Beneficial Knowledge

 

Beneficial Knowledge

Imam Ibn Taymiyyah

The Concise Legacy, pp. 23-25

© JIMAS

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Abul `Aasim al-Qaasim bin Yoosuf bin Muhammad
at-Tajeebee as-Sabtee al-Maghribee says: 

 

I requested our leader, the shaykh, faqeeh,
imaam, respected scholar, vanguard of the predecessors, leader of the later
generations, reviver of the Deen, expresser of rare and wonderful ideas
with great eloquence and literacy, the most knowledgeable person I have
met in the lands of the East and West, Taqi ud-Deen Abul-`Abbaas Ahmad
bin Taymiyyah (may Allaah enable us to continue benefiting from him): 

[some questions deleted...]

- To point me towards those books which
I may rely upon regarding knowledge of hadeeth, and other sciences of the
sharee`ah.

[...]

Ibn Taymiyyah answered:

All praise be to Allaah, Lord of the Worlds.

As for which books one may depend on for
the different branches of knowledge, then this is a vast topic, and again,
the answer to this varies according to people's backgrounds in different
lands. This is because in each land, one field of learning or way or mode
of thinking may be easier than another, but the source of all good and
blessings is that one seeks help from Allaah in acquiring knowledge inherited
from the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, because that is what is
truly fit to be named knowledge. Anything else is either not knowledge
at all even though people call it so, or it is knowledge which is not beneficial,
or it is beneficial knowledge, in which case it is necessarily true that
there exists in the inheritance of Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam,
that which replaces it, being similar to it or better than it.

Thus the person's effort should be to understand
the purposes of the Messenger, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, in his commands,
prohibitions and his various other sayings. When the heart is contended
that something is indeed as the Messenger, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam,
intended, then he should not waver from it as far as possible, whether
it is regarding his duties to Allaah or to the people. In all branches
of knowledge, he should strive to hold firmly to principles narrated from
the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam; if he is in doubt regarding
any matter about which the people of knowledge have differed, then he should
supplicate to Allaah with the du`aa which appears in Saheeh Muslim narrated
by `Aa'ishah, radiyallaahu `anhaa, that when the Messenger, sallallaahu
`alayhi wa sallam, stood for the night prayer, he would say,

"O Allaah! Lord of Jibreel, Meekaa'eel
and Israafeel, Originator of the Heavens and the Earth, Knower of the Unseen
and the Present! You judge among your slaves regarding what they have differed
in. Guide me to the truth regarding that in which they have differed, for
truly, You do guide whomsoever You wish to a path that is straight."

This is because Allaah the Exalted has
said, as narrated by His Messenger from Him,

"O My slaves, all of you are astray except
those that I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you."
[Muslim]

As for a description of good books and
compilations: people will have heard from me what Allaah has made easy
on other occasions. I will say this much now, that out of all the compiled
books which have been divided into chapters, there is none more beneficial
than the Saheeh of Muhammad bin Ismaa`eel al-Bukhaaree. However, this alone
is not enough to cover all the major principles of knowledge, nor can it
fulfill all the objectives of one who seeks to dive deep into the various
branches of knowledge. It is imperative that other ahaadeeth, as well as
the words of the people of understanding and the people of knowledge of
different specialised fields be known, for the Ummah has progressed tremendously
in all fields of learning. He whose heart Allaah enlightens He guides him
through what reaches him; but he whose heart Allaah blinds, many books
only increase him in confusion and misguidance, as the Prophet, sallallaahu
`alayhi wa sallam, said to Ibn Labeed al-Ansaari,

"Did the Jews and Christians not have the
Tauraat and the Injeel? So what benefit did these bring them?" [al-Bukhaaree
in Khalq Af`aal al-`Ibaad, an-Nasaa'ee, Ahmad, al-Haakim, ibn Hibbaan,
Saheeh]

So we ask Allaah Almighty that He sustains
us with guidance and firmness, instills in our hearts our correct direction,
protects us from the mischief of our own selves, that He does not allow
our hearts to deviate after giving us guidance and that He bestows on us
Mercy from Him, for He is the Most Generous.

All Praise be to Allaah, Lord of the Worlds,
and His Blessings be on the most noble of the messengers.