Howt

oseekknowl
edgei
fyoucan'
treacht
hepeopl
eofKnowl
edge

Shay
khAhmadbi
nUmarBazmool

Questi
on:
Whatdoesapersonwhowantstoseekknowl
edgedoifheisnotabl
etoreacht
he
peopl
eofknowledge?Dot
heysuf
fi
cewit
htakingknowl
edgef
rom books,andwhati
sthe
methodol
ogyofdoingsoi
nthi
scase?

TheShay
khr
epeat
edt
hequest
ionandasked:

I
stheper
sonanAr
abi
cspeakeroranonAr
abi
cspeaker
?

Thequest
ionerr
espondst
hathei
sasAr
abi
cspeaker
.

TheShay
khanswer
s:

Asf orseekingknowledge, theor i

gini
sthattheMusl i
mt ravelstothescholarstogain
knowledgef rom t
hem i fhedoesnothav eascholarinhislocali
ty.Whatisbef i
tt
ingforhimisto
tr
av elt
otheschol ar
si fhei sable.Allpr
aiseisforAll
ah(AzawaJel ),duri
ngourpr esentt
ime
meansofcommuni catingwi t
ht heschol
arshav ebecomewi despread.(I
thasbecomeeasyf or
ustocommuni catewi th)thescholarswhoar eupont hestrai
ghtmet hodologyandsaf e
aqeedah, butwewi l
llay( mention)someeasyaf fai
rsfortheoneseeki ngknowl edgeinour
presentti
mesot hataper soncanseekknowl edgewhi l
ehei sintheconf i
nesofhishome.

Thi
sisdonei
nthef
oll
owi
ngway
s:

1.Ifhei
sablet
ocallaschol
ar(
oneupont
heSunnah)ifhehasthef
inanci
almeans,
him anda
groupofhi
sfri
endscanatt
endacl
asswit
htheschol
ar.Thisi
sameansofseekingknowledge.
2.Anot herwaywhichisalsoeasyitt
hatani ndiv
idualforexampletravelst oSaudiArabiafor
HajjorUmr ahanddur i
nghisvi
sit,
hebuyst apesoft hepeopleofknowl edget hatarewellknown
fortheircor
rectbel
ief
sandmet hodology
.(Aper son)canal sorequestsomeoneel sewhoi s
trav
elingtobuythesetapesforthem.Thereaftertheindiv
idual
list
enst ot heseaudiorecordi
ngs,
helistenstothespeechofthepeopleofknowl edge.Itis,
bytheper missionofAl l
ah,asifheis
i
nf rontofthescholar
.

3.Ifani ndividual isabl etobeconsi stentwi ththecl assesont her adio,forexampl et heclasses
ofShay khSal ehal Fawzanorot herthanhi m( mayAl l
ahpr eservehim)f r
om t heschol ar
st hat
arewel lknownwhoý sclassesar ebroadcast edont heQur aanradiost ation( KSA) .Itisupont he
i
ndiv i
dual tobeconsi stentwi tht hispr ogram.Thi sisv erygood, butatt hesamet ime, Iwarnof
somest ati
onst hathav elessonswi t
hi ndivi
dualswhoseaf fai
rsar enotknownort hosewhoar e
knownt ohav edev iatedf r
om t hesal afimet hodology .Ver i
ly,
onedoesnott akeknowl edgef r
om
thesest ati
onsf orindeedt hosei ndividualsthatar eunknownorhav edev i
atedf rom thecor r
ect
pathandt hesal afimet hodol ogy ;onedoesnott akeknowl edgefrom t hem.Thi sisbecause
knowl edgei sf rom t hereligion, soletev eryonel ookt owhohet akeshi sknowl edgef rom.
(Unclearsent ence)Ver il
yi fyouseekknowl edgef rom aper sonofi nnov ati
onoramant hatyou
donotknowhi sr eli
gion,y oudonotknowi fismet hodol ogyissaf eorunsaf e.Andt he
met hodology( ofani ndivi
dual )isknownbyei therbei ngwi despreadoraski ngt hesal afischolars.
Yousayt ot hem: Wehav eani ndi vi
dual soandso, doy ouknowt hi
sper son?I ftheyreply:We
knowhi mt ohav et hecor rectmet hodol ogyandbel ief
.Thenonecant akef rom hi m, butifthey
say,wedoný tknowhi mt heny oushoul dcont i
nuet oaskunt i
lyouf i
ndoutabouthi m.

4.Bywayofi nternet,forindeedt her ear e(paltal

k)roomsf orShay khZay dal Madkhal i
, Shay kh
AhmadanNaj meeandShay khRabeeal Madkhaliandot hert hant hem f r
om t hesal af ischol ars.
Ther earealsor oomsf orsomesal af i
st udentsofknowl edge, cl
assest hatani ndividual cango
ont heinternetandent ertheser oomsandschedul eclassesf orhimsel f.Ial sowar nf rom
i
nt ensivelessonsf r
om somedi r
ect ionst hatitisnotknownwhoi st eachi ng.Ani ndividual say
s:
Itaket helessonandIj ustcont i
nueuponmyway !Iwar nyouoft his.Iwar ny ouf rom t aki ng
l
essonsf r
om r oomst hatei therhav eindi vi
dualswhoar eunknownort heyar eknownf or
i
ncor rectbeliefs.Donotbedecei v
edbecauseani ndiv
idual teachesi nsuchandsuchuni versi
ty
orsuchandsuchi nsti
tuteet cýv eri
lyt heset i
tl
es:(BA,MA, PhD)donotbenef itanddonot
sat i
sfyoneshunger .Ther espectofani ndi
v i
dualisthepr aiseoft hesal afischol arsf ort hem,
andt heirknowl edgeoft hem.Aper sonmer elybeingadoct orandt helikes, ani ndividual mayi n
factbear evolutioni
st.Sobeawar eanddonotbedecei vedbyhi sdegr ee( unclearwor ds)Iam
i
nf ormingy ouofsour cesf orseeki ngknowl edgebutt heremi ghtbesomesor tofdangeri n
someoft hem, soIhav etowar ny ouf r om thi
sdanger .

Ot
hermeansofseeki
ngknowl
edgesi
mil
art
owhatwasment
ionedbyt
hequest
ioner
,suchas
r
eadi
ngbooks.

Buti
nreadi
ngbookst
her
ear
eal
sot
hingsoneshoul
dbecaut
iousof
:

1.I
faper
sondoesnothav
eknowl
edge,
hecanmi
sunder
standsomet
hing

2.Hemayi
ncor
rect
lypr
onouncewor
ds

3.Hemayr eadfrom whoev ercomesandgoesandt heaff

airbecomesconf usingtohim.He
readsfrom thepeopleofAhl usSunnahandhe, f
orexampler eadsf r
om thepeopleofinnovat
ion,
andhedoesnotdi sti
nguishbet weenthetwo.Butont heot herhand,ifheknowst hearabi
c
l
anguage, heunderstandsthespeechandhehassatwi ththepeopl eofknowledgeandhehas
somef oundationsforexampl e;thefoundati
onsthatbytheper missi
onofAllah,heisableto
conti
nuereading,writi
ngandr esear
ching,t
henthisi
sok.

Butheshoul
dbeawar
eoft
hef
oll
owi
ngmat
ter
s:

1.Heshoul
dref
ert
othespeechoft
heschol
ars,
notdependonhi
sownunder
standi
ng

2.Hemustbedil
igentandr
eadt
hebooksoft
hepeopl
eofsunnah,
thoseknownwi
tht
hecor
rect
methodol
ogyandbeli
efonl
y!

3.Whenheisabl
etor
eacht
heUl
amaa,
iti
suponhi
mtodoso.Togot
othem,
tor
eferbackt
o
them,
toaskthem.

4.Hisreadi
ngofbooksi sdonesooutofneedhedoesnotmaket hi
shismeansofseeki ng
l
egisl
atedknowl edge,rather
,hetakesiff
rom t
hemouthsofthescholar
sjustasthesalaftookit
fr
om theProphet( sal
lahualayhiwasalam)andhisst
udent
sandt hosewhocameaf tertooki t
fr
om thesalaf.Thisis(theway )knowl
edge(shoul
dbesought)
.Ifapersonmer el
ytakesitfrom
books,andreadsf rom thosewhoar enotknown,t
henapersonmaydev i
ate.Veri
l
yknowl edgeis
obtainedbyseekingitandhavingar elati
onshi
p(withthepeopleofknowledge).Thepurposeof
seekingknowledgeisnotmer elytohav eabundantamount sofinf
ormati
on;veril
yther
eare
aff
airsthatarerel
atedtoknowledge, suchasitsmanner sandunderst
anding.I
tisbecauseof
thi
s,ignoranceandmi st
akeshav eincreasedfort
hei ndi
vidual
whohasmader eadingbooksa
habitinst
eadofsitt
ingwiththeschol ars.

Thesearesomemeansofseeki
ngknowledgethatIadv
isemysel
fandthequesti
onerwi
th.
All
ahknowsbest
,andmaythepeaceandblessi
ngofAllahbeupontheMessengerMuhammad,
hi
sf ami
l
yandhiscompani
ons