INTENTION WHILE STUDYING
It is essential to have an intention during the course of one’s studies because intention is fundamental in all actions. The Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said, “All actions are based on intentions”. This is an authentic hadiths narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
How many actions are there which have the outward form of worldly actions but become actions of the Hereafter merely by having a good intention. And how many actions are there which have the form of being actions of Hereafter but they become actions of the world because of having an evil intention.
The student, by means of seeking knowledge, should intend earning the pleasure of God the Most High, obtaining the Hereafter, removing ignorance from himself and other ignoramuses, reviving Din (religion) and maintaining Islam. The maintenance of Islam is through knowledge. Abstinence and piety cannot be achieved with ignorance.
Imam Burhanud-din (may God have mercy on him), the author of Al-Hidaya, recited the following verses of a poet to me:
The scholar who exceeds the limits of Din is a cause of great corruption,
But the ignorant worshipper is even worse than him.
Whoever adopts the way of these two for his Din,
It will be a cause of dissension for him in his Din and his worldly life.
The student should also intend being grateful to God the Most High for the bounties of intelligence and good health granted to him. The student should never have this in mind that due to his knowledge, people will honour and respect him, not try to gather the chattels of the world or the honour of rulers etc.
Imam Muhammad Ibnul Hasan (may God have mercy on him) said, “If all the people of the world become my slaves, I will free them immediately and absolve myself from them completely”.
The reason for this is that for one who experiences the taste of knowledge and practices it, will perhaps very seldom desire what other people have.
Our teacher, Imam Qiwamud-din Hammad Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Isma’il As-Saffar Al-Ansari (may God have mercy on him) [1], quoted the following verses of Imam Abu Hanifah (may God have mercy on him) to us:
Whoever seeks knowledge to earn the Hereafter,
succeeded with the guidance and grace of God.
Very unfortunate is that student who seeks knowledge
for the sake of the honour of the people. [2]
However, if a student seeks honour for the sake of assisting him in enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, or for implementing the truth and upholding Din, not for personal motives and carnal desires, it is permissible to the extent that it assists him in these avenues.
A student should ponder that he is seeking knowledge with so much effort and exertion. Why should he then spend it on this despised world that is temporary and paltry.
This world is very little in comparison to the Hereafter.
One who has love and affection for it is the most despised man.
Its magical charm makes nations deaf and blind.
They become perplexed without finding any path.
It is essential for the bearer of knowledge to be cautious of those things which cause disgrace to knowledge and its bearers.
A student should be humble. Humility is between arrogance and disgrace. Chastity is the same. More details can be found in the book ‘Al-Akhlaq’.
Sheikh Ruknud-din (may God have mercy on him) [3], better known as Al-Adibul Mukhtar recited the following verses to me:
Humility is the trait of a pious person,
By means of it, a person can reach great heights.
Very strange is one who is arrogant but does not know whether he is fortunate or unfortunate.
During the pangs of death, how will his soul be removed? Will it be removed easily or with great difficulty?
Grandeur is an attribute of God.
Therefore be cautious in adopting this quality.
Imam Abu Hanifa (may God have mercy on him) said to his companions, “Respect your turbans and be frugal in spending.” [4 ]
He said this so that knowledge and its bearers are not despised. A student should carefully read Kitabul Wasiyah which Imam Abu Hanifa (may God have mercy on him) wrote for Yusuf Ibn Khalid As-Samti (may God have mercy on him) [5] when he returned home. The student will find the necessary subject matter in it which he requires.
My teacher, Burhanud-din ‘Ali Ibn Abi Bakr (may God have mercy on him) ordered me to copy this book. I complied with his request on my return journey home. The teacher and the mufti should study it when dealing with the general public.
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[1] He was from Bukhara from a family of knowledge and abstinence. He was a jurist and an expert in linguistics. He passed away in Samarkand in 576 A.H. (1180 C.E.).
[2] or that people must accept his status or give him gifts.
[3] His name was Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr Ibn Yusuf Al-Farghani. He was a jurist and expert linguist. He passed away in Marghinan in 594 A.H. (1196 C.E.).
[4] That is, a student should raise his personality so much that respect and honour flow from it. The aim of this is merely to honour knowledge and raise its status.
[5] He was one of the students of Imam Abu Hanifa. Imam Shafi’I said that he was a distinguished personality. He learnt a great deal from Imam Abu Hanifa. He narrated a hadith from him. The people looked up to him. Then he turned his attention towards worshipping God. He passed away in 189 A.H. (805 C.E.).
