How to Seriously Seek Knowledge
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Knowledge is gained by striving for it.” Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “‘Be faithful slaves to your Lord, patient and learned.’ And it is said that the good instructor is the one who starts teaching people simple matters of knowledge before more difficult ones.”
It was narrated that Qays ibn Katheer said: “A man came from Madeenah to Abu’l Darda’ in Damascus and he said, ‘What brought you here, my brother?’ He said, ‘A hadeeth which I have heard that you narrate from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).’ He said, ‘Have you come for any other reason?’ He said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Have you come for trade?’ He said, ‘No. I have only come to seek this hadeeth.’ He said, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say, “Whoever follows a path to seek knowledge, Allaah Subhanahu wa ta’ala, will make easy for him the path to Paradise.
Importance of Seeking Knowledge in Islam:
The angels beat their wings in approval of the seeker of knowledge, and those who are in the heavens and on earth pray for forgiveness for the scholar, even the fish in the water. The superiority of the scholar over the worshipper is like the superiority of the moon over all other heavenly bodies. The scholars are the heirs of the Prophets, for the Prophets did not leave behind dinars or dirhams, rather, they left behind knowledge, so whoever gains knowledge has gained great good fortune.'” (narrated
by al-Tirmidhi, 2606; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani).
These are some of the virtues of knowledge, and this is just a drop in the ocean. If we were to mention all the virtues of knowledge, it would take too long. Perhaps what we have mentioned here will serve as a reminder to the one who has a heart or gives ear whilst he is heedful (cf. Qaaf 50:37).
With regard to the way to gain knowledge, it is to fear Allaah Subhanahu wa ta’ala, (taqwa) and to be aware that He is always watching, in secret and in the open. Then one should learn from the scholars whose knowledge and religious commitment can be trusted. If you find a scholar who meets this description, then cling to him and consult him in order to gain knowledge. If you cannot find a scholar, then look for a seeker of knowledge (taalib ‘ilm), and if you cannot find such a person, then you must study by using tapes and books that deal with the basic issues of Islam according to the correct methodology of sharee’ah.
Virtues of Durood :
The Holy Prophet said, ‘Send Durood upon me in abundance, this will purify you.’ (musnad Abi Ya’la, V5, P458, Hadith 6383, Dar-ul-Kutubul Ilmiyyah Beirut).
A strange punishment :
Sayyiduna Junaid Baghdadi narrates that Ibn ul Kuraiybi said, ‘One day I had a wet dream and so I intended to immediately perform ghusl (bath), but because it was very cold, my ego (nafs) acted lazy and said, ‘There’s a great part of the night left, what’s the rush, you can have a bath calmly in the morning’, therefore I immediately vowed to punish my nafs in an unusual way by performing ghusl without taking my clothes off and by not drying them later, and leaving them to dry upon my body. So that is what I did. Indeed, this is how a disobedient ego should be punished when it slacks in fulfilling the commands of Allah. (Kimiya-e-Sa’adat, V2, P892, Kutub Khana Ilmi Iran).
My Dear Islamic brothers! Did you see how much trouble our pious ancestors would go through to avoid falling for the tricks of their egos? A lesson should be learnt here by Islamic brothers who have wet dreams at night and then miss Fajr salaah with jama’at, or Allah forbid, miss the salah altogether because they are ashamed of letting the family know (and are not bothered about being ashamed in the afterlife), or simply because they are lazy in such matters!
One should perform ghusl as soon as it becomes fardh to do so. It is reported in a Hadith that angels do not enter a house in which there are pictures, dogs or people who must perform ghusl. (Sunan Abi Dawood, V1, P34).