Book of Knowledge / Chapter V
The teacher who introduces the transient and eternal life to human beings is the one who teaches the afterlife knowledge or the one who does everything in this world for the afterlife. I am not talking about teachers who aim only for themselves. Teaching only for this world is the very cause of destruction and leads the teacher to ruin. We seek refuge in Allah from teaching with such an intention. Just as a father desires his children to love and help each other; similarly, a teacher desires his students to love and help each other. They will also, just like their teachers, learn for the afterlife. Their goal will be nothing but the afterlife. If what is done is for this world, they will never be able to free themselves from envy and arrogance.
Scholars and the people of the afterlife are travelers on the path to Allah. Their journey begins in this world and leads to Allah. The years and months of this world are like the inns of that journey. Those who set out to reach a city become companions with each other and a bond of love is formed between them. Thus, the journey becomes a means of love and friendship. Could such a journey to paradise not also be a means of love and friendship? The bounds of the happiness of the afterlife are limitless, so it cannot be said, ‘Only I will reach it, others will not.’ Because of the eternity of the happiness of the afterlife, you will never see the travelers of that path fighting with each other. The happiness of this world is limited. Because of this, those who seek to attain it fight with each other, pushing and shoving.
Those who seek leadership through knowledge or use knowledge to attain leadership are outside the meaning expressed in this verse of Allah the Almighty: ‘Indeed, the believers are brothers.’ (Hujurat/10) Those like this are in accordance with this verse:
Ihya-i Ulumid-Din
(Those who unite in disbelief, they become enemies on that day)
Friends, but the people of piety are an exception.
(Zuhruf/67)
2. The teacher must follow Hz. Prophet (s.a). He should not ask for any fee from anyone for what he teaches. He should not even expect thanks. He should only work to gain the pleasure of Allah and to draw near to Him. He should not leave his students in a state of gratitude. Although students will respect him, he should not expect this. He should respect his students because they have decided to learn from him, and he should see them as more virtuous than himself. Because these students seek knowledge to purify their hearts and to draw near to Allah, and they listen to him. The teacher should see himself as a servant who has given his field to be cultivated by others. Obviously, the worker gains more benefit from the field. If the field owner had not given it, there would have been no opportunity to work on it.
How can you burden the student with gratitude? Because you will be compensated for what was not given to anyone in the presence of Allah! If you could not find a student, how could you attain this virtue? Therefore, O teacher! Only expect the reward from Allah!
Allah the Almighty says:
O my people! I do not ask you for any wealth for the duty of conveying the prophethood. My reward is only from Allah. I will not drive away the believers (as you desire). Indeed, they will attain their Lord.
(Hud/29)
Because in this world, everything that exists, including wealth, is a servant of the body. The body is the vehicle of the soul. Only knowledge is served. Because the honor of a person is elevated only through knowledge.
Book of Knowledge / Chapter V
Thus, the one who seeks wealth through knowledge is like a person who tries to clean himself by rubbing the inside of his shoes on his face. Because this person has made the thing that should be served into a servant, and the one who is obligated to serve into a master. This situation is similar to walking on one’s head instead of one’s feet. Such a person will be among the criminals in the greatest court and will be with those who bow their heads before their Lord.
Gratitude is a state belonging to the teacher. But be careful, the only religion, Islam, in our time, has fallen into the hands of those who consider themselves close to the spiritual presence of Allah by teaching jurisprudence and theology. The teaching has passed into their hands. These people, contrary to the predecessors of the scholars, run after wealth and rank, and endure all kinds of humiliation to attain them. Almost all of them are trying to enter the service of a sultan and become wealthy in this world. Because these people, if they abandon this hypocrisy – since they have no other merit – they know very well that people will abandon them. None of them consult their own judgment in any matter.
We see such teachers who, when they fall into a calamity, expect their students to provide help. They always want their students to be friends with friends and enemies with enemies. They also clearly desire their students to serve them. If a student makes a mistake in service and does not come to help, they consider it the greatest sin and regard them as an unforgivable enemy.
What a bad scholar is the one who is content with this disgrace! And these people shamelessly say, ‘My goal in teaching is to gain the pleasure of Allah.’ Look at the signs, and be aware of the varieties of pride!
3. The teacher should do all the advice that should be given to the student, but he must absolutely not fall into pride. For example, he should not allow the student to seek a rank that is not suitable for him. He should prevent the student from learning the hidden and relatively closed sections of knowledge before mastering the simple parts of knowledge. He should teach the student that the goal of learning knowledge is to draw near to Allah, and that there is no pure goal other than this. He should show the student that seeking worldly wealth through knowledge is ugly as much as possible. He should demonstrate this as much as possible within himself and make efforts to teach it in a practical way; because the person who does not practice what he says is a liar, and a liar is more of a corrupter than a reformer. If the teacher sees that the student seeks knowledge only for this world, then he should look at the knowledge the student wants: If the student wants knowledge about the conflicting issues of jurisprudence, the logical method of theology, and the rulings and differences of opinion in jurisprudence, then he should say that these kinds of knowledge do not benefit a person in the afterlife and try to warn the student.
This warning should continue by saying, ‘We did not learn knowledge for Allah, but to obtain other things from Him; but knowledge did not give us anything. Because we did not intend Allah, He did not become our helper.’ Regarding the knowledge to which the above words are applied; these are the sciences of interpretation, hadith, and the sciences that the righteous predecessors were occupied with. That is, the sciences that inform about the morality of the soul and how the bad aspects of that morality are purified. If the student learns these sciences and still desires the world, then the student should be left to himself. Because the student may think of preaching and dragging Muslims behind him with these sciences. He has learned the knowledge for this purpose.
But you also see that in the middle or at the end of the matter, he understands and turns back, and mixes with the travelers on the path of Allah. Because there are many teachings in the knowledge he has learned that cool the desire for the world and instill fear of Allah. Therefore, such a student can never be lost from the hope that these teachings will warn him one day.
Book of Knowledge / Chapter V
These teachings can also one day occupy his own heart. Gaining worldly wealth through knowledge and being accepted by the people is like the bait placed in the trap for catching birds. Allah the Almighty ties the people to the desire of procreation to continue the species. Again, we see that knowledge is the first thing that instills a sense of respect in the human heart. Therefore, such a tendency can also exist in these sciences. However, regarding the conflicts in the science of jurisprudence and theology, and the detailed knowledge that has a one percent chance of appearing, only striving to obtain this knowledge and abandoning other sciences makes the hearts of people forget Allah and makes their hearts harder than stones.
It pushes them from one ignorance to another and becomes only a means to obtain the world. However, only those whom Allah the Almighty intends to save, who have acquired religious knowledge along with these dangerous issues, can be saved. The proof of this judgment is experience and observation. Look and take a lesson! Open your eyes of insight! Look at the condition of those who are occupied only with these issues and see the miserable state of the country! Our helper is only Allah. Once, those who saw Süfyân-ı Sevrî in sorrow asked him the reason, and he answered: ‘We are like merchandise for those who want the world. Some of them came to us and learned. They became judges, governors, or heroes with what they learned from us.’
The teacher should not inform the student of his bad morals in an open way, but as much as possible through subtle hints and implications, and should try to prevent him from these morals. This is one of the subtleties of teaching. He should try to make him give up bad habits by acting with mercy and compassion, not by scolding. Because if the teacher openly scolds the student, it cancels the sense of respect the student has for the teacher. The teacher’s majestic appearance disappears from the student’s eyes. Because the veil between them has been torn. Therefore, the student dares to oppose the teacher. Because his pride has been whipped. To imply this secret and wisdom, the teacher of teachers, Hz. Prophet (s.a), said:
If people are prevented from breaking a thorn, they will certainly break it. Because they think that there is something in it and that they are deprived of it when it is forbidden.
The best example to wake you up is the attitude of Hz. Adam and Hawwa towards the forbidden thing.
I am not bringing these examples just for the sake of conversation. I am bringing them to wake you up and to ensure that you take a lesson and go on the right path.
It is also appropriate for the teacher to educate the student through implication, because virtuous people are capable of understanding the meaning of words spoken through implication. It is a proper action to find oneself in implication. The student also works with all his strength to understand the meaning spoken through implication, thus increasing his mental activity.
5.
One of the duties of a teacher who is knowledgeable in some sciences is not to belittle any science he does not know in the eyes of the student.
Today, it is the habit of a language teacher to try to belittle the science of jurisprudence in the eyes of the student. The habit of a jurisprudence teacher is to try to belittle the sciences of hadith and interpretation by the excuse that they are based on narration.
Because, in his opinion, the science based on narration belongs to the ignorant. In his opinion, there is no place for reason in these sciences. A theology teacher says to the people to cool them off from jurisprudence: ‘That is nothing but a science that talks about the state of women’s menstruation and deals with the issues of the forbidden. Can a science that discusses the attributes of Allah be compared to such a science?’ Thus, such a morality is one of the worst morals for teachers. A teacher who has knowledge should not belittle other sciences to avoid falling into such a bad morality. He should open the way for the student to learn knowledge and clearly explain that other sciences also have great benefits.
If the teacher is responsible for teaching many sciences, he should continue the teaching gradually, taking into account the student’s ability. Determining the student’s understanding well is giving him a lesson he can bear. He should not repeat in class the topics that are too difficult for the student’s mind or that make the student’s heart weary or that strain the student’s mind too much. In the art of teaching, he should follow the example of the master of humanity. Indeed, Hz. Prophet (s.a) said: ‘We prophets were ordered by Allah the Almighty to keep people at their appropriate levels and to speak to them in a way that their minds can handle.’ Thus, a teacher should watch the time when the student can understand and tell the truth to him at that moment.
Sahir, (Ibn Ömer from); Abu Kuzayya, es-Siyase; said that the hadith is authentic.
Ihya-i Ulumid-Din A person who speaks a truth that the mind cannot grasp to a people causes some of them to deviate. Hz. Ali (r.a) pointed to his chest and said: ‘There are many sciences here. I wish I could meet a person who could handle these sciences.’ How rightly he spoke! Because the hearts of the good are the graves of secrets. Every scholar should not speak his knowledge everywhere. This is the case when the student can understand, but speaking it would not be a matter of benefit. What happens if the student understands nothing at all, and what is the ruling on that? Hz. Jesus (a.s) says: ‘Avoid putting jewels on the necks of pigs.’
Wisdom and knowledge are the most precious of jewels. Therefore, the one who is proud of wisdom and knowledge is the most ugly of pigs. Based on this secret and wisdom, it is said: ‘Measure every person with the scale of his mind. Determine it with the amount of his understanding so that you are sure of him and he can gain benefit from you. If you do not do this, they will try to deny you because your measures will be different.’ A question is asked to a scholar. When he does not answer, the person who asked the question scolds him and shouts at the scholar: ‘Did you not hear this hadith conveyed by the Messenger of Allah?’ • j^ Cz? f^*^ 1*—>*L» o ilil I çjj ;b** bub LJp (^ ^ 183) Ukaylî, Ibn Sünnî and Abu Nuaym, (from Ibn Abbas with a weak chain) 184) This statement is taken from the book el-Gud with different expressions.) Abu Talib el-Mekkî, Kut-ül Kulûb; Suyutî, el-Leâli’il-Mesnua
Book of Knowledge / Chapter V
A person who hides a beneficial knowledge and does not speak it will come before Allah on the Day of Judgment, sailing on a ship made of fire.186
The scholar says: ‘Leave the ship and go! If a person who understands the meaning of this statement comes and I hide this knowledge from him, may Allah make me sail on a ship on the Day of Judgment.’
Allah the Almighty says:
Do not give the orphan’s property to those who are foolish among them. Provide them with food, clothing, and speak kindly to them.
(Nisâ/5)
This verse indicates that it is better to hide from a person who destroys knowledge and considers it harmful to himself.
It is less of a wrong to give to the one who is not entitled than to withhold from the one who is entitled.
Should I scatter the pearls among the grazing sheep?
Should I then be the guardian of the grazing sheep?
They are ignorant people who do not know the value of knowledge.
At least I should not put knowledge on the necks of animals.
If the generous Allah, with His grace, grants me the opportunity to meet a person worthy of knowledge and wisdom;
I will spread the knowledge to benefit him and win his love.
If I do not see such a person, that knowledge will remain full and hidden with me.
Giving knowledge to the ignorant is a loss.
Withholding knowledge from the worthy is a wrong.
186) Ibn Mâce, (from Abu Said with a weak chain); a similar hadith was also previously narrated from Abu Hurayra.
Ihya-i Ulumid-Din 7. It is appropriate to advise a student with limited intelligence on open knowledge. Such a student should not be told, ‘There are many subtleties in the knowledge I have taught you, but I am not telling them to you now because you are not capable of understanding them.’ Because such a statement will weaken the student’s effort in open knowledge, confuse his mind, and constantly occupy his imagination with the things his teacher is hiding from him. Because every person, regardless of his level of ability, believes himself to be qualified for every science. You cannot see anyone complaining about the intelligence given to them, even if they are foolish. The most foolish of them is the one who boasts about the perfection of his non-existent intelligence. From this truth, it is understood that the person who, from the common people, implants the beliefs that come from the chain of the sharia without using allegory or interpretation, and who corrects their behavior and does not burden their minds with a load they cannot carry, has done the best.
Thus, he has fulfilled the required duty. Therefore, it is not a proper action to doubt the belief of the common people who hold this understanding. The duty of the knowledgeable is to leave these people with their beliefs and their affairs. If the knowledgeable person speaks the apparent interpretations to such people, he will have removed the record of the common people and will not be able to bind them to the masses. In this way, the veils between the people and sins are lifted, and the poor become stubborn devils. He will drag both himself and others into ruin. It is not a proper action to delve into the fine matters of knowledge with the common people. The most appropriate action is to teach them their duties, ensure that they become reliable in their actions, and to advise them to fill their hearts with the fear of hell and the love of paradise as the Qur’an-i Kerim commands.
The common people should not be led into doubtful matters. Because the heart of an ordinary person can be filled with doubts. Since they are not capable of escaping these doubts, they fall into deep doubts that lead to destruction. The door of debate should not be opened before the common people. Because such an action will destroy the order of the people and all people