sacred scrolls - master notes - qabeelat nurayn

8/7/2019 Sacred Scrolls - Master Notes - Qabeelat Nurayn

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Table of ContentsThe Imam, The Sheikh, The Scholar.................................................3Imam Nawawi's Life....................................................................5

Imam Nawawi's Habits of Success.................................................8Enjoin Good, Forbid Evil, WHOEVER you are.................................11Imam Nawawi's Works.............................................................15Nawawi's Final Days...............................................................18

Nawawi's Advice to the Knowledge Seeker.......................................19Qualities of the Knowledge Seeker..............................................21

Practical Advice.......................................................................31The Hadith Yasir Qadhi............................................................33

Hadith 22: A Stairway to Jannah................................................33Hadith 29: A 2nd Stairway to Jannah..........................................36Hadith 24: Denying Favors?......................... .............................42Hadith 27 : The Golden Compass................................................49Hadith 28: Listen and Obey.......................................................53Hadith 32: Eradication of Harm.................................................55

Appendix : Q/A......................................................................58

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The Imam, The Sheikh, The Scholar

Imam Nawawi is a name that is known even to those muslims who don't practice the deen.To the scholars and students of knowledge, the scholars number in the hundreds of thousands. But Imam Nawawi is a name that Allah ( has chosen to remain with the (ummah until the Day of Judgement. Indeed, few are the scholars that have achieved a

status the likes of Imam Nawawi. And without a doubt, there are only a handful of scholars that have had the same effect on the muslim masses as Imam Nawawi has.

So how did Imam Nawawi attain such a high degree and status as a scholar of Islam? Thedefinite answer is to say that Allah ( ) ( truly knows best. But there are some (

plausible characteristics one could possess that would result in such a recognition. That isthe sincerity a person possesses. Through sincerity to Allah ( ) Allah ,( raises people (in ranks and degrees. And it quite possibly be the case that Imam Nawawi's pure sincerity and love of Allah ( ) is what caused Allah ( to raise him to such heights. Generally (speaking, the more love you have towards Allah ( ) the more beloved Allah ,( makes (you amongst mankind. This is proven by Allah ( .s words in Surah Maryam'(

19:96: Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds - the Most Merciful will

appoint for them affection.

Also, in the hadith narrated by Sahih Muslim, the Prophet ( ) ( ( said, A man will do something only for the sake of Allah ( and for that, he will ,(become beloved to the people.

It is a sign of imaan that the people love you, respect you, and take knowledge from you aswell. For these reasons, we say that it seems that Imam Nawawi's has fit the profile of a

righteous scholar that has left behind knowledge that is widely benefited from.

Is it a bad thing to want to become famous and well known? It depends on the intention.The believer does want to be accepted, by both Allah ( and the people. But his goal of (becoming famous is not for the sake of promoting himself, rather, it is to becomerecognized as a source of guidance for the muslims. In this way, the believer is able tomaximize his rewards from Allah ( on the Day of Judgement. In other words, it is the (believer that wants to attain fame from Allah ( -whereas the hypocrites and non ,(muslims who desire the fame from the people.

There is an important point to note when talking about specific scholars or muslims. We

must not affirm Allah ( ) s pleasure or anger to an individual unconditionally. It is only Allah'( who knows the reality of a person's intentions and outcome. This is knowledge (of the unseen, which nobody possesses except Allah ( So it is from the etiquette and .(beliefs of ahl as-sunnah wal jama'a that we can at most say that we hope that so and so isin jannah. or it appears to be that this person was sincere, or Insha'Allah ( he will (be forgiven, etc. However, in dealing with the Sahabah, it is allowable to say with asurety that Allah ( ) is pleased with them, because Allah ( himself has affirmed that (

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fact that he verbalized his opposition to the Laqab, the name stuck with him and he is tothis day known as Muhiy-ud-Deen.

One final component to the Arab name is what is known as the Nisbah. The Nisbah isusually found at the end of the name, that indicates your origin, or tribe, or even

profession that you were a part of. In the case of Imam Nawawi, he was from the small

village outside damascus, known as An-Nawa. As a person from Pakistan would be called Pakistani, Abu Zakaria Yahya became known as an-Nawawi. As a side point, the scholars intheir striving for precision pointed out that technically, he should be known as Naw aawi,and it is a mistake to pronounce it as Nawawi. But it was realized that it is rather difficult to pronounce nawaawi thus evolving the current pronunciation.

To summarize the structure of an Arabic Name we have what follows:

LaqabLaqab Kunya Actual Name - Nisbah Kunya Actual Name - Nisbah

So the Imam of concern is best known as:Muhiy-ud-Deen Abu Zakaria Yahya ibn Sharaf An-Nawawi

Imam Nawawi's Life

As stated above, Imam Nawawi was born in the small villageof Nawa, which is located right outside of the larger city of Damascus. The scholars are in agreement that he was born inthe in the year 631 hijri, in the month of Muharram. The

great scholar, adh-Dhahibi described Imam Nawawi as follows:

He was pink in complexion, with a long beard, possessing theaura of the scholars, laughing little and avoiding jest. He worked hard to speak the trutheven if it was bitter and he did not fear the blame of others when it came to the rights of

Allah ( .(-adh-Dhahibi

Ever since Imam Nawawi was a child, his inclinations were different from the other kids hisage. While the kids were having fun playing outside, Imam Nawawi was attracted to aQuran Halaqah going on in his local masjid. Kids would ask Imam Nawawi to play with him,and Imam would break out in tears, run away from them and say, I was not created to

play. What really and truly is amazing about this is the fact that this response was notdue to the influence of his father. It exclusively came from himself. With this dedication,Imam Nawawi memorized the Quran at a very early age in his hometown of Nawa. Inanother incident narrated by Imam Suhaib Webb, it was during the month of Ramadan,when Imam Nawawi was seeing a light in his house. He told his parents about it, but they responded saying that they don't see any light. Many scholars commented on this,explaining that this was a sign for him to become a scholar.

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His father, Sharaf ibn Murri owned a shop in Nawaand earned his living upon that. Sharaf was not ascholar by any means, although he had respect for knowledge and the people of knowledge. His father wanted to prepare his son for inheriting the family

business, so he had Imam Nawawi run the shop whenhe was a teenager. However, Imam Nawawi had been interested in studying Islam abroad. But his

father wanted him to continue taking care of theshop, so in obedience to his father, he would takecare of the shop, while studying as much Islam as he could. In this is an important lesson

for those zealous youth that are into studying Islam. Did Imam Nawawi disobey his father and leave him with his shop to go study deen? No he didn't. He honored his father's wish

for him to remain in Nawa to care for the shop. This shows us that we should always takeour parent's wishes into account, even if it does have to do with differences we have withthem regarding our personal practice of the religion. Nowadays, you will find the zealous

youth quick to disregard the opinions of their parents for the sake of religion. Indeed, Allah ( is the Creator, and has a wisdom in EVERYTHING, whether we know it or not. If (our parents are preventing us from something we wanted to do in the cause of Islam,realize that Allah ( has chosen your parents and controls their hearts. Respect their (wishes, so long as they don't command you to do the haram. And without a doubt, if youmake du'a, Allah ( has the abliity to change their hearts, and you will be rewarded (insha'Allah ( .for taking their feelings into account (Imam Nawawi continued this way for several years, until he reached the age of 19.

Although Imam Nawawi was respecting his father's wish, he did however remain consistentin politely requesting his father to study abroad. And it was at the age of 19 that

Nawawi's father realized how determined and focused Imam Nawawi was in leaving Nawato seek knowledge. His father finally agreed to let him go to Damascus to study in his firstmajor school, known as Madrasat-ur-Rawaahiya.

One year later, Imam Nawawi and his father took the trip to Makkah to perform Hajj. Now at the age of 20, he fell sick during this time and took a few monthsoff from studying in Damascus to recuperate back in Nawa. After herecovered, he returned to Damascus to continue is education atMadrasat-ur-Rawaahiya.

Imam Nawawi built up a reputation as a great student, even before he

became a teacher. His determination and zeal for studying islam wasunparalleled. His study ethic became the model for other students tostrive for. It is known that not even a singlesecond would go by except that he was using it tostudy. Even when he would be walking to themasjid, he would be reciting or reviewingsomething from memory. He studies occupied his

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every moment. His passion for learning became so intense, that it is reported that for anentire 2 year period, he not once slept on his bed. Every night, he would doze off on hisdesk, with a book in his hand. And when he woke up, he would just continue studying

from where he left off. As a disclaimer, realize that he did this subconsciously and didn't punish himself by not sleeping on his bed. Because of his passions in studying, he naturally went through this 2 year period of sleeping without a bed. Remember that as muslims,

our duty is to follow the Messenger of Allah ( Also, if you were to visit ImamNawawi's place, there would be no room to even sit down, because of all the books that .(were piled on the floor. Bookshelves weren't used back then, and students would stacktheir books on the floor. If a guest came to visit Imam Nawawi, books had to be moved outof the way so there would be a place to sit.

Imam Nawawi's study schedule was jam packed, in the literal sense of the word. As astudent, he would attend 12 classes daily, each dealing with different books. Specifically,he would take 5 lessons in fiqh, 3 lessons in hadith, 3 lessons in language, and 1 lesson inusul al fiqh on a daily basis. Suhaib Webb commented on Imam Nawawi's study schedulethat if you convert it to credit hours used today, that it would equal out to 72 credits!

Moreover, he continued in this fashion for 6 full years. It is said that Imam Nawawi's six years of study is probably equivalent to what a dedicated student of knowledge could accomplish in 20-30 years today. At the age of 26, Imam Nawawi started teaching and writing.

Imam Nawawi at one point in his studies was focused on the works of Ibn Seena, a famous philosopher. The one work of Ibn Seena that Imam Nawawi focused on for a time was Al-Qanoon. He gave up studying this work, as he said,

I tried to study this, but it gave me headache after headache. I gave it up and retunred back to the Quran and Sunnah.

-Imam Nawawi

While the general nonmuslims consider Ibn Seena to be one of the greatest muslim philosophers, the scholars of islam don't consider him to be muslim. This is because of hisextreme use of philosophy in trying to approach the quran and the sunnah caused major deviations in interpretation. Ibn Seena relied heavily on the teachings of Aristotle. Thedetails of this are outside the scope of this class, but the reader is simply informed of ithere.

One of his personal favorite books to study was Sahih Muslim. Imam

Nawawi developed a deep love for this authentic hadith collection,and later on produced the single greatest commentary on SahihMuslim, that is considered the most important reference on SahihMuslim to date. His monumental sharh of sahih muslim is known as,Al-Minhaj. Most refer to it today as Sharh Nawawi Li SahihMuslim.

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Imam Nawawi was praised by his contemporaries, as well as by the modern day scholars.One such praise is made by the scholar Qutub ad-Din Musa al-Yunani al-Hanbali:

The scholar of hadith, the ascetic, the one engrossed in worship, the pious, the one whowas honored by the sciences, and the one who wrote many valuable works.

-Qutub ad-Din Musa al-Yunani al-Hanbali

Imam Nawawi's Habits of Success

Are there any practical tips we can learn from the habits of Imam Nawawi? Absolutely.Some scholars derived habits of success Imam Nawawi utilized to reach his level of scholarship. Of course all guidance is with Allah ( ) and Allah ,( is the one who gave (Imam Nawawi the motivation and ability to implement these habits. These habits are as

follows:

1. Traveling for Knowledge2. Determination

3. Dedication4. Memory Skills5. Quality Learning6. Writing7. Teaching

While the Al-Maghrib Notebook has 8 habits listed, it seems that these habits are better consolidated into the 7 habits listed above.

As we learned, Imam Nawawi traveled to another land to seeek knowledge. This is thesunnah of many of the greatest scholars who preceeded us. He attended madrasa ar-

rahaawiya in damascus.

Imam Nawawi was very focused and determined not only in his studies, but even prior tohis formal education. As the shopkeeper in Nawa, Imam Nawawi would patiently

persevere in respectfully convincing his father to allow him to study.

There was much dedication put in Imam Nawawi's studies. 12 classes on a daily basis issomething that only a few would be able to handle. And the fact he spent 6 years doingthis proves his dedication to his studies.

Memory is a gift from Allah ( ) no doubt, but Allah ( also has provided ways to (improve memory. Imam Nawawi used his means by memorizing a lot, reading night and day, and spending nights in prayer and worship. Memory actually improves with the moreyou memorize. It is a skill that needs practice to achieve perfection.

Allah ( blessed Imam Nawawi to have a large group of scholars that were strong in the (islamic sciences. Imam Nawawi took advantage of the benefits to be gained by thescholars of his time. Sheikh Yasir Qadhi added the important point:

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To become a scholar, you must sit at the feet of scholars.-Yasir Qadhi

It is said that if you desire to master a science, you teach it to others. After a rigorouseducation, Imam Nawawi did just that, writing many works as well as orally teachingknowledge to others. And this principle is found even in Academia. To prove your

qualification as an academic, you must relay your knowledge through writing and subsequent critiques from peers and contemporaries.Some qualities Imam Nawawi possessed were exclusive gifts and blessings from Allah ( .(Of these qualities are three that stand out.

1. Pure Ikhlas (Sincerity)2. Barakah (Blessings) in Time3. Zuhd (Asceticism)

Pure Sincerity is a major blessing of Allah ( ) that we should all strive for. If Allah ( (blesses us with sincerity, the rewards are endless. And remember once again, we can't

affirm with 100% certainty what are in the hearts of people, as this knowledge is from theknowledge of the unseen.

We find that many of the earlier scholars were blessed in their time. That is, they wereable to accomplish much more in a set amount of time. The statement has been made by a scholar:

Imam Nawawi wrote more in one year than we would be able to write in a lifetime.

There are a few scholars that have stood out with the voluminous amount of writings they have produced. Of some of the top writers are:

At-Tabari

Ibn Taymiya who on average produced 30 pages of scholarly works every day

As-Suyooti who spent a period of 40 years locked in his room, dedicating himself to writing. He stopped teaching do to some fitna he was a part of. From the agesof 40 to 80 years old, as-Suyooti would remain in his room all day and night with theexception of going to the masjid for Salah.

Imam Nawawi would have probably been amongst the top three most prolific writers in

Islamic history were it not for his early death. And Allah ( .knows best (The 3 rd quality Imam Nawawi possessed was his disconnection with the dhunia. Known asZuhd, he was not attracted to the glamour and glitter of this life, even if some of it washalal for him. Imam Nawawi lived a very poor and humble lifestyle. He did not have any attachment or need for the luxuries of the dhunia.

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Enjoin Good, Forbid Evil, WHOEVER you are

Imam Nawawi was living in a time of chaos and change. It was during the time that the Ayubi dynasty lost power from the Mongolian Invasion, and then later having the Mamlukestook over. The Ayubi dynasty was started by the famous scholar Salah-ud-Din Ayubi. TheMamlukes were a tribe of slaves. Mamluke literally means owned. So the Mamlukes

went from being owned to being Maaliks (owners). Az-Zhaahir Baybaras was the founder of the Mamluke dynasty. As ruler of the muslimworld, he wanted to impose an income tax upon the people. According to sharia, this iscompletely forbidden. Imam Nawawi, wrote a harsh yet respectful letter to Baybaras,explaining to him the realities of applying an income tax upon the people. In this letter,Baybaras was reminding him to fear Allah ( and the Day of Judgement, etc. Imam ,(Nawawi eloquently combined between harshness and respect, something that is incredibly difficult to do. This letter is available for reading today. By the grace of Allah ( we ,(are able to read the letter below, translated in english, by Jamal ad-Din Zarabozo in his 3volume commentary on the forty hadith of al-nawawi, by al-basheer publications.

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From the Servant of Allah ( ,Yahya al-Nawawi. May the peace, mercy ,(

and blessings of Allah (

) be upon the righteous ruler, the king of the governors;

may Allah ( make his good deeds long lasting and ( make him rule with goodness... and bless him in all of his affairs. Ameen.

It is to be brought to your attention that during this year the people of Sham are in very difcult circumstances and are very weak, due to the lack of rain, high prices,lack of crops, death of grazing animals, and other reasons. And you know that one must

have sympathy for the ruler and the ruled. And one must advise them for his welfare. Verily, the religion is sincere advice.

Those serving the sharia have written as a matter of adviceto the sultan, in love for him. This is a letter reminding him to take care

of the affairs of the citizens and to be gentle towards them.There is no harm meant by this letter. Instead, it is a sincere advice and complete

act of sympathy. It is a reminder to those of understanding... And it is spoken by pointing out the importance of being gentle

with the ruled as then Allah ( .will put in store for you a great reward ( On the day when every person will be confronted with all the good he's done,On the day when every person will be confronted with all the good he's done,

and all the evil he's done, he will wish that there were a and all the evil he's done, he will wish that there were a great distance between himself and his evil. And Allah ( great distance between himself and his evil. And Allah ( .warns you against Himself ) warns you against Himself 3:30 (

This letter that the scholars have sent to the ruleris a trust and advice to the Sultan, may Allah ( .strengthen him (

You are responsible and will be questioned about this trust. You have no excuseif you delay concerning it. There will be no proof for you in the sight of Allah ( (

if you fail in any way concerning it. You will be asked about it,

The Day when neither wealth or sons will avail The Day when neither wealth or sons will avail 26:88.That Day a man will ee from his brother, and even from his mother,That Day a man will ee from his brother, and even from his mother, and his father, and his father, and even from his wife and his children. and even from his wife and his children.

Every man that Day, will have enough to make him not care for others. Every man that Day, will have enough to make him not care for others. 80:34-37.You, and praise is due to Allah ( .love goodness, and are anxious to perform good ,(

You, in fact, rush to it. And this is one of the best of good deeds and one of the most virtuous acts of obedience. You are qualied for it

and Allah ( ) has delivered it to you. This is a bounty from Allah ( We are afraid .( that the matters might get even worse if you don't look into dealing softer with the people.

Allah ( :has said ( Verily those who are pious, when an evil thought comes to them from Shaitan,Verily those who are pious, when an evil thought comes to them from Shaitan,they remember (Allah ( they remember (Allah ( and then )), and then ,(( they see.. they see.. 7:201

Allah ( ,also says ( Whatever good you do, truly Allah ( Whatever good you do, truly Allah ( .knows them well. ) knows them well. 2:215 ( The group that wrote this letter are expecting it's fruits. Whatever you do, you'll nd it with Allah ( .(

Surely Allah ( Surely Allah ( .is with those who fear Him and those who do good. ) is with those who fear Him and those who do good. 16:128 ( Peace, blessings, and mercy of Allah ( .be upon you (

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As was just stated, Imam Nawawi witnessed the mongolian rule. The infamous incident isknown as the Rape of Baghdad, taking place in 1258 c.e. In this incident, the Mongolsravaged and ransacked the center of the Islamic world in Baghdad. The entire city was

demolished, bit by bit. Famous Islamicstructures were plummeted to the ground, thelargest library in the world, the library of

baghdad was cleaned out, and over half amillion muslims were killed by the sword,literally. The most valuable source of islamicscholarship, the library of baghdad was amonumental lost for Islam. Unique works of allthe greatest scholars were ripped apart and thrown in the Euphrates river to be used as abridge for the Mongols to cross. It is said thatthe river became dark black for months due tothe ink leaking from the books.

Allah ( ) s plan will never fail however. A miracle from the miracles of Allah'( was (that He allowed a small tribe of slaves to defeat the Mongols. Thus the Mamlukes tookcontrol of the Islamic world, including Damascus, which was the new capital after theransacking of Baghdad. These events were taking place during the life of Imam Nawawi,

just to illustrate the chaos and fitna he was living in. Dwelling upon these events really and truly should make us realize that our ummah today is in excellent shape relatively speaking. We should be very optimistic that Allah ( will provide us with success in this (dhunia and the akhira soon insha'Allah ( .(

Recall azh-Zhaahir Baybaras was the leader of the Mamlukes who overthrew the Mongols.Baybaras found himself with the land in damascus, filled with the awqaf that had beenillegally seized by the Mongols. Baybaras found a group of corrupt scholars, also knownas scholars for the dollars, that gave a fatwa to Baybaras legitimizing the ownership of the stolen awqaf. So in this fatwa, because the Mongols stole the awqaf to begin with,Baybaras has nothing to do with what they did, so the sin is upon the Mongols. Of coursethis is not correct from a Shari'a perspective. If you have knowledge that something wasacquired illegally, it is not legal to purchase that item from the selling party.

Upon hearing the news, Imam Nawawi again composed another scathing letter to sultanbaybaras regarding the unlawful possession of the awqaf. The letter will not be quoted

here, as a sample letter was given above. But Baybaras responded with another letter,expressing his dislike of Nawawi's letter. While the response letter of Baybaras isunavailable, the subject matter can be derived based on Imam Nawawi's response toBaybaras's response, in which he said,You have threatened me with threats, but why should I care what you will do to me,when I have to respond to Allah ( .(

-Imam Nawawi

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Even in this response, Imam Nawawi in his wisdom remained respectful to the Sultan inaddressing him. This is something that is missing from the zealous students of knowledgeand du'at amongst us. Respect should always be given to those that are deserving, even if they might be upon major disobedience.

azh-Zhaahir Barbaras was very upset and even fearful of the influence of Imam Nawawi. It

is reported that he said, By Allah ( I thought about seizing him and having him killed,but then it was as if I saw a lion with his mouth open between him and me. Had I ,(approached him, he would have attacked me. (Zarabozo, 44) Barbaras ordered hisworkers to cut off the salary of Imam Nawawi, but to his suprise, found out that ImamNawawi doesn't even receive any salary from the government to begin with! Typically, itwas customary for the government to provide for the scholars and students of knowledgein their locality. So It was asked how Imam Nawawi survives. It was said that his parents

provide him every so often.

In another incident between Barbaras and Imam Nawawi, Barbaras wanted to prepare to fight off the mongols. In his jihad preparations, Barbaras decided to impose a personal tax

upon the people to collect money to fund the jihad preparations. According to Sharia, thiswould be permissible, however it was not allowable in Barbaras's case. This is becauseBarbaras had accrued an extremely large amount of wealth in the bait-ul-maal (publictreasury), and was lavishly living off of the muslims wealth. In this case, the sultan would have to utilize the funds in the bait-ul-maal firstly and return to his former lifestyle as aslave before imposing a tax upon the people. Imam Nawawi addressed him withmagnificent words:

I know that you used to be a slave of the Ameer Banduqaar and you did not have any wealth. Then Allah ( bestowed His bounty upon you and ( you became the ruler. I have heard that you have one thousand male slaves and each

one of them as a girth of gold. And you have two hundred slave girls and each of them has a portion of gold jewelry. If you spend all of that and you leave your slaveswith straps and dyes instead of the gold girths, and you leave the slave girls with their

clothing and no jewelry, then I will give you a fatwa that you can take wealth from the citizenry.

*(Zarabozo, 50)

Imam Nawawi, despite all his direct vocalization was not harmed by Barbaras. In this weshould take a lesson to fear no one but Allah ( .(

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Sheikh Yasir comments on the next work of Imam Nawawi, as,..the most beneficial book ever, valued like gold and silver.

-Sheikh Yasir Qadhi

What is this work? None other than Riyadh as-Saaliheen,which means Gardens of the Righteous. Sheikh Yasir also

commented that you will get addicted to the book the moreyou read it. Riyadh As-Saliheen is a simple 2 volumecollection of authentic hadith, pertaining to importantmatters of the religion. Imam Nawawi intended this work tobe for the average muslim. It is a work that holistically captures what Islam is all about, to an obviously a greater degree than the 40 hadith of Imam Nawawi. Riyadh as-Saaliheen contains 1,896 very important hadith explaining theessence, rulings, and beliefs of Islam. It is a must have for every muslim family, whether they are students of knowledgeor not. Sheikh Yasir also mentioned,

If you only have one hadith book in your library, have Riyadhas-Saliheen.

-Sheikh Yasir QadhiImam Nawawi also wrote some works related to the sciences of hadith. The most famous work is At-Taqreeb. This work was so

good that other scholars later did commentaries on it. The famous scholar, Jalal-ud-Din As-Suyooti did the most famousexplanation of Nawawi's at-Taqreeb, and is known as Tadreeb ar-Raawi Sharh Taqreeb an-Nawawi. This work of as-Suyooti hasbecome the standard classic in the sciences of hadith. This is the

official textbook used in the University of Madinah.

As an ascetic, Imam Nawawi produced works of spirituality.One such famous work is Al-Azkaar, which is a book of

dhikr from the sunnah. This is abeautiful book combining all thedhikr that should be done daily.This work has been translated into english.

Another such monumental workon spirituality is At-Tibyan.This book has been translated into english. It is known asEtiquettes with the Quran. It isamazing how you can sense the

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sincerity of Imam Nawawi when reading this book. The high regard Imam Nawawi had for the Quran is reflected in this work. May Allah ( .reward Imam Nawawi (Imam Nawawi was a Scholar of Fiqh. He had well educated and had a deep understandingof the Shafi'i madhab. Not only was he a scholar of the madhab, but he is considered by some to be the medieval architect of Shafi'i law. In other words, he was one of the later day scholars that codified and structured the Shafi'i madhab. Therefore, he produced

several exceptional books of fiqh. One such masterpiece is known as Rawdat ul-Taalibeen,or Garden of the Students. This is the standard book of study in the Shafi'i madhab,although it is designed for the advanced student of knowledge.

And how can we forget the work that is the subjecty of this class? Al-Arba'een an-Nawawia, or The 40 Hadith of Imam Nawawi, which is of the most famous works to ImamNawawi's name.

Another work of fiqh by Imam Nawawi is known as, Majmu' Sharh Al-Muhazhab. This book is an amazing work on comparative fiqh

between madhahib. Imam Nawawi intended this work for scholars.Sheikh Yasir calls this work, The fiqh of our religion. In thisencyclopedia are the various madhabhi opinions on fiqh issuess,with their refutations of the other opinions. It is unfortunatehowever, that Imam Nawawi was unable to complete the workbefore he passed away. Out of a planned 25-26 volume work, hewas only able to complete 11-12 volumes, which is roughly 40% complete.

Sheikh Yasir added a side point regarding works of fiqh. Hementioned that the three foundational works of comparative fiqh

that any student of knowledge must be familiar with are the following: Al-Mughni by Ibn Qudamah Al-Muhalla by Ibn Hazm (not for the fiqh, but for the narrations) Majmu' Sharh Al-Muhazhab by Imam Nawawi

The works authored by Imam an-Nawawi have been summarized and listed below:

Sharh Nawawi li Sahih Muslim Riyadh as-Saaliheen At-Taqreeb Al-Arba'een an-Nawawia Al-Azkaar At-Tibyan Rawdat ul-Taalibeen Majmu' Sharh Al-Muhazhab

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Nawawi's Final Days

Recall that Imam Nawawi was born in the year 631 h. Roughly 46 years later, ImamNawawi fell ill, and returned to his hometown of Nawa. While staying in his parentshouse, he died from this illness on Saturday, the 24 th of Rajab, at the age of 46 years. Thisoccurred while both his parents were still living.

Imam Nawawi never married, or had any children. Being a keen follower of the sunnah, astudent once asked him, why don't you get married? It's the only sunnah you have left.Imam Nawawi's response was, I am worried, that if I do this sunnah, it will be at theexpense of haram. What Imam Nawawi meant by this was that he felt that he would not

give his wife the attention and rights that she deserved. Imam Nawawi had a single trackmind, and was exclusively dedicated to knowledge. His feared his passion for knowledgemight get in the way of treating his wife properly and giving her the attention that awoman requires. This potential harm is what prevented Imam Nawawi from gettingmarried. And it is due to similar reasoning that other such great scholars never gotmarried. One such scholar was Ibn Taymiya.

To conclude the biography of this great scholar of Islam, we paraphrase adh-Dhahabi's praises of Imam Nawawi:

Nawawi combined and perfected three characteristics. If a man had any one of them, hewould be worthy of being an Imam. He was the top in knowledge. The second was his

Asceticism, and the third was that he feared no one exceept Allah ( when it came to ( guidance and advice.

-adh-Dhahabi

As every book composed by Imam Nawawi has been blessed by Allah ( and has been (accepted by the ummah, we hope and ask Allah ( .to bless him with the highest levelsof jannah. Ameen (

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Nawawi's Advice to the Knowledge Seeker The student of knowledge is different from other students. What separates them is their etiquette. It is for this reason that it is imperative for the student of knowledge to learnthe etiquettes of seeking knowledge, and dealing with the trials that come along with it.

Imam Suhaib mentions that it should be the habit of the seeker of knowledge to first study the life of the author before we read the book. When we do this, we will develop a better understanding of the book, and understand and respect the author better too. This is the

primary reason why we have begun this class with the biography of Imam Nawawi.

In the work Majmu' Sharh Al-Muhazhab, Imam Nawawi began with a relatively brief treatise on the etiquettes of the knowledge seeker. This section is dedicated to detailingsome of the principles and guidelines found in Nawawi's work.

Imam Nawawi started off by quoting Allah ( .s words regarding the status of knowledge'(

58:11 - Allah ( will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given (

knowledge, by degrees. And Allah ( .is Acquainted with what you do (

29:43 - And these examples We present to the people, but none will understand them

except those of knowledge.

35:28 - Only those fear Allah ( ) from among His servants, are those who haveknowledge. Indeed, Allah , ( .is Exalted in Might and Forgiving (

20:114 - And say, "My Lord, increase me in knowledge."

Next, Nawawi followed with some statements of Prophet ( .Muhammad (

Whoever Allah ( ) wishes good for, Allah ( .gives them knowledge of this religion (-Sahih Bukhari

Whoever treads a path seeking knowledge, Allah ( .facilitates for him a path to Jannah (

-Sahih Muslim

Also, he quoted the famous hadith of the blessings of knowledge:

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is commonly found between fellow students of knowledge studying with each other. Onestudent might begin to presume that they know the intentions of the other students. For example, the questions might pop up in their head, Why did HE get it, and not ME? Oh,he's just showing off by answering the questions. And these thoughts from Shaitan could

go on and on. How should the student of knowledge avoid this evil characteristic? By realizing that Allah ( is the One who has the power to give to others, and there is an (absolute wisdom in giving somebody else over you, particularly in regards to knowledge. Itis important to trust Allah ( and His wisdom in giving knowledge and understanding to (some students over others. In reality, it is ridiculous to be jealous of a person. Maybe, if you were given the knowledge, you would not use it wisely and it would be a cause for your destruction? Appreciate the wisdom of Allah ( .(Don't Show Off This is the disease of doing what you are doing for the sake of the people. This evilquality is avoided by realizing that if all of mankind came to benefit or harm you, they wouldn't be able to help you. So to seek knowledge to impress people is completely futileand useless.

Avoid ConceitThis is the unjustified feeling of self-righteousness. You are feeling this way because youare hot shot student of knowledge, that is so much smarter than all the other lessknowledgeable muslims. Imam Nawawi suggests the way to avoid this, or in other words,to put yourself back in your place. This is through appreciating that Allah ( owns all (your knowledge, and if He willed, could easily cause you to forget every thing you know, or to make you not understand. So if Allah ( blessed you with what little knowledge you (have, thank Him and realize that it could be taken away from you at any instant.

Don't be Arrogant with Others

This characteristic is a byproduct of conceit. When you feel self-righteous, whatconsequently follows is to act like you are better than those around you, doing exactly what you are doing. This evil characteristic is avoided by increasing in your worship of

Allah ( That is, to read more quran, to increase in your voluntary prayers, and to .( perform extra good deeds.

Study with EveryoneSome other characteristics of the student of knowledge is that he must be prepared tostudy with everyone. As the early day scholar Mujahhid said,

Knowledge is never gained by the one who is shy, or by the one who is arrogant.

-Muhajjid

If you feel that you are too good to sit in some circle of knowledge, then realize that youwill never achieve success. This is verified by the statement of Imam Bukhari (256 h).

You will never become a scholar unless you narrate from those above you, from thoseequal to you, and from those below you. -Imam Bukhari

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How easy is it to attend a lecture of a popular and respected sheikh? Something that all of us wouldn't think twice about. Now what about the lecture of a person of knowledge whoisn't the most popular, and have very few people attending? We might skip out on thatone. Let's remember that Imam Bukhari towards the end of his life had 2 or 3 peopleattending his lectures! How often is it that when beneficial lectures are going on, we skip

out on it because not enough people show up or it isn't surrounded by the glamour and glitter of popularity or marketing. It is imperative that we learn to love the knowledge,as opposed to the secondary and tertiary factors. This wasn't from Imam Nawawi, butsome thoughts from the compiler of these notes :)

Knowledge in SequenceImam Nawawi went on to explain theimportance of learning knowledge in order.The sciences must be learned and studied ina specific order. The higher priority sciences should be put before the exotic

sciences. The exotic sciences might betempting to tackle, but it is important tonot fall in the trap of trying to learn thatbefore the basics. For example, the factorsthat break your wudu may not be the mostexciting thing in the world, but it is fromthe basic foundations of fiqh that we mustmaster before moving on to more advanced topics. Sheikh Yasir commented that, If youstart with the exotic sciences before the basic sciences, your intention is messed up. Thisis because the exotic sciences may be more interesting to engage in discussion and debatewith, whereas the basics are not so appealing for stimulating conversation and debate.

A major starting point is with the memorization of the Quran. The book of Allah ( is (the fundamental reason why all the other sciences were expounded upon and elaborated upon. To turn elsewhere really is not giving the Quran the respect it deserves. Soimportant is this point that we find some of the scholars of the past, and even of presentday would not accept a student into their halaqah unless they have memorized the Quranin its entirety. Only then, would they start learning the basic foundations of Islam. ImamSuhaib also commented on this point saying that,

You are not a student of knowledge if you haven't memorized the Quran. Memorizing theQuran streamlines and disciplines you as a student of knowledge.

-Suhaib Webb

Now if you haven't memorized anything, don't try to tackle too much at once. Begin by memorizing some of the oft-recited surahs, and remain consistent. The most importantthing to do is to set a daily memorization schedule and to remain consistent in it. Beforeyou know it, you will find yourself having the entire Quran memorized. Now suppose ittook you your entire life to memorize the Quran. Imagine how great that would be. You

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could tell Allah ( ) on the day of judgement, Oh Allah ( I spent my entire life ,(memorizing the Quran! So the bottom line is, there are no excuses for not starting rightnow to memorize the Quran, if your goal is to be a student of knowledge.

Know the 'Ulama

Imam Nawawi goes on to mention that the student of knowledge must be well acquainted with the scholars. He must memorize the names of the scholars, know the geographicallocations of where they grew up and studied, know the teachers they studied with, know the books they wrote, and to be familiar with the issues they faced in their lives.Basically, all this knowledge helps to contextualize the ulamah and to give you anappreciation and deep respect for the inheritors of the Prophet ( s. By(knowing about our scholars and their legacy, we are able to solidify our knowledge. If wearen't acquainted with our scholars, we will be confused by all the names being thrownaround and we won't be able to benefit from the lectures and classes we attend. All theconfusing names will be floating around in our head, and we won't be able to match thenames with the statements and quotes attributed to those scholars.

Don't Waste TimeImam Nawawi is the first person that is deserving of discussingthe issue of using your time wisely. He says that the student of knowledge must take advantage of each and every possiblemoment, whether it is reading, writing, memorizing or revisingyour knowledge. They are always in the accompany of knowledge, and the people of knowledge. Their companions arenothing short of students of knowledge. Through this deepimmersion in knowledge, with the minimization of idle time, theappreciation for knowledge increases. When we examined the

life of Imam Nawawi, we noted that even as he was walking tothe masjid, he would be memorizing or revising some knowledge.The scholar Ibn al Qayyim also described his use of time.

I had some chores I had to do, and I couldn't live without them, so I decided to them whena visitor came.

-Ibn al-Qayyim

Some such chores ibn al Qayyim was referring to were sharpening his pencils, and

organizing his notes. Notice that even these chores related to knowledge! But only through the realization that time is so precious can one achieve the passion of maximizingone's time's for the pursuit and perfection of knowledge. Also, withImam Nawawi, we should understand that he gave up his sleep, notbecause he forced himself to do so, but because his passion for knowledge motivated him to naturally lose his sleep. It was thecharacter from within that led him to his extraordinary lifestyle.

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Compare the lifestyle of these ulama with today's so called students of knowledge. Weclaim to want to study islam in depth, yet we also don't want to let go of our beloved television sets and favorite evening programming. Hours will go by on a daily except thatwe find ourselves glued to the TUBE. As Yasir Qadhi said it best, TV is the murderer of time. And while we're on the topic of gadgets and gismos, let us reflect on how weak we

are, so much so that when our cell phones ring, it becomes our master and we give it priority over everything else. Granted, yes, there has been a recent opinion that one isallowed to text message for the sake of knowledge during a voluntary prayer, but let's not

get carried away now!

Say I don't knowImam Nawawi goes on to discuss the importance of saying Idon't know. This is being honest with yourself and others. Tobe fearful or embarrassed of saying I don't know is a sign of

your insincerity. A person with little knowledge and a lotignorance will be the first to answer and the last to say I don'tknow. Some of the scholars have even stated that half of all knowledge is to say, I don'tknow. This is because by saying this, you have implicitly confirmed what you do know.Knowing what you don't know is a major accomplishment.

Overlook Faults of Teachers Another characteristic for the student of knowledge to obtain is to dismiss and overlookthe personal faults of his teacher. How often is it the case that scholars are put on a high

pedastal, then when they see one error, they come crashing down as if they are worthless.

It is imperative to overlook the faults of our teachers, because as we get closer to them,the more we realize that they are nothing more than human beings with faults and mistakes. If we leave everyone whom we find a fault with, we will be left with nobody.

As the some of the scholars stated,

Whoever is turned off by the mistakes of his teacher will not have any teacher.

As for those who fall into this trap, realize that these are mistakes of the student and notof the teacher. Teachers get angry, get irritated, or may not give students the attentionthey want at times. For example, a sheikh that has been giving lectures all day, and it istime to call it night, then all of a sudden a student comes rushing to him while the sheikh

is on the phone with his family. The response just might not be up to the studentsexpectations. We should try our best to imitate the Prophet ( but none of ,( us will be able to reach his standard. Note however that this doesn't apply to faults inaqeedah or callers to bid'ah. We are speaking here about the personal characteristics of scholars and shiukh.

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Show Reverence to TeachersImam Nawawi goes on to say that the student must instill a reverence in himself for histeachers. It is better for student at this stage to give full credit to his teacher and consider him to be master of the knowledge being taught. Full credit needs to be given tohis teacher. There needs to be humility in the student as he is listening and learning fromhis teacher at the outset. The student needs to realize that at the beginning, he is not

qualified to argue and debate with his teacher. Rather, he should focus only on taking and learning from the knowledge of his sheikh. With patience, a time will come where thestudent will however realize an appropriate time for questioning his teacher.

Respect must be displayed towards his teacher. How is this respect shown? It is shown inbody and appearance, both in service and in gratitude. Unfortunately how many have lostthese deep dimensions of respect. Make sure you are punctual in your appointments, and when the lesson is over, do not stay and pester him with your questions, and when you sitin front of him pay attention and be respectful. Place importance upon the knowledge youare learning, and cut yourself off from other activities to concentrate and to show respect. Remain conscious of such disrespectful activities such as yawning out loud, which

goes without saying, as it is against the sunnah of the Prophet ( Scholars of past were strict, and would stop lessons for a single student yawning. One of the scholars .( of hadeeth said, If he saw a student yawning, he would close his books and end thelesson. I would not sit there if the students were too tired to study hadeeth, I would tellthem to try again tomorrow. This provided a discipline and rigor to the students of the

past that made them the great scholars they were. Indeed, this discipline has vanished amongst the students of knowledge of today. Also, avoiding using the cell phone or keeping it on, or stretching your legs out towards your teacher, as this is a sign of disrespect, transcending cultures and boundaries.

Imam Shafi'i, a student of Imam Malik, described his respect for Imam Malik.

When I used to sit in front of Imam Malik, I would turn the pages of my notebook as gently as I could, as not to disturb Imam Malik.

-Imam Shafi'i

Al-Muzzani was the best student of Imam Shafi'i and was the primary codifier of the Shafi'imadhab. He had studied for 20 years with Imam Shafi'i. Out of respect for his sheikh, Al-Muzzani never drank a sip of water in front of Imam Shafi'i, out of respect. Of course the

practice of drinking and eating publically was a considered to be an expression of rudenessin their culture, but this is simply to show the high consideration the great ulama had for their teachers.

And let us not forget Ibn Abbas, who was 13 years old at the death of the Prophet ( and yet all of us know him as one of the greatest scholars of the sahaaba. It is ,(reported from Abdullh b. Abbs Allh be pleased with them that he said:

After Allhs Messenger Allhs peace and blessings be upon him - passed away, I said toa man from the Ansr, Come, let us ask [and learn from] the Prophet ( s(

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Companions, Allhs peace and blessings be upon him, for they are many in number today.He replied, I am surprised at you Ibn Abbs do you really think people need you whenthere are so many Companions of the Prophet ( Allhs peace and blessings - (be upon him? So he did not involve himself in this endeavor, but I busied myself asking[the Companions about issues]. If I heard of a hadth being reported by a man, I would come to him and if he was taking his midday nap I would lay down my garment and lie

outside waiting for him, with the wind blowing dust in my face. The man would come out[for Dhuhr] and see me in that state, and he would exclaim, O nephew of AllhsMessenger! What has brought you here? You should have sent for me and I would havecome to you! I would say, Rather I should come to you [to seek knowledge]. I would then ask him about the hadth I heard. The man [who I originally invited to seek knowledgewith me] remained as he was, and when he saw how people would gather around me [toseek knowledge] he said, For sure, this young man was more intelligent than me. Al-Drim, Al-Sunan.

Overlook the Harshness of TeachersNawawi's next point of advice is to overlook the harshness of the teacher. It is importantto realize that it is human nature to get frustrated. Just as we can get frustrated uponnot understanding something, If you study with a Sheikh for a long time, it is inevitablethat the sheikh may get angry or harsh with you at times. Watch out for Shaitan! Shaitanmight come to you and turn this incident into a major issue that floats around in your head, to the point that you may no longer even seek knowledge from that teacher. May

Allah ( protect us from Shaitan. Ameen. Sheikh Yasir gave us the story of his Quran (Halaqah, wherein the Sheikh was listening to the students recite one to two pages of Quran per day. One of the students got impatient and frustrated with reciting so littlewith the Sheikh, and he decided to leave. But another persisted with patience, and with

the help of Allah ( ,received the ijaza from the Sheikh. Additionally, the scholars intheir experience have said ,(Whoever cannot bear the humiliation of learning for an hour will remain ignorant for alifetime.

What is this humiliation of learning? It has to do with those times where you might be theteacher might have been harsh with you. It is important to remember that our scholarsand teachers are human beings that also have a threshold of patience that can be crossed at times.

Imam Nawawi quotes Ibn Abbas here saying,

I showed humility as a student, so I was given respect as a teacher.-Ibn Abbas

Frequently Accompany the Teacher Imam Nawawi's next suggestion is to spend as much time with your teachers as possible.

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individual lectures. When listening to lecture series, always take notes and jot down newly understood

concepts and questions that you have. Take these notes to a person of knowledge,and let them verify and answer your understanding and questions.

Keep a small pocket notebook, so you can write down questions that pop into your head. This way, you won't draw any blanks when you finally get the chance to talk

to a person of knowledge, and say, I had 3 questions, but I can't remember any of them.

Even as a professor and deen of academic affairs at Al-Maghrib Institute, Sheikh Yasir mentions some of the drawbacks to seeking knowledge in the manner employed by our beloved institute. One is the cramming of knowledge. In a compressed amount of time, alot of information is present to the students, and this leaves many students confused, and also makes it a very difficult challenge to retain. Knowledge needs to be taken gradually,and due to the circumstances, Al-Maghrib isn't able to provide this. Another issue is thelack of personal interaction between the instructors and the students. because the classsizes are so large, there is no room for the professors to test the students' comprehension

of the material covered. Students might leave the classes with an improper understandingof the knowledge, which is the last thing that the Al-Maghrib professors would want.

Of course, taking Al-Maghrib courses is better than learning from cd sets or books, but it isnot the same as sitting in a smaller and consistent halaqah with a person of knowledge.But on the other hand, even going over seas to study Islam is not the ideal solution either.This is because while going overseas, where deep knowledge may be obtained, is missing isthe understanding of the modern situation of the local society. This is a key componentthat needs to be a part and parcel of the educational process of the scholars and studentsof knowledge. Real scholars and students of knowledge need to be trained in the locality they plan on residing and teaching in. We need to produce homegrown scholars, who are

fluent speakers of english, who are familiar with the culture, and who can effectively communicate the message of Islam to the west. Sheikh Yasir and Al-Maghrib Institute'svision is to achieve this objective. That is, to have a full time institute in North America,wherein the shiukh are able to remain onsite and educate students who are born and raised here. Imagine having Imams and Du'aat that are born, raised, and educated in Islamall in North America! So let's keep the following in our du'as.

Oh Allah ( help us to form a full time Islamic University in North America, where ,(students can be rigorously trained in the sciences of Islam, to bring the west from darkness

to light. AMEEN!

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T T HE HE H H ADITH ADITH Y Y ASIR ASIR Q Q ADHI ADHI

Hadith 22 : A Stairway to Jannah: - - - -

: . : .[ ] .

Abu Abdullah Jaabir bin Abdullah al-Ansari, radiyAllah ( u anhuma, reported that( a man questioned the Messenger of Allah ( ) sallAllah ,( u alayhi( wasallam, saying:"Do you see, if I pray the prescribed (prayers), fast during Ramadhan,treat the lawful as permissible and treat the forbidden as prohibited,but do nothing more than that, shall I enter Paradise? He (theProphet ( ) sallAllah ,( :u alayhi wasallam) answered( Yes. And the meaning of making permissible the permissible is to

perform it believing in it's permissibility.

The Narrator The narrator of this hadith is Jaabir ibn Abdillah al-Ansari. He is one of the top fivenarrators of hadith, narrating over 4,000 to 5,000 hadith. Jaabir accepted Islam as ayoung boy, and became muslim at the same time as his father. He was present at thetreaty of Aqabah, when he was at the age of 10. Around the age of 12, he really wanted to participate in the battle of badr with the muslims. But he wasn't allowed to, due to hisage. He did however help out the soldiers at badr by supplying water to the wounded muslims. Likewise, he was eager to participate in Uhud, and he was old enough to

participate, but his father prevented him from doing so. Jaabir's father Abdullah had a feeling that he was going to die shaheed in the battle of Uhud, and Jaabir had 7 sisters, so

he wanted to make sure that someone would remain to take care of the girls. And sureenough, Jaabir's father did pass away in Uhud. After Uhud, Jabir made it a point to participate in every other battle that was fought by the muslims. He participated in atotal of 17 expeditions. He was blessed with a long life and was the last of the greatsahabah to die in madinah. He passed away in 73 hijrah, at 94 years old.

As a side note, the other top narrators of hadith are: Abu Hurairah Aisha Jaabir ibn Abdillah Abdullah ibn Umar Anas ibn Malik

Over 80% of all the hadith revolve around these reporters.

When Jaabir's father died in Uhud, he was left with the big responsibility of taking care of his 7 sisters. To make matters worse, he had no money or even property to his name. Hedid own one extremely old camel however. It would always be lagging behind out of

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fatigue when muslims took on expeditions. In one incident, the Prophet ( (slowed down his camel so he could reach Jaabir and his fatigued camel. He started chatting with his Sahabi, and was negotiating to buy the camel from him. The Prophet (

,asked him, Oh Jaabir, will you sell me this camel? Jaabir responded, No (this is all I have for myself and my seven sisters. The Prophet ( ) asked again. Jaabir responded in the same way. The Prophet ( persisted and (literally asked Jaabir the same question 20 times! Jaabir finally agreed to sell his camel for price, provided that he can ride it until they reach madinah. Upon this, the Prophet (

made du'a for the camel, and hit it, and then the camel transformed into (the strongest and fastest camels in the whole caravan. Just another one of the many miracles given to Prophet ( .Muhammad (

The next day, Jaabir came to the masjid to complete thetransaction he made with the Prophet ( The .(Prophet ( handed over the money, and as Jaabir (was handing over the camel, he said, Do you think that I willtake the camel from you? So Jaabir was left with the camel and

the money. This was a trick played by the Prophet ( ) in order to give Jaabir charity, because the Prophet ( knew that Jaabir would not take charity straight up from (him. From this single event, scholars have derived as much asseventy fiqhi rulings. There is a lot that can be said of this

incident that is outside the scope of this course.

Hadith DiscussionMoving to the discussion of the hadith, we quote another hadith of a similar string,wherein a bedouin entered the masjid, and started asking about the bare minimumrequired acts of worship. After receiving the answer from the Prophet ( the ,(bedouin said, WAllah ( ) i, I will not do an atom's weight more or less. He then turned his back and left. The Prophet( ) then said, WAllah ( i, he will enter(

Jannah if he fulfilled his conditions. Some of the Sahabah were astonished by what thisBedouin had asked. This is because these Sahabah couldn't imagine only doing the bareminimum. Many of them strove for excellence.

It is important to note that while the bare minimum is all that is required, the pillars and conditions of the acts need to be completed. The basic issues need to be performed completely, and properly.

From this hadith, we see that the minimum is ALL that is required of us as muslims. Those

who fulfill the five pillars, insha'Allah ( will enter Jannah. By doing only the bareminimum, we won't get to the highest levels of jannah, but we must realize that this is (what Allah ( has required of our Ummah. Many of the more zealous amongst us might (begin to pressure some muslims to perform additional acts of worship. But this hadithneeds to be kept in mind, and realize that this religion is easy. As the Prophet ( ,said (

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4:31 - If you avoid the major sins which you are forbidden, We will remove from you your lesser sins and admit you to a noble entrance [into Paradise].

Another important discussion is in regards to the types of rights Allah ( .has imposed (They are:

Rights of Allah ( ,(

Rights of peopleDisobeying Allah ( ) is a violation of a right of Allah ( It is only between you and .(your Lord however, and if He wills, He may forgive you. Committing injustice towardsother human beings is a violation of the rights towards others. This is actually worse thanviolating the rights of Allah ( ) although both should be avoided. Allah ,( is the Most (Merciful, so the door of repentance is always open if you individually sin. But Allah ( (is also the Most Just, and no matter how much you repent, you still must fix the injusticeyou showed to another person. You must additionally seek forgiveness from the person youwronged, as well as seeking forgiveness from Allah ( If someone fails in redressing the .(injustices shown to others, on the day of judgement, he will have to face a double

reckoning process. The 1st

with Allah ( and the 2 ,(nd

for the injustices committed towards other humans. The 2 nd reckoning will take place after the crossing of the Siraat,which is the bridge over Jahannam that everybody must cross to get to Jannah. After thisis an open area known as Al-Qantarah, where the reckoning takes place between humans.Everyone who reaches the Qantarra will enter Jannah, but some might have to go tohellfire first. In this area, good deeds and bad deeds will be transferred between humansdue to these injustices. Remember to seek forgiveness from those you've wronged indhunia, otherwise you will be paying them back in akhirah with your good deeds. And if you are out of good deeds, you start collecting their bad deeds. As we know, good deeds isthe only form of currency in the akhira, so let's strive to become the richest of the rich inakhira, Ameen.

Hadith 29: A 2 nd Stairway to Jannah: : - -

. :( :

).. : ( :

) : { } {.. } : ( ) : : (

) : ( ) : . : ( ) :

- ) : ( ) : ).[ : . [ From Mu'adh bin Jabal, radiyAllah ( :anhu, who said: I said' (

"O Messenger of Allah ( tell me of a deed which will take me into Paradise and ,( will keep me away from the Hell-fire." He said: "You have asked me about a great

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We see that Mu'adh is asking the Prophet ( ;about a very important matter (that which will lead him to Jannah. In another narration of this incident in the Musnad of Imam Ahmed, Mu'adh asked,

I want to ask you something Ya rasulAllah ( I've been thinking about and (worrying about for so long that it's made me sick. Tell me something that will make me

enter Jannah and avoid Jahannum.....From Ahmed's version, we see that this was a grave matter that was severely botheringMu'adh. It was something that was always on his mind. A way to figure out what is most

pressing and concerning to ourselves is to observe the first thing you think about when youwake up, and the last thing you're thinking about when you go to sleep.

Notice that this hadith and the previous hadith of Jaabir both have a person asking theProphet ( about what is required of them. We see however that the (response to Mu'adh differs from the response to the Bedouin. To the Bedouin, the Prophet ) only told him the bare requirements needed to be fulfilled. To Mu'adh ibn (

Jabl, the Prophet ( ) also included the bare requirements, but additionally added to it with more acts of worship. The Prophet ( dealt with each (individual differently, according to his level. This is an important principle in da'wah.People are on different levels, and we should cater to each individual's level, as theProphet ( did. Sheikh Yasir suggested that we should use the hadith of the (bedouin when dealing with the masses, and the hadith of mu'adh when dealing with thoseaiming for the heights.

These hadith clearly establish the fact that there are 5 pillars in Islam. The scholars are inunanimous consensus on this point. These hadith are not the only proofs that Islam has 5

pillars. There are numerous proofs establishing this.

Fasting A Shield The Prophet ( mentions in this hadith that fasting is a (shield. Fasting is mentioned as a shield in many various ahaadith. It isa shield against many different things.

against the punishment of Allah ( ( against your own desires against sins and disobedience against shaitan

The Prophet ( said, Fight Shaitan by fasting, because Shaitan runs in your blood. When you fast, your veins constrict, as will the ability of Shaitan to flow through (your blood.

Also, the Prophet ( said, Fasting is like a fortress, that a person fleeing ( from an enemy enters, when you are in this fortress, you do not care what side you areattacked from, that fortress will protect you. This is also as the Prophet ( (

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used to recommended the unmarried youth to fast, in order to protect themselves from fornication.

Charity The Extinguisher Charity extinguishes sins like water extinguishes fire. In Surah Baqarah,

Allah ( ,says (

2:271 - If you disclose your charitable expenditures, they are good; butif you conceal them and give them to the poor, it is better for you, and

He will remove from you some of your misdeeds [thereby]. And Allah ( with what you ,(do, is [fully] Acquainted.

In another hadith, the Prophet ( said, Nothing extinguishes the anger of ( Allah ( like the giving of charity in secret. Many scholars of the past would give out (charity to the poor when they committed sins.

Tahajjud The Prophet ( illustrates the greatness of a man praying at night. This is (where the Prophet ( finished explaining to Mu'adh about the requiremed acts (of worship, and started explaining the extra acts of worship. So one could divide thishadith into two portions, the 1 st part explaining the fardh, and the 2 nd part explaining thenafl. The Prophet ( ) in addresing tahajjud quoted Allah ( from Surah (Sajda

32:16 - They arise from [their] beds; they supplicate their Lord in fear and aspiration, and

from what We have provided them, they spend.

The best of all nafl salah is tahajjud. The worshipper has to struggle to get out of their bed in times of deep sleep and comfort. In another hadith, the Prophet ( (said,

Spread Salam amongst everyone, feed the poor, pray when everyone is sleeping, and you'llenter Jannah in peace and security.

The Prophet ( ,also said in regards to ibn Umar (

What a great man Ibn Umar is, if only he would pray tahajjud.

Ibn Umar from that point on never left tahajjud prayer. Also, a scholar has said that, It isnot possible that you have a du'a that you want answered, yet you sleep the night away.This understanding is taken from the hadith of the Prophet ( ,when he said ,( The best du'a is the one done in the middle of the night.

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O My servants, all of you are naked except those whom I have clothed, so seek clothing from Me and I shall clothe you.O My servants, you commit sins by day and by night, and I forgive all sins, so seek

forgiveness from Me and I shall forgive you.O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm me, and you will notattain benefitting Me so as to benefit Me.

O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans of you and the jinn of you, were all as pious as the most pious heart of any individual amongst you,then this would not increase My Kingdom an iota.O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans of you and the

jinn of you, were all as wicked as the most wicked heart of any indivdual amongst you,then this would not decrease My Kingdom an iota.O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans of you and the

jinn of you, were all to stand together in one place and ask of Me, and I were to giveeveryone what he requested, then that would not decrease what I Possess, exceptwhat is decreased of the Ocean when a needle is dipped into it.O My servants, it is but your deeds that I account for you, and then recompense you

for. So he who finds good, let him praise Allaah, and he who finds other than that, lethim blame no one but himself. It was related by Muslim. This hadith is known as hadith Qudsi, or a sacred hadith. It is found when the Prophet (

) has narrated something that Allah ( Himself has said. We also know that (Quran is the speech of Allah ( also, so what is the difference? In a nutshell, the Quran (has been preserved in both wording and meaning, whereas a hadith qudsi has only been

preserved in it's meaning. In other words, there is no promise or guarantee that a hadithqudsi is precisely the word for word speech of Allah ( whereas the Quran is the precise ,(speech of Allah ( .to the syllable ,(In this hadith, Allah ( ) begins by saying, Oh my servants. Who is Allah ( referring (to? We discuss the meaning two meanings of servant ('ibaad), or servitude('uboodiyah).

'Ibaad has two meanings. There is a general 'ibaad, which includes all of mankind. This general category acknowledges the fact that Allah ( ,is in control of all humans ( provides for everyone, takes care of everyone, etc. And this is why even the atheist whodenies Allah ( ) s existence is still an 'ibaad of Allah'( .in this specific sense (The higher level, or more specific type of worship, or servitude is the praiseworthy type;the category of servitude that eliminates kuffar and includes those who actually submit to

Allah ( and worship Him. This type of worship is of a high status, as the highest praise (that Allah ( ) has given to Prophet ( ) Muhammad is by referring to him as'Abdullah, (the slave of Allah ( .((In the hadith, Allah ( says that He has made injustice haram upon himself. Nothing or (Nobody is capable of making anything wajib or haram upon Allah ( .except for Himself (

Allah ( is the only One who can set the rules upon Himself. Another example of a (rule set by Allah ( ) is found in a hadith, wherein Allah ( has written down, My (

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An amazing point to note is that Nawwas and Wabisah never knew nor met one another.Yet, they had the same question, because it is an intelligent question. We can look at thequestions and see their comprehensive nature.

So, righteousness (birr) comes from the root 'barr', land, which is a vast area you cannotcount. There are many ways to be pious and righteous. Birr is that which brings you closer

to Allah ( Birr is not whether you turn east or west(which way you pray), rather it iswhether or not you give to the poor. The narrators were looking for long, comprehensive .(answers. Instead, they got short, concise, precise responses, which reflect thecomprehensiveness of the Prophet. Also, these indicate the general guidelines,afterwards, do as you please. The gist of righteousness is to have good manners. Just as

Arafah is the pillar of Hajj, good manners is the pillar of righteousness. Being good toothers brings about contentment. So, there are no contradictions with the two narrations.To have akhlaq applies to more than one individual. The scholars organize akhlaq into 3spheres:

1. With Allah ( The more you perfect your manners with Him, the closer you get to-(Him.

a) Worship Him alone.b) Believe in His Names and Attributesc) Think optimistically of Himd) Be conscious of Him

2. With mankind-a) Highest level with your parents, please themb) Brothers and sisters in blood c) Neighborsd) Fellow Muslimse) general community

3. With yourself- your body has a right over you.

When someone has perfected these three, he has perfected Akhlaq. When you only perfectone, then you have not perfected Akhlaq. There is no guarantee to enter Jannah if youhave Akhlaq with Allah ( ) ONLY. The Prophet ( related in a Hadith, do you(know who is the muflis (bankrupt) in my community? The muflis is the one who comes onthe Day of Judgement with mountains of good deeds, but he stole money from someone,backbit from another, hurt someone else...Then all his good deeds will be distributed amongst those he wronged, and he will be left with nothing.

Also, the opposite is true. The fact that you are good to Muslims will not save you on theDay of Judgment if you did not pray. How can you have good manners with people, and neglect the Rights of your Creator? Where is your priority? It goes hand in hand: be good to others, along with worshipping Allah ( .alone (We can now understand the Hadith when the Prophet ( said, I have been sent(to perfect good manners.

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Another benefit that we see from this Hadith is that, man by his nature loves to be good.It feels good to be good. Allah ( .created us in the best of all forms, and made us pure (The Prophet ( said that man is created upon the Fitrah, and then his parents(and society convert him(into a Jew or a Christian). In a Hadith Qudsi, Allah ( says, I (have created My servants as hunafa (pure, good, away from evil), all of them, and the

shayateen tries to come and snatch them to their paths/divert them. This is why even those who don't believe in Allah ( and the Last Day can be good to the (

poor and less fortunate. It makes them feel good. Also, in this society, there is muchincentive for you to donate, so that you get something named after you. This combines thedesire to feel good for donating, as well as the desire to be famous. This is not done for the sake of Allah ( .(

The opposite, evil, causes restlessness in you. Haaka, that whichmakes you itch. It will be scratching at your inside, so that you

feel guilty, and are embarrassed for others to know about it.

Disclaimers

-This is the general rule for the righteous person. The average human being likes to do good and is embarrassed by evil. However, there are those who have perverted their nature. The Prophet(saws) said they are shayateen in human form; they keep doing evil

until the evil becomes pleasing, and the good becomes disgusting. An example is the people of Lut. When Lut(as) questioned them, asked them why they are doing this actwhich animals don't even do, they replied, get these people out of our village. They are

people trying to make us pure. Yet, the people of Lut were much better than thehomosexuals of our time, since they recognized their sin and that what they were doingwas disgusting and realized that the opposite was pure. However, nowadays, they claim itis healthy, natural, and permissible. In our times, people claim to be men of God (rabbisand priests) who are coming out.-There are elements of our human existence that we are naturally embarrassed by. For instance, it is normal to be shy regarding intimacy with one's spouse. It is part of our Fitrah. The issue is not what embarrasses you, but what you do that is above and beyond

what is allowed.-Also, people mistakenly feel guilty about issues of fiqh which they are ignorant of. For instance, it is allowed to combine prayers when traveling, and wiping over the socks inWuduh. Some claim that this was only for those who had hardships while traveling and soon, when in actuality, the issue is clear. So, they should not let their feelings prevent them

from doing what is allowed.-With the issue of music, no pious Muslim feels good listening to it, as it does not increase

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your Iman. Even if a person claims that music is good, then why does this person turn downthe music when someone they respect passes by? On the other hand, no one feels guilty about listening to the Qur'an.-Another disclaimer is that there is a difference between societal guilt and religious guilt.What does this mean? It is possible to feel guilty about a righteous act. How can this be? Unfortunately, several sisters who wear the hijab are made to feel awkward because their

family and friends do not do so. So, they feel uncomfortable and guilty because of whatsociety thinks. Or, when you need to pray, and have no choice but to pray in public. You feel embarrassed because of the stares, not for praying. Societal guilt is not the same asthe inner guilt of the heart and soul.-If you do not feel guilty, it does not mean that it is Halal. Look at the example of smoking. You may think you are doing good, but you simply do not know, you' re mistaken,and you're ignorant. Also, your iman may be weak, so you may not feel guilty. Everyone hasa threshold of iman, certain things they can do without guilt, and when we cross thisthreshold, we know we have done wrong. It varies by person.-The general rule is that people find comfort in good and discomfort in evil.-Many Muslims today mistakenly believe that if their heart says it's ok, then it must be ok.

The Prophet(Saws) is telling us about our conscience. We cannot say that our heart knowsbetter than the Qur'an and Sunnah, and books of Fiqh. Therefore, we should not base our fiqh on this hadith. This applies to morality, and not legality. It is our duty to study thesciences of the religion.-A reminder to remember our conscience. In another version of Wabisah's hadith, theProphet ( tapped his fingers on Wabisah's heart, and said three times, From(your heart to emphasize. Let us consider Wabisah's level of morality, and work onimproving our iman before we apply this hadith directly to ourselves. So, the general ruleis that the higher level of iman, the more conscious the heart will be.-This applies to the righteous individual, and the one who has knowledge and taqwa. Thisalso helps avoid falling into gray areas, when people may create many fatwas. Also, you

cannot feel guilty about doing something right. The average ignorant Muslim may feel guilty about doing something that is allowed.-A Hadith states, Leave that which you are in doubt about for that which you have nodoubt about, even if you are given fatwa after fatwa.-The Prophet ( said, The opposite of this is the person who loses all sense of(modesty. If you have lost all modesty/hayaa', do as you please. The opposite of that is,when you have shyness and iman, your heart will be conscious of good vs. evil.

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Prophet ( told us the disease, what is the cure? Go back to the Sunnah. This(automatically includes the Qur'an, since you cannot understand the Sunnah without theQur'an and vice-versa. Follow the Sahabah. Bite onto it with your molar teeth. This is anexpression in Arabic which indicates, with all your might. Be careful of following thingsthey did not do.

You cannot simply overlook when someone curses the Sahabah, or denies Qadr, as these areserious matters.

The concept of bid'ah is defined as any belief, action, or statement which a person uses tocome closer to Allah ( with, yet has no basis in Shari'ah. All secular matters do not fall (under this category. So, trains, cars, electricity, any worldly issues do not fall under bid'ah.

Abu Hurayrah narrated a Hadith in (Bukhari and Muslim) in which the Prophet ( said, The Jews split into 71 groups, the Christians into 72 groups, and my Ummah will(be 73. All of them are misguided except one. Does this mean that the majority of theUmmah is misguided? No. The understanding of this hadith that is held by many is often

nave and simplistic. There is a balanced understanding to this hadith. These differencesbeing referred to are regarding theology. Why do we have more groups than the Christiansand the Jews? That is because there are more of us. Our quantity, and time frame, islarger. The meaning of this hadith is that 72 of the 73 groups have the wrong beliefs, butsome or more individuals within those groups may be forgiven on an individual basis. Inseveral hadiths, the Prophet ( was asked who is this correct group. On one(occasion, he responded, 'al-Jama'ah', and on another, he said, 'ahlus-sunnah' (people of thesunnah). The term 'Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jama'ah' was coined by Ibn Abbas at the time whenthe first splinter groups such as the Khawarij appeared. This term has now been shortened to 'Sunni'. Therefore, the majority of the Ummah will always be guided. Also, each of theother 72 groups is a small fraction of the Ummah, compared to the majority (1 million vs.

1 billion). Also, the Prophet ( said 'my Ummah', which means they areMuslims. These are not Ahmadis or Baha'is. If they are Muslims, then they deserve a level(of respect just for that, even if you disagree. Again, even if a group is wrong, a person within this group may not be

punished because they were ignorant and did many good deeds with good intention. Allah ( may forgive this (

person. And there could be a person who was part of thesaved group, who did not pray or fast, and was arrogant,and Allah ( .may not save this person (How then do we interact with these other groups? It is

relative, i.e. it depends on what you are doing, who youare with, the pros, the cons, etc... For instance, Sunni and Shia' might not come together in the masjid, but we could on a political level, they may cooperate for the greater

good of the Ummah. There is a time and place to show division, and there is a time and place to show unity. It isnot our job to confuse the average Muslim, that is the can't everyone just get along

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sacred scrolls - master notes - qabeelat nurayn

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