٢٣. عَنْ أُسَامَةَ بْنِ زَيْدٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ:
«يُؤْتَى بِالرَّجُلِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَيُلْقَى فِي النَّارِ فَتَنْدَلِقُ أَقْتَابُ بَطْنِهِ فَيَدُورُ بِهَا كَمَا يَدُورُ الْحِمَارُ بِالرَّحَى فَيَجْتَمِعُ إِلَيْهِ أَهْلُ النَّارِ فَيَقُولُونَ: يَا فُلَانُ مَا لَكَ أَلَمْ تَكُنْ تَأْمُرُ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَى عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ فَيَقُولُ: بَلَى قَدْ كُنْتُ آمُرُ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَلَا آتِيهِ وَأَنْهَى عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَآتِيهِ».
23. Uthama b. Zaid (r.a.) narrated that he heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying:
“A man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and thrown in Hell-Fire and his intestines will pour forth in Hell and he will go round along with them, as an ass goes round the mill stone. The denizens of Hell will gather round him and say:
“O, so and so, what has happened to you? Were you not enjoining us to do what was reputable and forbid us to do what was disreputable?” He will say:
“Of course, it is so; I used to enjoin (upon people) to do what was reputable but did not practice it myself. I had been forbidding people to do what was disreputable, but practiced it myself.” (Muslim, Zuhd, 51. Also see Bukhari, Bad’ al-khalk, 10; Ahmad, V, 205-209)
٢٤. عَنْ يَزِيدَ بْنِ سَلَمَةَ الْجُعْفِيِّ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ يَزِيدُ بْنُ سَلَمَةَ:
«يَا رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ إِنِّي قَدْ سَمِعْتُ مِنْكَ حَدِيثًا كَثِيرًا أَخَافُ أَنْ يُنْسِيَنِي أَوَّلَهُ آخِرُهُ فَحَدِّثْنِي بِكَلِمَةٍ تَكُونُ جِمَاعًا» قَالَ:
«اِتَّقِ اللّٰهَ فِيمَا تَعْلَمُ».
24. Yazid b. Salman al-Jufi (r.a.) narrated that he told:
“O the Messenger of Allah! I have heard many ahadith from you. However, I am afraid that the new ones will cause me to forgive the previous ones that I heard from you. Will you tell me a word of wisdom that may substitute for all of them?” And he said:
“Fear from Allah concerning the ones that you know (put them into practice!)” (Tirmidhi, Ilm, 19/2683)
٢٥. عَنْ أَبِي بَرْزَةَ الْأَسْلَمِيِّ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:
«لاَ تَزُولُ قَدَمَا عَبْدٍ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ حَتَّى يُسْأَلَ عَنْ عُمْرِهِ فِيمَا أَفْنَاهُ وَعَنْ عِلْمِهِ فِيمَ فَعَلَ وَعَنْ مَالِهِ مِنْ أَيْنَ اكْتَسَبَهُ وَفِيمَ أَنْفَقَهُ وَعَنْ جِسْمِهِ فِيمَ أَبْلَاهُ».
25. It is reported that Abu Barza al-Aslami (r.a.) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“No one can move on the Day of Judgment until he is asked about his life and how he spent it, about his knowledge and what he did with it, about his wealth and how he earned it and how he spent it, and about his health and how he wore off his body.” (Tirmidhi, Qiyamah, 1/2417)
Explanations:
The knowledge is not a virtue in and of itself, but it is a mean to advance humans to more lofty levels. The real virtue is putting the knowledge into practice. Knowledge that is not practiced in life helps nothing but to be a proof against its owner. As a matter of fact, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) considered a scholar who does not put his knowledge into practice equal to an ignorant person. (Tirmidhi, Ilm, 5/2653)
In the first hadith, it is presented that the end of those who were beneficial to others with their knowledge but forgot about themselves will be pain and disappointment. All of their knowledge did not benefit them since they did not put it into practice for themselves.
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) described the miserable situation of those who do not benefit from their own knowledge as:
“The scholar who forgets himself while teaching what is good to others is like a candle exhausts itself while lightening up its surroundings.” (Haythami, I, 184)
Whereas one must think of himself first and his knowledge must benefit him first. For this to happen, it is necessary for knowledge to settle in the heart and manifest itself in acts.
How meaningful Ali’s following warning is:
“O man of knowledge! Practice your knowledge! The real scholar is the one who puts his knowledge into practice and whose actions are in accordance with his knowledge. There will be a time when people will acquire knowledge but their knowledge will not go beyond their throats and their acts and knowledge and their inside and outside won’t be the same. They will sit in circles and be proud of their knowledge and show off to each other. One of them will get mad to his friend just for leaving him and sitting next to another person. Their actions in those meetings don’t ascend to Allah.” (Darimi, Muqaddimah, 34)
Indeed, these people can not benefit from the knowledge for which they had to bare many difficulties and hardships to acquire. In fact, it is not even appropriate to call them scholars. They are ignorant people who just know many things.
As a matter of fact, Sufyan b. Uyaynah said:
“The most ignorant of all is the one who does not put his knowledge into practice, and the most learned man is the one who practices his knowledge, and the best of all is the one who experience the most reverence towards Allah.” (Darimi, Muqaddimah, 32)
The following exemplary story which was narrated by Ammar b. Yasir manifests the miserable state of those who do not benefit from their knowledge to find salvation in the Hereafter:
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) had sent me to a district of the Qais Clan. I was teaching them the principles of Islam. However, people were like a wild herd of camels. They were very arrogant. All they cared about was their sheep and camels. I came back to the Prophet (pbuh). He asked to me:
“O Ammar! What did you do?”
I explained the state of the clan to him. I informed him about their negligence and deception.
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“O Ammar! Would you like me to tell you about people who are more surprising than this clan? They are the ones who know things that this clan does not know but still live in a heedless life such as this clan does.” (Haythami, I, 185)
If we think for a moment, we can see how contemporary people fit in the description given this hadith: People who know everything and who can easily obtain any information they need, but see nothing but worldly goods just like those ignorant Bedouins …
People who do not put their knowledge into practice are surely in a worse state and their responsibility is greater than those who do not know.
The knowledge from which is not benefited is like wealth that is not spent in the way of Allah.[1] As the wealth that is not spent in the way of Allah does not benefit its owner, the knowledge that is not put into practice does not bring salvation to its owner neither in this world nor in the Hereafter. Heedless people keep both knowledge and wealth for a while before they lose all of them when they die and are held accountable for those blessings that they did not benefit.
As it can be understood from our second hadith, one must fear Allah and must put his knowledge into practice. One must stay away from things that Allah has forbidden and fulfill His commands as much as he can. Acting this way forms the basis of piety or “taqwa.”
As it is pointed out in this hadith, the purpose of acquiring knowledge is to obtain piety. That is because those with knowledge know better what they have to do and what they have to abstain from and how to live in accordance with these rules.
On the other hand, if a person puts his knowledge into practice and lives a pious life, Allah the Almighty teaches him what he does not know. That is because, the knowledge that is practiced takes its roots in the consciousness and saves the person from the fear of forgetting it and provides a basis for acquiring new knowledge. Since acting this way helps a person to gain the contentedness of Allah, it generates great blessings and advances the person’s knowledge of Him. As a matter of fact, the Companions of the Prophet used to put their knowledge into practice as soon as they acquired it. Abu Abdurrahman As-Sulami narrated:
“There was a man from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah who used to teach us the Noble Qur’an. He used to say:
“We would learn ten verses of the Qur’an from the Prophet (pbuh) and would not move on to the next ten verses before we had learned everything in the first ten verses well. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) taught us both the knowledge and its practice at the same time.” (Ahmad, V, 410; Haythami, I, 165)
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used to teach knowledge provided that it would be practiced in life and taught to others who would practice it. As an example of that, Abu Huraira (r.a.) narrated:
One day, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to his companions:
“Who will take these words from me and put them into practice and teach others who will also put them into practice?”
I came forward and said:
“I will, O the Messenger of Allah!”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) held my hand and counted the following five things:
“If you stay away from the forbidden things (al-haram), you will be the best worshipping servant of Allah.
If you get satisfied with the share that Allah gave you, you will be the richest of all.
Be nice to your neighbor so you will become a perfect believer.
Wish for others the same as what you wish for yourself so you will become a perfect Muslim.
Don’t laugh a lot! This is because laughing a lot kills the heart.” (Tirmidhi, Zuhd, 2/2305; Ibn Majah, Kitab Al-Zuhd, 24)
In our third hadith presents the first and foremost issues for which humans will be held accountable on the Day of Judgment. They are the life, knowledge, wealth, and health. Allah the Almighty decreed certain rules concerning each one of them and made some requests. Life should be spent as it is prescribed by Islam in performing beneficial deeds. One must not acquire knowledge as a means for pride, but must put it into practice and also teach others. One must obtain wealth through honest earnings and spend it on his family needs and doing good deeds. One must know that health is a divine trust and must be used in accordance with Allah’s will.
As a matter of fact, one will be held accountable for everything he did with the blessings of Allah. The issues listed in our hadith are the first things that humans will be held accountable for. And one of these is the issue of putting our knowledge into practice. It is impossible for humans to enter into Paradise before being held fully accountable for it first. So, putting our knowledge into practice in this world is the smartest way to ensure both Allah’s contentedness and appreciation of others.
[1] Ahmad, II, 499; Haythami, I, 184.
Like this:
Like Loading...
3. Putting Knowledge into Practice
٢٣. عَنْ أُسَامَةَ بْنِ زَيْدٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ:
«يُؤْتَى بِالرَّجُلِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَيُلْقَى فِي النَّارِ فَتَنْدَلِقُ أَقْتَابُ بَطْنِهِ فَيَدُورُ بِهَا كَمَا يَدُورُ الْحِمَارُ بِالرَّحَى فَيَجْتَمِعُ إِلَيْهِ أَهْلُ النَّارِ فَيَقُولُونَ: يَا فُلَانُ مَا لَكَ أَلَمْ تَكُنْ تَأْمُرُ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَى عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ فَيَقُولُ: بَلَى قَدْ كُنْتُ آمُرُ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَلَا آتِيهِ وَأَنْهَى عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَآتِيهِ».
23. Uthama b. Zaid (r.a.) narrated that he heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) saying:
“A man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and thrown in Hell-Fire and his intestines will pour forth in Hell and he will go round along with them, as an ass goes round the mill stone. The denizens of Hell will gather round him and say:
“O, so and so, what has happened to you? Were you not enjoining us to do what was reputable and forbid us to do what was disreputable?” He will say:
“Of course, it is so; I used to enjoin (upon people) to do what was reputable but did not practice it myself. I had been forbidding people to do what was disreputable, but practiced it myself.” (Muslim, Zuhd, 51. Also see Bukhari, Bad’ al-khalk, 10; Ahmad, V, 205-209)
٢٤. عَنْ يَزِيدَ بْنِ سَلَمَةَ الْجُعْفِيِّ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ يَزِيدُ بْنُ سَلَمَةَ:
«يَا رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ إِنِّي قَدْ سَمِعْتُ مِنْكَ حَدِيثًا كَثِيرًا أَخَافُ أَنْ يُنْسِيَنِي أَوَّلَهُ آخِرُهُ فَحَدِّثْنِي بِكَلِمَةٍ تَكُونُ جِمَاعًا» قَالَ:
«اِتَّقِ اللّٰهَ فِيمَا تَعْلَمُ».
24. Yazid b. Salman al-Jufi (r.a.) narrated that he told:
“O the Messenger of Allah! I have heard many ahadith from you. However, I am afraid that the new ones will cause me to forgive the previous ones that I heard from you. Will you tell me a word of wisdom that may substitute for all of them?” And he said:
“Fear from Allah concerning the ones that you know (put them into practice!)” (Tirmidhi, Ilm, 19/2683)
٢٥. عَنْ أَبِي بَرْزَةَ الْأَسْلَمِيِّ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:
«لاَ تَزُولُ قَدَمَا عَبْدٍ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ حَتَّى يُسْأَلَ عَنْ عُمْرِهِ فِيمَا أَفْنَاهُ وَعَنْ عِلْمِهِ فِيمَ فَعَلَ وَعَنْ مَالِهِ مِنْ أَيْنَ اكْتَسَبَهُ وَفِيمَ أَنْفَقَهُ وَعَنْ جِسْمِهِ فِيمَ أَبْلَاهُ».
25. It is reported that Abu Barza al-Aslami (r.a.) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“No one can move on the Day of Judgment until he is asked about his life and how he spent it, about his knowledge and what he did with it, about his wealth and how he earned it and how he spent it, and about his health and how he wore off his body.” (Tirmidhi, Qiyamah, 1/2417)
Explanations:
The knowledge is not a virtue in and of itself, but it is a mean to advance humans to more lofty levels. The real virtue is putting the knowledge into practice. Knowledge that is not practiced in life helps nothing but to be a proof against its owner. As a matter of fact, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) considered a scholar who does not put his knowledge into practice equal to an ignorant person. (Tirmidhi, Ilm, 5/2653)
In the first hadith, it is presented that the end of those who were beneficial to others with their knowledge but forgot about themselves will be pain and disappointment. All of their knowledge did not benefit them since they did not put it into practice for themselves.
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) described the miserable situation of those who do not benefit from their own knowledge as:
“The scholar who forgets himself while teaching what is good to others is like a candle exhausts itself while lightening up its surroundings.” (Haythami, I, 184)
Whereas one must think of himself first and his knowledge must benefit him first. For this to happen, it is necessary for knowledge to settle in the heart and manifest itself in acts.
How meaningful Ali’s following warning is:
“O man of knowledge! Practice your knowledge! The real scholar is the one who puts his knowledge into practice and whose actions are in accordance with his knowledge. There will be a time when people will acquire knowledge but their knowledge will not go beyond their throats and their acts and knowledge and their inside and outside won’t be the same. They will sit in circles and be proud of their knowledge and show off to each other. One of them will get mad to his friend just for leaving him and sitting next to another person. Their actions in those meetings don’t ascend to Allah.” (Darimi, Muqaddimah, 34)
Indeed, these people can not benefit from the knowledge for which they had to bare many difficulties and hardships to acquire. In fact, it is not even appropriate to call them scholars. They are ignorant people who just know many things.
As a matter of fact, Sufyan b. Uyaynah said:
“The most ignorant of all is the one who does not put his knowledge into practice, and the most learned man is the one who practices his knowledge, and the best of all is the one who experience the most reverence towards Allah.” (Darimi, Muqaddimah, 32)
The following exemplary story which was narrated by Ammar b. Yasir manifests the miserable state of those who do not benefit from their knowledge to find salvation in the Hereafter:
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) had sent me to a district of the Qais Clan. I was teaching them the principles of Islam. However, people were like a wild herd of camels. They were very arrogant. All they cared about was their sheep and camels. I came back to the Prophet (pbuh). He asked to me:
“O Ammar! What did you do?”
I explained the state of the clan to him. I informed him about their negligence and deception.
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“O Ammar! Would you like me to tell you about people who are more surprising than this clan? They are the ones who know things that this clan does not know but still live in a heedless life such as this clan does.” (Haythami, I, 185)
If we think for a moment, we can see how contemporary people fit in the description given this hadith: People who know everything and who can easily obtain any information they need, but see nothing but worldly goods just like those ignorant Bedouins …
People who do not put their knowledge into practice are surely in a worse state and their responsibility is greater than those who do not know.
The knowledge from which is not benefited is like wealth that is not spent in the way of Allah.[1] As the wealth that is not spent in the way of Allah does not benefit its owner, the knowledge that is not put into practice does not bring salvation to its owner neither in this world nor in the Hereafter. Heedless people keep both knowledge and wealth for a while before they lose all of them when they die and are held accountable for those blessings that they did not benefit.
As it can be understood from our second hadith, one must fear Allah and must put his knowledge into practice. One must stay away from things that Allah has forbidden and fulfill His commands as much as he can. Acting this way forms the basis of piety or “taqwa.”
As it is pointed out in this hadith, the purpose of acquiring knowledge is to obtain piety. That is because those with knowledge know better what they have to do and what they have to abstain from and how to live in accordance with these rules.
On the other hand, if a person puts his knowledge into practice and lives a pious life, Allah the Almighty teaches him what he does not know. That is because, the knowledge that is practiced takes its roots in the consciousness and saves the person from the fear of forgetting it and provides a basis for acquiring new knowledge. Since acting this way helps a person to gain the contentedness of Allah, it generates great blessings and advances the person’s knowledge of Him. As a matter of fact, the Companions of the Prophet used to put their knowledge into practice as soon as they acquired it. Abu Abdurrahman As-Sulami narrated:
“There was a man from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah who used to teach us the Noble Qur’an. He used to say:
“We would learn ten verses of the Qur’an from the Prophet (pbuh) and would not move on to the next ten verses before we had learned everything in the first ten verses well. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) taught us both the knowledge and its practice at the same time.” (Ahmad, V, 410; Haythami, I, 165)
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used to teach knowledge provided that it would be practiced in life and taught to others who would practice it. As an example of that, Abu Huraira (r.a.) narrated:
One day, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to his companions:
“Who will take these words from me and put them into practice and teach others who will also put them into practice?”
I came forward and said:
“I will, O the Messenger of Allah!”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) held my hand and counted the following five things:
“If you stay away from the forbidden things (al-haram), you will be the best worshipping servant of Allah.
If you get satisfied with the share that Allah gave you, you will be the richest of all.
Be nice to your neighbor so you will become a perfect believer.
Wish for others the same as what you wish for yourself so you will become a perfect Muslim.
Don’t laugh a lot! This is because laughing a lot kills the heart.” (Tirmidhi, Zuhd, 2/2305; Ibn Majah, Kitab Al-Zuhd, 24)
In our third hadith presents the first and foremost issues for which humans will be held accountable on the Day of Judgment. They are the life, knowledge, wealth, and health. Allah the Almighty decreed certain rules concerning each one of them and made some requests. Life should be spent as it is prescribed by Islam in performing beneficial deeds. One must not acquire knowledge as a means for pride, but must put it into practice and also teach others. One must obtain wealth through honest earnings and spend it on his family needs and doing good deeds. One must know that health is a divine trust and must be used in accordance with Allah’s will.
As a matter of fact, one will be held accountable for everything he did with the blessings of Allah. The issues listed in our hadith are the first things that humans will be held accountable for. And one of these is the issue of putting our knowledge into practice. It is impossible for humans to enter into Paradise before being held fully accountable for it first. So, putting our knowledge into practice in this world is the smartest way to ensure both Allah’s contentedness and appreciation of others.
[1] Ahmad, II, 499; Haythami, I, 184.
Share this:
Like this: