Al-Maktabah as-Salafiyyah

Islam Upon the Way of the Righteous Predecessors
- Purifying the Way

Seeking Knowledge and One's Intentions

Shaikh Saleh ibn Abdul-Azeez Aal-Sheikh

Bismillaahir-Rahmaanir-RaheemPART ONE

                     

	'All praise is due to Allaah, as He deserves, and
I bear witness 
that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, may His
honor be 
exalted, and I bear witness that Muhammed is His slave and
messenger, may 
Allah's blessings and peace be upon him and upon his
family and 
companions and whosoever follows in his footsteps till the
last day.

	I ask Allah Al-Kareem by His most beautiful names
and most lofty 
attributes to make me and all of you of those who are
motivated for 
Allah, and do actions for Allaah, and seek knowledge for
Allah's sake, 
and speaks for Allah's sake  and does deeds fo Allah's
sake , Jalla 
jalalahu, for indeed ACTIONS ARE BY INTENTIONS AND EVERY
MAN SHALL HAVE 
BUT THAT WHICH HE INTENDED.
	There is no doubt that seeking knwledge is an
obligation upon 
every Muslim, as has been authentically reported from
Al-Mustafa. seeking 
knowledge has its principes and its stages; so whoever
fails to acquire 
or seek knowledge based on these principles and on this
gradation of 
talab al-'ilm (seeking knowledge) such will fail to
acquire it. And this 
is an issue we repeatedly emphasize hping to drive this
into the hearts 
of the students of knowledge and those who ove knowledge,
and that is to 
acquire knowledge piecemeal, bit by bit , over the passage
of time. As 
was said by the famous scholar Ibn Shihab Az-Zuhri,
"Whoever aims to 
acquire knowledge all at once, it will leave him all at
once. Rather 
knowledge should be acquiredover the passage of days and
nights"
	Just as when a child is taught the basics of
writing and and the 
basics of speaking and anunciating, he has to be taught
this gradually, 
bit by bit, so if he continues to do this, he improves
till he s 
eventually able to write and speak well. Knowledge,
likewise has its 
young and its old, depending on the amount of
understanding and their 
actions; and considering that knowledge is from #Allah and
His rasool 
(salla Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam) , there isn't anything in
this 'ilm that 
is simple.
	Malik, rahimahUllah, when it was said to him that
this is from 
the simple part of knowledge replied: There is nothing
easy in the 
knowledge of the Quraan and the Sunnah. Rather it is as
Allaah has said:
"Verily we shall send down to you a weighty word."
	So one who considers knowledge to be weighty and
difficult will 
obtain it. But as for one who takes issues up saying: this
is clear, and 
this is straightforward..., such a person will just pass
over it rapidly 
and in doing so will lose out on a lot. Therefore, it is
imperative to 
take things step by step in the acquisition of knowledge
with the idea 
that nothing in it is simple- rather that all of it is
weighty, with 
regards to its understanding, with regards to
consolidating what is 
known, and wth regards to persevering in acquiring
knowledge; for it is 
weighty and it requires continuance and following up- for
knowledge is 
forgotten if it is left, but f a taalib ul-ilm perseveres
in it and 
continues, it will remain. So this emphasizes persistence
on the part of 
the student of knowledge, so as not to be neglectful in
the talab ul-ilm.
	So let not one say, for example,"this book is
simple, why is this 
text being explained since it is so simple and clear- they
are known 
ahadeeth....". Such a person has come from this angle to
wrongly simplify 
the complexities and principles of knowledge. A group from
among the 
people of knowledge have said:"'Ilm comprises intricate
knots ('Uqad) and 
Mulahh- so whoever is able to dea with the knots, 'Ilm
becomes easy for 
him,and whoever fails to undo the knots, fails to acquire
knowledge." And 
this will only occur by the perfection of the foundations
- the usool - 
of the sciences. So if a seeker of knowledge perfects the
known texts in 
hadeeth and the different fields of knowledge, he will
then be 
prepared to proceed to a higher level, after having
consolidated and 
understood what has preceded. 
	For this reason I strongly urge all the brothers
and all the 
students of knowledge who hear what I say to approach
knowledge and to 
take it with resolve and firmness, and to not take every
issue and say 
this is simple, that is clear....Rather he should repeat
that which is 
clear to make it clearer; repeat the knowledge he has so
he can increase 
in his knowledge of what he knows, and so on.
	And I ask Allah to make this explanation that is
is before us a 
complete and comprehensive one, and mayit benefit the
presenter and the 
listeners, and make us of those who have insight in it, of
those who 
speak from knowledge, not out of opinions and whims.'