بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Imam Ibnul Qayyim [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said, “The loftiest ambition in pursuit of knowledge is to acquire knowledge from the Qur’an and the Sunnah- to be granted understanding by Allah [i.e. blessed to acquire sound knowledge and act upon it] and through the Sunnah of the Messenger, and acquaint oneself with the boundaries of the revelation [i.e. neither going into excess nor being lackadaisical]. And the most baseless ambition of the students of knowledge is to confine their ambitions in following the bizarre affairs and that which has neither occurred nor has it been revealed, or acquainting (oneself) with the differences of opinion and pursuing the statements of the scholars, whilst having no ambition to acquaint oneself with what is correct among those statements. Little is there to benefit from the knowledge of these people”. [1]

Imam ash-Shaatibee [may Allaah have mercy upon him] stated regarding the attitude of the unjustified pursuit of concessions: “This arises from following one’s desires. Desire leads to a too easygoing attitude and the pursuit of concessions for oneself and others. So, you see him adopting that for himself or passing that judgment for his relative or friend, which he would not do for another person due to the desire of that relative and friend”. [2]

Imaam Ash-Shaatibee [may Allaah have mercy upon him] also said, “If a Mukallaf [i.e. the sane one who has reached the age when the obligations of the Shariah are obligated on him or her] seeks after concessions in the Madhabs in every affair that is difficult for him and every statement that agrees with his desires, then he will remove himself from the firm handhold of piety and persist upon the pursuit of desires”. [3]

Ibrahim Ibn Abee Ablah (died 152AH – may Allaah have mercy upon him) said, “He who carries the odd affairs of knowledge carries a lot of evil”. [4]

Abdur Rahmaan Bin Mahdi (died 198AH – may Allaah have mercy upon him) said, “The one who pursues the odd affairs of knowledge cannot be an Imam in knowledge”. [5]

Imam Ash-Shaatibee [may Allaah have mercy upon him] said, “If desires enter (a person), it leads to following the ambiguous matters out of being eager to prevail and become victorious through establishing excuses in issues related to difference of opinion (or differing); but rather it leads to splitting, disharmony, enmity, and hatred due to the different desires and lack of (sound) agreement; however, the Shariah came to curtail (vain) desires completely. If some of the premises of the evidence were not established except through desires, it would not result except in following desires and that is contrary to the Shariah, and opposing the Shariah is not fr of the Shariah at all. Therefore, following desires concerning what one may regard to be adherence to the Shariah is tantamount to misguidance.” [6]

[1] An Excerpt from Al-Fawaa’id. Page 99

[2] Al-Muwaafaqaat. 5/84

[3] Al-Muwaafaqaat. 3/123

[4] Siyar A’laam An-Nubula 6/324

[5] At-Tamheed 1/64 by Ibn Abdil Barr

[6] Al-Muwaafaqaat 5/221