How Ilm Must Be Sought! Avoiding the Modern Pitfalls in Learning the Deen

Ilm Must Be Sought!

We live in era in which technology is advancing like never before. Somewhere between the inspirational tweets on Twitter and the quick tutorials on YouTube, concepts of sacrifice and hard work have disappeared and become almost foreign to us. We have mistaken following scholars on Twitter or liking their Facebook pages as a modern form of sitting with a shaykh.

While we are no longer required to travel long distances like the scholars in the past, there are still sacrifices which must be made for ‘ilm. That sacrifice could be adjusting our schedules, taking out time to find a local scholar, and might even require giving up on Halo or Call of Duty for a couple hours of weeks (I never said it was going to be easy!). The ‘ulamā of the past were very particular in making sure they took the proper steps in acquiring knowledge, as doing so would help them appreciate the value of ‘ilm.

Ibn ‘Abbas, a prominent companion and relative of the Prophet ﷺ would say,

“I would sometimes hear that another companion had knowledge of a certain ḥadīth (which I did not know). If I had wished, I could have called him, and he would have taught me the ḥadīth here. But I, myself, would go to his door and learn the ḥadīth there.” [Sunan al-Dārami]

Yes, this is Ibn ‘Abbas, the greatest commentator of the Qur’ān. He understood the only way to gain true ‘ilm was through giving it its due respect and sacrifice.

Avoiding the Milk-Shaykhs

Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said:

"Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people but He takes away knowledge by taking away the Ulama (scholars), so that when He leaves no Alim (scholar), people turn to the ignorant as their leaders; then they are asked to deliver religious verdicts and they deliver them without knowledge, they go astray, and lead others astray.” [Sahih Muslim 2673]

Another phenomenon which has become widespread today is studying without actual ‘ulamā; some choose the path of “self-studying” (with help from Shaykh Google of course), while others decide to study with unqualified teachers who might have good speaking skills (also known as “milk-shaykhs”). We would never adopt these methods to learn medicine, law, or anything else, so how can we be comfortable studying the commandments of Allah and his Messenger ﷺ this way? It is worth noting the Messenger ﷺ, when prophesizing the widespread and rampant ignorance to come before the Final Day, never said it would be due to a lack of resources. Rather, he mentioned two reasons: the absence of ‘ulamā and giving unqualified people positions they shouldn’t have. 

Alḥamdulilāh, many ‘ulamā are still around and can be easily found in our localities. The onus is on us to make sure they aren’t absent from our lives, thus opening the door for the unqualified to fill in the void.

[Adapted from an article by Shaykh Omar Baig (Mississauga, Canada) https://enterthesunnah.com/2015/12/02/seeking-knowledge-then-vs-now/]