Imaam Maalik (rahimahullaah) was asked about a Mas’alah (an affair of the religion), so he said, “I don’t know.” Then it was said: “Indeed, it is a light and simple affair!!” So he became angry and said: “There is nothing light in knowledge, and have you not heard the statement of Allaah (The Most High): [إِنَّا سَنُلۡقِى عَلَيۡكَ قَوۡلاً۬ ثَقِيلاً-Verily, We shall send down to you a weighty Word (i.e. obligations, legal laws, etc. (73:5)] All (affairs) of knowledge are heavy, especially that which one will be questioned about on the Day of Judgement.
Imaam Maalik used to say: “Whoever is to answer a question about a Mas’alah (an affair of the religion), then it is befitting that he turns his attention to the Paradise and Hellfire before he answers and how he can be saved in the afterlife. Then he answers (the question).”
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[Quoted by Shaikh Raslaan in Fadlul Ilm (page: 541)]
Al-Allaamah Siddeeq Hasan Khan (rahimahullaah) said:
The aim behind the religious sciences is not for the purpose of earning (wealth); rather it is for (the purpose of) acquainting oneself with the realities of the (sharia) and to rectify one’s behaviour (towards his Lord, the people and within himself). The one who learns knowledge (of the religion) for the purpose of trade cannot be a scholar; rather he only resembles the scholars. Indeed the scholars unveiled what the drive behind this was and they spoke about it when the building of schools reached them at Baghdaad. So they established gatherings of knowledge and said: “The possessors of lofty ambitions and the pure souls used to preoccupy themselves with it (i.e. knowledge) –those whose intent behind (seeking) knowledge was due to its nobility and the perfection (that is reached by way of it), so they came to the scholars to benefit from them and their knowledge. However, when (monetary gain) is placed on it, the vilest people and the lazy ones will approach it and thus leading to its disappearance. So at this juncture the (Islamic) sciences of wisdom (found in the Qur’aan, the Sunnah and the understanding of the Salaf) will be abandoned even though they are self-evident in their nobility.
Al-Hasan (rahimahullaah) narrated that a Faqeeh repeated a lesson in his house so many times, so an old woman of his household said to him: “By Allaah I have memorized it.” He said (to her): “Repeat it”; so she repeated it. After some days had passed, he said (to her): ”O old woman! Repeat that lesson”; so she said: “I have not memorized it.” He said: ”I repeat (or revise the lesson) lest what has afflicted you afflicts me.”
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[Quoted by Shaikh Raslaan in Fadlul Ilm page: 398.
Original Source Al-Hath-thu Alaa Hifz Al-Ilm of Ibn Jawzi. page. 35]
Imaam Maalik (rahimahullaah) said: Beware of bidah! So it was said, “O father of Abdullaah! What is bidah? He said, “The people of bidah-those who speak (with speculation) about Allaah’s Names, His Attributes, His Speech, His Knowledge and His Qudrah, and they do not keep quiet about what the Sahaabah kept quiet about and those who followed them exactly in faith.”
Imaam Maalik (rahimahullaah) also said: “If philosophical rhetoric was knowledge, the sahaabah and their followers would have spoke about it just as they spoke about the rulings of the Religion; but it (i.e. philosophical rhetoric) is falsehood and leads to falsehood.”
Al-Khateeb (rahimahullaah) said: It is befitting for the beginner who seeks understanding that he is firmly established in what he acquires (of knowledge) and he should not take a lot. He takes bit by bit in consideration of what he can memorise and comprehend; for indeed Allaah (The Most High) said: [وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لَوۡلَا نُزِّلَ عَلَيۡهِ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانُ جُمۡلَةً۬ وَٲحِدَةً۬ۚ ڪَذَٲلِكَ لِنُثَبِّتَ بِهِۦ فُؤَادَكَۖ وَرَتَّلۡنَـٰهُ تَرۡتِيلاً۬ –And those who disbelieve say: “Why is not the Qur’an revealed to him all at once?” Thus (it is sent down in parts), that We may strengthen your heart thereby. And We have revealed it to you gradually, in stages] [25: 32]
Ash-Shabiy (rahimahullaah) said: If a man were to travel from Sham to the furthest part of Yemen in order to listen to a wise statement, I do not consider his journey to be a waste.
Abu Dhayyaal said, ”Learn to keep quiet just as you learn to speak. If it is that speech is to guide you, then indeed silence protects you. You have two qualities in silence: A quality through which you take knowledge from one who is more knowledgeable than you; and a quality through which you repel the ignorance of one who is more ignorant than you.
Benefit from this beautiful explanation of Mandhoomah Manhajul Haqq, but do not be isolated from the regular lessons of the Tullaab in the local Salafi Masaajid and Maraakiz.
