The Virtue of the Companions and Pursuit of Knowledge

Jihad Through Knowledge

That's why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said to Muhammad (peace be upon him) about Al-Quran

Ya Muhammad, use this Quran as a tool of performing jihad against the kuffar, against the disbelievers. The ulema, the scholars said that use Al-Quran, not the sword, not the weapon, the Quran as your tool of making jihad against those kuffar. Which it basically means use the knowledge as a tool of struggling against the kuffar.

Also the scholar used the other verse where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in the Quran, Allah ordered Nabi (peace be upon him) to struggle with the kuffar and the hypocrites. He said

Muhammad, jihad, fight al-kuffar and al-munafiqin. وَاغْلُظْ عَلَيْهِمْ

Al-'ulamah said, we know that Nabi (peace be upon him) never declared war against the hypocrites. Have Nabi (peace be upon him) ever involved in any battle against the hypocrites? No. Nabi (peace be upon him) never did.

So the al-'ulamah said, the meaning of this verse means يَا مُحَمَّدٌ the fight the struggle with the hypocrites, it will be by, and the kuffar as well, it will be by another mean other than just the sword and the hand. Which is by spreading the knowledge, by debating, by showing the truth and so on.

Stories of Great Scholars

If this has been said, also I remember Ibn al-Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him), when he was asked once, if you were to die today, then Allah resurrect you or bring you back to this life, to this worldly life.

When you come back, what the thing that you will come back to do? Can you imagine, ask yourself, if you die today, and Allah give you one more chance, second chance, what you will come back to do? He said without hesitation, without thinking قَالَ أَطْلُبُ الْعِلْمَ I come back to seek knowledge.

The Status of Mu'adh ibn Jabal

Mu'adh Ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him), and I'm sure that most of you know, who is Mu'adh? Umar Ibn Khattab said, I heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) said

Umar said that he heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, Mu'adh will come in the day of judgment, ahead of all the scholars, leading all the scholars.

And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said also in Sunan al-Tirmidhi, that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, Mu'adh is the most knowledgeable person in halal and haram, in this ummah, what is lawful and what is unlawful, in this whole entire nation. From the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), all the way until the day of judgment. It's not the only.

See, with all this advanced technology we have, with all these books it's been written, how many books do you think were written in the process on time? After the process on time? The first book we know it was written in Sharia, 81 Hijri. That's one single book, and after that you're talking about, after a hundred years, the books start as a concept, to be starting 120, 130 and so on. But the first one like 81 Hijri, a book about Sirah of the Prophet (peace be upon him), the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him). So, after that the books started.

And a lot of knowledge was documented and collected. Do you think the knowledge, okay, those who came later may be more knowledgeable? Still, Mu'adh is ahead of everybody else.

By the way, Mu'adh became Muslim when he was 18 years old, and died when he was 32 years old. That's 32, by the way, the latest number, age. There is another narration saying 28 years old, 29 years old, 27 years old.

But al-Dhahabi mentioned several ones, I'm just picking the last one, the oldest age that you can imagine. It means 14 years in Islam. 14 years in Islam, that's it, no more.

Differences Between Early and Later Generations

So, if this is the case, that will be my introduction to my point today. Which is, what's the difference between the ilm, the knowledge of the early Muslim generation, we call them always as-Salaf, as-Salaf, and the Khalaf, those who came later on. How can we tell, is it the same? There is totally different way, when you compare the way the early Muslim generation learned the knowledge, seized the knowledge, identified the knowledge, and also those who came later on.

And when I talk about the early Muslim generations, I am really focusing on the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). And also, we can include in that, the successors, the second generation, and some even extend that to the third generation. But I believe that the companions of Muhammad (peace be upon him) really set themselves apart from any other group, from any other generation. And this is very clear.

Interactive Discussion: Special Qualities of the Companions

I give you for example, let me see. Can anybody here think of something? Difference can be noticed as one of the difference between the companions and everybody else in the ummah, and the rest of the Muhammad (peace be upon him) ummah. Something special quality about the companions, which is related to knowledge, that nobody else has it.

Can you think of something? Yes. They witnessed the Prophet (peace be upon him). They saw with their own eyes how the Prophet (peace be upon him) act, how he behave, how he took that verse, how he understood this verse. This is something I used to hear when I was in college, when I was in high school, after college.

The Importance of Direct Witnessing

I always read this, especially Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned this a lot. I'll tell you the truth. I never ever understood it clearly as I did when I came, moved to America.

Hmm. How? I'll tell you how. When I came to America, I saw people here in America talking about the Shuyukh overseas.

Okay? So I'm talking about the Shuyukh overseas, Shaykh Ibn Baz, Shaykh Ibn al-Uthaimeen, al-Albani, these big names, so on. So many names. Then I kept listening to how they view them, how they look at them, how they take their words, their teaching.

And I tell myself, Hmm. Isn't this the same Ibn Baz I lived with, I studied under, and I saw? Isn't this the same Shaykh they talk? Hold on. Wait a second.

He never acted this way. He never understood it this way. Yes, he said that, but this is not the way he practiced it.

You're just taking it out of context. For example, when somebody told me, Shaykh Ibn Baz, rahimahullah, was very strong against the innovators. Yes, absolutely.

He will refute the innovations. He will not believe in innovation. So I see people when they start practicing.

Okay, he see this, then he will start labeling everybody as innovator. But I caught this person. I don't talk to this person.

Even I don't give him salam. I won't give him names. And in no time I found those people start dividing the community.

And under what? Under the claim that Ibn Baz used to be very this, or Shaykh so and so. I said to myself, hmm, but is this really what Shaykh Ibn Baz used to practice? Is this how he understood that? Is this text that he took, this is the way he behaved? Is this the way he dealt with so many people belong to different jama'at, different groups, even people of innovations that Shaykh Ibn Baz r.a dealt with in the university, in the da'wah activities, in so many areas. No, at all.

And in that moment I started to realize the difference between just reading and seeing, and witnessing. In that moment I realized the big difference between me and those who never met the Shaykh, who never lived with the Shaykh, who only knew the Shaykh through books or through CD that they heard one lecture. And you can take this example to the other extreme.

Some people they criticize so much. And after I said, I know this guy, he's not that bad. He's not that way of the thing.

They just took one text, I lived with him. I spent time with him. I saw him, I saw things about him that nobody else, you just can't see it from a book, from a text.

Yes, the sahaba deliver the text of the Prophet (peace be upon him). But it's totally different case when you see somebody living with you. When you see somebody living with you. If you want to exam my idea, in a scientific method, collect all the ahadith, that we have about the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Set it together and start reading it.

How many days it will take you? The 13 years of Mecca? The 23 years that the Prophet (peace be upon him) lived as a prophet or as a messenger? It will take you a month reading it? Two month, one year? But what about the rest of all this life? No doubt there is a big difference between you as a reader to the textual evidence, or the text that describing the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him), and the one who witnessed.

The Practical Example of the Companions

That's why Allah save for us two things. He save for us al-Quran wa al-Sunnah, and He saved for us the statement of the companions, the life of the companions, the life of the companions.

Because this is the way to see how this Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) practiced and lived his life. They are a practical example of practicing the religion in front of your eyes. Beside the Prophet (peace be upon him) being a practical example to how to understand the textual evidence, the text of the Quran, or the verses of the Quran.

So that's why, yes, I agree 100% that they have seen, they have witnessed that. And this is totally different than anybody else who didn't see the Prophet (peace be upon him), who just heard about the Prophet (peace be upon him). Anybody can bring another point. Yes, back there.

Discussion: The Experience of Conversion

Question from the audience. Converts. That's interesting point.

They lived the Jahiliyyah, and they loved Islam. But is that an accurate point? Is all the companions convert? Not all of them, but a lot of them, yes. But that's a good point.

That's a good point actually, that they convert to Islam. Even though once Salman al-Farisi heard a man saying, I feel so bad that I was not exist in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him). But you're so lucky Allah created you in that time. Allah give you something over me, advantage over me.

Then Salman told him, and how would you know that if you were there, like so many other, were exist in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), but they did not accepted his message. They did not accepted his da'wah. They were among the kuffar.

So being there in his time is not enough. He said, you should be grateful that you're both parents Muslims. Because that's guarantee for you to raise in such environment.

For me and people like me, we never had this. This is something we have to struggle with. So everybody should be happy and grateful to Allah for whatever Allah have provided him.

So not being converted makes you better, or not being bored Muslim make you higher. Yes. It's a very interesting point actually, the language.

The Importance of Cultural Understanding

And the language is not only the pure Arabic words. You know I always say that, and I think this is a key point to understand the ilm, the knowledge in general. There is every language has something called the culture of the language.

Does that make sense? That culture of the language, very important to understand what this word means. They are the one who belong to this culture. Belong to this language.

This is their way of talking. Like for example, if I walk and I see somebody, say, wow, this is man, this is wicked. You know, this is sick, this is bad.

If I come from overseas, I would say, well, I don't know, this has all these germs and viruses. Bad. No, it means good.

It means very good. That's the way. The word gay, for example.

Gay, it brings somebody from a hundred years ago, gay for him it means happy person. Today, it means somebody loves him. What's timer? What is that? Montrose.

Montrose. Okay. So, it's totally different story.

You see what I'm saying? It's totally different. It's a culture. The culture of the language play a major role of understand the text.

Understand the text. Understand clearly. I'll give you example.

Very simple. Look how much there is ikhtilaf, difference of opinion among the fuqaha'a to define certain words the Prophet (peace be upon him) used. You will not see that disagreement among the companions.

For example, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, when al-maa reach kullatayn, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, when the water reach amount of kullatayn, qulla, it's a container. What's the size of this container? There is people, Hanafi says something, the Shafi'i says something, the Hanbali says something else. The Sahaba knows what's qulla means.

It's something exist. It's their culture, something they are familiar with. And this is something very unique about them.

Very absolutely. Good point. What else about the companions? Something set them really totally different from any other period.

The Special Authority of the Companions

Now. So they saw the evilness of the Jahiliyyah, the ignorant day, then they converted to Islam. They can see the two pictures clear.

Yes. They witnessed the revelation of the Qur'an. They witnessed the revelation of the Qur'an, how it come gradually changing people.

Good. One thing, let me give you one example. Still the floor is open.

Give you an example. According to Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali. If one companion, one companion, say something, make a statement.

And this statement, this statement, became popular. Became popular. And nobody object to it.

Object to it. This statement became evidence, take place after the Qur'anic text, the hadith text. This will come next, immediately.

That became hujjah, dalil, evidence. Any statement by any companion will became popular. Nobody object to it.

It's proof. You cannot say, Oh, I can leave it. It's not an opinion anymore.

They call this dalil. It's like ijma, consensus. But this will not apply to any other than the companions.

If one of the tabi'een said a statement became popular, and nobody object to it, it's his opinion. That's why Abu Hanifa rahimahullah said, When it comes to the tabi'een, the successors (هُمْ رِجَالٌ وَنَحْنُ رِجَالٌ). They are men and we are men like them.

But the companions know it's different case. There's a different rules related to the companions. So that's something set them apart from anybody else.

Anybody else can think of something else. Give the sahaba very special different quality than any other else. Anybody else? Yes.

The Trustworthiness of All Companions

They're willing to sacrifice their time. But outside, even the tabi'een, the successors, so many people did that. Not only them.

Not to speak bad about them. Somebody said, He said don't speak bad about any Muslim. Very close.

I'm very close to what you want. They are the best generation. What you and him trying to reach, very good point.

Yes. The best. I think the point is, all the companions are trustworthy.

When you check the chain of narrators, to see the authenticity of the hadith. Do we check the authenticity of the companions? Only you need to check one thing. Is he really a companion or not? That's it.

But any tabi'een, any person comes later on, you have to prove that he is trustworthy. That I can take from him. Masha'Allah.

This is something special quality for the companions. Nobody else has it in the whole entire ummah of Muhammad (peace be upon him). Why? Because they became trustworthy, not by Al-Bukhari and Ahmad. They became trustworthy by the testimony of Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him). And the Prophet (peace be upon him). So the companions of Muhammad (peace be upon him), really also, one of the thing about the companions, none of the companions was innovator.

Freedom from Innovation

But you have innovator among the tabi'een. The bid'ah, the innovations, did not appear and take a philosophical, the ideology of the innovators and the sects in Islam did not appear and became a philosophical argument in the time of the companions. This is way after that.

And we talk about the time of the companions, I'm talking about the time where the majority of the companions were alive. Which is by the beginning of Ali ibn Abi Talib's time, or the mid of Ali's time. That when you call the first generation of Islam, that's from the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), all the way to that, even Ibn Hajar said in the middle or by the end of Ali's time.

That's where most of the companions were living. And by the time of Mu'awiyah, so the vast majority in that time were not the companions, were the successors. There's so many, but the vast majority of the population were the successors.

By the time of Abdul Malik ibn Marwan, the vast majority were the third generation of Islam. They were the followers. They became more popular.

And you're still talking about 115, 120, 130 Hijri. You talk about that time. So the third generation actually start appearing or became very popular by that time.

Anyway, so among them there is no innovators. None of their action can be classified as bid'ah. That's why Imam al-Shafi'i when he was asked, What is bid'ah? He said, What the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not practice nor any one of his companions.

Anything that the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not practice or any one of his companions, this is what we call bid'ah. So if he practiced it or one of his companions practiced it, it will not be considered bid'ah anymore. This is something different than anybody else in the ummah.

Set them apart. That's why in al-Sahabah, r.a, Ibn Mas'ud said

You have to understand their status. And sometimes I notice we don't realize that.

What is really their status? It's a very high status. In fiqh, in ilm, I'm not talking now about their sacrifice, how much they loved the deen, how much they supported the deen. I'm not talking about that.

I'm talking only about the ilm. Also, the companion as a generation, as a generation, no doubt they have the best knowledge, complete knowledge, complete, not as individuals. That's why we might have, by the way, a scholar who comes, even in modern days, who more knowledgeable than so many of the companions of Muhammad (peace be upon him). That's not a... For example, Khalid ibn al-Waleed, he only memorized the short surahs.

That's all what he memorized. Surahs like this. Can you compare him, for example, to Warsh, or to Asim ibn Abi al-Najud, or al-Hasan al-Basri, who memorized the whole entire Qur'an with the qiraat? No doubt.

They are more knowledgeable than the Qur'an, and Khalid ibn al-Waleed. That's why the muftis, among the companions, were not many, few. We call them the scholars among the companions.

So, but as a whole, you look at the whole entire generation, their knowledge reached a level nobody as a generation can reach. But individuals, yes, there might one individual be better than another individual in ilm, in taqwa, and so on.

The Unique Methodology of the Early Scholars

Those who follow the footsteps of the companions of Muhammad (peace be upon him), those who follow the footsteps of the companions of Muhammad (peace be upon him), they have a very unique methodology.

They have a very unique methodology when it comes to ilm. And the first point I would like to cite here is, the way they look at the ilm itself, how they define ilm, what the word knowledge means to the early Muslim scholars, and how it means to those who come later.

Knowledge as Certainty

As for the early Muslim scholars, knowledge for them, knowledge for them is, word means certainty.

Certainty. Ilm, it means something you are so certain about. It's not something, hmm, I don't know, I'm just, I'm just listening to this guy, what he's saying.

You know, I'm just reading this to see what he's... Nowadays, ilm, so many of us, when we take knowledge, when we learn knowledge, is not to establish certainty. And when we teach knowledge, we don't teach the knowledge which establishes certainty in the heart.

Certainty brings tranquility to the heart.

Ilm for them is something they are so certain about, so sure about. That's why, what do you think, the first type of knowledge will be connected to this? When you talk knowledge, what's the first thing come to your mind, if it's based on certainty? The knowledge of? Allah.

That's why in so many statements you will find

.

What is ilm? الْعِلْمُ is to know Allah. What is knowledge? Knowledge is to believe in Allah. What is knowledge? Sufyan al-Thawri was asked is, to have fear in your heart from Allah.

What is knowledge? It's to have taqwa. It's always about Allah. That's the knowledge for them.

So basically, this is the backbone of the knowledge. So everything you will hear from the early Muslim generation, it is surrounding around this. Whatever will lead to Allah, whatever will increase your iman in Allah, whatever will bring you closer to Allah, whatever will connect you to Allah, that's what's knowledge.

Anything will not do that, they don't call it knowledge. Information, entertainment, whatever you want to call it. But that's not knowledge for them.

And that's by the way, a major difference between the way they learn, the way they look at the knowledge, and the way we look to the knowledge today. Sometimes we look at the knowledge as something to entertain us. Just something not really to bring us closer to Allah.

The Mother's Advice to Sufyan al-Thawri

That's why al-imam Sufyan al-Thawri, when his mother prepared him to go to the first class, what she told him? She told him, my son, go learn. And after you learn 10 issues, look if these issues that you learn, 10

different, 10 new masa'il, gems, things that you learn, after you learn these 10 issues, look at these issues, how it affects you, and your relationship with Allah, and how it will affect your manners.

It's gonna make you a better person when you deal with others, and it's gonna make you a better person when you go pray, when you fast, when you make du'a.

It's gonna make you closer to Allah, if it's not change your teacher, and leave this knowledge away. That's the advice that she gave him.

Now, I'm talking about the religious end, the religion.

So, that's the ilm, that in the early Muslim, we talk about knowledge, knowledge shari'a, that's what it is.

The Deviation of Later Scholars

Look at the people who came later on, or other than their way. From the beginning, there is a man, his name is Jahm ibn Safwan, who came to tell people that, belief is not to have knowledge of Allah.

No. To have information about Allah. Which is, he called it

To just be informed about Allah. To know that He exists. That's it.

If you know that He exists, you are completely mu'min. And this is the path, that the mu'tazila, the asha'irah, everybody follow that path.

See how the difference start from a very rooted area.

It's all related to the methodology. For the early Muslim generation, they always refused the word

. They said, it's ilm, knowledge.

Because knowledge, it means certainty. It means fear from Allah. It means love for Allah.

It means, depends on Allah. That's what ilm leads them to. It's just not to know that He exists, and you became a believer.

Yeah, it's that and that. So, anyway, they take ma'rifah, and after that, asha'irah, this is tasdiq, and it takes that direction in general. So, for them, ilm is really, is tawheed, is knowing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and worshiping Him alone.

Knowledge Leading to Action

Al-ilm for them, it means something lead to actions. Any knowledge will not lead to practice, is something they are not interested in. Any knowledge will not help you to practice your deen, they're not interested in.

And they don't care about it much. And that's how they wrote their books. I remember once I was in Chicago.

They had a conference in DePaul University. A bunch of professors, orientalists, talking about al-Bukhari's method in Sahih al-Bukhari. So, they started, they had like 10 minutes of argument about why he made his book miss like that.

So confusing. Sometimes he put this chapter here, he cut the hadith half, and it's so confusing the way he put his book. Yes, this criticism is a very old criticism, Sahih al-Bukhari, that the way he put it in order was not the best way.

That's why some scholars prefer Muslim over al-Bukhari, because the way Muslim organized his book, it's much organized than al-Bukhari. But anyway, even though al-'ulama said the way he set, or the titles of his chapters, his fiqh, regardless, I told him something. I said, you know what, guys? You're missing the point here.

The point in al-Bukhari when he wrote his book, he's not writing it for professors in DePaul University to use it as a curriculum to teach it in DePaul University. His book is about how Muslim can practice the religion. Simple as that.

He used simple language, simple methods. He cut the hadith, because this is the only point from the hadith. He put it here because it belongs here.

He doesn't think about, you guys, or the order, and which more logical the sequence that make more sense or not. This is not something really he's paying so much attention. This is not his main focus.

Simple, straight to the point. That's the way they are. That's what you need to know.

That's how you practice it. That's how their methods, in general, it comes to knowledge. So the knowledge, if there is no benefit under it, they will not talk about it.

Useless Debates of Later Scholars

That's why so many argument came up later, only in the books which is written, or the methodology of the way of the scholar who came later, who left the methodology or the way of early Muslim scholars. Like, for example, Mu'tazila invented the issue. Which better? The angels or the humans? Who cares? I teach some... For example, I teach about the prophets and the angels, the pillars of Iman.

The most excited, and you guys, some of you take the course with me. The most excited course, part of my course about the pillars of Iman, the one about jinn. Is there a messenger to the jinn? They die, they live, tell me.

Who cares? About them. They live, they die. I don't really, I'm not taking my, alhamdulillah, place in Jannah.

They don't make any traffic, jam traffic, or anything in the street. So I don't care really about them. But see, that's the most area that you are interested to know more about.

Put lecture today about dreams. Wow, you will see a big line of people coming to attend the lecture. But put lectures about something practical, they don't like.

People in the meetings, they like talks more than actions, items. That's why even countries became greater when they can have practical agenda, something they can go and do it. Just not talking and argue without leading, this knowledge lead them to action.

Differences of Opinion as Mercy

Also al-ilm for them, when there is differences between them, differences in opinion, that was mercy for them. That's why the very famous statement (اخْتِلافُ الْعُلَمَاءِ رَحْمَةُ - ikhtilaf ul-'ulama' rahmah) that the differences between the ulama is a mercy, applied to the ulama among the early Muslim generation.

But the ulama who came later on, or who follow other than the methodology, their differences was a curse to the ummah.

Was a curse, they fight one another, they kill one another, literally. And they were so bad towards one another. But you know the differences of opinions in ilm.

Don't think about what happened between Ibn al-Zubair, this is not about ilm, this was about something totally else, you can know about it later. But in ilm, the fatwa, which is Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud, three different schools and fatwas. That differences of opinions was a mercy for the ummah.

Was a ease for the ummah of Muhammad (peace be upon him). The language of the ilm was very simple, easy to be understood. The ilm also led to honoring the ulama and the scholars. The way they learned their ilm is totally different.

Quality Over Quantity in Seeking Knowledge

One of the things about them, when they learned their ilm, my brothers and sisters, they don't care about how many. And this is something you will notice, inshallah, if you come to the class. When you compare the ulama that I will teach you about, the first 200 and the later on in 800 Hijri and above.

You will notice something interesting. The people later on cares about how many sheikhs that I studied under. How many ijazah I was able to collect.

I have 800 sheikhs, I have 700 sheikhs, I studied under 1000 scholars. The early Muslim generation, they look for the quality. Imam Malik, when Abu Idris al-Khawlani, which is wow, great scholar, great scholar.

The great muhaddith of Ahl al-Sham. When he came to Mecca, you know who, Mecca, this is a great opportunity now. He coming from very far away, coming to Mecca.

The students eager to take the knowledge from him. Imam Malik told his students, nobody take any hadith from him. Hold on.

He said, let me see him first. It's not about quantity. Then he said, nobody should write anything from this man.

Next year, he said, now, he watched him, he hide behind the pillar. And he said, now, you can take the hadith from him. You know why?

He said, because first time when he came last year, I saw him when he narrate the hadith.

He was narrated while he is casual. I mean, casual. He said, yeah, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said.

But this year, I noticed totally different. Before he said, the Prophet said, he will not be casual. He will sit properly and will be very focused.

And he will pause for a second to make sure that he is saying absolutely correct. I noticed a difference in his manner. And that a person deserve to be your shaykh today.

Their methods, even if choosing the shaykh, the scholar, is totally different than the people later on. They don't open, give their ears to everybody. Give every good speaker, give khatib, somebody just grow big beard or put a big imama in the old days.

That means, shaykh, no, it doesn't work this way for them.

The Sanctity of Religious Knowledge

Ibn sirin said, This is deen.

So you should be very careful where you're taking your deen from. Even the way they deliver the knowledge. They teach knowledge.

And when they learn the knowledge, always adab manners with it. It goes together. And also graduate.

They learn what is beneficial. They teach what is beneficial. They have adab and manners with the scholars, with the ilm, with the knowledge.

And this is a very big area. We don't have time to go in it. But it is a very interesting area to see.

Really big difference between them and the people who came later on. You see the people who came later on, all what they care about, things not beneficial. And that's what make people look so good.

The Problem of Complex Language in Teaching

I remember something I noticed. I remember one brother said that and he notes that. But he really made it very clear to me.

I was all thinking how to say it. But now I know how to say it perfectly. One brother once walked out from a lecture.

And he said, MashaAllah, this lecture is so good. I said, How? And I didn't like the lecture. He said, I did not understand most of it.

I said, Excuse me? Wallahi, that means it's so good. Because it's so good. I couldn't understand most of it.

That's the good khateeb. That's the good lecturer. That's the good scholar.

The one who used this big weird word. All this terminology, never heard of it. That's not the way of the early Muslim scholars.

True Knowledge Versus Collecting Opinions

Ibn Al-Qayyim also said, and let's show you the difference. Ibn Al-Qayyim said, Al-'ilm is not about the differences of opinions. How many opinions you memorize? Many people very impressed.

Somebody would come to tell you, Yes, there is 12 opinions in this issue. One, two, three. Abu Hanifa said, Ash-Shafi'i said, Ahmad said, Wow, this is so good.

This is real knowledge. That's not the knowledge. Ibn Al-Qayyim said, Al-'ilm to know what is correct.

Al-'ilm to know how to understand why this is right and why this is wrong. Al-'ilm is not by collecting how many opinions you memorize.

Because no doubt you cannot memorize all these opinions all the time.

But at least you know why this is the correct and why this is right and why you choosing this over the others.

Selective Teaching of Knowledge

Also they were very careful about the way they communicate with others. And I will end with this point.

That they deliver the knowledge to the people who deserve it only. And if they notice somebody does not deserve this knowledge, they will not deliver it to him. To the extent some of them went to an

extreme.

Went to an extreme in this area. I'm not trying to push my class so much. But if you come you will find a very good example of somebody went to the far extreme in this area.

And I brought him as an individual just to show you this point.