The Thinking Muslim Blog

"He created creation not out of loneliness in His eternal solitude nor out of need for their assistance in His management. Rather, He wished to spread His mercy, bestow His grace, and select whom He wills from His creation. Thus, He manifested the signs of His power, perfected creation, and meticulously planned it. He began with His grace and followed with His beneficence, encompassing His servants with justice and expanding His favor upon them. To Him belongs all praise and thanks. He did not create His creation in vain nor leave them aimlessly. Instead, He intended to reveal Himself to His servants through His clear signs and evident proofs, so that they may fulfill His due rights and avoid His displeasure—not because He needs their obedience, but to merit reward for those who turn to Him and respond, and to deserve punishment for those who deny and doubt."

"Just as the words of the knowledgeable are more deserving of being listened to than those of the ignorant, and the words of a compassionate mother are more worthy of being heard than others, Allah is the most knowledgeable of the knowledgeable and the most merciful of the merciful, so His words [i.e. Qur'an] are the most deserving of being listened to, pondered, and understood."

Ibn al-Qayyim said: "The occurrence of differences among people is inevitable due to the variation in their wills, understandings, and cognitive abilities. However, what is blameworthy is some of them oppressing and transgressing against others. Otherwise, if the disagreement does not lead to division and partisanship, and each of the differing parties intends to obey Allah and His Messenger, then such disagreement is not harmful, as it is an unavoidable aspect of human nature." «وقوع ‌الاختلاف ‌بين ‌الناس أمر ضروري لا بد منه؛ لتفاوت إراداتهم وأفهامهم وقوى إدراكهم، ولكن المذموم بغيُ بعضهم على بعض وعدوانه، وإلا فإذا كان الاختلاف على وجه لا يؤدّي إلى التباين والتحزّب، وكل من المختلفين قصده طاعة الله ورسوله، لم يضرّ ذلك الاختلاف، فإنه أمر لا بد منه في النشأة الإنسانية». ابن القيم

One thing people don't get taught when studying is how to actually read books. There's a difference between reading a book beginning to end, and actively grappling with its contents. Ask yourself this question: When you engage with a book, what are you actually doing? - You're connecting paragraphs together. - You're linking a sentence in chapter 5 to a sentence in chapter 1. - You're constantly agreeing, disagreeing, or suspending judgement on the arguments put forth. Now, a good teacher will train the students to do this, or at least demonstrate it in class. Otherwise it's something students must figure out themselves. And if you don't figure it out, you'll just read books without processing what's being said. You'll end up speed-reading technical material like you're reading a Harry Potter novel, and then think you've actually read the book. But have you actually read it?? Take a step back for a moment. If you don't figure out how to engage with a text yourself, you'll never be able to engage in any independent study and will only be able to regurgitate arguments. Your learning will always require you to be spoonfed, and that's always an inferior and limiting state of learning. Remember: 'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.' That's independent study. It's teaching yourself how to fish.

Ibn Taymiyyah said: "Dhikr is to the heart as water is to fish, so what will be the condition of the fish if it leaves the water?!" الذكر للقلب مثل الماء للسمك، فكيف يكون حال السمك إذا فارق الماء؟!

I've observed over the years that many aspiring students of knowledge are too lazy and lack discipline. They do not stay committed to their studies or even reading, which naturally leads to lack of progression in their knowledge and understanding. In order to succeed in anything, you must be persistent else you will not reach your goal. Over the years, I've recommended some new students to certain books to begin their journey but they never stay committed. They'll do a few lessons and then just give up or start doing something else and lose focus. Then they come to me after a year or two asking the same questions and advice. This is a very bad practice and habit. Here are some tips based on my own experience: -Once you reach a conclusion on covering/reading a particular text, then stay committed to it until the end. This must be your intention from the start and let nothing get in the way. Everything else must revolve around it. -Set a daily routine of how much to cover/read that particular text. My personal preference: if you're reading on your own, then 10/pages a day and if you're doing an audio/video sharh, then 1 lesson a day until you completely finish. If you're able to do more, great. If you need to do less, fine but just be persistent. It's not important how much you do but what you can handle on a daily basis in a comfortable manner and be consistent with it. -There will be days when you will get lazy and not want to do your set portion of the day. This is fine as long as you force yourself to get back on routine the following day. I let my self slide a day or two here and there but then guilt comes in and I force myself to continue the process. -Keep in mind your goal and why you're doing it. That goal must always be in front of your eyes so that you remain focused and there is a continuous incentive to make you keep going. -Think of the harm of not progressing. If you're level of knowledge and understanding is still the same after a few years, then this is a really bad sign that either you're not doing enough or you're doing something wrong and you need to fix it. Don't waste your life more than you already have being lazy about it. -Keep begging Allah in your du'as to keep you going, put blessing in your time and effort, and to grant you understanding of His beautiful religion.

Ibn Taymiyyah’s Path of Joy and Contentment: IBN AL-QAYYIM WROTE this about Ibn Taymiyyah’s spiritual wayfaring or suluk, rooted as it was in joyful contentment with Allah: ‘I saw Shaykh al-Islam, may Allah sanctify his soul, in a dream, and it is as if I told him an issue about an act of the heart and I went on to mention its greatness and benefit, which I do not remember now. So he said: “As for me, my path is delight with Allah and joy in him.”’1 This Taymiyyan spiritual path of rida bi’Llah — ‘contentment with Allah’ — has as its fruits happiness and joy with Allah, and with life itself. Ibn al-Qayyim says it is the shortest path, even if it’s a steep one. Rida bi’Llah doesn’t negate feeling pain or sorrow. But at one’s core there’s an unwavering trust that all is unfolding as per the Divine Plan, and such a plan is always good for the believer: this being the key to joy and contentment. One acts responsibly, but lives in the serene awareness that Allah’s purpose is always good for the believer; and that He is always in control. _______________ 1 Cited in Ibn al-Qayyim, Madarij al-Salikin (Makkah: Dar ‘Alam al-Fawa’id, 2019), 2:483.

The Five Defence-Walls of Faith: Imam al-Hajjawi [d.968H/1561CE], one of the pillars of the Hanbali school, wrote: ‘It has been said: The allegory of faith (iman) is like that of a fortress having five walls. The first [innermost wall] is made of gold, the second of silver, the third of iron, the fourth, baked bricks, and the fifth [outermost wall] from clay bricks. ‘As long as the inhabitants of the fortress are diligent in guarding the clay wall, the enemy will not set its sights on [attacking] the next wall. But if they become negligent, they will attack the next wall, then the next, till the entire fortress lays in ruins. ‘In a similar way, faith is defended by five walls: certainty (yaqin), then comes sincerity (ikhlas), next up is performance of the obligations (ada’ al-fara’id), after which are the recommended acts (sunan), and lastly guarding beautiful behaviour (adab). ‘So long as adab is guarded and defended, the Devil will not find a way in. But if adab is neglected, Satan makes inroads into the sunan, then the fara’id, then ikhlas, and finally yaqin itself.’1 __________________ 1. Sharh Manzumat al-Adab (Saudi Arabia: Dar Ibn al-Jawzi, 2011), 36.

Qur’an Verse and Hadith Explained: Does the Sun Set in a Muddy or Hot Spring? https://thethinkingmuslim.com/2024/05/21/quran-verse-and-hadith-explained-does-the-sun-set-in-a-muddy-or-hot-spring/