In The Name Of Allah,
Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Glory is to Allah, we
have no knowledge except what He has taught us and indeed He is The Most
Knowing and The Wise. There is neither might nor power except from Allah alone,
The Most High and The Most Mighty.
We often heard about
the book written by Al Hujjatul Islam Imam Abu Hamid Al Ghazali rahimahullah
entitled Ayyuhal Walad ( My Beloved Child). We are familiar to the book and the
book itself has been widely used in classroom and other religious classes.
Hence, while reading Sincere Counsel to The Students of Sacred Knowledge
written by Al Imam Al Hafiz Abul Faraj ibn al Jauzi rahimahullah, it reminds us
a lot to Imam Al Ghazali’s writings.
Firstly, the book was
dedicated to Imam Al Jauzi’s own son because of his concern and love towards
the son whom he saw starts to deviate from the right path. Meanwhile, Ayyuhal
Walad was a respond to a student who requested Imam Al Ghazali to write a
letter of advices and reminders to him due to his dearly love towards his
teacher, Imam Al Ghazali. Secondly, Sincere Counsel to The Students of Sacred
Knowledge contains a lot of beautiful and meaningful advises that should be
practiced by all Muslims. Similar to Ayyuhal Walad, twenty-five advises given
by Imam Al Ghazali touches the hearts of those who read it. It is wonderful to
read another beautiful book of advices and counsel which gives us new insights
and inspirations towards a better life as students.
We believe that among
the main lessons we obtained from reading Sincere Counsel to The Students of
Sacred Knowledge is a father’s love is sacred and unconditional. Imam Al Jauzi
was known as a great scholar whom Imam Al Hafiz Al Dhahabi rahimahullah
referred to as someone who will not be another one like him while Imam Al Hafiz
Ibn Rajab rahimahullah said that the heedless would be reminded, the ignorant
would come to know, the sinners would repent and the polytheists would become Muslims
after attending his gathering. It clearly indicates that Imam Al Jauzi was a
man of wisdom and his speech went deep into people’s heart.
However, it failed to
reach his son’s heart, Abul Qasim Badrudin Ali ibn Al Jauzi rahimahullah. He
involved in idle play and did some impermissible acts. Imam Al Jauzi felt
responsible as a head of the family to guard his son from the hellfire and
therefore wrote the book for his son. He did not punish or reprimanded his son
rather he wrote such beautiful advises and reminders to the son. Regardless of
how much the son had hurt him by selling his works and books with cheaper price
and other impermissible act, Imam Al Jauzi remained calm and accepted his son
knowing that he was slipped from the straight path and strive to bring him back
on track.
This is indeed a true
love from a father towards a son of his. In the Quran, Allah SWT mentioned
about Luqman, the wise man who gave precious and beautiful reminders to his son
which can be found in the Surah Luqman. This is another example of how a true
love of a father encouraged him to give a sincere and beautiful counsel to his
son in order to lead him a good life not only in this world but in the
hereafter. The counsel was not only to be heard by his son but also Allah SWT
The All Hearing that it was then recorded in the holy book of Quran and to be
read by hundreds and millions of Muslims up until today.
In addition to that, we
can see the crucial role played by a father in shaping his children. There is a
hadith reported by Abdullah bin
Umar radhiallahu anhu “Every one of
you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock. The leader of people is a
guardian and is responsible for his subjects. A man is the guardian of his
family and he is responsible for them. A woman is the guardian of her husband’s
home and his children and she is responsible for them. The servant of a man is
a guardian of the property of his master and he is responsible for it. Surely,
every one of you is a shepherd and responsible for his flock.”
Hence, as a head of the family, a father
should be aware of his responsibility towards his children. Imam Al Jauzi
stressed on the learning of sacred knowledge to his sons. He used to bring his
sons to his gatherings and the sons will learn from him and later preach to
others. When his son slipped, he wrote to remind him. He did not utilise his
power as the head of the family to physically punish or reprimand the son
rather he used a wise approach. He understood that children are amanah
given by Allah SWT in which Allah SWT commanded in Surah At Tahrim verse
6;
Apart from that, we can see that faith cannot
be inherited. Imam Al Jauzi was one of the prominent ulama’ in his time but his
own son deviated from the straight path. Somehow, Allah The All Knowing tested
him with the death of his children though Allah has bestowed him to have 10
children, but most of them died. Leaving a son that did not have the same
interests as his (sacred knowledge). This shows that not all of the things will
passed to the person that we love the most. In verse 56 Surah At Tahrim, Allah
SWT mentioned that “Indeed, you do not guide whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills. And He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided.”
In fact, in the Quran,
we know about the story of Prophet Nuh alaihissalam and his son who refused to
get on board of the ark due to his ignorant and therefore drowned by the huge flood
and story of wife of Prophet Lut alaihissalam who refused to belief to oneness
of Allah and chose to stay with the ones who committed homosexual relationship.
Verily, faith is not an object that we can pass down to our next generation.
Yes, our sons and daughters are definitely Muslims by birth but the faith that
resides in the hearts cannot be simply inherited. It has to be cultured, nurtured,
taught and educated along their lives.
The hadith of Prophet
Muhammad SAW mentioned that "Each child is born in a
state of fitrah, and it is his parents make him a Jew, Christian or a
Zoroastrian”. During early years of
childhood, parents play an important role in shaping their children’s
personality and behaviour besides developing their physical, socio-emotional,
and cognitive development. Later after
the child grows, it is up to the child himself to further develop the good fitrah
by acquisition of good moral conduct. However, hidayah is owned by Allah SWT
and only Him the one who is able to guide someone to receive the hidayah. “Whoever Allah guides - he is the [rightly] guided; and whoever He sends astray - it is those who are the losers.” Al Isra, 178.
Furthermore, we also learned on how time is
very precious and we have to make the most of every seconds. Allah SWT
mentioned in Surah Al Asr verse 1 to 3; “By time, indeed, mankind is in
loss, except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised
each other to truth and advised each other to patience.” Prior to this
surah, we were able to see how Imam Al Jauzi managed his time for knowledge
acquisition without neglecting his obligatory deeds, virtuous voluntary deeds
and recitation of the Holy Quran. He
also preached and gave exhortation to public and authored many books.
Imam Al Jauzi was strongly against those who
waste time for things that is not beneficial. Prophet Muhammad SAW said,
reported by Abu Hurairah radhiallahu anhu "Part of the perfection of
one's Islam is his leaving that which does not concern him." We were impressed to read about Rabiatul
Adawiyah who lay down for a while after praying all night but got up frightened
saying to herself “Sleep in the grave is long”. True believers will always look
with akhirah point of view and not restricted to this world only. They
look beyond this dunya and they act accordingly to attain the pleasure
of Allah SWT.
However today, with the advancement of the
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), lots of new gadget have been
invented and introduced parallel to the rapid progression of social media
network such as WhatsApp, FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram and so on. The
availability of these gadgets and social media network has distracted Muslims
from remembering Allah SWT. For instance, at a bus stop stand, we barely see
Quran or tasbih beads in the hands of Muslims but we surely can observe
majority of Muslims are getting busy with their hand phones, Tablets and many
more while waiting for the bus to come. Sadly, this is a common situation of
Muslims nowadays.
We normally whined and complained on how
short time is especially when there are lots of assignment to be done, project
papers to be completed, report to be written, quizzes and examinations to be
studied, drawings to be submitted, models to be constructed, lectures to be
reviewed, and many other tasks as students and also other commitments as members
of certain associations and societies in co-curricular activities. Some may say
that the responsibilities and duties we have are even more than the time
itself. But, if we are to reflect on the 24 hours given by Allah SWT, it is
surely enough for us to utilize as He knows the best what we know not. Hence,
if we plan and manage our time properly and willing to sacrifice some time of
sleeping, eating, playing and resting by
prioritizing tasks, the 24 hours will be just enough.
Besides that, too much love in this world
will lead human to astray. In Islam, the aim of knowledge is to know the truth
and truth here is referring to Allah SWT. Allah SWT mentioned in the Quran on
the two main roles of man; as a servant and as a khalifah of Allah SWT.
Therefore, we have to fulfil our duties according to what Allah SWT had
commanded and safeguard ourselves from slipping and deviating from the straight
path. We should always pray that Allah SWT will not make dunya as our
biggest worry and concern in life. The world is just a mean of achieving the
happiness in the akhirah.
Imam Al Jauzi encouraged practicing isolation
which is the basis of all good. Prophet Muhammad SAW isolated himself in The
Cave of Hira’ contemplating and thinking about the truth as he was feeling
uneasy due the misconduct and immoral acts of the residents of Makkah at that
time. Isolation serves as a way to avoid bad companies whom may influence us to
do impermissible acts and immoral conduct which contradict to our religious
belief. By isolating ourselves, we are
able to reflect on ourselves and the environment surrounds us which leads to
thinking and reasoning about the truth which leads us to know Allah SWT, The
Most High and The Greatest.
Apart from that, we should never lose hope in
pursuing knowledge though it is tough and tiring. Knowledge is something
precious and priceless which requires effort and hard works for it to be
obtained. Past scholars travel on camels and horses for months just to acquire
knowledge. Whenever they heard about one prominent scholar in one particular
place, they will immediately travel to reach there to learn from the scholar.
Prophet Muhammad SAW said “Whoever embarks the journey of getting knowledge,
Allah will make ease of his way to the Paradise”.
But, how are we to mention about the history
of past scholars’ dedication and commitment in pursuing knowledge without
making comparison to ourselves today? Before, it was tough and tiring for the
scholars but they never gave up nor they got frustrated. They had to travel for
months leaving their wife and children just to learn one hadith. Yet they
remained steadfast and work their very best to acquire knowledge. They later
became a great ‘alim , came out with solutions to various problems and
authored a lot of books that became references until today.
In comparison, we nowadays are equipped with
all resources and references which are easily available but still we are not
able to produce something better or to come out with better ideas. We sit in
proper classroom with air-conditioner but still we complaint on how the
facilities should be improved. We only have to walk a few miles from mahallah
to our respective kulliyyah but still we whine on how tired and
exhausted we are. Whenever we face obstacles and challenges in our studies, we
tend to feel demotivated and frustrated not being able to accept failures and
feel afraid and scared to make mistakes.
We focus on our studies to achieve good grades and obtain high CGPA
while past scholars, they were very sincere their pursuit of knowledge. We are nothing compared to the past scholars.
May Allah SWT forgive us and make us among
those who are sincere in seeking knowledge for the sake of Allah SWT alone. May
Allah SWT increase our knowledge and the understanding of the knowledge.
Verily, reading through Sincere Counsel to The Students of Sacred Knowledge
inspires us in many ways. May Allah SWT bless the author of the book, Imam Abul
Faraj Ibn Al Jauzi and also his son, Abul Qasim Badruddin Ali Al Jauzi and may
Allah SWT give them the best reward of all rewards – Al Jannatul Firdaus.
Allahu'alam.
p/s: assignment ungs2040. hehe. Lesson learnt from reading Sincere Counsel for Students of Sacred Knowledge by Ibnul Jauzi. Alhamdulillah dapat 19/20. Ngee~ Buat waktu Kak Umi demam. Huhu. Sambil taip, sambil tengokkan kak Umi dan Atok kak Umi. Hee.
