The Media Department of At-Tibyān Publications presents
"Balancing Between Jihād and
Seeking Knowledge"
Translation of the video released by As-Sahab Media
“The Closing Words of a Shar’ī
Course”
By Shaykh Abū Yahyā Al-Lībī (may Allāh preserve him)
01-04-08
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"From that which we extract from this course, is
that the disassociation, and in which some people try to separate between the
act of worship of Jihād and seeking knowledge, then there is no truth in this.
Meaning to assume that there is Jihād with no knowledge, then this is incorrect.
And the assumption that the scholar or seeker of knowledge can’t do Jihād, then
this is wrong.
Why?
Because Allāh Subhānahu Wa Ta’ālā informed us of the truth of His Book and said:
“Had it been from other than Allāh, they would surely have found therein many a
contradiction.” [Qur’ān An-Nisā, Verse 82]
These are the Verses of Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall that are in the Qur’ān.
And so as in the Book of Allāh Subhānahu Wa Ta'ālā, that descended from Him,
there isn’t any conflict between its Verses, and there are no contradictions
between its rulings, and so the acts of worship that Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall ordered
us with, there is no conflict between them.
So this matter, which some tried to fabricate, invent and exaggerate; that Jihād
and knowledge don’t meet, then this is wrong. And an example or evidence for
this is what we are living now. This is with the blessing of Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall
a proof that seeking knowledge can exist in the fields of Jihād..."
The Media Department of At-Tibyān Publications
presents
Balancing Between Jihād and Seeking Knowledge
Translation of the video released by As-Sahāb Media “The Closing Words of a
Shar’ī Course”
By Shaykh Abū Yahyā Al-Lībī (may Allāh preserve him)
“Indeed We have sent Our Messengers with clear proofs, and revealed with them
the Scripture and the Balance (justice) that mankind may keep up justice. And We
brought forth iron wherein is mighty power (in matters of war), as well as many
benefits for mankind, that Allāh may test who it is that will help Him (His
religion) and His Messengers in the unseen. Verily, Allāh is All-Strong ,
All-Mighty.”
Qur’ān, Surat Al-Hadīd, Verse 25
The closing words of the Shar’ī course that took place in one of the centers of
the Mujāhidīn, by Shaykh Abū Yahyā Al-Lībī (may Allāh preserve him).
The course consisted of the following lessons:
First: The Rules of Tajwīd
Second: Study of the Fiqh of Tahārah, Salāt and Siyām
Third: Study of “Kitāb Al-Jāmi’” from Bulūgh Al-Marām, along with memorization
of 40 Hadīth from it.
Fourth: Diverse lessons from the Prophetic biography and different educative
advices.
Fifth: Revision of what was memorized from the Book of Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall
All praise is due to Allāh, with which His blessings the good deeds are
performed.
And all praise is due to Allāh Who guided us to this, and we wouldn’t be guided
if Allāh didn’t guide us.
Today is the 12th of the month of Jumādā Ath-Thānī of the year 1428 after the
Hijrah of Al-Mustafā, may the Blessing and Peace of Allāh be upon him.
This day is the last day of the Shar’ī course, and we ask Allāh Subhānahu Wa
Ta'ālā that He preserves for us its days that they may be of benefit to us on
the day wealth and progeny will be of no benefit except he who comes to Allāh
with a clean heart.
And as I told you in the beginning of the course; courses such as this are
similar to the lifetime of the human being, wherein there is a beginning and an
ending. And his ending depends on his effort in his life. So the course, as we
have seen, required from us effort, study and revision, until the person
receives from it what he wants from knowledge, which he originally sat down to
seek.
And from the blessing of Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall upon us, is that He combined
together for us the two acts of worship; the worship of Jihād, and seeking
knowledge. And this is from the precious blessings of Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall and He
is the most Noble, most Beneficent, most Generous; that Allāh Subhānahu Wa
Ta'ālā combines for His slave the most honourable and great acts of worship.
For Jihād, as we know, is the greatest act of worship, as was narrated in the
Hadīth of the Prophet may the Blessing and Peace of Allāh be upon him. Moreover
what has come in the Book of Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall…
“Not equal are those of the believers who sit (at home), except those who are
disabled (by injury or are blind or lame), and those who strive hard and fight
in the Cause of Allāh with their wealth and their lives…” [Qur’ān An-Nisā, Verse
95]
…Until the end of the Verse.
So whoever combines with his Jihād, the devotion to seek knowledge, even for a
few days, then let him know that this is from the blessings of Allāh Subhānahu
Wa Ta'ālā upon him.
Why?
Because we were only originally created to worship Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall.
Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall said:
“And I (Allāh) created not the jinn and the mankind except that they should
worship Me (Alone).” [Qur’ān, Adh-Dhāriyāt, Verse 56]
And acts of worship are responsibilities from Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall, in others
words, commandments and forbiddances. And there is no worship from the acts of
worship, whether it is prayer, or fasting, or Hajj, or Jihād, except that it has
rulings that the Muslim needs to know.
So if Allāh Has made easy for you the door to seeking knowledge, then know that
He has made it easy for you to worship Him on insight. Because the human being
has to worship Allāh. So if he doesn’t worship Allāh upon knowledge,
understanding, insight and evidence, then for sure he will worship Allāh upon
ignorance and folly, and in Allāh we seek refuge.
So this is from the blessings of Allāh Subhānahu Wa Ta'ālā , from which we are
obligated to declare at all times, and then strive in giving thanks for it so
that it will not be lost upon us. And we know the Hadīth of the Prophet may the
Blessing and Peace of Allāh be upon him “Two favors are treated unjustly by most
people: health and free time.”
You stayed in this house, or this center, for all this time, far from your
family and far from your brothers, devoted to one thing, and that is seeking
knowledge. So this is from the great blessings that Allāh Subhānahu Wa Ta'ālā
facilitated for you. That Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall facilitated for you.
So, the act of worship of knowledge and the act of worship of Jihād, are from
the greatest of what Allāh Subhānahu Wa Ta'ālā facilitates for His believing
slave.
This is the first matter.
From that which we extract from this course, is that the disassociation, and in
which some people try to separate between the act of worship of Jihād and
seeking knowledge, then there is no truth in this. Meaning to assume that there
is Jihād with no knowledge, then this is incorrect. And the assumption that the
scholar or seeker of knowledge can’t do Jihād, then this is wrong.
Why?
Because Allāh Subhānahu Wa Ta’ālā informed us of the truth of His Book and said:
“Had it been from other than Allāh, they would surely have found therein many a
contradiction.” [Qur’ān, An-Nisā, Verse 82]
These are the Verses of Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall that are in the Qur’ān.
And so as in the Book of Allāh Subhānahu Wa Ta'ālā, that descended from Him,
there isn’t any conflict between its Verses, and there are no contradictions
between its rulings, and so the acts of worship that Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall ordered
us with, there is no conflict between them.
So this matter, which some tried to fabricate, invent and exaggerate; that Jihād
and knowledge don’t meet, then this is wrong. And an example or evidence for
this is what we are living now. This is with the blessing of Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall
a proof that seeking knowledge can exist in the fields of Jihād.
And how many of the Fiqh rulings that don’t have anything to do with Jihād,
descended in the fields of Jihād. From them, the Verses of Tayammum.
Where did the Verses of Tayammum descend?
They descended while the Prophet may the Blessing and Peace of Allāh be upon him
was on his path returning from a battle. Right?
Then Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall informed us of this and said:
“And it is not (proper) for the believers to go out to fight (Jihād) all
together. Of every troop of them, a party should only should go forth, that they
(who are left behind) may get instructions in (Islamic) religion and that they
may warn their people when they return to them.” [Qur’ān, At-Tawbah, Verse 122]
So Allāh making it easy for us while bringing together the act of worship of
Jihād and seeking knowledge, this is from the greatest of what Allāh Subhānahu
Wa Ta'ālā has honoured us with. This is the first matter that you have to take
note of.
The other thing, as we have mentioned, is that there is no conflict between
seeking knowledge and Jihād for the sake of Allāh. And we, as Mujāhidīn, are
responsible to learn the rulings of our Religion, like other Muslims. And I
don’t mean by the rulings of our Religion, only what relates to the act of
worship of Jihād. No! We are responsible to learn the rulings of Salāt, the
rulings of Tahārah, the rulings of Siyām. Every act of worship that Allāh 'Azza
Wa Jall prescribed for the believers and obligated, then the Mujāhid has to know
its rulings. For the Mujāhid, is not a person who is not included in the rulings
of Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall. And he is not a person removed from the Shar’ī
responsibilities. Rather he is only like the other Muslims besides him.
So as we, in the fields of Jihād, learn the laws of Jihād, its manners, rules
and regulations, then we are also responsible to learn the rules of the other
acts of worship.
What is the benefit, if the Mujāhid does Jihād and fights for the sake of Allāh
yet he doesn’t know how to perfect his Wudu’, and he doesn't know how to perfect
his Salāh, and he doesn't know how to perfect his Siyām?
What is the benefit of this?
Meaning he worships Allāh in his Jihād upon insight and worships his Lord upon
folly, mistakenness and misguidance in Salāt and in other than that.
This is not possible.
So it is with the blessing of Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall that He made it possible for
us to prove in theory and practice that there is no conflict between them. Just
like the Book of Allāh; there is no conflict between its Verses and no clash
between its rulings, then same with the acts of worship which Allāh 'Azza Wa
Jall ordered, there is no conflict nor any contradiction between them.
Clear? Good.
The third matter that I want to point out, and open with me your ears, is that
the person who took this course, and learned what Allāh Subhānahu Wa Ta'ālā
opened up for him in it, doesn’t mean that he graduates from it to be a Faqīh, a
Muftī, presiding over the sittings, issuing verdicts with “allowed” and “not
allowed” and “this is permissible.”
No!
We only sat here to learn the laws of Allāh so that we can worship Allāh upon
insight. As for the level of Fatwā, and the level of “this is permissible” and
“that is forbidden,” then before this, there are deserts until the person
reaches it. This is not possible to achieve in a month, nor two months nor in a
year nor in two years. Imām Mālik, and he is who he is, says:
“I did not sit in this sitting [meaning so that I can give Fatāwā] until 80
scholars testified for me that I am a person qualified for issuing Fatāwā”
80 scholars testified for Imām Mālik; they said, “You can now give Fatāwā.”
Where now are we? Who will testify for us that we are qualified for giving
Fatāwā. And in a month, or two months, or a year or two years.
And one of us maybe doesn’t even know how to read Surat Al-Fātihah properly, and
differentiate between the obligatory, and the permissible, and between the
disliked and the forbidden, so it is upon you to fear Subhānahu Wa Ta'ālā.
I don’t want to hear someone from you leaves from here and sets up sittings and
starts saying, “this is permissible,” and “this is forbidden.” Yes, you can say,
what I studied is this, but to give Fatwā regarding problematic events and
individual issues; a person comes to you for a Fatwā and you say to him that
“this is permissible,” and “this is forbidden,” and “this is disliked.” This is
not accepted.
Not accepted in the Sharī'ah and also we will not be pleased with it in our
manners and in our upbringing. So take note of this matter, and this is the
matter which I want you to be most aware of.
Have you understood this well? Yes.
So these are the matters that I wanted to point out…
Then from that which we benefit from these courses, even if they are condensed,
is that we know the status of the scholars, and their rank and place.
The scholars are like, the sun in the middle of the day. If they are there, the
people are able to live a righteous life, and they are able to conduct their
life in a normal conduct. And if the sun disappears, what will happen? What will
befall the people? It is the darkness. The darkness is the ignorance, folly,
mistakenness, innovation, and other than that from the misguidance. So with
these courses we know the status of the scholars.
If you strive for a period of one month, in memorization, repetition, revision,
studying, and dealing with unclear matters and other than that, you find
yourself putting an effort to achieve only a very small simple amount or part of
the knowledge [hardly] mentionable. Yet with that you are happy with what Allāh
Subhānahu Wa Ta'ālā has given you. So what about the scholar who spent his whole
life and he strives in seeking knowledge and in teaching people, And in patience
upon revision and patience upon [issuing] Fatāwā , and other than that. And
calling [people] to Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall.
Where are you from this?
So we don’t want to make our sittings. What? The place for the disputes of the
foolish ones and the place for competition of the ‘Ulamā. What we want only, is
to know the status of those righteous scholars; those who fear Allāh, pass His
messages and don’t fear anyone except Him.
Do you understand?
You have to take note of this.
If you see a righteous scholar who fears Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall, then know his
status, and remember that you were patient for a month or two months in seeking
knowledge, and you found that the matter requires perseverance, patience and
revision, so that you don’t lose what you have of knowledge. So what about this
scholar, who probably spent his whole life in this matter. This makes you know
the status of the people and you know their rank and what they deserve of honor,
reverence and great respect.
And the scholars as we said...
Allāh Subhānahu Wa Ta'ālā joined them in with His testimony of His Oneness, the
greatest testimony unrestrictedly upon the greatest thing unrestrictedly.
“Allāh bears witness that Lā Ilāha illā Huwa (none has the right to be
worshipped but He), and the angels and those having knowledge (also give this
witness).” [Qur’ān, Āl-Imrān, Verse 18]
So the affair of the scholars is very great, even if they slip, and even if they
make a mistake. For Allāh Subhānahu Wa Ta'ālā did not create His creation, the
human beings, protected from mistakes. Who said that the human does not make
mistakes? Who said the human being never succumbs to desire, sometimes taking
him left or right?
However, our rules in the Religion of Islām, is that the good deeds remove the
evil deeds, and not that the evil deeds remove the good deeds. We don’t go to a
scholar who put all his effort and his lifetime, in calling to Allāh 'Azza Wa
Jall, in teaching people and in making them understand, and then he made a
mistake or slipped in an issue or two, and then we insult him and revile him and
wipe away all these good deeds of his.
This is not the scale of Shara', this is the scale of desire. And we are not
from the people of desire.
“Be just: that is nearer to piety” [Qur’ān Al-Mā’ida, Verse 8]
This is the scale of Shara'.
Do you understand this third matter?
And the fourth and final matter is that Allāh Subhānahu Wa Ta'ālā opened this
door for you of seeking knowledge, and you found the delight of seeking
knowledge, and the delight of patience upon seeking knowledge and the devotion
to it, so as long as Allāh has opened this door for you, then put your trust in
Allāh and traverse this path in what way you are able.
So instead of spending a part of your day or from your life in listening to
Anāshīd that neither nourish nor avail against hunger, then spend it in
listening to a lecture or lesson. Or listening to a tape of Fatwā, or revising
your studies, or studying with one of your colleagues. And if another course is
made easy, with the permission of Allāh then try to strive to be in it, because
knowledge is only come to in steps, and the knowledge is not come upon in one
day nor all at once.
“Allāh will exalt in degree those of you who believe, and those who have been
granted knowledge.” [Qur’ān, Al-Mujādilah, Verse 11]
And the final matter, is to strive in making Du’ā to Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall, that
He blesses you in what He gave you.
Knowledge is not with the most memorization, and not with the most texts, for
how many are there that you find who are like an encyclopedia, a computer,
wherever you address him from, he replies, however Allāh doesn’t bless [him] in
knowledge. While on the other hand you find a person, his knowledge is humble, a
small amount, however he has combined with it, sincerity and humiliation towards
'Azza Wa Jall and what he is ordered with is that he asks Allāh to increase him
in his knowledge.
We ask Allāh Subhānahu Wa Ta'ālā that He makes us from those who listen to the
words and follow the best of them. And we ask Allāh 'Azza Wa Jall that He makes
us from those who benefit from their knowledge. And we seek refuge in Allāh from
the Fitnah of talk and action.
Indeed He is All-Hearing and Near.
And now we will begin revising the Ahādīth. We will start from the right In Shā’
Allāh and then after that we will listen to the recitation of the Book of Allāh
'Azza Wa Jall.
[END OF TRANSCRIPT]