BismiLlaah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem
All praise to Allaah the Lord of the worlds, I testify that there is none worthy of worship but Him Alone, and that Muhammad is His slave and messenger.
May His Salat and Salam be upon him, his household, his Companions and those who follow their footsteps till the Last day.
Amaa ba'd
We live in an era of the Internet where knowledge acquisition has been made so easy but with a detrimental effect of that knowledge not being useful has it ought to be because the requisite respect it ought to be given is not there.
Everyone who can own a smartphone today can be as 'knowledgeable' as he wants.
The traditional ways of going after scholars, sitting by their feet, watching their manners have seriously eroded such that Muslim learners now do talmazah on websites, PDF's, telecasts, etc.
Some youthful folks believe that if they continue to read works of scholars from their websites they would arrive where those scholars arrived.
Therefore, this methodology of learning has produced a new set of hasty learners who pick knowledge from people they have never seen before, whom they don't know their demeanour and temperament.
The circles of learning of old used to be filled with students that would watch the manners of their teachers and thereafter imbibe it.
Al-Imaam Adh-Dhahabi - rahimahullah - recorded in Siyar under the biography of Al-Imaam Ahmad - rahimahullah:
كان يجتمع ÙÙŠ مجلس Ø£Øمد زهاء خمسة آلا٠أو يزيدون Ù†ØÙˆ خمس مئة يكتبون، والباقون يتعلمون منه Øسن الادب والسمت
'Some five or five hundred thousand well-bred learners would sit in the circle of Ahmad writing (knowledge) while the rest would watch his manner and composure.'
Today, the reverse is the case.
It is this traditional method of going after the scholars that is lacking in many of these youths that make them do weird things in the name of Da'wah.
Relying on books of scholars alone can't make one a good scholar.
Abu Hayyan composed:
يظن الغمر أن الكتب تهدي...
'The fool thinks that books alone are enough to guide one...'
Until he said:
إذا رمت العلوم بغير شيخ...ضللت عن الصراط المستقيم
'When you aim at knowledge without a teacher, you will be astray from the path.'
Books, websites, PDF's are to complement our learning before physical teachers they can never replace them.
Some of them would say they are connected with the Shuyookh abroad. What sort of connection is that when you have not sat before them to learn.
That is their first deceit - tadlees.
Can they compare themselves with those who sit physically in the circles of those scholars?
Who are the real students?
Ok, we have people who had travelled and sat before many of those scholars, and they are back at home with knowledge, those are the real connectors. They have seen the manners of those scholars and their composure, since learning is by silsilah - chain, sit with them an learn.
But the devil tells them, those scholars who came back have deviated. They have become innovators, they have turned deviants.
So they continue to disrespect the scholars at home, looking for their faults, while they celebrate their 'flaws' in the open.
They have become so weird that, they see everybody else except themselves as astray.
All teaching, preaching and enlightenment efforts my these scholars are seen as nothing. They deride them, they say some of them only appear in studios (while there are many scholars of Sunnah that do that worldwide. Shaykh bn Baz, Shaykh Uthaymeen, etc used to have such public programmes televised live. Shaykh Fawzaan - hafidhahullaah - still does it).
Shaytaan has affected these youths such that they have no usefulness for themselves let alone others. A reality they have failed to note.
They pride themselves in flowery names, colourful designs, programmed grammar, self-praise etc, with established facts of bigotry.
They say whoever is not with them, in Nigeria, for instance, is against the Sunnah. Any criticism of their bigotry and partisanship is seen by them as an attack on Salafiyyah.
You dare not call their attention to their numerous acts against the Sunnah they profess, they will paint you with the worst name in the dictionary of uncouthness.
The place of Adab (manners) in this Deen is mighty. A Muslim especially a learner should not toy with it, it makes or mars the Taalib.
Any learning effort that underrates the imbibing of Adab will never be fruitful.
Many learners became worthless in their endeavours when they eschew the requisite Adab in their learning lives.
Ibn al-Jawzee - rahimahullah - said
كاد الأدب يكون ثلثي العلم
'Manners almost take two-third of learning'. As qouted in Safwah-AsSafwah
Abdullah bn Wahb - rahimahullah - said:
ما تعلَّمنا من أدب٠مالك٠أكثر٠مما تعلّمنا من علمه
'What we learnt from manners of Maalik was more than what we learnt from his knowledge.' as-Siyar
Abdullaah bn Mubaarak - rahimahullah - said
Ù†ØÙ† إلى قليل من الأدَب Ø£Øوج٠منا إلى كثير٠من العلم
'We are in need of little manners than we need much knowledge.' as-Siyar
The Salaf - that many of the youths claim to follow today - would first learn manners before knowledge. The reverse is the case today.
