Learn as much as you can; however, if you do not act upon what you have learned, Allah will not grant you any benefit from what you have learned. Hz. Jesus said: ‘The person who learns but does not act upon what he has learned is like a woman who commits adultery secretly and is disgraced when her pregnancy is discovered. Just like that woman, the one who possesses knowledge but does not act upon it will also be disgraced before the people of the Day of Resurrection by Allah the Almighty.’ Hz. Muaz said: ‘Seek refuge with Allah from the mistakes of the learned, for because of their esteemed status among the Muslims, some people may follow their errors.’ Hz. Omar (r.a.) said: ‘When a learned person makes a mistake, some of the people are drawn into the same error with him.’
Hz. Omar also said: ‘There are three things that shake the order of this world: one of them is the learned person’s deviation into error.’ Ibn Mas’ud (r.a.) said: ‘A time will come when the sweetness of the heart will turn into bitterness. Neither the learned nor his student will benefit from their knowledge or their pursuit. At that time, the hearts of the learned will be like barren and salty land. Rain will fall upon it, but the benefit of the rain will not be seen in the land. Such a bad situation arises when the learned people’s hearts are drawn to the world and they prefer the world to the Hereafter. At that time, Allah will remove the springs of wisdom from their hearts and extinguish the torches of guidance that burn in their hearts.’
When you meet the learned people of that time, you will see them trembling with fear of Allah with their tongues, although their lack of action is clearly visible. At that time, their tongues will be rich, but their hearts will be poor. I swear by Allah, the only one who has the right to be worshipped, that the only cause of this terrible scene is that the teachers do not perform what they teach solely for the sake of Allah’s pleasure, and the students do not learn what they learn solely for the sake of Allah.
Ibn Abdilbarr, Knowledge, (Muaz, Ibn Omar and Anas) 217) Hz. Omar’s three things mentioned in a hadith transmitted from Hz. Muaz are as follows: 1. The learned person’s deviation into sin, 2. The discussion of a hypocrite who knows the Quran. A world that opens its doors to people completely…
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The Torah and the Gospel contain the ruling: ‘Do not seek what you do not know, unless you act upon what you know.’ Hz. Huzayfah said: ‘You are in a time when if you neglect even a tenth of what you know, you will be destroyed. But a time will come when if a person acts upon even a tenth of what he knows, he will be saved. The reason for this is that at that time, the number of the ignorant will increase.’ The example of the learned is like the example of the judge. Hz. The Prophet said about judges: ■j^’ ls! j^ ^ *^’ /’ ^ jA* <^“* p^j 'j^' ud >p r^*-‘^ ^ r^- Judges are divided into three categories: 1. A judge who knows but rules with justice, for such a judge is from Paradise. 2. A judge who rules with injustice, whether he knows or not, for such a judge is from Hell.
3. A judge who rules with certain decrees that are outside of Allah’s command, for such a judge is also from the people of Hell. Ka’b al-Ahbar said: 219: ‘In the last times, there will be people who cool others from the world but cling to it with all their strength; who frighten the people from Allah’s punishment but do not themselves fear; who prevent people from approaching the rulers but themselves exceed the rulers’ thresholds; who prefer the world to the Hereafter; who speak with the rich and distance themselves from the poor; who are jealous of their wives, just as they are jealous of their knowledge from others, and who, when they go to another preacher, fall into anger. These are the arrogant and the enemies of Allah.’ Our Lord said: ‘Satan deceives you most of the time with knowledge.’ ‘O Messenger of Allah, how does he deceive us?’ they asked.
The Prophet said: ‘Learn knowledge, but if you do not learn it thoroughly, knowledge will seem to encourage you to learn, but it will actually distance you from action. In the end, your fate will catch you without action.’ Sırrî es-Sakatî said: ‘A person who strongly seeks to acquire knowledge outwardly suddenly withdraws and starts to act. When I asked him why he did this, he replied: ‘I saw a being in a dream who said to me, ‘May Allah destroy you, how long will you continue to waste knowledge?’ I added that I did not waste knowledge, but I made great efforts to memorize it. He replied, ‘The preservation of knowledge is to act upon it.’
After this dream, I stopped acquiring knowledge and started to act.’ Ibn Mas’ud said: ‘Knowledge is fear; it is not merely knowing many hadiths and reports.’ Hasan al-Basri said: ‘Learn as much knowledge as you wish, but I swear by Allah that if you do not act upon that knowledge, Allah will never grant you any reward. The aim of the ignorant is merely to narrate knowledge. The aim of the learned is to act upon that knowledge.’ Malik said: ‘Acquiring knowledge is a good thing. Spreading knowledge is even better. However, if you do so with good intentions, look at the actions that never leave you from morning to evening and do not prefer anything over them.’
Ibn Mas’ud said: ‘The Quran was revealed as a guide to life. However, you only accept the recitation of the Quran as an action. After you, a nation will come who will recite the Quran in a straight line, merely respecting the letters’ forms, like a spear. However, do not think that they are the best among you. For the one who does not act upon what he knows is like a patient who lists the names of medicines and describes their properties, but cannot taste the flavors of the food, or a hungry person who counts the number of meals but cannot eat them.’ Let us read the following noble verse together: ‘Woe to those who attribute to Allah what they have no right to, for they will be written as wretched.’ (Enbiya/18) 220) el-Jami, (From Anas with a weak chain)
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It is said in a hadith:
.jijjı ^ jiî>j (jy ıjj ^ı ^ JL.İİ lL
Some of what I fear for my ummah is the learned person’s deviation into error and the hypocrite’s discussion of the Quran’s verses.221
One of the characteristics that distinguish the hereafter scholars from the worldly scholars is to pursue the acquisition of knowledge that encourages actions that will benefit in the hereafter, and to stay away from knowledge that gives little benefit and focuses on the cedel and the kaale.
A scholar who turns away from knowledge that encourages action and instead deals with cedel is like a sick person who, when in great need, encounters a skilled doctor but does not allow the doctor to treat him, instead asking about the nature of the medicines and delving into the difficult issues of medicine, while neglecting the life-threatening issues he is facing. Such a behavior is not the last stage of foolishness, but what is it?
According to the narration, a person enters the presence of Hz. The Prophet and asks him:
– O Messenger of Allah! Teach me the obscure aspects of knowledge!
– What have you done regarding the head of knowledge?
– What is the head of knowledge?
– Have you recognized Hz. The Prophet?
– Yes!
– What have you done regarding Allah?
– I have done what Allah has commanded.
– Have you recognized death?
– Yes
– Then, what have you prepared for death?
– Whatever Allah has commanded!
221) Taberani, (From Abu Derda); Ibn Hibban (From Imran b. Hussein)
Book of Knowledge/VI. Chapter
It is said in a hadith:
– Go, do them well, and then come back, and I will teach you the obscure matters of knowledge. The scholars of knowledge should be of the type that Hatem al-Esem, a student of Shakik al-Belh, has narrated. One day, Shakik asked his student Hatem: – How long have you been attending my classes? – For thirty-four years… – Then tell me, what have you learned from me in this time? – I have learned eight things from you, my master. – Innâ lillâh ve innâ ileyhi râciûn. My life has passed with you, and you have only learned eight things from me? – My master, I do not like to lie, I have not learned anything else besides these eight things.
– Then tell me what these eight things you have learned from me are. – I looked at the creation, and I saw that each one has a friend. However, all these friends follow them up to the grave and then leave them. Seeing this, I made the virtues of the friends my own so that they would not leave me in the grave and would follow me. – You have spoken beautifully! What is the second one? – I looked at the verse of Allah the Almighty: ‘Whoever fears his Lord and keeps his soul from evil, he will surely be in Paradise’ (Nâziat/40-41), and I realized that truth is only in the words of Allah. Therefore, I have tried to keep my soul away from desires with my strength and have become steadfast in the worship of Allah.
The third thing I learned: Again, I looked at the creation and saw that each person has something valuable that they value and that elevates them. I thought about the words of Allah the Almighty: ‘The wealth of the world will be exhausted, but the treasures of mercy with Allah are endless’ (Nahl/96). Therefore, whatever comes into my hand, whatever I see as valuable in my soul, I send it to Allah (to be protected by Him) (I distribute it to gain His pleasure). The fourth one, when I looked at the creation, I saw that each one is inclined towards wealth, trade, fame, and reputation. I thought about the meaning of all these and decided that they are all empty things. Then I looked at the verse of Allah the Almighty: ‘Indeed, the most honorable among you in the sight of Allah is the most pious’ (Hujurât/13). After seeing this verse, I desired to be honorable in the sight of Allah by clinging to piety.
The fifth one, when I looked at the creation, I saw that they attack each other, curse each other, and read curses. I saw the cause of all these actions in envy. Then I carefully turned my attention to the noble verse of Allah the Almighty: ‘Do they divide the mercy of their Lord? We have divided the sustenance of this world among them’ (Zuhruf/32). I fled from envy strongly because I firmly believed that the distribution of sustenance is done by Allah the Almighty. In this way, I preferred to flee from the people and protected myself from their hostility. The sixth one, I looked at the people and saw that everyone attacks each other and fights. Seeing this scene, I thought of the verse of Allah: ‘Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you, so make him your enemy’ (Fâtır/6). I became an enemy to our eternal enemy, Satan, and took extreme precautions to take revenge from him.
Because Allah is a witness that he is my enemy. Therefore, it became my duty to stop hating others besides him. The seventh one, I looked at the creation and saw that everyone runs after a piece of bread, disgracing themselves. They do unlawful things to obtain a piece of bread. Seeing this, I thought of the verse of Allah the Almighty: ‘Every living thing that walks on the earth has its sustenance from Allah’ (Hûd/6). I realized that I am also one of the living things whose sustenance is from Allah. Therefore, I devoted myself to the duties required by Allah. I left my sustenance in the mercy of Allah, the Just.
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The eighth one, I looked and saw that each person leans on one of the creatures like himself. Some rely on their fields, some on their trade, some on their physical strength, and some on their craft… At that time, I clung to the verse of Allah and relied solely on Allah, saying that only He is sufficient for me: ‘Whoever relies on Allah, He is sufficient for him; indeed, Allah fulfills His command’ (Talâk/3). Upon this, Shakik said: ‘May Allah make you successful, Hâtem! I looked at the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, and the Furqan, and the religions and goodness I saw were nothing but the eight things you mentioned. Every positive thing is based on these eight fundamental things you mentioned.
Whoever acts upon these eight things will have acted in accordance with the four books sent by Allah through His prophets.’ • Only the scholars of the hereafter strive to learn this branch of knowledge. The scholars who are drawn into the world chase after whatever knowledge brings rank and wealth. Therefore, they completely neglect the knowledge that Allah’s prophets were entrusted with and sent. Dahhak b. Mezahim223 said: ‘I have reached the level of the previous scholars. They learned the knowledge of piety from each other. But I see that today’s scholars only learn the knowledge of speech from each other.’ One of the characteristics of the scholars of the hereafter is not to be extravagant in their dwellings, furnishings, clothing, food, and drinks, and not to waste.
They should resemble the previous scholars in these matters. They should be content with the least of these things. They should know that the more they reduce their needs, the closer they come to Allah. However, they should believe that by acting in this way, they can be included in the group of scholars of the hereafter. A story narrated from one of the students of Hatem al-Esem, Abu Abdullah al-Havas, also points to this attitude. Abu Abdullah says: ‘We entered the city of Rey, which is part of Horasan, with Hatem. We had three hundred and twenty more people with us. They did not have any woolen cloaks or bags to preserve their provisions. Hatem was going on a pilgrimage with them. We stayed with a dervish merchant who was hospitable to the poor. This person, who loved the poor, had also hosted us that night. In the morning, Hatem said to him: ‘There is a sick scholar in our city; I am going to visit him. Do you have anything to say to me?’ ‘Visiting a sick person is a great virtue; especially looking at the face of a scholar is an act of worship. Therefore, I will also come with you to visit him.’ The sick scholar, Muhammad b. Mukatil, was also the judge of the city of Rey. When we arrived at the scholar’s house, we met a beautiful and high building.
Hatem thought for a while and then asked: ‘Is this building really owned by a scholar?’ At that time, the door was opened and we were allowed to enter. When we entered, we saw large halls, very valuable items, and rich curtains suitable for all these valuable things. Seeing this scene, Hatem’s thoughtful attitude became even more certain. Then we entered the room where the sick person was. The first thing that caught our eye was the fact that the room was carpeted with very valuable and soft carpets. The sick person was lying on a very comfortable bed, and there was a servant who was fanning him. The visiting merchant sat next to the sick person. Hatem stood waiting. At one point, the sick person opened his eyes and gestured for Hatem to sit. Hatem, upon receiving this gesture, said: ‘I will not sit.’ ‘Do you need something?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘What do you need?’ ‘I want to ask you a question about a matter.’ The sick person: ‘Tell me what the matter is.’ ‘First, stand up in your bed and then I will ask my question!’
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Hatem asked the question.
– From whom did you acquire your knowledge?
– From many trusted scholars.
– From whom did they learn?
– From the Companions of the Messenger of Allah.
– From whom did the Companions learn?
– From the Messenger of Allah.
– From whom did the Messenger of Allah learn?
– He learned from Jibril, and Jibril learned from Allah.
– Then tell me! In the knowledge that Jibril received from Allah, the Messenger received from Jibril, the Companions received from the Messenger, and your teachers received from the Companions, is there any information about the high status of a person who has a house as luxurious as yours in the sight of Allah?
– No!
– Then, from where did you hear this life of luxury? More accurately, what did your teachers say about this?
– What I learned from them was this: To be a beloved servant of Allah, it is necessary to turn towards the Hereafter, avoid worshipping the world, love the poor, and not be attached to the world but be devoted to the Hereafter, such noble morals.
– Then, to whom did you conform in these matters? To Hz. The Prophet, the Companions, or the righteous people? Or to Nimrod and Pharaoh, who built the first houses of bricks and stones and live in them? O wicked scholars! Scholars who are drawn into the world like you are very bad examples for the people. When the people see such scholars, they say, ‘Since the scholar is doing this, there is no sin in doing this; I am not better or more virtuous than him,’ and follow you.
After this, he left without saying anything else. After this incident, the illness of Ibn Mukatil worsened completely. The people who heard what happened between Hatem and Ibn Mukatil started visiting Hatem. Among them, some went to Kazvin