The Manners Of the Knowledge Seeker by Abu ‘Abdallah Muhammad Sa’id Raslan

It is upon the student of knowledge to purify himself outwardly by steering clear of innovations, beautifying himself with the sunan of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in all aspects of his life, preserving his wudu’, and keeping his body and appearance clean – all within reasonable means, and as much as he is able.

Ibn Abi Hatim reported that ‘Abd al-Malik al-Maymuni said: “I do not know that I have ever seen anyone who wore cleaner clothes, was more attentive to trimming his moustache and grooming the hair on his head and body, or wore purer and whiter garments than Ahmad bin Hambal.”20 And this was because every single movement of Ahmad (may Allah have Mercy on him) was in accordance with the Sunnah, as he said: “I never wrote a single hadith except that I acted upon it, to the point that I came across a report that the Prophet (peace be upon him) got cupped and gave Abu Taybah (his cupper) a dinar. So, I got cupped and gave the cupper a dinar.”21

One shouldn’t misunderstand the encouragement to have clean clothes and be excessive and obsessive in regards to his clothing. Rather, one should be slightly less than this, considering that it is reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Badhadhah is from faith.”22

Ibn al-Athir said: “Badhadhah is to have a plain, ascetic appearance…and he (peace be upon him) meant that one should be humble in his clothing, avoiding vanity.”23

And al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (may Allah have Mercy on him) reported that Abu ‘Abdillah al- Bushinji said: “As for the badhadhah that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said is from faith, it is the plainness one displays in dress and garment, and this is humility from owning flashy, expensive clothing and garments. This is how the people of zuhd dress in this world.”24

al-Khatib (may Allah have Mercy on him) said: “The student of knowledge must set aside amusement, useless talk, and low speech when meeting and gathering with others, such as immaturity, laughter, giggling, and excessive joking. It is allowed for him to laugh mildly and rarely in a way that does not exceed the limits of the manner and style of one who is dealing with knowledge. As for constantly doing this, speaking about inappropriate, immature, and childish matters, excessive laughter and joking – this all reduces one’s esteem and manhood.

Malik (may Allah have Mercy on him) said: “It is upon the student of knowledge to manifest calmness, humility, and tranquility, and to follow in the footsteps of those who came before him.” Muhammad bin al-Husayn reported from Sa’id bin ‘Amir that he said: “We were with Hisham ad-Dastawa’i, and one of us laughed. So, Hisham said to him: “You laugh while you are a student of Hadith?!”” ‘Abd ar-Rahman bin Mahdi reported that a man laughed in the presence of Hisham ad- Dastawa’i. So, Hisham said to him: “Young man, you seek knowledge and laugh?!” The man replied: “Doesn’t Allah make us laugh or weep?”25 Hisham replied: “Then weep!””26

So, external purity by following the Sunnah, having the proper appearance, a clean body, and clean clothing is required of every Muslim, and is even more incumbent upon the seeker of knowledge, since he should be guided by his knowledge to noble and good things. And Muslim reported that ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: “Nobody who has an atom’s weight of kibr will enter Paradise.” So, a man said: “A man likes that his clothing look nice, and that his shoes look nice.” The Messenger (peace be upon him) replied: “Indeed, Allah is Beautiful and Loves beauty. Kibr is to reject the truth and look down on the people.”27

And the Prophet (peace be upon him) loved good scents, and was particular about them.

Abu Musa bin Anas bin Malik reported that his father said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had sukkah that he would use for himself.” al-Albani said: “Abu Dawud reported it with an authentic chain upon the conditions of Muslim, and sukkah is the black musk that is mixed and left to emit its scent over time. It is also interpreted to be the container in which this musk is stored, and this is more evident.”28

And the Prophet (peace be upon him) hated disgusting smells, and would be turned off by them. For example, Abu Sa’id al-Khudri (may Allah be Pleased with him) said: “We made no transgression when Khaybar was conquered. We, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), fell upon this plant – garlic - because the people were hungry. We ate it to our heart's content, and then made our way towards the mosque. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sensed its odor, saying: “He who eats anything of this offensive plant should not approach us in the mosque.” The people said: “It has become forbidden! It has become forbidden!” This reached the Prophet (peace be upon him), and he said: “O people, I cannot forbid what Allah has made lawful, except that it is a plant whose odor I dislike.””29

Jabir (may Allah be Pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “He who eats of these plants – garlic, leeks, and onions - should not approach our mosque, as the Angels are offended by the same things as the human being.”30

And the Prophet (peace be upon him) forbade that the Muslim leave his moustache and fingernails without trimming them, his pubic hair without cutting it, or his armpit hair without plucking it for more than forty days, as Anas bin Malik said: “He (peace be upon him) gave us a forty day limit in trimming the moustache and fingernails, plucking the hair under the armpits, and shaving the pubic hair.”31 an-Nawawi said: “This means that they are not allowed to leave these things for more than forty days, not that they have to leave them for forty days.”32

The Prophet (peace be upon him) also encouraged the use of the toothbrush (siwak), saying:

“If I did not fear making things too hard for my people, I would have commanded them to use the siwak at the time of each prayer,” as was narrated by Abu Hurayrah.33

So, the seeker of knowledge is to be particular about his external cleanliness, and this is done by following the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him), holding firmly to it, and biting to it tightly. The people most required to do this are the people of knowledge, as they are the inheritors of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and it is most appropriate that they be the ones who imitate him and follow in his footsteps.

As for inner purity and cleanliness, the student of knowledge should “focus on purifying his soul from undesirable and blameworthy characteristics, since knowledge is the worship of the heart, the secret prayer, and the internal means of nearness to Allah. Just as the prayer – the worship of the external limbs - is not acceptable without cleanliness from external impurity, filling one’s heart with knowledge – the internal worship - is not acceptable until one cleans himself of impure manners and characteristics. Allah Said:

{“Indeed, the polytheists are impure…”}34

This shows that purity and cleanliness are not limited to the external factors that can be felt by the senses, as the disbeliever can wear clean clothes and bathe his body while his essence is filthy and impure. In other words, his inner self is soiled with impurities. Impurity (najasah)

is a term used for something that is avoided and turned away from, and inner filth is the most important type of impurity that one should seek to avoid, since even though it is now only an impurity, it will evolve into something that will destroy you.”35

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be Pleased with him) said: “Once, Jibril had promised to visit the Prophet (peace be upon him). But, he delayed, and this became difficult for the Prophet (peace be upon him) to handle. Finally, he came out to find Jibril, who complained to him:

"We do not enter a home in which there is a picture or a dog.””36

Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali (may Allah have Mercy on him) said: “And the heart is also a home.

It is the home of the Angels, where they descend, where they reside. Despicable characteristics, such as anger, desires, belittlement, envy, arrogance, self-amazement, etc. are all barking dogs. So, how can the Angels enter such a place while it is crawling with dogs?”37

Ibn Jama’ah (may Allah have Mercy on him) said:

“The student of knowledge is to clean his heart out from every bit of blemish, deceit, envy, and bad character in order to condition himself to soak up and memorize knowledge and discover its detailed meanings and hidden treasures. Knowledge is – as some have said – the secret prayer, the worship of the heart, and the inner means of gaining nearness to Allah.

And just as prayer – the worship of the external limbs – is not accepted except with external purification from filth and impurity, likewise, knowledge – the worship of the heart – is not facilitated except if you purify yourself from the filth of low and despicable characteristics and manners.

And if you clean your heart out for knowledge, its blessing becomes clear and evident, just like the plot of land that is fertile for agriculture, and in the hadith: “Indeed, and in the body there is a piece of flesh. If it is sound, the rest of the body will be sound. If it is corrupt, the rest of the body will be corrupt. Indeed, it is the heart.”38 And Sahl: “It is forbidden for any light to enter the heart while it contains anything that Allah – the Mighty and Majestic – hates.””39

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have Mercy on him) said:

“And sins leave ugly, despicable, and harmful effects to the heart and body in this world and the next that none know except Allah. From them is that one is prevented from knowledge, as knowledge is a light that Allah places into the heart, and sins put out this light. When ash- Shafi’i sat in front of Malik to read to him, he was amazed at what he was seeing of ash- Shafi’i’s intelligence, wisdom, and complete understanding and comprehension, saying: “I see that Allah has placed light in your heart. So, don’t put it out with the darkness of sin.” And ash-Shafi’i (may Allah have Mercy on him) said:

I complained to Waki’ of my bad memory * So, he advised me to abandon sins; And said: “Know that knowledge is a blessing * and the blessing of Allah is not accessible to the sinner.”40

Ibn al-Jawzi (may Allah have Mercy on him) said:

“Abu ‘Abdillah bin al-Jala’ said: “I used to look at a young Christian boy who had a beautiful face. So, ‘Abu ‘Abdillah al-Balkhi passed by me, saying: “What is wrong with you?” I replied:

“O uncle, don’t you see this face? How can it be punished in the Fire?” So, he hit me in the chest, saying: “You will eventually feel the consequences of this act of yours.” So, after forty years, I suffered the consequences: I forgot the Qur’an.” And Abu al-Adyan said: “I was with my teacher, Abu Bakr ad-Daqqaq. Something inappropriate took place, and I looked at it. He saw me looking at it, and said: “My son, you will suffer the consequences of this look, even if in the future.” Twenty years passed in which I waited, not suffering anything. One night, I went to sleep thinking about this, and awoke to discover that I had forgotten the entire Qur’an.””41

Abu Hamid (may Allah have Mercy on him) said:

“If you were to say: ‘But, I see many students of knowledge with bad manners who are quite knowledgeable!’ What a difference! He is quite far from the true, useful knowledge that will benefit him in the Hereafter and bring him happiness! From the first steps of gaining knowledge is that it become clear to him that sins are a deadly, destructive poison. Have you ever come across someone who reaches for deadly poison, knowing that it is poison? What you see from those who appear as such is merely speech that they concoct with their tongues at times and reject with their hearts times, and this is not knowledge in the least.

Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be Pleased with him) said: “Knowledge is not constant narration.

Rather, it is light that is placed in the heart.” Some said that knowledge is fear, as Allah Said:

{“Verily, those of Allah’s slaves who fear Him are those who have knowledge.”}42

It is as if He was eluding to the most specific fruits of knowledge, and because of this, some said in regards to the statement: “We learned this knowledge for other than Allah, and the knowledge did not want except to be for Allah,” that the knowledge escaped from us and did not expose its reality to us, and we were instead given mere words and phrases.

So, if you say: ‘I see a group of the scholars and jurists who are geniuses in the branches and fundamentals, and are considered to be the most successful of scholars, while they are unable to clear themselves of their despicable manners,’ we say that if you come to know the degrees of knowledge, and came to know the Hereafter, it will then become clear to you that what they are preoccupied with is not very satisfying in the form of mere knowledge. Rather, what is truly satisfying is when that knowledge is transformed into action for Allah, if it is used to gain nearness to Allah, the Exalted.”43

So, all of this revolves around the purity and cleanliness of the heart and submission of the limbs to the rulings of the Shari’ah. Therefore, the seeker of knowledge should be particular about paying close attention to his internal condition and having his external condition conform with the Sunnah, so that Allah opens up for him the lights and treasures of knowledge and wisdom.

This is the bounty of Allah that He bestows upon whom He Wills, and Allah is the Owner of great bounty.