One of The Hidden Battles of a Teacher

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

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

Imam Ibn Al-Jawzi, may Allah have mercy upon him, said:

Some of them (the pursuers of the religious sciences) rejoice due to abundance of followers and Iblees deceives him that this joy is because of the large number of students of knowledge, but what is intended is the large number of companions and being constantly mentioned, and from that is being amazed by their statements and knowledge. This deception is revealed when some of them (followers) abandon him for someone else who is more knowledgeable than him, thus, this becomes difficult for him. This is not the characteristic of the sincere one in teaching because the likeness of the sincere (teacher) is like physicians who treat the sick for the sake of Allah. If some of the patients are cured by a physician amongst them, the other rejoices. We mentioned earlier the narration of Ibn Abi Laylah, may Allah have mercy upon him– and we repeat it again with another chain of transmission – who said:

“I have met a hundred and twenty companions of the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, amongst the Ansar and not a single man amongst them was asked about a hadith, except he wished that his brother would suffice him in (answering)”.

[An Excerpt from Talbees Iblees 159-160]