Al-Shāfi’ī saw me sitting in his circle, and there was some ink on my shirt I was trying to hide. He said, “Young man, why are you hiding it? Having ink on ones clothes is a sign of lofty conduct: to the sight it is black, but to the insight it is white (with the light of knowledge).” It is reported that ‘Abdullāh b. Al-Mubārak – Allāh have mercy on him – said: Ink on the clothes is the perfume of the scholars. – Some put this in verse (from Arabic): The ink-pot’s ink is the perfume of men As saffron is the perfume of women So the former befits the garments of those men As the latter the garments of wives It is reported that Imām Aḥmad said, seeing the students of ḥadīth approaching with their ink-pots: These are the lanterns of Islām. Al-Khaṭīb Al-Baghdādī, Al-Jāmi’ li-Akhlāq Al-Rāwī, articles 508, 509, 512 .
Al-Khaṭīb Al-Baghdādī, Al-Jāmi’ li-Akhlāq Al-Rāwī, articles 508, 509, 512 .
I sat in the circle of Abū ‘Abdillāh Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal for twelve years while he read the Musnad to his children, and I never wrote a single ḥadīth, I only looked at his behavior, character and etiquette. Ibn Al-Jawzī, Manāqib Aḥmad, article 210. It is reported that Al-Ḥasan b. Ismā’īl said, ‘I heard my father say: There would gather in the circle of Aḥmad five thousand people or more; less than five hundred would write, the rest would learn from him good manners and behavior.’ Ibid. It is reported that Sufyān Al-Thawrī said: A man who wanted to write ḥadīth would [learn] manners and worship for twenty years before starting. Abū Nu’aym, Ḥilyatu Al-Awliyā`, 6:361.
Abū Nu’aym, Ḥilyatu Al-Awliyā`, 6:361.
I used to have a neighbor from the Anṣār who lived in the area of Banī Umayyah b. Zayd, which is in the ‘Awālī of Medinah, and we used to take turns attending [the gatherings] of Allāh’s Messenger – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him. My neighbor would attend one day and I the other; so when I attended I would convey to him the reports about the revelation that had come, and other such news, and when he attended he would do the same. My Anṣārī companion went on one of his days, and [upon returning] came to my door and knocked hard saying, ‘Is he there?’ I was alarmed and came out to him, and he said, ‘Something serious has happened (some people thought the Prophet had divorced his wives).’ I entered upon Ḥafṣah and found her weeping. I said, ‘Has Allāh’s Messenger – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him – divorced you [all]?’ She replied, ‘I don’t know.’ Then, I came to the Prophet – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him – and asked him, still standing, ‘Have you divorced your women?’ He said, ‘No’, so I said, ‘ Allāhu Akbar (Allāh is Greatest).’ Al-Bukhārī, Al-Ṣaḥīḥ, Chapter on Taking Turns in Seeking Knowledge. Notes The narration translated above is a shorter report of the full incident, recorded elsewhere in Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī. In his commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī, Ibn Ḥajr lists some of the lessons and points that can be taken from this narration, including the following: 1. This hadith shows us that the khabar (news, report) of a single (reliable) person is dependable. 2. The student of knowledge should not neglect taking care of his living needs, in order to help him continue seeking knowledge and other pursuits (at that time, ‘Umar was involved in trade, as is mentioned in other reports). 3. At the same time, the student of knowledge should be diligent and resolute in asking about the knowledge he has missed in his absence.
3. At the same time, the student of knowledge should be diligent and resolute in asking about the knowledge he has missed in his absence.
One who acts without knowledge is like one who travels off the path; and the one who acts without knowledge corrupts more than he rectifies. So seek knowledge in a way that does not harm your worship, and seek to worship [Allāh] in a way that does not harm [your seeking of] knowledge. For verily, there were people (the Khawārij extremists) who sought to worship [Allāh] but abandoned knowledge until they attacked the Ummah of Muḥammad – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him – with their swords. But if they had sought knowledge, it would not have directed them to do what they did. Quoted by Ibn ‘Abd Al-Barr, Jāmi’ Bayān Al-‘Ilm wa Faḍlihi article 905.
Quoted by Ibn ‘Abd Al-Barr, Jāmi’ Bayān Al-‘Ilm wa Faḍlihi article 905.
There were people who abandoned knowledge and sitting with the scholars, and [instead] took to their chambers and prayed until their skin dried [from exertion in worship]. Thereafter they began to contradict the Sunnah and thus were destroyed. By Allāh, never does a person act without knowledge, except that he spoils and corrupts more than he fixes and rectifies. Al-Aṣbahānī, Al-Targhīb wa Al-Tarhīb 3:98
Al-Aṣbahānī, Al-Targhīb wa Al-Tarhīb 3:98
Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm 2:181.
Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal never used to involve himself in the things of this world that people involved themselves in; but when knowledge was mentioned, he would speak. Ibn Al-Jawzī Ṣifatu Al-Ṣafwah 2:519. It is reported that Al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad said: Muḥammad b. Ismā`īl Al-Bukhārī was distinguished with three qualities – in addition to the rest of his praseworthy traits: He never spoke much, he never yearned for what people had. He would never occupy himself with other people’s affairs; all his attention was towards knowledge. Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 12:449
Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 12:449
Verily, the followers of opinion are the enemies of the Sunan (the teachings of Allāh’s Messenger as passed down in hadith): they were unable to preserve them and their meanings escaped them, and when asked [questions] they were too embarrassed to say ‘We don’t know,’ so they opposed the Sunan with their opinions. Ibn Abī Zamanīn, Uṣūl Al-Sunnah article 8; Al-Lālakā`ī, Sharḥ Uṣūl I’tiqād Ahl Al-Sunnah article 201 et al.
Ibn Abī Zamanīn, Uṣūl Al-Sunnah article 8; Al-Lālakā`ī, Sharḥ Uṣūl I’tiqād Ahl Al-Sunnah article 201 et al.
Issuing fatwā is not allowed except for a person who knows what the people have differed in. It was said, ‘Do you mean the different views of the people of opinions (those who depend more on analogy and speculation)? He replied, “No, [I mean] the different views of the Companions of Muḥammad – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him. And he must also know the textual evidence that abrogates [other rulings] and that which is abrogated [by other texts], both in the Quran and the ḥadīth of Allah’s Messenger – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him. Such a person can issue fatāwā. Ibn ‘Abd Al-Barr, Jāmi’ Bayān Al-‘Ilm wa Faḍlihī article 1529. It is reported that ‘Abdullāh b. Al-Mubārak – Allāh have mercy on him – was asked, “When can a person issue an edict (fatwā)?” He replied, “When he is knowledgeable about the narrations (hadith and traditions of the Salaf), and has insight into [juristic] opinion. Ibid. article 1532.
Ibid. article 1532.
The intelligent person’s tongue is behind his heart: when he wants to speak, he first thinks. If [his words] will be in his favor, he says them, and if they will be against him, he does not speak. And the ignorant person’s heart is behind his tongue: when he merely thinks of saying something, he says it, whether it is for or against him. Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm article 2049.
Abū Bakr Al-Daynūrī, Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir Al-‘Ilm article 2049.