In the name of Allah the most beneficent, the most merciful, peace and blessings of Allah be upon the noblest of mankind, Prophet Muhammed (SAW)

Knowledge in Islam, is a concept that is overwhelmingly important, from inception, Islam has placed emphasis on knowledge and learning. The first 5 verses of the Holy Qur'an revealed to the Prophet (SAW) depict this, Allah (SWT) Says;
"Read in the name of your Lord who created. He created man from a clot. Read and your Lord is Most honorable. Who taught (to write) with the pen. Taught man what he knew not. (Al-Alaq 1-5).

There are also numerous traditions of the holy prophet Muhammed (SAW) which also stresses the importance of knowledge as well as seeking knowledge. The prophet said 'seeking knowledge is obligatory on Muslims both male and female' he also said, 'whoever goes out to seek for knowledge, such a person is on the path of Allah till he returns'.
These are but few examples of how Islam places emphasis on knowledge and seeking knowledge.

Some Scholars have been able to classify Muslims into 3 categories in terms of knowledge, the first being the scholar, the second a student of a scholar (i.e. student of knowledge) and the third is the questioner (i.e., not a student but one who asks questions about religious matters).

The category which concerns us the most, I mean we the Muslim youth is the seeker of knowledge i.e. a student of knowledge. How do we become a student of knowledge or what are the etiquettes of being a student of knowledge.
Below are some etiquette which I have come across, which have been passed down from righteous scholars, they are pieces of advice for the youth seeking knowledge.

1. Intention
In every act a Muslim undertakes, there must be an intention, the Prophet(SAW) captured it lucidly in his hadith which can be found in the popular 40 hadiths of An-Nawawee, he said,’ verily, with every action is an intention, and each man shall get what he intended...'
A seeker of knowledge must make his intention pure, he should seek knowledge for the right reasons, he shouldn't seek knowledge for fame and fortune, for the prophet (SAW) said 'Perished be the slave of dinar and dirham, of qatifah (thick soft cloth) and khamisah (money and luxurious cloth), as he is pleased if these things are given to him, and if not, he is displeased. Let such a person perish and relapse, and if he is pierced with a thorn, let him not find anyone to take it out for him'. Bukhari

Narrated AbuHurayrah The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: If anyone acquires knowledge of things by which Allah's good pleasure is sought, but acquires it only to get some worldly advantage, he will not experience the arf, i.e. the odour, of Paradise.(sunan abu daud)

Allah Says “Those who desire the life of the Present and its glitter to them we shall pay (the price of) their deeds therein without diminution. They are those for whom there is nothing in the Hereafter but the Fire: vain are the designs they frame therein and of no effect are the deeds that they do!” (Hud 15-16)
Shaykh Muhammed Abdul Wahab named a chapter in Kitab Attawhid regarding this above verse, entitled; ‘A person's seeking the world through his deeds, is a part of shirk'

You should always seek Allah’s Pleasure; Allah would take care of you.

2. Knowledge should be sought to lift ignorance off oneself and the society. As Muslims, we have been praised by Allah in the Qur'an as the best of creation; we command good and forbid evil. Allah says: “Ye are the best of peoples evolved for mankind enjoining what is right forbidding what is wrong and believing in Allah.”(Al-Imran 110). A seeker of knowledge must have this at the back of his mind.

As a student of knowledge, you are meant to be a lantern, a light for yourself and others to see the path towards Allah. You need to rid yourself off ignorance first, before you can rid ignorance off your society.
Ridding the society of ignorance is part of your obligation, for with that you would be free to practice your religion in peace; an Arabic poetry paints a good picture

‘Prepare a fire (light), for verily the night is cold
And the wind (that blows) oh one who prepares the fire (light), is a severely cold wind
Perhaps, a man who walks by would see your light (from the fire)
And would invite a visitor so you become warm (liberated).’

A good analogy to describe the importance of lifting ignorance off the society can also be illustrated by the story of a double-decker boat, the people in the lower deck need water and felt since they are closer to the water, they should drill a hole in the boat, if the people at the upper deck do not inform them of the danger and persuade them not to do so, they all would drown. If you, a student of knowledge do not spread your knowledge and teach people the right way to Allah (SWT) then, the consequences would be devastating.
3. Acting on the knowledge is obligatory. As student of knowledge, you should act on the knowledge you acquire, what would be the benefit of knowing so much yet you don't practice it? Allah likened the Jews who were given the torah and they didn't use it to donkeys, Allah said 'the likeness of those who were entrusted with the obligation of the Taurat but who subsequently failed in those obligation, is as a likeness of a donkey which carries huge burden of books(but understands nothing from them). How bad is the example of those who deny the ayat of Allah. And Allah guides not the zalimoon.(Q62v5)

Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood said, 'we used to learn ten verses from the Qur’an and we would not go beyond them until we comprehended them and acted upon them'

Narrated AbuHurayrah The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) used to say: "O Allah, I seek refuge in Thee from four things: Knowledge which does not profit, a heart which is not submissive, a soul which has an insatiable appetite, and a supplication which is not heard."

Narrated AbudDarda' The worst of men in the eye of Allah on the Day of Resurrection will be the scholar who does not derive benefit from his knowledge. Transmitted by Darimi.(tirmidhi).
You need to talk the talk and walk the walk, you need to practice what you have learnt so you’ll practice what you preach.

4.No to At-Taqlid, Blind followership. The prophet (SAW) has advised us in his last sermon, he said he had left the Qur’an and his sunnah for us to follow. A student of knowledge must understand that anything that go against Allah's book and his messenger is false and should not be followed. Imam Ash-Shafii said, “The scholars are united, past and present; that whosoever has a sunnah of the messenger clarified unto him, then it is not permissible to abandon it for the sake of anyone else's word.” A student of knowledge must be careful not to fall into blind followership, as the result would end in error as the saying goes, 'if a blind leads a blind, they both fall into a pit'

Being a student of knowledge also means that you are a custodian of the Qur’an and Sunnah, it is your responsibility to guard them jealously, so be careful of those who introduce new things into Islam.

5. Be polite and humble, Do not over magnify people.
Humility is the hallmark of a student of knowledge; you shouldn't seek knowledge to show off or for respect and status. You should be respectful to the scholars and do not go overboard in terms of respect and praise.
When you correct ignorant people, you should do so in the most respectable and polite manner, you shouldn’t be condescending and dismissive, remember, if not for Allah’s favor, you might have been in his shoes.

6. Be focused
Learn to plan your time, set goals and limit distractions. Be eager to learn new things only after you have fully understood your previous assignments. Being focused enables you not to overburden yourself with irrelevancies and too much work, you can’t learn everything. Remember, your primary purpose in life is to worship Allah (SWT).

7. Good manners and relationship with other student of knowledge. You should be sincere with your fellow seekers, engage in discussion and debates that will broaden your understanding, abstain from lying and deceit, it kills the heart and makes one loose his rewards with Allah (SWT).

Narrated Ibn Masud I heard the Prophet saying, "There is no envy except in two: a person whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it in the right way and a person Whom Allah has given wisdom (i.e. religious knowledge) and he gives his decisions accordingly and teaches it to the others."(Bukhari)

8. Be careful of wicked scholars, the prophet (SAW) said, 'what I fear for this ummah is the wicked scholars'.
Their outward appearance depicts righteousness, but their inner self is filled with evil, they manipulate the youths for their selfish desires, they wine and dine with the corrupt leaders and the wealthy in the society. It is very difficult to know they are deceitful, always double check fatwas and opinions of scholars, remember point 4, don’t be a blind follower of a scholar.

Narrated Hakim ibn Umayr A man asked Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) about evil. Whereupon he said: Don't ask me about evil but ask me about good. He repeated this thrice after which he said: Behold, the worst beings are the wicked among the learned ones and the best are the virtuous among the learned. Transmitted by Darimi.

9. Be prayerful. Dua is the weapon of the believer; use it as much as possible on your path of knowledge. Wake up in the early hours to supplicate, always wet your tongue with the remembrance of Allah.

“I am as My servant thinks I am. I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assemble better than it. And if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.” (Hadith Qudsi)

Allah (SWT) is sufficient for you.

10. Patience and perseverance.
Gone are the days of cane and merciless beating, well, maybe some little ones still get it these days, also gone are the days of no ending sojourns on land and sea just to learn about an ayah or one hadith.
Our generation has been blessed, there are better avenues to seek knowledge, we can sit at the comfort of our homes to learn, even with that, there are challenges and difficulties we face which are quite different from that faced by the earlier generation.

The path to knowledge can be tedious; Allah would test you but be patient. Allah (SWT) said 'Do people think that they would be left alone because they say we believe and they would not be tested. (Al-Ankabut 2).
When you patiently preserve, then you would be able to enjoy the fruits of your labour in this life and the hereafter. Allah (SWT) Says “And be steadfast in patience; for verily Allah will not suffer the reward of the righteous to perish.” (Hud 115)

You should know that seeking knowledge is a lifelong process, the prophet (SAW) was reported to have said, 'seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave’.

So no matter the difficulty you face, never give up, you have to continue the struggle till your last breath.
May Allah (SWT) Assist you on this path you have chosen to attain the goodness of both worlds Ameen.

Wa ma Taofeeq illa bi LLAH.

Jazakumullah Khairan Brother Sino,interesting piece.May Allah reward your efforts.

^ Ameen Wa iyakum bro.

Knowledge - you can't stop seeking it. You stop seeking it at your own peril.
So Allah says in the Qur'an that we should pray: “Lord, increase me in knowledge”
Why?
The prophet (SAW) said,

“A person who follows a path for acquiring knowledge, Allah will make easy the passage to Paradise for him.”

Therefore, a Muslim should not get weary from seeking it until his last breath. No wonder the Prophet (SAW) said again,

“A Muslim will not tire of knowledge until he/she reaches Heaven.”

I repeat! Knowledge - ignore it at your own risk.

So I pray, “Lord, increase me in knowledge”

I need to save this page.

Thanks Sino.

deols: I need to save this page.

Thanks Sino.

Alhamdulilah, you are welcome sis.

JazakAllahu khair, I just want to say one thing:


We gave them clear proof in matters [of religion]. They differed among themselves out of mutual rivalry, only after knowledge came to them: on the Day of Resurrection your Lord will judge between them regarding their differences. (Surah 45:17)

Just like many statements in the Quran, this is directed to bani israeli but easily applies to muslims. I argue that we can simply replace bani israeli with 'you who believe' in many places in the Quran and it will be true, given the state of the Ummah.

When knowledge becomes a market commodity and everyone is looking for his market share. Scholars bashing scholars out of an urge to dominate. I have seen long articles written just to bash anothet scholar. Saying things like 'He is a deviant, don't listen to him..' . What ever happened to private counsel to a muslim brother.

I have had to send a mail to a popular speaker once because I felt a lot of backbitting was taking place on his facebook page. Alhamdulilah, it stopped.

It becomes a competition and it is not pretty.

May Allah make our knowledge beneficial and not a source of rivalry.

tbaba1234: JazakAllahu khair, I just want to say one thing:


We gave them clear proof in matters [of religion]. They differed among themselves out of mutual rivalry, only after knowledge came to them: on the Day of Resurrection your Lord will judge between them regarding their differences. (Surah 45:17)

Just like many statements in the Quran, this is directed to bani israeli but easily applies to muslims. I argue that we can simply replace bani israeli with 'you who believe' in many places in the Quran and it will be true, given the state of the Ummah.

When knowledge becomes a market commodity and everyone is looking for his market share. Scholars bashing scholars out of an urge to dominate. I have seen long articles written just to bash anothet scholar. Saying things like 'He is a deviant, don't listen to him..' . What ever happened to private counsel to a muslim brother.

I have had to send a mail to a popular speaker once because I felt a lot of backbitting was taking place on his facebook page. Alhamdulilah, it stopped.

It becomes a competition and it is not pretty.

May Allah make our knowledge beneficial and not a source of rivalry.

Wa iyakum my brother, it's really saddening, this rivalry amongst scholars. Its been a dangerous trend for the past 3 to 4 ramadhan now, amongst notable scholars in Lagos, scholars publicly antagonising each other on tv, the most painful aspect is that their students are also following suit. You would see it in their reaction when their sheikhs make reference to the other groups, making crude remarks and the likes, it's really pathetic, and you would ask yourself, why all these?

If you've ever been at the centre of a 'cold war' so to speak between rival groups, i tell you, you would feel like never trusting anyone, the magnitude of dirty plans and attacks could make one loose faith. You just wonder where is the Islam, do these people really know or just don't care.

Well, at the end, all will be judged by Allah. My motto has always been,"just do your thing for the sake of Allah(SWT) and help as many as you can to understand what Islam is all about."
Ameen to your prayers, May Allah continue to guide us.

jazakallahu khayran

May almighty Allah (SWT) grant us all beneficial knowledge

jjazakallahu khayran for this beautiful piece,i never know Nairaland has a good resource person that can teach and write about Islam,i only think nairaland is for mundane activities...Kudos to you bro........

jazakallahu kayrahn

May Allah reward u

May Allah increase us all in knowledge.

Please, what's the Islamic record on the life of Jesus? The things He said and did? That seems to be the only thing my Muslim friends have refused to teach me (or they don't know). I have a Muslim fiancee and i'm told by her parents to convert before i marry her. But until they answer that question, i can't. Thanks House.

Jazaka Allahul khair

Owk

Nixe work @op....

Im Lucky to be a Muslim. Alhamdulilah

May Allah reward you abundantly. Good effort.

Jazakallahu Khairan OP.

jammyng: Please, what's the Islamic record on the life of Jesus? The things He said and did? That seems to be the only thing my Muslim friends have refused to teach me (or they don't know). I have a Muslim fiancee and i'm told by her parents to convert before i marry her. But until they answer that question, i can't. Thanks House.

Send me an email tbaba1234@yahoo.com.. Let's talk .

AllahuAkbar!wht a beautiful and beneficial write-up..may Allah reward u in full brother

[quote
author=jammyng]Please, what's the Islamic record on the life of Jesus?
The things He said and did? That seems to be the only thing my Muslim
friends have refused to teach me (or they don't know). I have a Muslim
fiancee and i'm told by her parents to convert before i marry her. But
until they answer that question, i can't. Thanks House.[/quote]....bro just take hold of a copy of an English Qur'an and read wt an open mind suratul Mariam and some parts of suratul Maida..but plz dunt revert to Islam because of a lady..do so in hope of Jannah frm Allah

jazakumulah khairan.
very interestin...

Upon all the knowledge write up even though meaningless to me, no muslim has convinced me with facts that ishmael is the promised child, even the koran did not, for this alone I would have been a muslim today and not a free thinker.

olumidazz: Upon all the knowledge write up even though meaningless to me, no muslim has convinced me with facts that ishmael is the promised child, even the koran did not, for this alone I would have been a muslim today and not a free thinker.

Let's talk... tbaba1234@yahoo.com

Nice one May Almighty ALLAH reward u.Amin

Good write up my broda. I am inviting my muslim brethren as well as non muslim brethen to discuss on religion, as a student of comparative religion. U can reach at sadiqabu65@yahoo.com