Ibn Taymiyyah:
Sins are like the chains and locks preventing their perpetrator from roaming the vast gardens of tawheed and repeating the fruits of righteous actions.
- Majmoo’ Fataawaa (14/49)
November 8, 2012
Seek Knowledge Before it is Sought From you [!]
Posted by daraGharbi under 'Ibaadah, beautiful sayings, Naseeha, Transcriptions | Tags: evil, falsehood, good, Knowledge, seek knowledge, truth |Leave a Comment
Abbād b. Abbād al-Khawwās:[1]
Doubt and suspect your opinions and the opinions of the people of your era, and be certain, verifying [a matter] before speaking [about it]. Seek knowledge before it is sought from you, for indeed a time will come in which Truth and falsehood resembles each other such that they will become confused, and in which good is [called] evil and evil is [called] good. So some of you will end up trying to get close to Allaah with that which will distance you from Him, showing love for Him with that which will anger Him. Allaah, the Most High, said:
“Is he then to whom the evil of his deeds is made to seem fair to him, so that he considers it as good, (equal to the one who is rightly guided)? Verily, Allaah leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. So do not destroy yourself (O Muhammad) in sorrow for them. Indeed Allaah is the All-Knower of what they do.” [Soorah al-Faatir (35):8]
- Source: Narrated by ad-Daarimee (1/160-163), who said: “`Abdul-Malak ibn Sulaymaan Aboo `Abdur-Rahmaan al-Antaakee reported the whole of this to us.”
- Translated by: `Aboo Abdullaah as-Sayalaanee
August 29, 2012
Knowledge is Superior to Wealth
Posted by daraGharbi under Uncategorized | Tags: dunyaa, education, Ibn Al-Qayyim, Knowledge, owais al-hashimi |[3] Comments
Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawzīyah, Miftāh Dār Al-Sa’ādah, 1:418+
The superiority of knowledge over wealth is understood from numerous angles:
- Knowledge is the inheritance of the Prophets, while wealth is merely the inheritance of kings and the rich.
- Wealth is diminished by spending, whereas knowledge grows when it is disbursed.
- When the possessor of wealth dies, his wealth leaves him, whereas a man’s knowledge accompanies him to his grave.
- Knowledge is what judges and rules over wealth, but wealth does not judge knowledge.
- Wealth is acquired by the believer, the unbeliever, the righteous and the sinful; but beneficial knowledge is not acquired except by the believer.
- The scholar is needed by the kings and those beneath them, whereas the possessor of wealth is only needed by the poor and destitute.
- The soul is ennobled, purified and developed through the acquisition of and concern for knowledge – that is part of its completeness and nobility, whereas wealth neither purifies, completes nor adds a noble quality to the soul. On the contrary, the soul declines, becomes more greedy and more miserly through the gathering and concern for wealth. Thus, the soul’s concern for knowledge is its very completion, whereas the soul’s concern for wealth is its very decline.
- Wealth calls the soul to transgression, pride and arrogance; whereas knowledge calls it to humility and the establishment of servitude and worship [of Allāh]. Thus, wealth calls the soul to the qualities of mere kings, whereas knowledge calls to the qualities of true servants [of Allah].
- Knowledge attracts and conveys the soul to the felicity it was created for, whereas wealth is a veil between the two.
- Enrichment with knowledge is loftier than enrichment with material wealth. Because being rich with wealth is enrichment by something external to the human: if that wealth were to depart in one night he would be immediately destitute. However, richness of knowledge is not under the threat of poverty, rather it is in ever increase. Thus, it is in reality the highest form of richness, as was said: I gained independent from everyone without acquiring wealth. Verily, the highest richness is in freedom from needing a thing, not in needing to possess it.
- Wealth enslaves the one who covets it and makes him into a slave of it, as the Prophet – Allāh’s praise and peace be upon him – said, “Wretched be the slave of the dirham and the dīnār…” But knowledge makes its possessor a servant and worshipper of his Lord and Creator, it does not call him except to servitude to Allāh alone.
- The love of knowledge and its pursuit is the root of all obedience [to Allāh], whereas the love of this worldly life (dunyā) and its wealth is the root of all evil.
- The value of a rich man is his wealth, while the value of a learned man is his knowledge. The former is valued according to his wealth: if it ceases, so does his value; he is left valueless. The value of a learned man does not decrease, it is always on the rise.
- Translated by: Owais al-Haashimi
- Source: Points of Benefit
