Your Ummah Needs You! | Shaykh Salih Aal Ash-Shaykh
Shaykh Ṣāliḥ Āl ash-Shaykh: Wake Up, O Students of Knowledge, for This Era Is Not One of Relaxation, Amusement and Sleep
Shaykh Dr. Ṣāliḥ ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl ash-Shaykh
This is not a time for rest, nor a time for sleep, nor a time for amusement. Rather, it is a time for striving, and this is among the matters that magnify the reward for people.
The Prophet informed us that, towards the end of time, there would be days of patience.
A Companion asked, “What are the days of patience?”
He said, “Indeed, ahead of you are days of patience.”
He asked, “And what are the days of patience, O Messenger of Allah?”
He replied, “The one who acts during them will receive the reward of fifty.”
He asked, “O Messenger of Allah, fifty of us or fifty of them?”
He replied, “Rather, fifty of you.”
فَإِنَّ مِنْ وَرَائِكُمْ أَيَّامًا الصَّبْرُ فِيهِنَّ مِثْلُ الْقَبْضِ عَلَى الْجَمْرِ، لِلْعَامِلِ فِيهِنَّ مِثْلُ أَجْرِ خَمْسِينَ رَجُلًا يَعْمَلُونَ مِثْلَ عَمَلِكُمْ. قِيلَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ، أَجْرُ خَمْسِينَ مِنَّا أَوْ مِنْهُمْ؟ قَالَ: لَا، بَلْ أَجْرُ خَمْسِينَ رَجُلًا مِنْكُمْ
“For ahead of you are days in which patience is like gripping hot coals, and the one who acts during them will have the like of the reward of fifty men who do the like of your deeds. It was said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, the reward of fifty of us or of them?’ He said, ‘No, rather the reward of fifty men of you.’” (Sunan at-Tirmidhī, no. 3058, from Abū Thaʿlabah al-Khushanī )
The one who acts during those days, who holds firmly to the Sunnah throughout the days of patience, will receive the reward of fifty people who perform deeds similar to his.
Without doubt, this makes the responsibility tremendous, because we see today that most people are impressed with their own opinions.
A child of eight or ten years of age has begun debating you concerning major issues, just as the Prophet said when describing what would occur towards the end of time:
وَإِعْجَابَ كُلِّ ذِي رَأْيٍ بِرَأْيِهِ
“…and every person of opinion being amazed by his own opinion.” (Sunan at-Tirmidhī, no. 3058)
The signs of everyone being impressed with their own opinion have already begun to appear.
The ignorant person has begun debating you concerning major issues, even in religious matters. Young children have begun arguing, daughters have begun arguing, and women have begun arguing. Thus, everyone has become impressed with their own opinion.
This places an extremely great responsibility upon the people of knowledge, the students of knowledge and those who ascribe themselves to knowledge, for they have a tremendous role to fulfil within this Ummah.
Today is a time for striving.
Among their responsibilities is to spread the knowledge that Allah , has bestowed upon them by placing it within their hearts.
They must spread it through the spoken word, spread it through the written word, and spread it by meeting with people, opening their hearts to them and mixing with them.
Yes, just as the Prophet said:
“Indeed, your own self has a right over you, your family has a right over you, and your Lord has a right over you. So give everyone who has a right their due.”
إِنَّ لِرَبِّكَ عَلَيْكَ حَقًّا، وَلِنَفْسِكَ عَلَيْكَ حَقًّا، وَلِأَهْلِكَ عَلَيْكَ حَقًّا، فَأَعْطِ كُلَّ ذِي حَقٍّ حَقَّهُ، فَأَتَى النَّبِيَّ فَذَكَرَ ذَلِكَ لَهُ، فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ : صَدَقَ سَلْمَانُ
“Your Lord has a right over you, your self has a right over you, and your family has a right over you, so give everyone with a right his due.” Then he came to the Prophet and mentioned that to him, and the Prophet said, “Salmān has spoken the truth.” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 1968)
We observe that many people have given themselves a great deal of their rights.
However, this time is not a time for amusement.
Those who frequently go out in pursuit of amusement, who spend their nights engaged in idle talk and gossip, or who occupy themselves with whatever they find entertaining, despite being among the people of knowledge, their distinguished members, or the students of knowledge, we say to them:
The Ummah is in need of you, and you have a role that no one other than yourselves will fulfil!
You are the carriers of knowledge, and you are those who have acquired it, concerning whom the ḥadīth mentions:
“This knowledge will be carried by the trustworthy ones of every successive generation. They will repel from it the distortions of the ignorant and the interpretations of the falsifiers.”
يَحْمِلُ هَذَا الْعِلْمَ مِنْ كُلِّ خَلَفٍ عُدُولُهُ، يَنْفُونَ عَنْهُ تَحْرِيفَ الْغَالِينَ، وَانْتِحَالَ الْمُبْطِلِينَ، وَتَأْوِيلَ الْجَاهِلِينَ
“This knowledge will be carried in every generation by its upright ones, who drive away from it the distortion of the extremists, the false claims of the falsifiers and the interpretation of the ignorant.” (Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, at-Tamhīd, vol. 1, p. 254, mursal from Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān al-ʿUdhrī)
The ignorant are numerous. So who will repel the distortions of ignorance from knowledge and religion in every place?
They are none other than the people of knowledge!
Who are those who will carry this knowledge and repel from it the interpretations of the falsifiers?
They are none other than the people of knowledge!
Therefore, they must sit with the people in their mosques, teach the ignorant and never regard any act of goodness as insignificant.
For a gentle word brings benefit and spreads among the people when accompanied by sincere intentions.
Throughout all of this, they must neither seek fame nor seek a reputation. Rather, they should seek only to emerge from it free of liability.
The feet of a servant will not move on the Day of Resurrection until he is questioned about his knowledge.
His knowledge! What did he do with it?
What did he do with it?
How did you act upon it?
Did you convey it?
Did you fulfil your duty?
لَا تَزُولُ قَدَمَا عَبْدٍ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ حَتَّى يُسْأَلَ عَنْ عُمُرِهِ فِيمَ أَفْنَاهُ، وَعَنْ عِلْمِهِ فِيمَ فَعَلَ، وَعَنْ مَالِهِ مِنْ أَيْنَ اكْتَسَبَهُ وَفِيمَ أَنْفَقَهُ، وَعَنْ جِسْمِهِ فِيمَ أَبْلَاهُ
“The feet of a servant will not move on the Day of Resurrection until he is asked about his life, how he spent it; about his knowledge, what he did with it; about his wealth, where he earned it and how he spent it; and about his body, how he wore it out.” (Sunan at-Tirmidhī, no. 2417, from Abū Barzah al-Aslamī )
Many people possess knowledge, yet they say, “The obligation rests upon someone else.”
Are the scholars of the Ummah ten in number? Or, if there are twenty, will they fulfil the obligation owed to this entire Ummah?
No, they will not be able to!
Even if they devoted every day and every hour to fulfilling this obligation, they would still be unable to do so, because they are few in number while the Ummah is now increasing.
If you examine population figures, you will find that they increase every year. They continue to increase.
After five years, how many people will there be, for example, in this country of ours?
The population will have multiplied.
And after ten years, it will have multiplied further.
Therefore, people are in the greatest possible need of an increase in the number of people of knowledge.
For this reason, it is necessary that lessons of knowledge increase, that educational courses increase, and that the dissemination of knowledge among the people increase, because these individuals form the foundation from which knowledge will spread among the people.
Suppose we had ten thousand students of knowledge. Would they be sufficient?
They would not be sufficient!
Suppose we had twenty thousand. Suppose we had twenty thousand students of knowledge. Would they be sufficient?
Therefore, the obligation is tremendous when it comes to spreading knowledge and producing students of knowledge, so that when this generation passes away, there will be another generation to carry this knowledge in accordance with the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Messenger and the way of the righteous predecessors of this Ummah.
For the Victorious Group must continue to remain, and this group will only remain through the efforts and striving of its people, after the success granted by Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He.
References
- At-Tirmidhī (d. 279 AH/892 CE), as-Sunan, nos. 2417 and 3058.
- Al-Bukhārī, Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl (d. 256 AH/870 CE), Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 1968.
- Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (d. 463 AH/1071 CE), at-Tamhīd, vol. 1, p. 254 (Bashshār ʿAwwād Maʿrūf edition).
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