come to you, counsel one another to treat them well.” al-Tirmidhee related it. Aboo Hurayrah, may God be pleased with him, related that the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “The word of wisdom is the lost property of the wise person; wherever he finds it, he has the greatest right to it.” al-Tirmidhee related it and said: “It is unusual”; its transmitter, Ibraaheem ibn al-Fadhl, is considered weak in hadith, and Ibn Maajah also related it.

[Edition footnote 1] He is Yoosuf ibn 'Abd Allaah ibn Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Barr al-Namaree al-Qurtubee al-Maalikee, one of the great hadith preservers, a historian, literary scholar, and researcher, known as the hadith preserver of the Maghrib, 368–463 AH = 978–1071 CE. He authored many books; the full title of this one is Jaami' Bayaan al-'Ilm wa-Fadhlihi, and it is published.

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The wisdom intended in this hadith is the Sunnah, not Greek philosophy, as indicated by His saying: {He teaches them the Book and wisdom}. The hadith scholars—may God Most High increase their number—traveled throughout the regions of the earth seeking it. After extensive examination and arduous investigation in distant lands and remote cities, they were most entitled to it and its people wherever they found it. They collected it in the compendia of Islam and followed the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: “Convey from me, even if only one verse.” al-Bukhaaree related it from 'Abd Allaah ibn 'Amr. May God Most High reward them on our behalf and on behalf of all Muslims with the best of rewards.

Ibn 'Abbaas, may God be pleased with them both, related that the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “A single jurist is harder on Satan than a thousand worshippers.” al-Tirmidhee and Ibn Maajah related it. The jurisprudence intended in this hadith and others like it is understanding the Book and the Sunnah, not the technical jurisprudence known today. Anas, may God be pleased with him, related that the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim, and placing knowledge with those unworthy of it is like putting jewels and pearls around the necks of swine.” Ibn Maajah related it. al-Bayhaqee related it in Shu'ab al-Eemaan up to the words “every Muslim” and said: “The text of this hadith is well known, but its chain is weak.” It has been transmitted through routes all of which are weak.

Anas related that the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “Whoever goes out seeking knowledge is in the path of God until he returns.” al-Tirmidhee and al-Daarimee related it. Sakhrabah al-Azdee related that the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “Whoever seeks knowledge, it is an expiation for what has preceded.” al-Tirmidhee and al-Daarimee related it. al-Tirmidhee said: “This hadith has a weak chain,” and its transmitter Aboo Daawood is considered weak.

Aboo Sa'eed al-Khudree, may God be pleased with him, said: The Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “The believer never has enough of good that he hears until his end is Paradise.” al-Tirmidhee related it. The good intended here is knowledge. This indicates that the period of seeking extends from the cradle to the grave, and that the outcome of seeking knowledge is Paradise. This is glad tidings—what glad tidings—for whoever teaches or learns. May God make us among its people and gather us in the company of those who belong to it. Aboo Hurayrah, may God be pleased with him, related that the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “Whoever learns knowledge by which God's face is sought, learning it only to obtain some worldly gain, shall not smell the fragrance of Paradise on the Day of Resurrection”—meaning its scent. Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, and Ibn Maajah related it. If this is the judgment concerning the praiseworthy seeker of knowledge, what then do you think of the seeker of blameworthy knowledge, such as the sciences of the Greeks? Ibraaheem ibn 'Abd al-Rahmaan al-'Udhri related that the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “This knowledge will be carried by the trustworthy of every generation; they will remove from it the distortion of the extremists, the inventions of the false, and the interpretations of the ignorant.” al-Bayhaqee related it in al-Madkhal as a mursal report. From al-Hasan, also as a mursal report, it is related that the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “Whoever is overtaken by death while seeking knowledge in order to revive Islam will be one degree below the prophets in Paradise.” al-Daarimee related it.

O God, You know that I have sought knowledge from the beginning of awareness until this point, and that, God willing, I shall seek it until the end of life. My purpose in it is only to revive the purified Sunnah, extinguish innovation, guide learners, advise Muslims, awaken those who sleep, and alert the heedless. I am the namesake of Your Messenger's caliph, Aboo Bakr al-Siddeeq, may God be pleased with him, and the siddeeqee rank follows the prophetic rank. Accept my hope in this, lead me by Your mercy to Your Paradise, O Most Merciful of the merciful. I have loved Your Messenger, his Companions, the early imams, and the later people of truth who spoke according to Your Messenger's teaching, neither associating partners nor introducing innovation. Gather me with them and place me beside them in the abode of bliss; a person is with those he loves, even if he has not performed their deeds or exerted himself in obedience as they did. O God, amen.

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'Alee, may God be pleased with him, related that the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “What an excellent man is the jurist in religion”—that is, the scholar of the Book and the Sunnah—“when he is needed, he benefits others; and when he is not needed, he is self-sufficient.” Razeen related it. Waathilah ibn al-Asqa' related that the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said: “Whoever seeks knowledge and attains it shall have two shares of reward; if he does not attain it, he shall have one share of reward.” al-Daarimee related it.

'Aa'ishah, may God be pleased with her, said: I heard the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, say: “God, Mighty and Majestic, revealed to me that whoever follows a path in seeking knowledge, I shall make easy for him the road to Paradise. The superiority of knowledge is greater than the superiority of worship, and the foundation of religion is scrupulous piety.” al-Bayhaqee related it in Shu'ab al-Eemaan.

Ibn 'Abbaas said: “Studying knowledge together for an hour at night is better than spending the whole night in worship.” al-Daarimee related it. In a raised report from Ibn 'Amr: “I was sent only as a teacher.” al-Daarimee related it. From al-A'mash, in a raised report: “The affliction of knowledge is forgetfulness.” al-Daarimee related it as a mursal report. Reports and traditions concerning the nobility of knowledge and the excellence of the scholar, teacher, learner, and seeker of knowledge are exceedingly numerous and cannot all be accommodated here. The imaam, hadith authority, and guide of people to the clear path, Muhammad ibn Abee Bakr al-Qayyim, authored a two-volume work, Miftaah Daar al-Sa'aadah, on the virtues of knowledge and related matters. It is a precious book, rare in its aims; God bestowed it upon me and showed me kindness through it.

The knowledge intended in the aforementioned hadiths is knowledge of religion and the manifest law: knowledge of the Noble Book and the purified Sunnah, with nothing third alongside them. It does not mean the newly developed sciences, ancient and modern, to which people in these times have devoted themselves and in which they have immersed themselves, thereby being prevented from considering the sciences of faith and distracted from attending to what God Most High and His Messenger, the master of humankind and jinn, intended. Thus knowledge of the Qur'aan has become abandoned, knowledge of hadith obscured, and the crafts of peoples of unbelief and irreligion have appeared, being called sciences, arts, and perfected accomplishments, increasing each day. Truly, we belong to God and to Him we return. My two books, al-Hittah and al-Jannah fee al-Uswah al-Hasanah bi-al-Sunnah, have addressed the soundness and excellence of the six canonical collections and the virtue of knowledge of the Sunnah. Whoever wishes to go beyond this amount may consult them; they will give complete insight into this subject. God knows best what is correct.

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The Second Notice: That Knowledge Is the Most Pleasurable and Most Beneficial of Things

It contains teachings.

The First Teaching: Its Pleasure

Know that the nobility of a thing is either intrinsic or due to something else. Knowledge possesses both forms of nobility: it is pleasurable in itself and is sought for its own sake, and it is pleasurable through what lies beyond it and is sought for that end. As for the first, its people know that no pleasure surpasses it, for it is spiritual pleasure and pure pleasure. Bodily pleasure, in reality, is the removal of pain: the pleasure of eating is the removal of hunger, and the pleasure of intercourse is the removal of the discomfort of fullness. Spiritual pleasure, by contrast, is more pleasurable and more desirable than bodily pleasures. For this reason, the second imam, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybaanee, used to say whenever the difficulties of the sciences were resolved for him: “Where are the sons of kings compared with this pleasure?” This is especially so when thought concerns the realities of the unseen kingdom and the mysteries of divinity. Among the pleasures attendant upon its dignity is that it accepts neither dismissal nor appointment; it endures permanently and admits no rivalry, since objects of knowledge expand and increase through the abundance of participants.

[Edition footnote 2] He is Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Farqad, a client of Banoo Shaybaan, an imam in jurisprudence and legal theory who disseminated Aboo Haneefah's knowledge and was therefore called the second imam. His origin was the village of Hiristaa in the Ghootah of Damascus; he was born at Waasit, grew up in Koofah, served as judge for al-Rasheed in al-Raqqah, and died in al-Rayy. He authored many books, 131–189 AH = 748–804 CE.

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Even so, you find no ignorant ruler who does not wish that his honour were like the honour of the people of knowledge; only bestial impediments prevent him from attaining it.

As for the pleasures that arise through knowledge: in the Hereafter, it is a means to the greatest pleasures of the Hereafter and everlasting felicity, which can be attained only through knowledge and action; action itself can be attained only through knowing how to act. The foundation of happiness in both abodes is therefore knowledge, and it is consequently the best of works. In this world, its fruits are honour, dignity, the effective exercise of authority even over kings, and the instinctive obligation of respect. For you see that foolish Turks, rough Arabs, and lowly non-Arabs find their natures disposed to venerate their elders because of the additional knowledge obtained through experience that they possess. Indeed, an animal is naturally found to respect a human being

because it senses the human being's discrimination, which surpasses its own degree, so that it is restrained by his rebuke even when its strength is many times greater than his.

The Second Teaching: Its Benefit

Know that happiness is confined to two divisions: procuring benefits and repelling harms. Each is either worldly or religious, so there are four divisions.

The first is the religious benefits procured by knowledge.

They are hidden and moral. The first benefit is indicated by the Prophet's saying in the preceding hadith, “Learning it for God Most High is fear [of Him] ...,” to the end; and the second by his saying, blessings and peace be upon him and his family, “Teaching it to one who does not know it is charity, and giving it to those entitled to it is an act of drawing near.”

The second is the worldly benefits procured by knowledge. These are experiential, pleasurable, and related to rank and standing. The experiential benefit is either repose or mastery. Repose is either from a manifest burden upon the soul or from the loss of something with which it finds intimacy; each of these is either external or intrinsic.

Repose is thus of four kinds. The Prophet's saying, “It is the companion in solitude,” indicates the first, for its companionship relieves every anxiety and agitation. His saying, “the companion in foreignness,” indicates the second, for it delights the stranger's eye and relieves the soul's gloom, sorrow, and brokenness at the loss of the joy of family and homeland.

His saying, “the conversational companion in seclusion,” indicates the third, for knowledge relieves one separated from people, by conversing with him, of the constriction and extinguishing of understanding; this is an intrinsic pain for people of perfection, and it is the secret of the pleasure found in evening conversation and conviviality.

His saying, “the guide in ease and hardship”—that is, in what is past and what is to come—indicates the fourth, which is the loss of an intrinsic delight. For the sciences take the place of sound judgment when one is apprehensive: they guide their possessor to ease and its causes, and to hardship and what brings it about. Bewilderment and ignorance of the consequences of matters pain the soul through the loss of the light of insight; knowledge relieves such cares and sorrows.

Mastery is of two kinds. The first is mastery that eliminates evil and repels harm, indicated by his saying, “the weapon against enemies.” Through knowledge falsehood is extinguished, and doubt and ignorance are repelled. One of the disputants was asked, “Wherein lies your pleasure?” He replied, “In an argument strutting in clarity and a doubt shrinking in disgrace.”

The second is mastery that brings good and removes harm, indicated by his saying, “adornment among close companions,” meaning that knowledge is beauty, excellence, and perfection that attracts the hearts of companions, as has been said:

Knowledge is adornment and a treasure without exhaustion ... an excellent companion when it accompanies a discerning person.

The third division is the standing and rank conferred by knowledge, either with God Most High, with the Exalted Assembly, or with the lower assembly.

The first is indicated by His saying, “God Most High raises peoples by it,” that is, He elevates their station and rank and makes them leaders and imams in goodness—that is, the noble and eminent among people. Leaders is the plural of one who leads people to good, whether by compulsion, as in the judge and governor, whose compulsion relates to the outward; or, as in the preacher and admonisher, whose compulsion relates to the

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inward; or as imams, by whose knowledge people are guided and by whose condition they take example.

The second is indicated by his saying, “The angels desire their companionship”: they have such a rank and standing in the angels' hearts that it possesses their hidden inwardness, and they desire their love and find intimacy in remaining with them; it also possesses their outwardness, so that they seek blessing by touching them.

The third is indicated by the Prophet's saying, “Every moist and dry thing seeks forgiveness for them,” which includes all speaking and living creatures. It has been said that the reason for their seeking forgiveness is that the rulings concerning the creatures' restraining, killing, permissibility, and prohibition revert to the scholar.

The fourth division is the worldly harms repelled by knowledge, and it too has two kinds. The first is the procurement of interests and purposes and the repulsion of defects and corruptions, indicated by the Prophet's saying, “Through it ties of kinship are maintained,” that is, by knowledge kinship ties among people are maintained and the harm of severance, rancour, envy, and hostility is repelled.

The second is the harm of incurring corruption by abandoning the protecting rule of the Law, which safeguards from every error. This is indicated by the Prophet's saying, “Through it the lawful and unlawful are known,” that is, by knowledge each is distinguished from the other. It is the foundation of all good. Reflect, then, on this exposition of the benefits of knowledge and the manner in which concise prophetic speech gathers meanings; and invoke many blessings upon its author, blessings and peace be upon him.

The Third Notice: On Removing the Supposed Harm in Knowledge and the Cause of Its Being Deemed Blameworthy

Know that no knowledge, insofar as it is knowledge, is harmful, and no ignorance, insofar as it is ignorance, is beneficial. Every science has some benefit in relation to the Hereafter, livelihood, or human perfection. It is only supposed that some sciences are harmful or unbeneficial because the conditions that must be observed concerning knowledge and scholars are not observed; every science has a limit that it does not exceed.

Among misleading views is to suppose that knowledge exceeds its proper end, as one supposes that medicine cures every disease. This is not so, for some diseases are not cured by treatment.

Another is to suppose that a science exceeds its rank in nobility, as one supposes that jurisprudence is absolutely the noblest of sciences. It is not so, for the science of divine unity is certainly nobler. Another is to intend by knowledge something other than its end, as when one learns a science for wealth or status. The purpose of the sciences is not gainful employment, but apprehension of realities and refinement of character. Indeed, one who learns a science as a trade has not become a scholar; he has merely become one resembling scholars. The scholars of Transoxiana were apprised of this and declared it when news reached them of the construction of colleges in Baghdad: they held a mourning assembly for knowledge and said, “Men of lofty aspiration and pure souls formerly occupied themselves with it, intending knowledge for its nobility and perfection through it; thus they became scholars by whom, and by whose knowledge, people benefited. Once it becomes a paid occupation, the base and the indolent draw near to it, and this becomes a cause of its disappearance.” For this reason the sciences of wisdom were abandoned, though noble in themselves.

Another is to degrade knowledge by making it common among those unfit for it, as happened in medicine. In ancient times it was a wisdom inherited from prophecy; it became degraded when Jews took it up: they were not ennobled by it, but knowledge departed because of them. How excellent is Plato's saying: “Virtue is transformed into vice in a wicked soul, just as wholesome food is transformed into corruption in a diseased body.” Of this kind is the condition of the science of astrological judgments: it was formerly practiced only by scholars for kings and the like; it became base until

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it is generally practiced only by an ignoramus who markets his lies.

Another is that a science may be difficult to attain and arduous to ascend, its end rarely achieved; those not qualified for it then pursue it to obtain worldly gain through deception, as happened in alchemy, seemiyaa', magic, and talismans. It is astonishing that anyone accepts the claim of one who professes a science of this kind, for natural disposition dictates that a person who discovers even a particle of the secrets of these sciences conceals it from his father and his son.

Another is the disparagement of a science by an ignorant person who affects learning because he is ignorant of it; whoever is ignorant of a thing denies and opposes it, as it has been said: “A person is the enemy of what he does not know.” Or it is the disparagement of it by an ignorant person who affects learning because of partisan bias against its practitioners for one reason or another. Thus you hear them declare logic unlawful, though it is the balance of the sciences; and philosophy unlawful, though it means knowledge of the realities of things and contains nothing contrary to the manifest Law and sound religion except the few questions cited by the authors of the *Tahaafut*. The Hanafee books contain no assertion that logic is unlawful except *al-Ashbaah*; if its author had seen [such a ruling], it would have been appropriate to transmit it. As for the explicit statements in the Shaafi'ee books, whoever has seen them should transmit them. What is found in the Shaafi'ee books is by way of blocking the means and directing dispositions toward the sciences of the Law. Perhaps what the imams intended in forbidding the teaching and study of certain sciences was to save persons of limited intellect from wasting and squandering their lives without benefit; teaching such people has no advantage. Otherwise, if knowledge were blameworthy in itself, as they suppose, acquiring it would not be devoid of benefit—at the least, it would refute those who affirm it. al-Ghazaalee said in *al-Ihyaa'*: “Knowledge is not blamed for its own sake; it is blamed in relation to people for one of three causes.”

The first is that it leads to some harm, either to its possessor or to another, as the sciences of magic and talismans are blamed; and they are real, for the Qur'aan testifies to them.

The second is that it is harmful to its possessor in most cases, as astrology.

The third is engaging in a science in which the one engaging is not self-sufficient; it is blameworthy for him, as learning the subtle sciences before the great ones, and the obscure before the clear, or investigating divine secrets. This is the end of what he said; he elaborated at length upon these three causes. If you desire more, consult it, for it will benefit you greatly.

The Fourth Notice: On the Ranks of the Sciences in Instruction

It is evident that the more important should be given precedence in instruction. The means precedes the end, just as linguistic inquiries precede semantic inquiries because words are means to meanings. Literary education precedes logic, and both precede legal theory; legal theory then precedes disagreement. The precise account is that one science is given precedence over another for three reasons.

Either because it is more important, as an individual obligation precedes a collective obligation, which precedes a recommended act, which precedes a permitted act.

Or because it is a means to it, as mentioned above; thus grammar precedes logic. Or because its subject is part of the subject of the other science, and the part precedes the whole; thus morphology precedes grammar. A science may sometimes be given precedence over another for none of these reasons, but for the purpose of exercising the mind in apprehending intelligibles, as some of the ancients gave precedence to teaching arithmetic. Often the easier is given precedence over the more difficult; thus authors placed grammar

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before morphology in their books. Perhaps they considered that the need for grammar is more pressing.

Collective obligations also differ in degree of urgency according to whether regions and towns lack scholars. In a town there may be only one or two persons able to divide an inheritance, while it has twenty jurists; learning arithmetic there is then more urgent than legal theory.

Know that knowledge whose acquisition is obligatory is an individual obligation: it is everything that the Law has imposed upon a person in his own particular case. What it has imposed upon the community, such that when one person performs it the obligation falls from the rest, is called a collective obligation. According to the well-known view, the sciences that are collective obligations are every science indispensable for the sound ordering of worldly affairs and the rule of the Law: understanding the Book and the Sunnah and preserving them from corruption; knowledge of creed, by establishing proof for it and removing doubts; knowledge of times, inheritance shares, subsidiary rulings, preservation of bodies, ethics, politics, and everything by which any of these is attained, such as language, morphology, grammar, semantics, and rhetoric; likewise logic, the courses of the stars, genealogy, arithmetic, and other sciences that are means to these purposes. Their degrees of urgency vary according to the need for them.

In this matter there is the book *Adab al-Talab* by our shaykh, the learned independent jurist Muhammad ibn 'Alee al-Shawkaanee—may God have mercy on him. In it he explains the path of knowledge and progression through it. No book like it had previously been composed, and it is exceedingly precious.

The Fifth Notice: On the Instruction of Children and the Differing Methods of the Islamic Regions [Edition footnote 1]

Know that teaching children the Qur'aan is a symbol of religion that the adherents of the community have adopted and followed in all their regions, because the faith and its doctrines take firm root in hearts through Qur'aanic verses and some texts of hadith. The Qur'aan has thus become the foundation of instruction upon which the later acquired dispositions are built.

The reason is that instruction in childhood is more firmly rooted and is a foundation for what follows, because what first reaches the heart is like the foundation of dispositions; the state of what is built upon it corresponds to the foundation and its methods.

Their methods of teaching children the Qur'aan have differed according to the dispositions produced by that instruction. The people of the Maghrib confine children to teaching the Qur'aan alone. During their study they teach them the orthographic convention, its questions, and the variant readings of the transmitters of the Qur'aan. They do not mix with this anything else in any of their instructional sessions: neither hadith, jurisprudence, poetry, nor Arabic speech, until the child masters it or stops short of it. In the latter case, he generally abandons learning altogether. This is the method of the inhabitants of the cities of the Maghrib and of the Berber villages that follow the Maghrib peoples with their children, until they pass puberty into youth. The same applies to an adult who returns to Qur'aanic study after part of his lifetime: they are more capable than others in the orthography and memorization of the Qur'aan. The people of al-Andalus, however, teach the Qur'aan and writing as such; this is what they observe in instruction. Yet because the Qur'aan is the foundation, basis, and source of religion and the sciences, they make it the foundation of instruction; they do not confine themselves to it alone, but mix into their teaching of children

[Edition footnote 1] See this section in Ibn Khaldoon's *Muqaddima*, pp. 1359–1363, edited by 'Alee 'Abd al-Waahid Waafee, 2nd ed., 1968 CE.

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the recitation of poetry, epistolary composition, instruction in the rules of Arabic, their memorization, and improvement in handwriting and writing.

Their concern in instruction is not confined to the Qur'aan rather than these matters; indeed, their concern with handwriting is greater than with all of them, until the child emerges from puberty into youth. He has then acquired some Arabic and poetry, discernment in both, excellence in handwriting and writing, and a general attachment to the fringes of knowledge—if there were a continuous chain for teaching the sciences. But they stop there, because the chain of instruction in their regions is interrupted, and they acquire only what comes from that initial instruction. It suffices for one whom God guides and is a preparation when a teacher is found.

The people of Ifreeqiya generally mix the Qur'aan in their children's instruction with hadith, the study of the rules of the sciences, and the dictation of some of their questions. Yet their concern with the Qur'aan, the children's memorization of it, and their mastery of its variant transmissions and readings is greater than with anything else; their concern with handwriting follows this. In sum, their method in Qur'aanic instruction is closer to that of the people of al-Andalus, because the chain of their method is connected with the shaykhs of al-Andalus who departed when the Christians prevailed over eastern al-Andalus and settled in Tunis; their children subsequently learned from them.

The people of the East likewise mix subjects in instruction, according to what has reached us, though I do not know what they emphasize among them. What is reported to us is that their concern in youth is the study of the Qur'aan, the books of knowledge, and their rules. They do not mix this with teaching handwriting; handwriting has its own rules and teachers, as the other crafts do, and it is not taught in the children's schools. When they write tablets for children, they use an unpolished hand. Whoever wishes to learn handwriting does so later according to the aspiration that arises in him, seeking it from its practitioners.

As for the people of Ifreeqiya and the Maghrib, confining themselves to the Qur'aan has resulted in their deficiency in the faculty of language generally. The Qur'aan ordinarily does not produce this faculty because human beings are prevented from producing anything like it and therefore from using or imitating its styles; they have no faculty in styles other than its own. Its possessor thus does not acquire a faculty in the Arabic tongue, and his share is rigidity in expression and little flexibility in speech.

Perhaps the people of Ifreeqiya are less affected by this than the people of the Maghrib, because, as we have said, they mix into Qur'aanic instruction the expressions of the sciences in their rules, and thus become capable of some flexibility and analogy. Yet their faculty remains short of eloquence, because most of what they memorize consists of scientific expressions below the level of eloquence, as will be mentioned in its place. The variety in the instruction of the people of al-Andalus, their abundant recitation of poetry and epistolary composition, and their study of Arabic from an early age give them a faculty through which they are more knowledgeable in the Arabic tongue. They fall short in the other sciences because of their distance from the study of the Qur'aan and hadith, which are the root and foundation of the sciences. Thus they have a share of refined literary culture, whether excellent or deficient according to the later instruction after childhood. Qaadhee Aboo Bakr ibn al-'Arabee [Edition footnote 1], in his travel book, adopted an unusual method of instruction, repeatedly elaborating upon it. Like the people of al-Andalus, he gave instruction in Arabic and poetry precedence over all other sciences, saying that poetry is the register of

[Edition footnote 1] He is Aboo Bakr Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allaah ibn Muhammad al-Ma'aafiree al-Ishbeelee al-Maalikee, known as Ibn al-'Arabee, a judge and hadith scholar, born in Seville and a traveller to the East. He attained the rank of independent legal reasoning in the religious sciences and excelled in literature. He composed many works in hadith, jurisprudence, legal theory, literature, and history. He is not Muhyee al-Deen Ibn al-'Arabee. 468–543 AH / 1076–1148 CE.

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the Arabs. The necessity of linguistic corruption calls for giving it and Arabic precedence in instruction. One then moves to arithmetic, exercising oneself in it until one sees the rules; then one moves to the study of the Qur'aan, which is made easy by this preparation. He then said: “How heedless are the people of our land when a child is taken up with God's Book at the beginning, reading what he does not understand and being wearied by a matter less important to him.” He then studies the principles of religion, then legal theory, then dialectic, then hadith and its sciences. He also forbade combining two sciences in instruction unless the learner is able to do so through excellence of understanding and energy.

This is what Qaadhee Aboo Bakr—may God have mercy on him—indicated, and by my life it is an excellent method. Yet custom does not support it, and custom has greater power over circumstances. The reason custom has singled out study of the Qur'aan for precedence is the desire for blessing and reward, and fear of the impediments and calamities that may occur to a child in the madness of youth and cut him off from learning, so that he misses the Qur'aan. For while he remains in guardianship, he submits to command; when he passes puberty and is released from the bond of constraint, the winds of youth may buffet him and cast him upon the shore of idleness. They therefore seize the period of guardianship and constraint to acquire the Qur'aan, lest he depart without it. If there were certainty that he would continue seeking knowledge and accept instruction, the method mentioned by the qaadhee would be preferable to that adopted by the people of the Maghrib and the East. But God decrees what He wills; none can reverse His judgment. [Edition footnote 1] He is the wisest of judges.

The Sixth Notice: That Harshness toward Learners Harms Them [Edition footnote 2]

Excessive severity in instruction harms the learner, especially young children, because it produces a bad faculty.

Whoever among learners, slaves, or servants is raised through violence and coercion is overwhelmed by coercion. It constricts the soul's expansiveness, destroys its energy, calls it to laziness, and makes it prone to lying and malice—outwardly displaying what is not in its heart for fear of hands being raised against it in coercion. It thereby teaches cunning and deceit, which become habit and character. The human qualities arising from social life and training are corrupted: courage and self-defence, in protection of oneself and one's household. He becomes dependent upon others in these matters; indeed, his soul becomes too languid to acquire virtues and beautiful character. It withdraws from its end and the scope of its humanity, falls back, and returns to the lowest of the low. This has happened to every community that has fallen into the grasp of coercion and suffered violence.

Observe this in everyone over whom another exercises authority without the governing faculty treating him gently; by induction you will find it among them. Consider it in the Jews and the evil character that this produced among them, such that in every region and age they are described by *kharaj*, which in the common terminology means deceitfulness and cunning; its cause is what we have said.

The teacher with his learner and the parent with his child should therefore not act despotically in discipline.

Muhammad ibn Abee Zayd said in his book on the rules governing teachers and learners: “A children's tutor should not exceed three lashes when they require beating.” Among 'Umar's sayings is: “Whom the Law does not discipline, may God not discipline,” out of concern to protect souls from the humiliation of discipline and in knowledge

[Edition footnote 1] This concludes Ibn Khaldoon's discussion on p. 1363.

[Edition footnote 2] This section is in Ibn Khaldoon's *Muqaddima*, pp. 1363–1364.

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that the amount determined by the Law is more likely to secure their welfare, for it knows their interest best.

One of the finest methods of instruction is what al-Rasheed enjoined upon the teacher of his son Muhammad al-Ameen. He said: “O Ahmar, the Commander of the Faithful has entrusted to you the life-blood of his soul and the fruit of his heart. Keep your hand extended over him and require his obedience to you. Be to him as the Commander of the Faithful has placed you: teach him the Qur'aan, acquaint him with reports, recite poetry to him, teach him the Sunan, make him discerning of the occasions and beginnings of speech, prevent him from laughing except at its proper times, require him to honour the shaykhs of Banoo Haashim when they enter him, and to raise the seats of commanders when they attend his gathering. Let no hour pass without your taking advantage of it to impart some benefit to him, without making him sad and thereby deadening his mind. Do not be excessive in indulgence, lest he find idleness sweet and become accustomed to it. Correct him as far as possible through closeness and gentleness; if he refuses both, then use severity and harshness.” [Edition footnote 1] God knows best.

The Seventh Notice: On the Correct Method of Teaching the Sciences and How It Benefits [Edition footnote 2]

Know that imparting sciences to learners benefits only when it proceeds gradually, little by little. At first, one presents questions from every chapter of the discipline that are the principles of that chapter, explaining them approximately and in general terms, while taking account of the learner's intellectual strength and readiness to receive what is presented. This continues to the end of the discipline. At that point, he acquires a faculty in that science, though partial and weak; its utmost result is to prepare him to understand the discipline and acquire its questions. Then the teacher returns with him to the discipline a second time and raises the instruction from that level to a higher one, giving full explanation and exposition, moving beyond generality, and mentioning the disagreements found there and their grounds, until he reaches the end of the discipline. His faculty then becomes good. The teacher then returns with him when he has gained some grounding, leaving no difficulty, obscurity, or closed matter without clarifying it and opening what is locked, so that he departs the discipline having mastered its faculty.

This is the beneficial method of instruction. As you see, it is achieved in three repetitions, though for some it may be achieved in fewer, according to their natural endowment and what is made easy for them. We have observed many teachers of our own time who are ignorant of the methods and benefits of instruction. At the beginning of a learner's education, they present him with the difficult questions of a science and demand that he focus his mind on solving them, thinking this to be training and correct instruction. They impose their memorization and acquisition upon him and confuse him by presenting the ultimate matters of disciplines at their beginnings, before he is ready to understand them. Readiness to receive knowledge and to understand it arises gradually. At first the learner is generally unable to understand except to a limited degree, by approximation, generality, and sensible examples. His readiness then gradually develops through encountering the questions of that discipline and repeating them, moving from approximation to the fuller comprehension beyond it, until the faculty of readiness and then of acquisition is complete and he encompasses the questions of the discipline.

When ultimate matters are presented at the beginning, while he is then unable to understand or retain them and far from readiness for them, his mind turns away from them and judges that the science itself is difficult. He becomes indolent toward it, turns from

[Edition footnote 1] This concludes Ibn Khaldoon's discussion.

[Edition footnote 2] This section is in Ibn Khaldoon's *Muqaddima*, pp. 1353–1358.

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accepting it, and persists in abandoning it. This comes only from poor instruction.

A teacher should not burden his learner beyond understanding the book from which he is earnestly studying, according to his capacity and receptivity to instruction, whether beginner or advanced. He should not mix the questions of the book with others until the learner understands it from beginning to end, acquires its purposes, and gains from it a faculty by which he can proceed in other books. When the learner has acquired a faculty in one of the sciences, he is prepared by it to receive what remains, gains energy to seek more and rise to higher things, and eventually masters the ends of the science. But when matters are mixed for him, he cannot understand; weariness overtakes him, his thought is obscured, he despairs of acquisition, and abandons knowledge and instruction. God guides whom He wills.

Likewise, you should not prolong a learner's work in one discipline by spacing out sessions and interrupting them, for this leads to forgetfulness and breaks the questions of the discipline away from one another, making it difficult to acquire the faculty through their separation. When the beginning and end of a science are present to the mind and far from forgetfulness, the faculty is easier to acquire, more firmly connected, and more readily impressed; faculties arise only through the succession and repetition of acts, and when the act is forgotten, the faculty arising from it is forgotten. “God taught you what you did not know.” Among the beautiful methods and necessary paths for the learner is not to combine two sciences at once. He will rarely succeed in either, since his attention is divided and turns from understanding each to understanding the other; both become closed and difficult, and he returns from them disappointed. If thought is free for the instruction before it and confined to it, that is more likely to result in acquisition. God Most High grants success in what is right.

Pause. Know, learner, that I offer you a benefit for your learning: if you receive it with acceptance and grasp it by the hand of method, you will win a great treasure and a noble store. I first give you a premise to assist your understanding. Human thought is a particular natural faculty that God has originated as He has originated all His creations. It is the finding of a movement of the soul in the middle cavity of the brain. At times it is the source of human acts in an ordered arrangement; at times it is the source of knowledge not previously possessed, when it directs itself to the thing sought after conceiving its two terms and seeks to affirm or deny it. If the middle term uniting them is single, it flashes before it faster than the blink of an eye; if multiple, it moves to obtain another, until it reaches its object. Such is this faculty of thought by which human beings are distinguished from all other animals.

The logical art is the manner of the operation of this speculative faculty of thought. It describes it so that its correctness may be known from its error. Although correctness belongs to it naturally, error may occur when the two terms are conceived otherwise than in their proper forms, because of the similarity of configurations in arranging propositions and ordering them for a conclusion. Logic assists in escaping this corruption when it occurs. Logic is thus an artificial matter corresponding to the natural faculty of thought and conforming to the form of its operation. Because it is artificial, it is dispensable in most cases. Hence many outstanding investigators among humankind attain the objects sought in the sciences without the art of logic, especially with sincerity of intention and exposure to God's mercy, which is of greater import; they proceed by the faculty of thought in its correctness, and it naturally leads to the middle term and knowledge of the object sought, as God has created it.

Before this artificial matter, logic, there is another preliminary to learning: knowledge of words and their significations for mental meanings, received through encountering written characters in books and spoken language in discourse. You, learner, must pass beyond

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all these veils to thought about your object. First comes the indication of written script for spoken words, which is the lightest of them; then the indication of spoken words for the meanings sought; then the rules for ordering meanings in inference in the forms known in the art of logic; then the meanings, stripped in thought, as snares by which the object is caught through natural thought while seeking God's mercy and gifts.

Not everyone passes these ranks quickly or cuts through these veils in learning easily. The mind may halt among the veils of words through disputation, or stumble in the snares of proofs through the tumult of dialectic and doubts, and then fail to acquire the object sought. Few escape that flood except those whom God guides. If you are tried by this and confusion arises in your understanding or doubts agitate your mind, cast that aside, withdraw from the veils of words and obstacles of doubts, abandon the artificial matter altogether, and enter the expanse of natural thought upon which you were created. Let your gaze range within it and free your mind to plunge toward its aim, placing it where the great investigators before you placed it, seeking God's opening, as He opened for them from His mercy in their minds and taught them what they did not know. When you do this, the lights of God's opening will shine upon you in attaining your object, and the middle inspiration that God has made one of the natural requisites of this thought, and upon which He created it, will arise for you. Then return with it to the forms and moulds of proofs, pour it into them, give it its due under the artificial rule, then clothe it in verbal forms and bring it forth into the world of address and speech, firmly bound and soundly constructed.

But if you halt at disputation and doubt concerning artificial proofs and at testing their correctness against their error—matters of artificial convention whose multiple aspects are equal and alike because of positing and terminology—you will not distinguish the aspect of truth among them. The aspect of truth is discerned only when it is natural. Thus the doubt and suspicion that arise persist, veils are drawn over the object sought, and the investigator is prevented from acquiring it. This is the condition of most investigators and later scholars, especially one whose foreignness in language has bound his mind, or who has become enamoured of logical rules and partisan for them, believing them to be the means of naturally apprehending truth; he falls into perplexity amid the ambiguities and doubts of proofs and scarcely escapes them. The means to apprehend truth naturally is only natural thought, as we have said, when stripped of all illusions and when the investigator exposes it to God's mercy. Logic merely describes the operation of this thought, and therefore generally corresponds to it. Take heed of this, and seek the rain of God's mercy whenever understanding questions eludes you; its lights will shine upon you by inspiration toward what is right. God guides to His mercy, and knowledge is only from God Most High. [Edition footnote 1]

Pause. Know that the sciences customary among the people of civilization are of two kinds: sciences intended for their own sake, such as the religious sciences of exegesis, hadith, jurisprudence, and theology, and such as natural philosophy and metaphysics in philosophy. [Edition footnote 2]

[Edition footnote 1] This concludes Ibn Khaldoon's discussion.

[Edition footnote 2] From here, this passage occurs in Ibn Khaldoon's *Muqaddima*, p. 1358, under the heading: “On the auxiliary sciences: one should not extend inquiry in them or multiply their questions.”

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Other sciences are auxiliary means to these, such as Arabic and arithmetic for the religious sciences, and logic for philosophy; in the method of the later scholars, logic may also be an instrument for theology and legal theory.

As for sciences that are ends, there is no objection to expanding discussion in them, branching their questions, and investigating proofs and arguments; this increases the student's mastery and clarifies their intended meanings. But the sciences that are instruments for others, such as Arabic, logic, and the like, should be considered only insofar as they are instruments for that other science. Discussion in them should not be expanded or questions multiplied, for that takes them beyond their purpose; their purpose is solely that for which they are instruments. Whenever they go beyond it, they go beyond their purpose, and occupying oneself with them becomes idle talk. Moreover, their length and many branches make acquiring their faculty difficult and may obstruct the acquisition of sciences intended for their own sake, because their means take too long, while the latter are more important and a lifetime is too short to acquire everything in this manner. Occupation with these instrumental sciences then becomes a waste of life and a preoccupation with what does not concern one. This is what the later scholars did in grammar, logic, and legal theory: they widened the scope of discussion and multiplied subdivisions and proofs until they departed from being instruments and became ends in themselves. They may include inquiries not needed in the intended sciences, a kind of idle talk. They are also harmful to learners in every case, for learners' concern with the intended sciences is greater than their concern with their instruments. If they spend their lives acquiring the instruments, when will they attain the ends? Teachers of these instrumental sciences must therefore not become too deeply immersed in them, but should alert the learner to their purpose and stop at it. Whoever's aspiration thereafter draws him to deeper study may climb whatever ascent he wishes, difficult or easy; everyone is made easy for that for which he was created. [Edition footnote 1]

The Eighth Notice: On the Etiquettes of Learner and Teacher

The learner has many etiquettes and duties, but their particulars may be arranged in ten propositions.

First: to give precedence to purifying the soul from base character and blameworthy qualities, for knowledge is worship of the heart, the rectification of the inner secret, and an inward act of drawing near to God Most High. This worship is valid only after the heart has been cleansed of the filth of character and impurity of qualities.

Second: to reduce one's attachments to worldly occupations and move away from family and homeland, for attachments distract and divert. God has not placed two hearts in a person's breast. Whenever thought is divided, it falls short of apprehending realities. Hence it has been said: “Knowledge will not give you some of itself until you give it all of yourself; and when you have given it all of yourself, your receiving even some of it remains uncertain.” Thought divided among disparate matters is like a stream whose water is scattered: the earth absorbs some and the air snatches some, so nothing remains to gather and reach the crops.

[Edition footnote 1] This concludes Ibn Khaldoon's discussion on p. 1359.

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Third: not to be arrogant toward knowledge or to command the teacher, but to surrender the reins of one's affair to him completely in every detail and submit to his counsel as an ignorant sick person submits to a compassionate, skilled physician. One should humble oneself before one's teacher and seek reward and honour in serving him.

Fourth: at the beginning of study, the student should guard against listening to people's disagreements, whether in worldly or otherworldly sciences. This confuses his intellect, perplexes his mind, weakens his judgment, and makes him despair of understanding and insight. He should first master the one praiseworthy method approved by his teacher; only afterward should he listen to doctrines and doubts. If his teacher is not independent in selecting one view, but habitually merely transmits doctrines and what has been said about them, he should beware of him, for his misguidance is greater than his guidance. A blind person is not fit to lead and guide the blind; one in this state remains in the blindness of perplexity and the doubts of ignorance.

Fifth: the seeker of knowledge should not leave aside any praiseworthy discipline or kind of science without considering it enough to discover its purpose and end. If life permits, he should seek deep mastery of it; otherwise he should occupy himself with the more important and complete it, taking something from the remainder. The sciences aid and are connected with one another, and one immediately benefits by escaping hostility toward a science that arises from ignorance, for people are enemies of what they do not know.

God Most High said: {And when they are not guided by it, they will say: This is an ancient falsehood}.

In their ranks, the sciences either lead the servant to God Most High or assist the journey in some way. They have stations ordered by nearness to and distance from the goal, and those who undertake them are guardians, like those guarding border forts and frontiers. Each has a rank, and according to his rank has a reward in the Hereafter if he intends God's countenance by it.

Sixth: not to enter upon a discipline all at once, but to observe order and begin with the most important.

Since life ordinarily does not suffice for all sciences, prudence requires taking the best of everything and being content with a taste of it, then directing the full force of one's energy in the attainable portion of knowledge toward completing the science that is the noblest of sciences, namely knowledge of the Hereafter. By this I do not mean the creed received by the common person through inheritance or mere reception, nor the method of refining theological argument and disputing it against the evasions of adversaries, which is the theologian's ultimate aim. Rather, it is a kind of certainty, the fruit of a light that God casts into the heart of a servant who has purified his inward self of impurities through spiritual striving, until he reaches the degree of the faith of al-Siddeeq—may God be pleased with him—which, if weighed against the faith of all people, would outweigh it.

Seventh: not to enter one discipline until completing the one before it, for the sciences are necessarily ordered and some are paths to others. The one granted success is he who observes that order and gradual progression. [Edition footnote 1] In every science he seeks, his purpose should be ascent to what is above it. He should know a thing in itself, for no one person independently encompasses every science. Therefore 'Alee—may God be pleased with him—said: “Do not know the truth by men; know the truth and you will know its people.”

Eighth: to know the reason by which the nobility of sciences is perceived, and that it concerns two things: the nobility of the fruit, and the reliability and strength of proof—as in the science of religion and medicine.

[Edition footnote 1] In the margin of the original is the following note: “This order was explained by the learned imam Muhammad ibn 'Alee al-Shawkaanee in his book *Adab al-Talab wa-Muntahaa al-Arab*, and by Shaah Walee Allaah al-Dihlawee, the hadith scholar, in his counsels. I abridged the first book and named it *Talab al-Adab min Adab al-Talab*, and it was printed in protected Bhopal. If you wish to consult it, refer to it. 13 Mawlawee Muhammad 'Abd al-Samad Peshaawaree, may God preserve him.”

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Ninth: the learner's present intention should be to empty his inner self and fill it with virtue, to draw near to God Most High and ascend to the neighbourhood of the Exalted Assembly of angels and those brought near. He should not intend leadership, wealth, status, rivalry with fools, or boasting before peers. When this is his purpose, he will necessarily seek what is nearest to it, namely knowledge of the Hereafter. Even so, he should not look with contempt on the other sciences, such as grammar and language connected to the Book and Sunnah, and others.

Tenth: to know the relation of sciences to the goal, preferring what is near and lofty to what is distant and lowly, and what is important to what is not. What is important is what concerns you, and nothing concerns you except your condition in this world and the Hereafter. If you cannot combine the pleasures of this world with the bliss of the Hereafter—as the Qur'aan states and the light of inner vision testifies almost as plainly as sight—the more important is what remains forever. Then the world becomes a dwelling, the body a mount, and deeds a journey toward the goal; there is no goal but meeting God Most High, in which all bliss lies, though few in this world know its worth.

As for the duties of the guiding teacher:

First: compassion toward learners and treating them as his own children.

For this reason the teacher's right is greater than the parents' right. Without the teacher, what comes through the father would proceed to everlasting destruction. The teacher is the one who benefits a person with enduring life in the Hereafter, just as the parent is the cause of present, perishing existence. What is meant is the teacher of the sciences of the Hereafter, or worldly sciences pursued with the intention of the Hereafter, not the intention of this world. Teaching for the intention of this world is destruction and causes destruction; we seek God's protection from it.

Second: to imitate the bearer of the Law: he should not seek payment for imparting knowledge, nor intend recompense or thanks by it. Rather, he should teach for God's countenance and to seek nearness to Him. He should not consider himself to have bestowed a favour on the students, though they are necessarily indebted to him; rather, he should see the merit as theirs. His reward for teaching is greater with God Most High than the learner's reward, for without learning this reward would not be established. Thus he should seek reward only from God Most High.

Third: not to neglect any counsel to the learner. This means preventing him from claiming a rank before he deserves it, and from occupying himself with a hidden science before finishing the clear one. Then he should alert him to seek sciences for nearness to God rather than leadership, boasting, and competition, and should make such intentions as ugly to him as possible. What a corrupt scholar destroys is no less than what he reforms. If he knows inwardly that the learner seeks knowledge only for this world, he should consider the science he seeks. If it is juridical disagreement, dialectic in theology, fatwas in disputes, or rulings, he should prevent him from it; these are not sciences of the Hereafter, nor the sciences concerning which it was said: “We learned knowledge for other than God, but knowledge refused to be except for God.” Rather, that is exegesis, hadith, and what the early scholars occupied themselves with: knowledge of the Hereafter, knowledge of the soul's character, and how to refine it. If the student learns these while intending this world, there is no harm in leaving him.

Fourth: one of the subtleties of the craft of instruction is to restrain the learner from bad character, as far as possible, by indirect suggestion rather than explicit statement, and with mercy rather than reproach. Explicitness tears the veil of reverence, breeds boldness in opposition, and stirs the desire to persist.

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Fifth: one responsible for some sciences should not make the sciences beyond them ugly in the learner's mind. The language teacher habitually disparages jurisprudence; the jurisprudence teacher habitually disparages hadith and exegesis, saying, “That is mere transmission and pure hearing, the occupation of old women, with no place for rational consideration.” The theology teacher turns people away from jurisprudence, saying, “Those are branches, talk about women's menstruation; where is that from discussion of the attributes of the Merciful?” These are blameworthy traits for teachers and must be avoided. Rather, one responsible for one science should broaden the learner's path of instruction in others; if responsible for several sciences, he should observe gradual progression in raising the learner from one rank to another.

Sixth: to confine himself with the learner to the measure of his understanding, and not to present what his mind cannot reach, lest he turn him away or confuse his intellect. As has been said: “Speak to people according to the measure of their intellects.” 'Alee—may God be pleased with him—pointed to his chest and said: “Here are abundant sciences, if only I found bearers for them.”

Seventh: to present the limited learner with what is clear and appropriate to him, without mentioning that there are subtleties beyond it that are being withheld. This weakens his desire for the clear matter, confuses his heart, and makes him imagine that knowledge is being withheld from him out of stinginess; for everyone thinks himself fit for every subtle science. No one is dissatisfied with God Most High concerning the perfection of his own intellect, and the most foolish and weakest in intellect is the most delighted with the perfection of his intellect.

Eighth: the teacher must act according to his knowledge, so that his action does not belie his word. Knowledge is perceived by inner vision, while action is perceived by sight, and people of sight are more numerous. When action contradicts knowledge, it prevents right guidance. Whoever eats something and says to people, “Do not eat it; it is deadly poison,” is mocked and distrusted by them, and their desire for it increases; they say, “Had it not been the most pleasant and delicious thing, he would not have kept it for himself.”

This is the substance of what is in *al-Ihyaa'*. It elaborates well upon each of these etiquettes and duties, and devotes the sixth chapter of the Book of Knowledge to the defects of knowledge and the marks of the scholars of the Hereafter and the evil scholars. God Most High knows best what is correct.

Shaykh Burhaan al-Islaam al-Zarnoojee [Edition footnote 1], a student of the author of *al-Hidaaya* [Edition footnote 2], has a book entitled *Ta'leem al-Muta'allim Tareeq al-Ta'allum*, arranged in chapters. He says therein: seeking every science is not obligatory upon every Muslim; what is obligatory is seeking knowledge of one's present condition, namely what pertains in one's condition to prayer, alms, fasting, and pilgrimage. Intention is necessary while learning knowledge, because the Prophet—blessings and peace be upon him—said: “Actions are only by intentions.” In seeking knowledge, one should intend God's pleasure, the Hereafter, removing ignorance from oneself and all other ignorant persons, reviving religion, and preserving Islam, for Islam endures through knowledge and asceticism and piety are not sound with ignorance. One should not intend people's turning to him, the acquisition of worldly debris, or honour before the ruler and others. He should not abase himself through greed and should avoid whatever debases knowledge and its people. From every science he should choose its best and give precedence to the science of

[Edition footnote 1] He is Burhaan al-Deen al-Zarnoojee, author of the famous *Ta'leem al-Muta'allim Tareeq al-Ta'allum*, who was alive in 593 AH / 1196 CE.

[Edition footnote 2] *al-Hidaaya* is a work on the branches of Hanafee jurisprudence, written as a commentary on its author's *Bidaaya*. Its author is Burhaan al-Deen 'Alee ibn Abee Bakr al-Margheenaanee al-Hanafee (d. 593 AH / 1196 CE).

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divine unity and knowledge, even though the faith of one who imitates is sound. He should choose the ancient [authorities] rather than innovations, and should not occupy himself with this dialectic that appeared after the passing of the great scholars. In choosing a teacher, he should choose the most learned, the most scrupulous, and the eldest. Consultation in seeking knowledge is most important and most obligatory. He should remain steadfast and patient with one teacher and one book, so that he does not leave it incomplete; with one discipline, so that he does not take up another before mastering the first; and in one town, so that he does not move to another without necessity. Knowledge is neither attained nor benefited from except by venerating knowledge, its people, and the teacher, and treating him with reverence.

The seeker of knowledge must exert himself, persevere, and remain constant. The Noble Qur'aan indicates this: {As for those who strive for Us, We shall surely guide them to Our ways}; and: {O Yahyaa, take hold of the Book with strength}. It has been said: “Make the night a camel by which you reach your hope.” He should persist in study and repetition at the beginning and end of the night, for the time between the two night prayers and the time before dawn are blessed. Laziness comes from little reflection on the virtues and merits of knowledge. Beneficial knowledge brings a good remembrance, which remains after death; it is an everlasting life. The beginning of a lesson should be set for Wednesday. This was Aboo Haneefa's practice—may God have mercy on him—and Shaykh Aboo Yoosuf al-Hamadhaanee would begin every charitable act on Wednesday, because it was the day on which light was created, and a day of ill omen for unbelievers, hence blessed for believers. The amount of a beginner's lesson should be what can be mastered by repeating it twice gently, adding one word each day. It has been said: “The lesson is one letter and repetition a thousand.” Ustaadh Sharaf al-Deen al-'Uqaylee said: “In my view, the correct practice is that of our shaykhs: they chose for the beginner the shorter portions of *al-Mabsoot*, because it is nearer to understanding and retention, farther from boredom, and more commonly encountered among people.” It has been said: “Memorizing two letters is better than hearing two loads [of books], and understanding two letters is better than memorizing two loads.” [Edition footnote 1] One should therefore not be negligent in understanding.

Discussion, disputation, and mutual examination are also necessary, but with fairness, deliberation, and reflection, not with tumult and anger. They are more powerful in benefit than mere repetition. It has been said: “An hour of mutual examination is better than a month of repetition.”

One should buy books with money and have copies made, for this assists learning and gaining understanding. The seeker of knowledge should not have an interruption, for it is a calamity; he should trust in God while seeking knowledge, not be concerned with provision, and not occupy his heart with it.

The time for learning is from the cradle to the grave. al-Hasan ibn Ziyaad [Edition footnote 2] entered upon the study of jurisprudence when he was eighty years old.

The best times are the prime of youth, the time before dawn, and the period between the two night prayers. One should occupy all one's times; when weary of one science, one should occupy oneself with another. When Ibn 'Abbaas grew weary of theological discussion, he would say, “Bring the collection of poetry.” Thus one remains a beneficiary at every time until one attains excellence.

The method of benefiting is to keep an inkwell at hand at all times, in order to write down useful things one hears. It has been said: “What is memorized escapes, but what is written remains.” The strongest causes of memorization are diligence, perseverance, reducing food, night prayer, reading the Qur'aan from the written text, the tooth-stick, drinking honey, eating frankincense [Edition footnote 3] with sugar, and eating what reduces phlegm and moisture.

[Edition footnote 1] Singular *wiqr*, a load; that is, better than hearing two loads of books.

[Edition footnote 2] He is al-Hasan ibn Ziyaad al-Lu'lu'ee al-Koofee, a judge and jurist, one of Aboo Haneefa's companions. He died in 204 AH / 819 CE.

[Edition footnote 3] *Kundar*: a kind of frankincense or gum.

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Everything that increases phlegm produces forgetfulness. Its causes include committing sins, frequent wrongdoing, cares and sorrows over worldly matters, and numerous occupations and attachments. Among the causes of forgetting knowledge are eating fresh coriander [Edition footnote 1], eating sour apples, looking at a crucified person, reading grave tablets, passing between a file of camels, throwing lice upon the ground, and cupping at the nape of the neck; all produce forgetfulness. Committing sin is a cause of being deprived of provision; lying in particular produces poverty. Sleeping in the morning and sleeping excessively likewise produce the loss of knowledge, and there are other causes. Among what increases provision are glorification after dawn and after sunset. Among what increases life are piety, refraining from harm, revering elders, maintaining kinship ties, avoiding the cutting of green trees except from necessity, completing ablution fully, prayer with reverence and humility, performing the Qur'aan between the pilgrimage and the lesser pilgrimage, and preserving health.

One must learn something of medicine and seek blessing through the reports on medicine collected by Shaykh Imaam Aboo al-'Abbaas al-Mustaghfiree [Edition footnote 2] in his book entitled *Tibb al-Nabee*, “The Medicine of the Prophet”—blessings and peace be upon him; whoever seeks it will find it.

This is the substance of what al-Zarnoojee—may God have mercy on him—mentioned. The book *Jawaahir al-'Iqdaan fee Fadhl al-Sharafayn: Sharaf al-'Ilm al-Jalee wa-l-Nasab al-'Alee*, by the shaykh, imam, and learned scholar 'Alee ibn Shaykh Jamaal al-Deen al-Samhoodee al-Shaafi'ee [Edition footnote 3]—may God have mercy on him—contains a sufficient and useful account of the nobility of knowledge, the etiquettes of scholar and learner, the method of study, acquiring books, and other matters. Whoever desires more should consult it. Success is from God.

[Edition footnote 1] What we call coriander today.

[Edition footnote 2] He is Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn al-Mu'tazz ibn Muhammad ibn al-Mustaghfir al-Nasafee, a jurist and hadith scholar, 350–432 AH / 961–1041 CE.

[Edition footnote 3] He is 'Alee ibn 'Abd Allaah ibn Ahmad al-Shaafi'ee, known as al-Samhoodee, Noor al-Deen, a historian and jurist with writings in these fields, 844–911 AH / 1440–1505 CE.

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Part: 1 ¦ page: 80

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