Benefits from Hadeeth of Jibreel

Benefits from Hadeeth of Jibreel

• There are five things which have rights on the Student of Islamic knowledge: his or her self, teacher, the place he studies at, classmates, books, and the knowledge s/he has studied.

The right of himself: Since knowledge is worship, sincerity and following the Sunnah are a must. Be a follower of the early scholars of Islam, fear Allah with a true fear based on knowledge, know that Allah is watching you at all times, humble yourself and be careful of arrogance.

Be pleased and accept what you have been given and stay away from that which will not benefit you in the next life. Adorn yourself with the effects of knowledge, good manners which are acceptable to the people, boycott arrogance and feeling superior to your peers and others. Stay away from sittings and meetings which have no benefit, adorn yourself with gentleness, be firm upon the truth, and verify information and news before believing it. Have high ambitions, strong desire to seek knowledge, travel for knowledge, preserve the knowledge through writing, memorizing, etc. Preserve that which you memorize by acting upon it and revising it. Try to understand by extracting the branches of knowledge from its foundations, ask Allah for help, respect academic integrity, and be truthful.

The 'paradise' of the Student of Islamic Knowledge is 'I don't know' , don't waste time, seek general knowledge of various topics, read in Arabic carefully and correctly, eventually read bigger books such as Saheeh Bukharee, Muslim, etc.

Ask appropriate questions, listen carefully, understand the material, and then act upon it, and don’t debate for the sake of debating; not for the sake of finding and accepting the truth. Review knowledge. Be with the Qur'aan, Sunnah, and their sciences. Study the important topics of every science.

Act upon the knowledge, flee from the love for leadership, fame, and the dunya; this worldly life.

Have bad thoughts about yourself and good thoughts about others.

Give the charity of knowledge; enjoin the good, forbid the evil, outweigh the benefits and the harms, spread the knowledge and love to benefit the people, use your status/position to intercede for the Muslims with good intercessions; to represent the truth and all that is good.

Be honourable, preserve knowledge, stay away from teaching and positions before you are qualified for that.

Hold an appropriate stance or position regarding the mistake of a scholar, and the difference of opinion among the scholars (Translator's Note: the mistake is not accepted when it becomes clear, however, the scholar's virtues remain and he is respected and never spoken ill of).

Repel doubts. Don't be part of groups and parties to love and hate for their sake.

His teacher's right: People fall in three groups regarding this; two extremes and one moderation. We will study –if Allah wills- that the first shirk took place on earth is due to exaggerating on the status of the righteous, so it is a must that we remain moderate with the righteous; don't exaggerate by giving them rights they do not deserve nor fall short in giving them the rights which are due to them.

The right of the place in which he studies.

The right of his classmates: Allah, the Perfect and the Most High, says: «You are the best nation chosen for Mankind» and the Prophet –may Allah praise him and send him peace- said: “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself”.

The right of the book: To preserve the book and take care of it. These books are a blessing from Allah, so it is a must to preserve them.

The right of the knowledge: to study it thoroughly and preserve it by reviewing it and acting upon it since it is obligatory for the one who has knowledge to act upon it. Then he teaches this knowledge since it is a blessing and he must be thankful for this blessing

• Be honourable, preserve knowledge, and stay away from teaching and positions before you are qualified for that.
• From the manners of asking questions is to ask about that which is more important or beneficial first.
• The student of Islamic knowledge must also take care of his or her appearance.
• After the death of the Prophet -may Allah praise him and send him peace-we do not say: 'Allah and His Messenger know best', but rather we only say: 'Allah knows best'.