Crisis of Knowledge - Shaykh
By Yasir Qadhi | 2026-01-07T20:43:31.386341+00:00 | Topic: Knowledge
Crisis of Knowledge
Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi
Opening
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
"[All praise is due to Allah, who has guided us to this, and we would not have been guided if Allah had not guided us.]"
Wa as-salatu was-salamu ala khayri khalqi Allah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man walah. Amma ba'd.
The Story of Juraij - A Lesson in Knowledge vs. Worship
In the Sahih of Imam al-Bukhari, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) told us of a very beautiful narration, a very beautiful incident that happened many thousands of years ago, involving a Christian monk by the name of Juraij.
Juraij meaning George as we say in our times, but Juraij is the classical name. This Christian monk, as was the custom of the monks of old, had cut himself off from society and would worship Allah (جل جلاله) constantly. The monks of old, they would literally devote their entire lives for the worship of Allah.
Nothing except pure worship, dhikr, ibadah, salah, reciting their holy books. That's all they would do, fast every day. And they would cut themselves off from this world, wear the worst of garments, cut themselves off from any enjoyments and pleasures.
So this Juraij was one such monk. It so happened that his mother, who was an old lady, needed him for some chores, for some help in her house. And so she came to this monastery where Juraij had established himself.
It was a monastery just for Juraij. And she could not enter the monastery because the fiqh of the classical, not the classical, the fiqh of the previous nations before Islam did not allow women to enter the holy place. Women could not enter their masjids and their mosques of old.
Of course Islam has a different ruling. So the mother of Juraij called out and she said, Oh Juraij, I need your help, come to me. Juraij was right at that time praying.
So he thought to himself, Oh Allah, should I prefer my salah and continue, or should I respond to the call of my mother? Juraij continued in his salah and ignored his mother. He was praying. Had he not been praying, he would have gone out.
And by the time he finished the prayer, his mother had left. The second day his mother came again and said, Oh Juraij, I need you, please come out. Once again he was standing in prayer.
Once again he said, Oh Allah, should I choose my mother over my prayer? I'll choose my prayer. Thinking that this is piety and righteousness. For the third time, the same incident happened.
Juraij once again continued in the salah and neglected his mother. And his mother then became enraged. Three days in a row she wants help from her only son.
He's not coming out to help. And so in that anger, she makes a dua against her son. And as you know, the dua of the parents for and against their children is accepted.
Against as well, meaning if your father or mother gets angry at you, and makes a dua against you, then really, I seek Allah's refuge because that dua will take place. Make sure your parents never make dua against you. So she said, Oh Allah, make sure Juraij never dies until he sees the faces of prostitutes.
Meaning, make his reputation go to nothing. Allow him to be seen with prostitutes. In her anger, this is what she said.
He has this good solid reputation. Everybody loves and respects him. Destroy that reputation.
And so, Allah (جل و عز) responded to her dua. And it's one of the beauties of the incidents. And also saved Juraij's reputation at the same time.
And it's a long story, I'll have to summarize it because the point is only one sentence that I'll come to in the end. So a prostitute offered herself firstly to Juraij. And Juraij ignored and neglected her.
And basically told her to leave him in his worship. So in her anger, she went to the townspeople and said, Do you want me to basically seduce Juraij and get him into trouble? And they said, Yes. So she plotted and planned, but Juraij remained immune to her temptations.
Until finally, when she could not find a way to Juraij, she got pregnant with another man, a shepherd, a farmer. And she then claimed to the townspeople, this is the child of Juraij. Juraij is supposed to be a chaste, a holy man, never touched women, supposed to be a worshiper of God.
Now this prostitute comes and says, this is the child of Juraij. So the townspeople got so angry, even though they were the ones, this is the way how people are, audhu billah, they want to see some action. They were the ones who enticed the prostitute as well.
When the prostitute is successful, they now take their anger out on Juraij. And so they went to his monastery, and they broke it down. And they destroyed it.
And they started beating him, with shoes and sticks, and stones, stoning him. Saying, how could you do this, Juraij? Juraij said, what? What did I do? They said, this prostitute has accused you of fathering her child. And so Juraij immediately remembered the dua of his mother.
And he said, this is the dua of my mother, happening in front of my eyes. That I have been accused now, this is the face of the prostitute that I'm seen with. I have been accused of doing this immoral deed.
So, to make a long story short, Juraij was about to be executed by the townspeople. He said, allow me to pray two rakaat. So he prayed two rakaat, and then he poked the baby, the child, and said, speak, who is your father? And so the child, one of the few children, one of the few babies ever to speak in the history of mankind.
Another one obviously, who was the other baby that spoke from the cradle, everybody knows. The Prophet Isa (عليه السلام). And there are other narrations as well, maybe three, maybe four at max that we know of, that spoke from the cradle. So, the child said, my father is the shepherd.
It's the other person. And so when the people saw this, they apologized to Juraij, and they saw that a miracle had occurred, and they said, we will rebuild your monastery with gold and silver. They said, no, build it with mud and sand as it was, and let me continue in my worship.
The Key Lesson About Knowledge
Now of course, there are many benefits of the story, one of them being that, even though Allah (عز وجل) accepted the dua of his mother, he also saved Juraij's reputation in the end. Both came out victors if you like. But the point that I wanted to really emphasize here, in one version of the hadith, in one narration of this hadith, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:
(Bukhari hadith 3436)
"May Allah have mercy on Juraij. If only he had been a faqih, if only he had knowledge, he would have responded to his mother, instead of continuing in the prayer." He would have saved himself all of the hassle, if only he had knowledge. And this is one of those hadith, there are many others, one of those hadith that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the knowledgeable scholar far exceeds the status of a continual worshiper.
Here is Juraij, fasting, praying, reading, dhikr, cut off from the world. But in his worship, he didn't have knowledge. And that was to his detriment at the end of the day.
Even though because of his knowledge, Allah (جل و عز) saved him from those evils. Yet another indication of the superiority of knowledge over acts of worship, even though acts of worship are of course blessed and holy. But of the holiest acts of worship, after the fara'id is knowledge.
The Story of the Mass Murderer
Yet another indication is another story from the children of Israel. And that is the story of the mass murderer. The mass murderer who had killed 99 people with his own two hands.
Strangle them to death, chop them up. With his own two hands, he had killed 99 people. In the history of the modern world that we know, we don't know of any mass murderer in modern history.
Mass murderer meaning with his own two hands, who had prowled the streets and killed more than 30-40 people. Jack the Ripper, they say, had 20 something. And this is considered a huge number.
This guy had 99, to his own credit or discredit, if you look at it in the right way. 99. He then repented. And he went to a monk. Once again, the same monk type of thing, just worshipping and worshipping and worshipping. And he said, I have killed 99 people with these two hands.
Can Allah ever forgive me? The monk said, 99 people. Allah can never forgive you. So in his anger, he made the 99-100 via the monk.
Meaning he killed the monk. He repented again. And he then went to a rabbi, a scholar.
And he said, Oh scholar, can Allah forgive me? I have killed 100 people. 100 people I've killed. Can Allah forgive me? And the scholar said, And who is there who can come in between Allah and His mercy? Who can be so powerful as to prevent Allah's mercy from coming to you? Who is there that can prevail over Allah's rahmah? Of course Allah can forgive you.
But you are living in an evil land. You're living in a place where these murders and these evils are made alluring to you. Where obviously there was no law. That's why you could get away with it. Where no sharia was being established. So on and so forth.
So he said, Immigrate, do hijrah to a pious land. The land in such and such a place. And go worship Allah there.
And the hadith goes on. He met his death on the way there. The angels of mercy, the angels of punishment argued over who should take him. Until finally, it was the angels of mercy who took his soul because he wanted to repent. Even though he didn't get to the land of repentance. But Allah (جل و عز) saw his intentions. But the hadith and this incident once again proves to us the superiority of knowledge over mere worship. It is knowledge that is needed before worship.
Imam Al-Bukhari's Chapter on Knowledge
And that is why Imam Al-Bukhari in his sahih, which is the most blessed book after the Qur'an, and the most authentic book after the Qur'an.
In one of the chapters he says, the chapter of knowledge before actions and speech. You need to have knowledge before you open your mouth. You need to have knowledge before you do anything.
The chapter of knowledge before doing anything or saying anything. An entire chapter dedicated to proving this point. Yet another illustration of the blessings of knowledge.
Adam (عليه السلام) and the Angels - Knowledge as Superiority
And this is a profound illustration. A profound example that we have in the Qur'an. Is that when Allah (جل و عز) decided to create man.
And He told the angels, I'm about to create this creation that will die one after the other and leave successors. In other words, khalifa. The proper meaning of khalifa here is those who will leave one generation after the other.
The angels, they don't die. They will only die at the day of judgment. The same angel that was alive from the time of pre-Adam, will be the same angel until the trumpet is blown.
They don't procreate, they don't have children, they don't die. Angels are in that sense, they have extremely long lives. So Allah says, I'm creating a new creation.
They have something called free will. And they're going to have generations after generations. The angels said, O Allah, how can you create a creation that is so evil? It's gonna shed blood.
It's gonna do this, it's gonna do that. We are so pure.
The story is in the first few verses of Surah Al-Baqarah.
"We praise you all the time. We worship you all the time. Why do you wanna create another creation?" So Allah (جل و عز) wanted to show the status of this creation.
He wanted to prove to the angels that mankind, when they are pious and righteous, they are in fact better than the angels. And this is one of the points of theology of aqeedah, that a righteous man (رجل صالح) a wali of Allah (جل و عز) he actually has a status above that of the angels. Of course the fasiq and the evil person, that's a separate story.
He has a status below that of animals, as Allah says in the Quran. But the righteous man has a status above that of the angels. How did Allah prove this?
Did He make Adam taller than the angels? Did He make Adam broader than the angels, stronger than the angels? Did He make Adam go run faster than the angels? Quite the contrary.
Angels physically are much better than us. They can travel extremely fast, long distances quickly. They have the power to do this and that.
Angel Jibreel with one of his wings only, managed to do with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah what he did. He tapped the city with one of the tips of his wings, and the entire city flipped up and turned upside down, as the hadith tells us. One angel, and that's just one tip of the wing.
The angels are huge in their creation. They're extremely beautiful, extremely handsome in their looks. They have been preferred over us in all of these things, and yet, we are preferred over them overall.
How did Allah prove this? All of you know.
Allah taught Adam ilm, knowledge that the angels didn't have. He taught Adam the knowledge of all of these things, the names of all of these things.
And then He asked the angels, do you have this knowledge? Can you tell me what these things are called? Do you have a knowledge that Adam doesn't have? And when the angels saw with their own two eyes, the angels do have two eyes. When the angels saw with their own two eyes, that Adam had been given a knowledge that they have not been given, they realized Allah has preferred this being over us. And they said,
"Exalted you are, O Allah. We have no knowledge other than the knowledge that you have taught us." Through knowledge, the superiority of Adam (عليه السلام) and his pious progeny was shown over that of the angels.
And that really allowed this point to sink in. That when Allah (جل و عز) had to choose one characteristic to show the superiority of Adam over the angels, it was not height, it was not color, it was not physical strength and prowess, it was not looks, it was knowledge. And so through knowledge, the superiority of Adam was shown over that of the angels.
Qur'anic Verses About Knowledge
So many ayat and ahadith tell us about the blessings of knowledge and the importance of knowledge. We can only quote a few of them here. Of them Allah (عز وجل) says
"That indeed, the only beings who truly fear Allah from all of His creation are the ulama."
Ulama are mentioned by name. The only beings who truly fear Allah are the ulama. That's it.
Nobody can reach that level of pure knowledge of Allah and fear of Allah and love of Allah than the ulama. This is because the worshiper might do the outward acts of worship. He might pray, he might fast, he might avoid the sins.
But it is the alim who understands the spirituality behind it. Who understands the wisdoms behind it. Who is more conscious in that worship than the person who doesn't have that ilm.
Likewise in the entire Qur'an, Allah (جل و عز) only commands the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) to ask for one thing in a large quantity. Not money. Allah doesn't tell the Prophet Oh Rasulullah, ask for more money. He never tells him, ask for more health, ask for more wealth. No. Only one thing.
"And say, Oh my Lord, increase me in my knowledge." The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is being commanded by Allah to make regular du'a. And this is the Rasul of Allah. Oh Allah, give me more knowledge. Oh Allah, increase my ilm. Likewise, Allah (جل و عز) tells us that the very status that the Rasul has is primarily due to the knowledge that he has been given.
As Allah says in another verse
"That Allah (جل و عز) has given you the book and the wisdom. Meaning the Qur'an and the Sunnah. And He taught you what you don't know. And because of that, the blessings of Allah upon you are very manifest and great." Through the knowledge, the status and superiority of Adam was shown. As it was shown through the status and superiority of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) as well.
He has that knowledge that none of us have. He was blessed by Allah with blessings. Many blessings, more than just knowledge, but of the greatest of them is the blessing of knowledge.
Prophetic Traditions About Knowledge
Likewise when we turn to the ahadith of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Once again, there are a huge quantity of ahadith that instruct us, that guide us, that exhort us to learn knowledge. Of them is the famous hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari where the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:
(Bukhari hadith 71)
"Whoever Allah desires good for, He gives him an understanding of this religion, fiqh of this knowledge, of this religion."
He gives him an understanding of this religion. If Allah desires good for you, this translates into you having knowledge of Islam. It's that simple.
This is what the hadith means. If Allah wishes good for you, then He will give you knowledge of this religion. The converse also applies.
He who has no interest in Islam and Islamic sciences, it is obvious that his share of blessings has been diminished and reduced. If Allah (جل و عز) loves you and wants to show that love, it will be done primarily through your knowledge of this religion. And of course knowledge, a part of knowledge is acting upon it as well.
That is another topic in and of itself. Yet another beautiful hadith of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is that knowledge is one of the few things that benefits us even after we die. Once we are
The Reality of Second Generation Leadership
There are many things that can be done. First and foremost, as a small introduction to how exactly to attain knowledge. I want all of us to appreciate one thing, and that is that we as a second generation here in this country are growing up.
And it's inevitable that leadership will be passed down to us as well. And we have plenty of complaints about the old school, our fathers and mothers and their generation. We have plenty of reasons to complain as well.
We have plenty of complaints about our imams in our masjids, that they can't speak English, and they don't understand our problems, and this and that, and they don't speak relevant khutbas, and this and that. And you know all of these points are valid. We all understand and realize the need for students of knowledge and ulama to speak English, to be American.
We all understand that. But the sad reality of the matter is that when the time for leadership does come to change, when the torch is passed down to you here sitting in this room, and those of your age, ask yourselves, are you ready to receive that torch? All of your complaints that you have are legitimate and valid. I share those complaints.
I'm just a little bit older than you. Don't get fooled by the beard, I'm not that old. I share your complaints. I too would go to the masjid and there's this imam speaking in either accented English, which you can't understand, or talking about a topic which is of no relevance, or worse, talking in Arabic, which you have no clue what he's saying. And weeks go by and turn into months and years, and you go to the mosque and you don't really care about it because you don't feel relevant there. And you hear any khutbah in English and it's amazing, it's a breath of fresh air.
The guy might not even be a good speaker, but just because he's speaking English on the minbar, you go away feeling happy. Alhamdulillah. I heard one ayah or one hadith.
We all understand, brothers and sisters, the need for such scholarship. But who amongst us is ready for it? We criticize these imams. Are we ready to stand in their place? Are we even qualified to lead the prayers properly? Do we know how to recite the Qur'an with the proper tajweed? Can we stand up to give a basic, basic khutbah about any topic? Do we have the tools needed to research anything out? Brothers and sisters, I am honestly scared of a possible crisis.
I am optimistic that you here and people of your age will be much better in community development, in building relations with the people out there, in fostering harmony, in getting rid of a lot of the racial stereotypes and a lot of the negative things we had from the first generation. I'm very optimistic about that. I think inshaAllah ta'ala from that perspective, we will have better masjids in that regard, better schools, better civic responsibilities and agendas.
I'm very optimistic. But what I'm pessimistic about, and I pray that Allah جل و عز proves me wrong, what I'm scared about is that Islamically, we're nowhere close to the level of scholarship we need. In order for any community to go forward, you need to have ulama from that community, scholars from that community.
And that is why Allah says in the Qur'an وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا بِلِسَانِ قَوْمِهِ )Quran 14:4) "we have never sent a messenger except that he was from the same people that he was sent to." You have to be from your community. If you're not, how do you expect the Pakistani maulvi to understand your problems? With all due respect, if you went to Pakistan, you'd make a bigger fool of yourselves than the Pakistani maulvi does in your masjid.
You'd have no clue as to what the youth are facing and their problems and realities. Give him some slack. The reality is when it comes to your turn, are you willing and are you ready to be in his place? Can you really and truly be a mentor, a guide, a spiritual leader, a faqih, a mufti, a khatib, an imam? Are you ready to take on this responsibility? Criticisms aside, where is the substitute? And as long as we have to continue to import our ulama and import our duaat, forever the progress of American Islam will be impeded.
We need to strike a balance. We need to have some of us studying the engineering and the medicine and all that. That's all fine and dandy, alhamdulillah.
But we need to have a healthy percentage interested in Islamic studies. A healthy percentage. Not a 100%, obviously not.
Not 90%, not even 80%. Only a few of the sahaba actually reached the level of fatwa, of iftaq during the lifetime of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Not that many. Only a few of the sahaba became the main narrators of hadith.
Less than 12 who were the main core narrators of hadith. But they had them, that's the point. We don't have that.
And that's the worry that I have. That until we continue to import scholarship, really and truly, we're not looking at a healthy Islam in North America. Until we have American ulema.
Ulema that have really and truly studied Islam properly and they're fully American. They speak English without an accent. They understand where we're coming from.
They sympathize with our situation. They're not living in another alternate reality. Until we have plenty of such ulema, not just one in every city, one in every masjid.
Really and truly, we are facing a crisis of national proportions as an ummah in North America. And I'm very scared that Allah knows what's gonna happen when, as I said, when leadership is passed on to us. That's what I'm worried about.
Practical Steps to Gain Knowledge
So in order to solve these problems, we really and truly have to get reintroduced to our religion. Now, much can be said here and perhaps in the question and answer we can elaborate even more. Much can be said here, but a number of points.
First and foremost, brothers and sisters, ilm is not an on-off switch. Ilm is not that either you have it or you don't. No.
There are millions of shades of gray in between. There will be some, Allah عز وجل blesses them, that they can drop everything, give up their secular education, and go and study in Azhar, in Medina, in Indonesia, in Islamabad. Go and study all over the world.
Spend decades. But those are the exceptions. If you can be like them, alhamdulillah.
If not, the first point that I'm gonna say, don't just throw in the towel. Don't just say, okay, well, I can't go to Medina, I can't go to Azhar, I can't go, I'm just gonna sit here and do nothing in Islamic studies. No. There is a lot you can do sitting right here now. A lot you can do to better yourselves intellectually in the Islamic sciences. So, don't have an either-or mentality.
Either I become the sheikh and mufti of North America, or else I'm gonna remain as jahil as I am for the rest of my life. Sorry, brothers and sisters, it doesn't work that way. We only need one mufti for North America.
Maybe five, six, alhamdulillah, good. That's all we need. But we need hundreds and thousands of basic imams.
Hundreds and thousands of students of knowledge. And you can get to that level without ever traveling abroad. You can.
Time Management for Learning
Secondly, once you realize there are shades of gray and I need to just improve a higher shade, that's all I need to do. Once you realize this, sit down and say, okay, what time do I have? And trust me, every one of us has plenty of time. Every one of us has the same 24 hours a day.
Nobody has any more, any less. This is one blessing as the scholars say. Mankind has been given it the same in terms of the time that we're living.
Everybody has one second right now. Nobody has more or less of that one second. Of course you have different life spans.
But in terms of time as it goes by, tangential time, it's the same with everybody. Everybody has time. Look at your schedule.
What do I do? Do I drive to work? Or do I take the bus or whatever? I have time to listen to CDs and MP3s. I have an iPod, I have this and that. Instead of, alhamdulillah, listening to music, or instead of wasting my time listening to things that have no relevance and value to me, let me buy a series about the sahaba.
Let me buy a series about the prophets. Let me buy a series about fiqh. Series are very important because you build.
It's not just talks here and there. And every day, I'm gonna listen to these CDs and these talks. Every single day until I finish the entire collection.
And then I'm gonna listen to them again to solidify what I know. Time. When I wake up in the morning, what do I do? I surf the net for 20 minutes before leaving? I don't really need to.
I can cut that down to 5. That gives me 15 minutes. Let me read some interesting book about Islam. Let me build up my knowledge of my religion.
So, time. You need to find out how much time you have and schedule in knowledge. You need to schedule it in.
Finding a Mentor
Thirdly, you need to find a mentor. This is necessary. Why? Because if you don't find a mentor, you have no clue what to study and how to study and what books to buy and what CDs to listen to.
You're just gonna be, as they say in Arabic, haltu bil-layl. Which means somebody goes out at night and just collects all types of firewood. He might collect a scorpion and a snake.
He has no clue what it is because it's in the dark. You don't collect firewood in the middle of the night. You just gather whatever you can.
You need to have somebody who's more knowledgeable than you. Doesn't have to be the biggest sheikh around. It's difficult to get in touch with some of them.
Somebody who's preceded the path and is higher than you. And you say, what do you recommend? What do I start with? Where do I go? Once you've done that, he'll take you to a different level. And so on and so forth.
Essential Texts to Study
Fourthly, certain things you need to study. Without any exception. The most important of them, Qur'an and Sunnah.
This is something you need to do. This should be a daily routine. Every day, read some Qur'an.
In Arabic, and then its translation in English. No exceptions. You need food to live.
You need Qur'an and Sunnah for your soul. The food for your soul is the word of Allah and the word of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). If you don't have this food, your heart will die. Every day, inject in some time to read the Qur'an.
In Arabic, that's the barakah. And then understand it in English. And then, some books of hadith.
One hadith a day. I recommend you two books. And I encourage everybody to have these two books.
And read them at least one hadith a day. The first of them, the 40 hadith of Nawwi. Read this book cover to cover.
Very, the most useful hadith for the layman. And then once you've done the 40 hadith of Imam Nawwi, move on to Riyadus Saliheen. Also by Imam Nawwi.
This book was written for you. Literally. It is, in my humble opinion, the most practical and the most useful book of hadith for the layman.
Riyadus Saliheen, Gardens of the Righteous. Many translations in English, Bengali, Urdu. Every language in the face of this earth has been translated into.
Gardens of the Righteous. The third thing you need to study after Qur'an and Sunnah, seerah. The life of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Make sure you know the life of this man.
Prioritizing Islamic Knowledge
Brothers and sisters, it is really a sad testament to our knowledge. How much filth we know. How much fahisha and corruption we know.
How much evil we know. About everything. How much useless information we know.
About music, about movies, about sports. Some of which is haram, others of which is mubah. None of which is blessed.
It might be haram, it might be neutral. None of it is blessed. It is a shame that we have so much crammed in our heads.
And I'm sorry for daunting you in this lecture like this. But that's the reality. It is a shame that we have so much knowledge.
Really, if we did a quiz of the latest movies and who starred in what, and where the latest... I can't even say these things. Alhamdulillah, I plead ignorance and I'm proud of this ignorance. Who are the latest rappers and the musicians and what not.
You know so much about them. So much. Even statistics about sports, crammed in our heads.
If only we had as much knowledge of our own religion and the sahaba and the tabi'oon and the great scholars. Where would we be now? So, prioritize.
Prioritize.
Make sure you have. Nobody is saying cut off all the sports and anything else that's mubah, permissible. Fine, spend some time doing that as well.
But also spend some time with this religion.
Modern Opportunities for Learning
Lastly, Alhamdulillah, there are many institutes that have now formed. Brothers and sisters, when I started practicing in the sense, Alhamdulillah, I was always practicing but meaning interested in knowledge.
When I started getting interested in knowledge in the early 90s, there was nothing out there. Nothing that I could go to to sit and study. There were no students of knowledge that were active all over the country, preaching and teaching advanced levels.
There were a few cassettes here, a few books here. There was a time when pretty much any good book on Islamic studies, I had it on my shelf in the early 90s. Now, Alhamdulillah, there is a plethora of books, hundreds of cassettes, MP3 files, I mean, hundreds and thousands of them.
There is no dearth of choices, just what do you want to listen to. So, one aspect that Alhamdulillah, we have now in North America, we have many institutes. Many institutes that are teaching and preaching advanced Islamic studies.
Of them of course is Al-Maghrib Institute which I'm affiliated with. But there are other institutes as well.
There is Sunni Path which Shaykh Faraz Rabbani is affiliated with.
There is Deen Intensive, there is Alim Courses, there is Zaituna Institute. Many institutes are out there that are offering advanced Islamic studies. Find the one that you like the most, you're the most comfortable with, and then study your religion.
Know the basics of your fiqh. Brothers and sisters, the sad reality, wallahi, we don't even know how to do wudu properly. We don't even know what factors break the wudu.
Don't you think that, and I'll tell you for myself, I felt disgusted at myself once upon a time that when I started studying stuff, here I am. I remember clearly, I mean, it was like an organic chemistry book, it's that thick. You guys all know organic chemistry books, right? How they are.
And alhamdulillah, I mean, I got A's in the class and I had memorized all these equations and all these mechanisms and all that. And I thought to myself, a'udhu billah, I know this entire material, but I don't know the book of Allah, even a fraction as I know this. I don't know the sunnah, the prophet.
I felt, in turn, I speak for myself, I felt disgusted. And that was one of the turning points as I went through a whole chemical engineering degree, I graduate, I just couldn't take it anymore. How much am I gonna cram in and remain ignorant about my religion? Now, as I said, brothers and sisters, you don't have to drop everything and go abroad.
Alhamdulillah, that's not fard 'ayn. It's not at all. But what is fard 'ayn upon all of you is you know the basics of your religion.
How to pray? How to fast? How to do the wudu properly? What factors break the wudu? Whatever business you go into, if you're a businessman and a trader, you need to know the fiqh of economics. If you're a doctor, you need to know what is permissible, what is impermissible. Whatever field you go into, you need to know the basics of that field.
And all of this is available in English now, alhamdulillah. So brothers and sisters, there are now these institutes out there as well. And they're active in many communities.
Along with the books, along with the CDs, along with the lectures, along with personal tutelage, if you can find people in your locality and community. Try to avail yourself to this opportunity, which alhamdulillah, this is a blessing from Allah that you brothers have. I didn't have it when I was at your stage.
We didn't have that opportunity. Now this knowledge is being brought to you at your doorstep. You don't have to go abroad to study.
If you do, no doubt that is the best. You can't beat that quality. You're surrounded by real ulama.
As for us, I speak for myself, I'm not an alim. We're just minor students of knowledge. That Allah عز وجل has blessed to be in the company of ulama.
Now we come back and we give you some tidbits here and there. If you can go with the real ulama, alhamdulillah. If not, there are plenty of opportunities, plenty of students of knowledge, plenty of centers, plenty of institutes that are out there helping the community.
Conclusion
Do what you can. Make dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Put your trust in Allah.
And bit by bit, slowly but surely, you will rise up in these shades of gray. And you will, alhamdulillah, benefit and contribute to the North American Islamic academic scene. I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grants us the motivation to study His religion.
He grants us the sincerity to really and truly give it the right that it is due. And He grants us the tawfiq and the patience and the determination to then put that sincerity into action.