؛ : . .
Then one must have intention during the time of learning, for intention is the foundation of all actions, as the Prophet ﷺ said: Actions are but by intentions. This is an authentic hadith.
تعليم المتعلمal-Zarnūjīفِي النِّيَّةِ فِي حَالِ التَّعَلُّمِ
On Intention While Seeking Knowledge
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How many worldly-seeming actions become actions of the Hereafter through good intention, and how many Hereafter-seeming actions become worldly actions through bad intention.
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The student should intend by seeking knowledge: the pleasure of Allah, the Hereafter, the removal of ignorance from himself and from other ignorant people, the revival of the religion, and the preservation of Islam.
فَإِنَّ بَقَاءَ الْإِسْلَامِ بِحُصُولِ الْعِلْمِ وَالزُّهْدِ لَا يَصِحُّ وُجُودُهُ مَعَ الْجَهْلِ، وَأَنْشَدَنَا الشَّيْخُ الْإِمَامُ الْأَجَلُّ الْأَعْلَى صَاحِبُ «الْهِدَايَةِ» لِبَعْضِهِمْ:
For the survival of Islam depends on acquiring knowledge, since asceticism cannot exist alongside ignorance. The great Imām, the author of the Hidāya, recited to us from one of the scholars:
فَسَادٌ كَبِيرٌ عَالِمٌ مُتَهَتِّكٌوَأَكْبَرُ مِنْهُ جَاهِلٌ مُتَنَسِّكُهُمَا فِتْنَةٌ لِلْعَالَمِينَ عَظِيمَةٌلِمَنْ بِهِمَا فِي دِينِهِ يَتَمَسَّكُ
A learned man, unrestrained, is a great corruption; yet greater still, an ignorant man in pious garb. Together they are a mighty trial for the worlds — for all who, through them, seek to hold fast to their faith.
وَيَنْوِي بِهِ: الشُّكْرَ عَلَى نِعْمَةِ الْعَقْلِ، وَصِحَّةِ الْبَدَنِ، وَلَا يَنْوِي بِهِ إِقْبَالَ النَّاسِ عَلَيْهِ، وَلَا اسْتِجْلَابَ حُطَامِ الدُّنْيَا وَالتَّعَظُّمَ عِنْدَ السُّلْطَانِ وَغَيْرِهِ.
He should also intend by it: gratitude for the blessing of intellect and bodily health, and should not intend by it the attraction of people's attention, or the acquisition of worldly gains, or greatness before rulers and others.
وَقَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْحَسَنِ رَحِمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْهِمَا: لَوْ كَانَ النَّاسُ كُلُّهُمْ عَبِيدِي لَأَعْتَقْتُهُمْ وَتَبَرَّأْتُ مِنْ وَلَائِهِمْ.
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, may Allah have mercy on both of them, said: If all people were my slaves I would free them and disavow their allegiance.
وَذَلِكَ؛ لِأَنَّ مَنْ وَجَدَ لَذَّةَ الْعِلْمِ وَالْعَمَلِ لَمَّا يَرْغَبُ فِيمَا عِنْدَ النَّاسِ.
That is because whoever finds the pleasure of knowledge and action no longer desires what people have.
وَيَنْبَغِي لِطَالِبِ الْعِلْمِ أَنْ يَفْكِرَ فِي ذَلِكَ، فَإِنَّهُ يَتَعَلَّمُ الْعِلْمَ بِجُهْدٍ كَثِيرٍ، فَلَا يَصْرِفُهُ إِلَى الدُّنْيَا الْحَقِيرَةِ الْفَانِيَةِ.
The student of knowledge should reflect on this: knowledge is acquired through great effort, so it should not be directed toward the worthless and fleeting world.
قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ: اتَّقُوا الدُّنْيَا، فَوَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ لَهِيَ أَسْحَرُ مِنْ هَارُوتَ وَمَارُوتَ.
The Prophet ﷺ said: Beware of the world; for by Him in Whose hand is the soul of Muḥammad, it is more bewitching than Hārūt and Mārūt.
وَيَنْبَغِي لِطَالِبِ الْعِلْمِ أَلَّا يُذِلَّ نَفْسَهُ بِالطَّمَعِ فِي غَيْرِ الْمَطْمَعِ، وَيَحْتَرِزُ عَنْ مَذَلَّةِ الْعِلْمِ وَأَهْلِهِ.
The student of knowledge should not demean himself through coveting what is unworthy of coveting, and should guard against anything that would demean knowledge and its people.
وَيَكُونُ مُتَوَاضِعًا، وَالتَّوَاضُعُ بَيْنَ التَّكَبُّرِ وَالذِّلَّةِ، وَالْعِفَّةُ بَيْنَ الإِسْرَافِ وَالتَّقْتِيرِ، وَيُعْرَفُ ذَلِكَ فِي كِتَابِ «الْأَخْلَاقِ».
He should be humble — humility being the midpoint between arrogance and self-abasement — and modest — modesty being the midpoint between extravagance and miserliness. This is explained in the book on ethics.
أَنْشَدَنِي الشَّيْخُ الْإِمَامُ الْأَجَلُّ الْأُسْتَاذُ الدِّينِ الرُّكْنُ الْمُخْتَارُ بِـ«الْأَدِيبِ الْمُخْتَارِ» شِعْرًا لِنَفْسِهِ:
إِنَّ التَّوَاضُعَ مِنْ خَصَائِلِ صَالِحٍوَبِهِ التَّقِيُّ إِلَى الْمَعَالِي يَرْتَقِيوَمِنَ الْعَجَائِبِ عُجْبُ مَنْ هُوَ جَاهِلٌأَمْ كَيْفَ يُخْتَمُ عُمْرُهُ أَوْ رُوحُهُوَالْكِبْرِيَاءُ لِرَبِّنَا صِفَةً وَاتَّقِييَسُومُ الثَّقِيلَ قَدَرًا مُتَسَاوِيًاThe great Imām Rukn al-Dīn al-Mukhtār recited for us verses of his own composition: Humility adorns the righteous soul, by it the pious climb toward their goal. How strange the pride of one who does not know how life may end, or where his soul shall go. He treats the weighty and the slight the same, yet greatness is our Lord's alone in name.
وَيَنْبَغِي لِطَالِبِ الْعِلْمِ أَنْ يَتَفَكَّرَ فِي ذَلِكَ، فَإِنَّهُ يَتَعَلَّمُ الْعِلْمَ بِجُهْدٍ كَثِيرٍ، فَلَا يَصْرِفُهُ إِلَى الدُّنْيَا الْحَقِيرَةِ الْفَانِيَةِ.
The student of knowledge should reflect on this, for he acquires knowledge through great effort and should not direct it toward the worthless and fleeting world.
وَقَدْ كَانَ أُسْتَاذُنَا الشَّيْخُ الْإِمَامُ الدِّينِ بُرْهَانُ الدِّينِ عَلِيُّ بْنُ أَبِي بَكْرٍ الْمَرْغِينَانِيُّ رَحِمَةُ اللهِ عَلَيْهِ - أَمَرَنِي بِكِتَابَيْتِهِ عِنْدَ الرُّجُوعِ إِلَى بَلَدِي، وَلَا بُدَّ لِلْمُدَرِّسِ وَالْمُفْتِي فِي مُعَامَلَاتِ النَّاسِ مِنْهُ، وَبِاللهِ التَّوْفِيقُ.
Our teacher, the great Imām Burhān al-Dīn ʿAlī ibn Abī Bakr al-Marghīnānī, may Allah have mercy on him, instructed me to write it down upon my return to my town. It is indispensable for the teacher and the one who gives legal rulings in dealing with people. And success is with Allah.