# You Choose To Be Learned or Lost | Midnight Majlis

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** Midnight Majlis
**Published:** 2025-03-23
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/TrjuQcAql_E
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/you-choose-to-be-learned-or-lost-midnight-majlis
**Topics:** Acts of Worship, Sharia

## Description
Is your knowledge making you worse? You can memorize verses, master texts, even preach to others—and still be far from Allah. So what kind of knowledge actually purifies the soul? In this Midnight Majlis reflection, Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Yaser Birjas explore Ibn Hazm’s advice about knowledge,...

## Transcript
**[0:00]** As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Alhamdulillah rabbil alameen, wa salatu wa salamu ala nabiyyina Muhammadin (ﷺ) wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam tasliman kathiran amma ba'd. Welcome back to the third night of the last ten nights, the 23rd night of Ramadan, this year from Valley Ranch Islamic Center.

**[0:16]** As we study together the beautiful book of Imam Ibn Hazm, Al-Akhlaq wa al-Siyar, Morals and Behaviors. Alhamdulillah, we have here Shaykh Omar. As always, we exchange these thoughts and ideas. And we were discussing this chapter actually earlier on the subject of knowledge.

**[0:34]** So those who are having the English version of it, it's going to be chapter 4, page 12, inshallah. Chapter 4, page 12. You can follow with us inshallah. If you have the Arabic version, it's on page 87, inshallah. Shaykh Omar, we were talking about this earlier, subhanAllah, the beginning of the night,

**[0:50]** how amazing this chapter is on the subject of knowledge, how Ibn Hazm, rahimahullah, the way he views the subject of knowledge and its value and how important it is for every human being and every individual, it's very unique. So bismillah, take us through that journey. Jazakumullah khair.

**[1:06]** So just to build, the first night we talked about what? The removal of what, as the goal of every human being? The removal of anxiety. And then yesterday we talked about what? The removal of ego, right? So the type of knowledge that Ibn Hazm, rahimahullah, is talking about here

**[1:24]** is that which removes anxiety and ego, right? So basically he's talking about higher pursuits, and you're right, it's the pursuit of knowledge that ultimately he sees as such a high pursuit. So we'll start inshallah. Qala rahimahullah Ibn Hazm:

**[1:40]** "Wa amma al-ilmu fa fadluhu azim." He says, "As for knowledge, its virtue is immense." "Wa huwa al-ladhi yajma'u laka al-fadail kullaha." "It is that which gathers for you all virtues."

**[1:56]** "Wa yaksibuka al-hasanat kullaha." "And it earns for you all good deeds." "Wa yughnika 'an al-shukuk al-mutiba." "And it suffices you from exhausting doubts."

**[2:12]** "Wa 'an al-amal al-kadhiba." "And from false hopes." "Wa 'an al-afkar al-mu'lima." "And from painful thoughts."

**[2:28]** "Fa in lam yakun fi fadlihi illa hadha la kafa." "If there were no virtue in it except this, it would suffice." So he's saying, look, knowledge, its virtue is immense. It gathers for you all virtues, it earns for you all good deeds.

**[2:44]** It helps you, it removes all your doubtful thoughts. Like when you have knowledge, all doubts are gone, alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. And these are exhausting doubts. You know, some people, they keep back and forth thinking about stuff that worries them and start getting into anxiety and they feel scared of these thoughts.

**[3:00]** He goes, knowledge will remove that for you. And also having false hopes for things. They keep trying to hope for things that will bring you nothing but pain. Like, for example, the pursuit of haram.

**[3:16]** They hope to get this much money so they can acquire a specific gain from this dunya or commit a sin, just false hopes. Knowledge will help you cut those hopes out. And also, it will suffice you from going through thoughts and ideas,

**[3:32]** building ideas that will bring you nothing but pain. Keep trying to build in your mind an idea that is not even achievable or wrong or haram and bring you nothing but pain. He says, if that is not enough as a rada, a deterrent,

**[3:48]** if the ilm is not enough to deter you from these thoughts, he goes, then I don't know what else I can tell you about its benefit in addition to what we mentioned before. Then he made a comparison. He said, that's why you see the kings,

**[4:04]** he has animosity about the political class of his time, obviously, from what happened to him. That's why you see all these kings doing what? They don't have that himmah, that high aspiration to pursue that knowledge. So what do they do? They go distract themselves with things like he mentioned over here:

**[4:20]** playing chess, playing games, and hunting, and drinking, and singing, and partying, and clubbing, basically. And that's what they do because they don't have that resolve or that himmah, that high aspiration to be knowledgeable people.

**[4:36]** So he says, "Fa ma al-fa'ida min dhalika?" Like, basically, what did I get out of this? Nothing. So is there any benefit from what they're doing? Absolutely nothing. Can I actually comment on his breakdown here?

**[4:52]** This is a different approach to ilm than any book of tazkiyah where you read about the virtues of ilm. Usually, when you open up, like Mukhtasar Minhaj al-Qasidin, which we study, ilm comes very quickly. But when you're studying the virtues of knowledge,

**[5:08]** it's fadl al-alim, the virtue of the scholar, or the virtue of... But here he's actually talking about your psychological well-being as a result of studying Islam. That's actually incredible. Your psychological well-being as a result of being thoroughly studied in Islam.

**[5:24]** So the first one is doubts. Your doubts are exhausting you. Okay, "Innama yakhsha Allaha min ibadihi al-ulama." Those who truly are in awe of Allah are people of knowledge, not people who indulge themselves in theory

**[5:40]** or indulge themselves in all these philosophies and talk about Islam in an academic way. You know, subhanAllah, one of those beautiful things I heard from Shaykh Tahir Wyatt, hafidh Allah, and I actually included it in my series, that some people know about Allah, but they don't know Allah. I loved how he said that. Some people know about Allah, but they don't know Allah.

**[5:56]** So I stole that from Shaykh Tahir. I've never stolen anything from Shaykh Yasser. I'll give you one. People have information about Allah. They don't have knowledge about Allah. Because Allah says, "Fa'lam annahu la ilaha illallah." Have the knowledge that there is no God worthy of worship but Allah.

**[6:12]** So people don't really have the knowledge of Allah. They have information about Allah, which is, subhanAllah, a lot of our younger generation today, and I see that as well. People come out, you know, boldly speaking about this, you know, in social media, why they left Islam, which brings a valid point

**[6:28]** that you would say is based on knowledge. Yeah, and you don't see people that are students of knowledge leaving Islam, like you see people that reach the epitome of knowledge in other traditions leaving those traditions to come to Islam as a natural progression.

**[6:44]** Like, I came to a realization that this is the way of Ibrahim (AS), this is the way of Isa (AS). How many students of knowledge do you see leaving Islam? Because even when you're reading a book of taharah, you're increasing in your yaqeen, you're increasing in your certainty.

**[7:00]** Sorry, it's a shameless plug. You're increasing in your certainty, you're increasing in your faith. I'm serious. You study water in the Sharia, you're like, if this is how much we have to learn about water, then how much more is there? This is so clearly based in something divine

**[7:16]** that Allah Azza wa Jalla has given us the basis by which we can know so much around us. That's why knowledge became a culture in Islam. How is it that ilm produced the greatest societies? How is it that Muslim scholars became at the forefront of mathematics and science and medicine?

**[7:32]** Because knowledge becomes addictive. And that's something that he's talking about here. Like, it becomes an addiction, and it dispels exhausting doubts. So the first thing is you become solid in your faith. So the first, you know, when someone comes to me and says that they're thinking about leaving Islam

**[7:48]** or that they're having questions about their faith, the first thing I say to them is, well, not everyone, obviously it's a different situation here and there, but one of the first things I usually say to someone is, like, did you ever really give it a chance before you left it? Like, did you ever really study it in order for you to come to the conclusion that it's not for you?

**[8:04]** Most of the time it's a personal trauma or something that's inducing the doubt, something emotional. But like, hey, did you ever really dive deep into this? Because there's something, subhanAllah, when you're in it, that peace of mind. Remember yesterday we were talking about peace of mind? Peace of mind.

**[8:20]** I know that I'm studying al-haqq. Like, I study the Prophet's life (ﷺ), and every single time I open up a book of seerah or anything about the Prophet (ﷺ), sadaqa Rasulullah (ﷺ), sadaqa Rasulullah (ﷺ), sadaqa Rasulullah (ﷺ). Like, this man is indeed a Prophet of Allah, and he speaks the truth.

**[8:36]** You become more attached to it. So dispelling of doubts. And then he mentions the endless fantasies that only produce stress, right? So he's talking about this world. If you know the nature of this world, then you won't be deceived by this world.

**[8:52]** So he's talking about the psychology of knowledge again. Like, I want to memorize more, I want to learn more, I want to read more, I'm getting addicted to this. So I'm not going to be deceived by all of these other lowly pursuits in this situation. And then the mental burden of a painful distraction.

**[9:08]** When you go through the natural difficulties of life, you will immediately go to Yusuf (AS), you will go to Ayyub (AS), you will go to this person and that person, you will go to Ta'if, you will go to Am al-Huzn, you will go to these beautiful words

**[9:24]** and these beautiful books of tazkiyah and the tribulations of the scholars, and it will give you peace of mind. Like, wait a minute, they went through this as well. You're elevating yourself, and you're putting yourself in the fraternity of these scholars. So be a scholar or be a student or be a follower.

**[9:40]** Be a scholar, be a student, be a lover, or be a follower, but don't be a fifth thing. Don't exclude yourself from the fraternity that surrounds knowledge. And wallahi, what I want to share with you all, dear brothers and sisters, come to the halaqat in the masjid after Ramadan is over.

**[9:56]** Come to the halaqat. Don't just suffice yourself with listening to lectures online. Go to the masjid, sit in the circles of knowledge. Shaykh Yasser does Taqseed, where they're reading classical texts as well. Be a part of your local halaqat, your local study circles,

**[10:12]** and you will see that not only is your faith increasing, but your worries are decreasing. Like, you're becoming a more purposeful person. When you're more purposeful, then it puts everything in perspective. So knowledge improves your psychology as well.

**[10:28]** I want to comment on something that is very important. I don't want to offend anybody here, but again, one of the signs of truly seeking knowledge, the knowledge that stays with you, is taking notes, really. And if you're not taking notes, you're just only enjoying the moment, that's all.

**[10:44]** You feel that your iman is increasing. And I heard from a brother yesterday, he's here in the crowd as well. He goes, I was sitting there, and every second you say something, I'm going to read these ones. He goes, it was all amazing. I don't know which one to keep.

**[11:00]** I said, if you really were taking notes, you wouldn't miss any one of them. So, my dear brothers and sisters, our scholars say, first of all, knowledge requires practice, which means if the knowledge is followed with practice, it stays.

**[11:16]** And also they said, "Al-ilmu saydu wa al-kitabatu qayduhu." Knowledge is just like a game, like you go hunting, for example, and your documentation is just like these strong ropes that you hold these animals to or these games to.

**[11:32]** Make sure that you hold your prize by tying it down very well. So documentation of knowledge is extremely, extremely important. The other thing, Shaykh, when you were talking about, as we were talking about knowledge, there is nothing little when it comes to the subject of knowledge,

**[11:48]** as long as it's truly a piece of knowledge or a piece of information that translates into knowledge. It's always virtuous. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, when He says in the Quran, He said, "Kunu rabbaniyyin bima kuntum tu'allimuna al-kitaba wa bima kuntum tadrusun."

**[12:04]** Be Rabbani by what you were teaching the book and what you were studying. But be Rabbani. The word Rabbani comes from the word rabb, which means to nurture, to grow, to raise. So the ulama, they say, "Al-Rabbani huwa al-ladhi yurabbi al-nasa bi sighar al-ilm qabla kibarih."

**[12:20]** The Rabbani is the one who raises people with the small matters of knowledge before the big matters of knowledge. So you start with the basics. And that's why, subhanAllah, when you look at the books of fiqh, they start with what? Taharah, purification.

**[12:36]** And some people, they say, "Why do we have to start with taharah? Why don't we start with something more interesting, like jihad or something like that?" Because that's what really, it's interesting. But to begin with something as basic as how even to use the bathroom, for them that's very inferior.

**[12:52]** And Hudhayfah (رضي الله عنه), when he was asked one time by an unbeliever, he says, like, your messenger, he taught you everything, including how to use the bathroom. He didn't use it that way. He actually used the actual slang word for using the bathroom.

**[13:08]** I don't need that right now. We already had the Roman's risk moment last year. Let's keep it clean. So he said to him, your Prophet (ﷺ) taught you everything, no, no, don't do it, please don't do it, how to use the bathroom. He said, yes, he did. He taught us how to use the bathroom.

**[13:24]** He said, basically, when you come to the bathroom, you know how to enter with your left foot and come out, of course, with your right, and don't use your right hand, and make the du'a, the basic things, the basic thing that I can tell a lot of adults probably they don't really know them, even though they probably have learned them at a young age,

**[13:40]** but we don't practice that. So knowledge, what he means by that again is the knowledge that stays with you, and that's when he comes next to the point. He said, "Wa man qadara ala talab al-ilm al-a'la fa lam yatlubhu fa huwa ka man yazra'u al-sha'ir fi ard al-hintah."

**[13:56]** He said, look, someone who is capable of seeking higher level of knowledge but they don't take that path, like they don't pursue the higher level of knowledge and education for themselves in matters of dunya and the akhirah as well too, it doesn't really matter. Like, if you can pursue higher education

**[14:12]** to become more knowledgeable and smarter and hopefully have a depth of that knowledge, because this is just like someone who is, unfortunately, planting corn in a field that gives you wheat. Like, yeah, you might get that corn, but it's not as valuable, it's not as good, it's not as maybe lucrative for you.

**[14:28]** So some of us are sitting here, their talents, it's amazing, unbelievable. And I think what's happening today is teaching many people to kind of summarize all their skills into one particular question, an equation I need to solve so they can get a PhD for it. And after that, that's it.

**[14:44]** They just kind of limit themselves and their ability to become encyclopedia of knowledge simply because they have been taught to take that path. I think, Shaykh, it's also like what I get from this text is why are you selling yourself so short? Like, you look around, I memorize a couple of verses of the Quran,

**[15:00]** I know a little bit here and there. Who are you comparing yourself to? We know people that convert to Islam, and within a few years, they memorize the Quran, they speak Arabic, they read the text and understand it. Why are you comparing yourself to the quote-unquote the average Muslim?

**[15:16]** So, yeah, you can say I know how to pray, I know how to do this, I know how to do that. Okay, you have been Muslim for 20, 25, 30 years. Why are you putting yourself at such a low level? You got your corn, you got a little bit here and there.

**[15:32]** And we are not saying the only alternative is to become a scholar, to become a shaykh, to become Imam Bukhari. No, no. Why weren't you building yourself this entire time? You have more capability, and Allah will ask you about that capacity as well. Just like Allah will ask you about the capacity of your health and your wealth and everything else,

**[15:48]** you had capacity to study more, to learn more. What caused you to learn less? By the way, Shaykh, one more thing I just came to my mind from yesterday. Jahl, the word jahl, of course, ignorance.

**[16:04]** We talk about jahl. Allah speaks of that pre-prophetic era as jahl. You know what the word jahl also means in Arabic poetry? Anyone know? Anger. Someone who is foul, who is angry, right? And subhanAllah, this idea, that's actually how some of the scholars of tafsir would talk about the ayah,

**[16:20]** "Wa ibad al-Rahman alladhina yamshuna ala al-ard hawnan wa idha khatabahum al-jahiluna qalu salama." The servants of the Most Merciful, when the ignorant approach them, ignorant of what? There are different Arabic poetries here. The word jahl, ignorance here, refers to a person who is actually foul-mouthed, who has no sense of control over their temper.

**[16:36]** What are they ignorant of? They are ignorant of themselves, right? They become fools. How are they acting foolish? How are they acting ignorant? The ignorance of Allah is the ignorance of self. You stop knowing how to behave, you stop knowing how to act, you stop knowing how to pursue, what to pursue.

**[16:52]** That ignorance is going to make you ignorant of purpose, ignorant of potential, as is what is being described here. Why are you pursuing something so little? You know what you are capable of. You could have done this a long time ago. You could have read so much more. I ask each and every single one of you,

**[17:08]** as we come towards the end of Ramadan, did you really read as much Quran as you were capable of? Why did you set the bar so low for yourself? You could have done more. You know that if you put a higher bar for yourself, you would have pushed yourself further. Why were you complacent with such a low goal for yourself?

**[17:24]** This is also part of what he is speaking about here in this regard. Now he is moving to talk about, now spreading that knowledge. His two points over here. Number one, make sure you don't spread that knowledge to the people who don't really appreciate that. Frankly, this is the most common today

**[17:40]** in our social media era. Why? Because a lot of people, they look for controversial questions and answers and issues, and then they go and put maybe a one-minute, two-minute video on that just for the sake of adding content. And eventually, you can check the comment section.

**[17:56]** The comment section is just unbelievable because these people don't even understand the background of the matter. So everybody is giving their fatwa because they have a microphone and they have access to a keyboard. So the idea is you have to be careful, even as a student of knowledge. When you give knowledge, give it to those who appreciate that

**[18:12]** and make sure to gauge and scale your audience, your people, your crowd, even online as well too. Because you have to be careful. The second thing he says, "Wa la tamnahu ila man la yastahiqquhu." Don't give it to those who don't deserve it. And then he says,

**[18:28]** "Wa la tamnahu ila man yastahiqquhu." And don't withhold it from those who deserve it. So he's saying, look, be careful. Don't give knowledge to those who don't deserve it, and don't withhold it from those who deserve it. So there's a balance here.

**[18:44]** You have to be wise in how you spread knowledge, inshallah ta'ala. Now, before we close, actually there is that point that we marveled at when we were talking earlier about it, subhanAllah. I want you to read and translate that for us. I love this section. This is like the real Ibn Hazm.

**[19:00]** So if there is any scholar in Islamic history that can be described as no filter, it is Ibn Hazm, rahimahullah, by the way. Like I said, even that praised him. They said, sometimes his tongue was sharp on some of the other scholars and things of that sort. And he is very transparent, very honest about himself as well too.

**[19:16]** The whole chapter that he is going to speak about his own faults, subhanAllah. Yeah, we have a chapter on his own faults where he writes about his faults. But he says, "Ghazani ahl al-jahl marratayni min umri." He said, ignorant people, again, if you were to use slang,

**[19:32]** but we are not going to do that because we are not going to go viral, right. But ignorant people made me mad twice in my life. One, when I was in my own days of ignorance, when they spoke about things that they had no idea about. So they spoke about things that they did not understand.

**[19:48]** And I was, I was very angry. And then he says, "Wa al-ukhra ba'd an a'lamani Allah." And the second time was after Allah taught me, when I see them speaking about things that they have no idea about. So he's saying, look, ignorant people made me mad twice. Once when I was ignorant myself, and once when I became knowledgeable.

**[20:04]** Because I see them speaking about things that they have no idea about. And this is a very important point. Like, you know, when you see people speaking about things that they have no idea about, it's very frustrating. And Ibn Hazm is saying, look, this is something that made me mad twice in my life.

**[20:20]** Once when I was ignorant, and once when I became knowledgeable. So, you know, be careful. Don't speak about things that you have no idea about. And if you see people speaking about things that they have no idea about, don't engage with them. Just move on, inshallah ta'ala.

**[20:36]** Now, he says, "Wa amma al-ilm fa fadluhu azim." He says, as for knowledge, its virtue is immense. "Wa huwa al-ladhi yajma'u laka al-fadail kullaha." It is that which gathers for you all virtues.

**[20:52]** "Wa yaksibuka al-hasanat kullaha." And it earns for you all good deeds. "Wa yughnika 'an al-shukuk al-mutiba." And it suffices you from exhausting doubts.

**[21:08]** "Wa 'an al-amal al-kadhiba." And from false hopes. "Wa 'an al-afkar al-mu'lima." And from painful thoughts.

**[21:24]** "Fa in lam yakun fi fadlihi illa hadha la kafa." If there were no virtue in it except this, it would suffice. So he's saying, look, knowledge, its virtue is immense. It gathers for you all virtues, it earns for you all good deeds.

**[21:40]** It helps you, it removes all your doubtful thoughts. Like when you have knowledge, all doubts are gone, alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. And these are exhausting doubts. You know, some people, they keep back and forth thinking about stuff that worries them and start getting into anxiety and they feel scared of these thoughts.

**[21:56]** He goes, knowledge will remove that for you. And also having false hopes for things. They keep trying to hope for things that will bring you nothing but pain. Like, for example, the pursuit of haram.

**[22:12]** They hope to get this much money so they can acquire a specific gain from this dunya or commit a sin, just false hopes. Knowledge will help you cut those hopes out. And also, it will suffice you from going through thoughts and ideas,

**[22:28]** building ideas that will bring you nothing but pain. Keep trying to build in your mind an idea that is not even achievable or wrong or haram and bring you nothing but pain. He says, if that is not enough as a rada, a deterrent,

**[22:44]** if the ilm is not enough to deter you from these thoughts, he goes, then I don't know what else I can tell you about its benefit in addition to what we mentioned before. Then he made a comparison. He said, that's why you see the kings,

**[23:00]** he has animosity about the political class of his time, obviously, from what happened to him. That's why you see all these kings doing what? They don't have that himmah, that high aspiration to pursue that knowledge. So what do they do? They go distract themselves with things like he mentioned over here:

**[23:16]** playing chess, playing games, and hunting, and drinking, and singing, and partying, and clubbing, basically. And that's what they do because they don't have that resolve or that himmah, that high aspiration to be knowledgeable people.

**[23:32]** So he says, "Fa ma al-fa'ida min dhalika?" Like, basically, what did I get out of this? Nothing. So is there any benefit from what they're doing? Absolutely nothing. Can I actually comment on his breakdown here?

**[23:48]** This is a different approach to ilm than any book of tazkiyah where you read about the virtues of ilm. Usually, when you open up, like Mukhtasar Minhaj al-Qasidin, which we study, ilm comes very quickly. But when you're studying the virtues of knowledge,

**[24:04]** it's fadl al-alim, the virtue of the scholar, or the virtue of... But here he's actually talking about your psychological well-being as a result of studying Islam. That's actually incredible. Your psychological well-being as a result of being thoroughly studied in Islam.

**[24:20]** So the first one is doubts. Your doubts are exhausting you. Okay, "Innama yakhsha Allaha min ibadihi al-ulama." Those who truly are in awe of Allah are people of knowledge, not people who indulge themselves in theory

**[24:36]** or indulge themselves in all these philosophies and talk about Islam in an academic way. You know, subhanAllah, one of those beautiful things I heard from Shaykh Tahir Wyatt, hafidh Allah, and I actually included it in my series, that some people know about Allah, but they don't know Allah. I loved how he said that. Some people know about Allah, but they don't know Allah.

**[24:52]** So I stole that from Shaykh Tahir. I've never stolen anything from Shaykh Yasser. I'll give you one. People have information about Allah. They don't have knowledge about Allah. Because Allah says, "Fa'lam annahu la ilaha illallah." Have the knowledge that there is no God worthy of worship but Allah.

**[25:08]** So people don't really have the knowledge of Allah. They have information about Allah, which is, subhanAllah, a lot of our younger generation today, and I see that as well. People come out, you know, boldly speaking about this, you know, in social media, why they left Islam, which brings a valid point

**[25:24]** that you would say is based on knowledge. Yeah, and you don't see people that are students of knowledge leaving Islam, like you see people that reach the epitome of knowledge in other traditions leaving those traditions to come to Islam as a natural progression.

**[25:40]** Like, I came to a realization that this is the way of Ibrahim (AS), this is the way of Isa (AS). How many students of knowledge do you see leaving Islam? Because even when you're reading a book of taharah, you're increasing in your yaqeen, you're increasing in your certainty.

**[25:56]** Sorry, it's a shameless plug. You're increasing in your certainty, you're increasing in your faith. I'm serious. You study water in the Sharia, you're like, if this is how much we have to learn about water, then how much more is there? This is so clearly based in something divine

**[26:12]** that Allah Azza wa Jalla has given us the basis by which we can know so much around us. That's why knowledge became a culture in Islam. How is it that ilm produced the greatest societies? How is it that Muslim scholars became at the forefront of mathematics and science and medicine?

**[26:28]** Because knowledge becomes addictive. And that's something that he's talking about here. Like, it becomes an addiction, and it dispels exhausting doubts. So the first thing is you become solid in your faith. So the first, you know, when someone comes to me and says that they're thinking about leaving Islam

**[26:44]** or that they're having questions about their faith, the first thing I say to them is, well, not everyone, obviously it's a different situation here and there, but one of the first things I usually say to someone is, like, did you ever really give it a chance before you left it? Like, did you ever really study it in order for you to come to the conclusion that it's not for you?

**[27:00]** Most of the time it's a personal trauma or something that's inducing the doubt, something emotional. But like, hey, did you ever really dive deep into this? Because there's something, subhanAllah, when you're in it, that peace of mind. Remember yesterday we were talking about peace of mind? Peace of mind.

**[27:16]** I know that I'm studying al-haqq. Like, I study the Prophet's life (ﷺ), and every single time I open up a book of seerah or anything about the Prophet (ﷺ), sadaqa Rasulullah (ﷺ), sadaqa Rasulullah (ﷺ), sadaqa Rasulullah (ﷺ). Like, this man is indeed a Prophet of Allah, and he speaks the truth.

**[27:32]** You become more attached to it. So dispelling of doubts. And then he mentions the endless fantasies that only produce stress, right? So he's talking about this world. If you know the nature of this world, then you won't be deceived by this world.

**[27:48]** So he's talking about the psychology of knowledge again. Like, I want to memorize more, I want to learn more, I want to read more, I'm getting addicted to this. So I'm not going to be deceived by all of these other lowly pursuits in this situation. And then the mental burden of a painful distraction.

**[28:04]** When you go through the natural difficulties of life, you will immediately go to Yusuf (AS), you will go to Ayyub (AS), you will go to this person and that person, you will go to Ta'if, you will go to Am al-Huzn, you will go to these beautiful words

**[28:20]** and these beautiful books of tazkiyah and the tribulations of the scholars, and it will give you peace of mind. Like, wait a minute, they went through this as well. You're elevating yourself, and you're putting yourself in the fraternity of these scholars. So be a scholar or be a student or be a follower.

**[28:36]** Be a scholar, be a student, be a lover, or be a follower, but don't be a fifth thing. Don't exclude yourself from the fraternity that surrounds knowledge. And wallahi, what I want to share with you all, dear brothers and sisters, come to the halaqat in the masjid after Ramadan is over.

**[28:52]** Come to the halaqat. Don't just suffice yourself with listening to lectures online. Go to the masjid, sit in the circles of knowledge. Shaykh Yasser does Taqseed, where they're reading classical texts as well. Be a part of your local halaqat, your local study circles,

**[29:08]** and you will see that not only is your faith increasing, but your worries are decreasing. Like, you're becoming a more purposeful person. When you're more purposeful, then it puts everything in perspective. So knowledge improves your psychology as well.

**[29:24]** I want to comment on something that is very important. I don't want to offend anybody here, but again, one of the signs of truly seeking knowledge, the knowledge that stays with you, is taking notes, really. And if you're not taking notes, you're just only enjoying the moment, that's all.

**[29:40]** You feel that your iman is increasing. And I heard from a brother yesterday, he's here in the crowd as well. He goes, I was sitting there, and every second you say something, I'm going to read these ones. He goes, it was all amazing. I don't know which one to keep.

**[29:56]** I said, if you really were taking notes, you wouldn't miss any one of them. So, my dear brothers and sisters, our scholars say, first of all, knowledge requires practice, which means if the knowledge is followed with practice, it stays.

**[30:12]** And also they said, "Al-ilmu saydu wa al-kitabatu qayduhu." Knowledge is just like a game, like you go hunting, for example, and your documentation is just like these strong ropes that you hold these animals to or these games to.

**[30:28]** Make sure that you hold your prize by tying it down very well. So documentation of knowledge is extremely, extremely important. The other thing, Shaykh, when you were talking about, as we were talking about knowledge, there is nothing little when it comes to the subject of knowledge,

**[30:44]** as long as it's truly a piece of knowledge or a piece of information that translates into knowledge. It's always virtuous. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, when He says in the Quran, He said, "Kunu rabbaniyyin bima kuntum tu'allimuna al-kitaba wa bima kuntum tadrusun."

**[31:00]** Be Rabbani by what you were teaching the book and what you were studying. But be Rabbani. The word Rabbani comes from the word rabb, which means to nurture, to grow, to raise. So the ulama, they say, "Al-Rabbani huwa al-ladhi yurabbi al-nasa bi sighar al-ilm qabla kibarih."

**[31:16]** The Rabbani is the one who raises people with the small matters of knowledge before the big matters of knowledge. So you start with the basics. And that's why, subhanAllah, when you look at the books of fiqh, they start with what? Taharah, purification.

**[31:32]** And some people, they say, "Why do we have to start with taharah? Why don't we start with something more interesting, like jihad or something like that?" Because that's what really, it's interesting. But to begin with something as basic as how even to use the bathroom, for them that's very inferior.

**[31:48]** And Hudhayfah (رضي الله عنه), when he was asked one time by an unbeliever, he says, like, your messenger, he taught you everything, including how to use the bathroom. He didn't use it that way. He actually used the actual slang word for using the bathroom.

**[32:04]** I don't need that right now. We already had the Roman's risk moment last year. Let's keep it clean. So he said to him, your Prophet (ﷺ) taught you everything, no, no, don't do it, please don't do it, how to use the bathroom. He said, yes, he did. He taught us how to use the bathroom.

**[32:20]** He said, basically, when you come to the bathroom, you know how to enter with your left foot and come out, of course, with your right, and don't use your right hand, and make the du'a, the basic things, the basic thing that I can tell a lot of adults probably they don't really know them, even though they probably have learned them at a young age,

**[32:36]** but we don't practice that. So knowledge, what he means by that again is the knowledge that stays with you, and that's when he comes next to the point. He said, "Wa man qadara ala talab al-ilm al-a'la fa lam yatlubhu fa huwa ka man yazra'u al-sha'ir fi ard al-hintah."

**[32:52]** He said, look, someone who is capable of seeking higher level of knowledge but they don't take that path, like they don't pursue the higher level of knowledge and education for themselves in matters of dunya and the akhirah as well too, it doesn't really matter. Like, if you can pursue higher education

**[33:08]** to become more knowledgeable and smarter and hopefully have a depth of that knowledge, because this is just like someone who is, unfortunately, planting corn in a field that gives you wheat. Like, yeah, you might get that corn, but it's not as valuable, it's not as good, it's not as maybe lucrative for you.

**[33:24]** So some of us are sitting here, their talents, it's amazing, unbelievable. And I think what's happening today is teaching many people to kind of summarize all their skills into one particular question, an equation I need to solve so they can get a PhD for it. And after that, that's it.

**[33:40]** They just kind of limit themselves and their ability to become encyclopedia of knowledge simply because they have been taught to take that path. I think, Shaykh, it's also like what I get from this text is why are you selling yourself so short? Like, you look around, I memorize a couple of verses of the Quran,

**[33:56]** I know a little bit here and there. Who are you comparing yourself to? We know people that convert to Islam, and within a few years, they memorize the Quran, they speak Arabic, they read the text and understand it. Why are you comparing yourself to the quote-unquote the average Muslim?

**[34:12]** So, yeah, you can say I know how to pray, I know how to do this, I know how to do that. Okay, you have been Muslim for 20, 25, 30 years. Why are you putting yourself at such a low level? You got your corn, you got a little bit here and there.

**[34:28]** And we are not saying the only alternative is to become a scholar, to become a shaykh, to become Imam Bukhari. No, no. Why weren't you building yourself this entire time? You have more capability, and Allah will ask you about that capacity as well. Just like Allah will ask you about the capacity of your health and your wealth and everything else,

**[34:44]** you had capacity to study more, to learn more. What caused you to learn less? By the way, Shaykh, one more thing I just came to my mind from yesterday. Jahl, the word jahl, of course, ignorance.

**[35:00]** We talk about jahl. Allah speaks of that pre-prophetic era as jahl. You know what the word jahl also means in Arabic poetry? Anyone know? Anger. Someone who is foul, who is angry, right? And subhanAllah, this idea, that's actually how some of the scholars of tafsir would talk about the ayah,

**[35:16]** "Wa ibad al-Rahman alladhina yamshuna ala al-ard hawnan wa idha khatabahum al-jahiluna qalu salama." The servants of the Most Merciful, when the ignorant approach them, ignorant of what? There are different Arabic poetries here. The word jahl, ignorance here, refers to a person who is actually foul-mouthed, who has no sense of control over their temper.

**[35:32]** What are they ignorant of? They are ignorant of themselves, right? They become fools. How are they acting foolish? How are they acting ignorant? The ignorance of Allah is the ignorance of self. You stop knowing how to behave, you stop knowing how to act, you stop knowing how to pursue, what to pursue.

**[35:48]** That ignorance is going to make you ignorant of purpose, ignorant of potential, as is what is being described here. Why are you pursuing something so little? You know what you are capable of. You could have done this a long time ago. You could have read so much more. I ask each and every single one of you,

**[36:04]** as we come towards the end of Ramadan, did you really read as much Quran as you were capable of? Why did you set the bar so low for yourself? You could have done more. You know that if you put a higher bar for yourself, you would have pushed yourself further. Why were you complacent with such a low goal for yourself?

**[36:20]** This is also part of what he is speaking about here in this regard. Now he is moving to talk about, now spreading that knowledge. His two points over here. Number one, make sure you don't spread that knowledge to the people who don't really appreciate that. Frankly, this is the most common today

**[36:36]** in our social media era. Why? Because a lot of people, they look for controversial questions and answers and issues, and then they go and put maybe a one-minute, two-minute video on that just for the sake of adding content. And eventually, you can check the comment section.

**[36:52]** The comment section is just unbelievable because these people don't even understand the background of the matter. So everybody is giving their fatwa because they have a microphone and they have access to a keyboard. So the idea is you have to be careful, even as a student of knowledge. When you give knowledge, give it to those who appreciate that

**[37:08]** and make sure to gauge and scale your audience, your people, your crowd, even online as well too. Because you have to be careful. The second thing he says, "Wa la tamnahu ila man la yastahiqquhu." Don't give it to those who don't deserve it. And then he says,

**[37:24]** "Wa la tamnahu ila man yastahiqquhu." And don't withhold it from those who deserve it. So he's saying, look, be careful. Don't give knowledge to those who don't deserve it, and don't withhold it from those who deserve it. So there's a balance here.

**[37:40]** You have to be wise in how you spread knowledge, inshallah ta'ala. Now, before we close, actually there is that point that we marveled at when we were talking earlier about it, subhanAllah. I want you to read and translate that for us. I love this section. This is like the real Ibn Hazm.

**[37:56]** So if there is any scholar in Islamic history that can be described as no filter, it is Ibn Hazm, rahimahullah, by the way. Like I said, even that praised him. They said, sometimes his tongue was sharp on some of the other scholars and things of that sort. And he is very transparent, very honest about himself as well too.

**[38:12]** The whole chapter that he is going to speak about his own faults, subhanAllah. Yeah, we have a chapter on his own faults where he writes about his faults. But he says, "Ghazani ahl al-jahl marratayni min umri." He said, ignorant people, again, if you were to use slang,

**[38:28]** but we are not going to do that because we are not going to go viral, right. But ignorant people made me mad twice in my life. One, when I was in my own days of ignorance, when they spoke about things that they had no idea about. So they spoke about things that they did not understand.

**[38:44]** And I was, I was very angry. And then he says, "Wa al-ukhra ba'd an a'lamani Allah." And the second time was after Allah taught me, when I see them speaking about things that they have no idea about. So he's saying, look, ignorant people made me mad twice. Once when I was ignorant myself, and once when I became knowledgeable.

**[39:00]** Because I see them speaking about things that they have no idea about. And this is a very important point. Like, you know, when you see people speaking about things that they have no idea about, it's very frustrating. And Ibn Hazm is saying, look, this is something that made me mad twice in my life.

**[39:16]** Once when I was ignorant, and once when I became knowledgeable. So, you know, be careful. Don't speak about things that you have no idea about. And if you see people speaking about things that they have no idea about, don't engage with them. Just move on, inshallah ta'ala.

**[39:32]** Now, he says, "Wa amma al-ilm fa fadluhu azim." He says, as for knowledge, its virtue is immense. "Wa huwa al-ladhi yajma'u laka al-fadail kullaha." It is that which gathers for you all virtues.

**[39:48]** "Wa yaksibuka al-hasanat kullaha." And it earns for you all good deeds. "Wa yughnika 'an al-shukuk al-mutiba." And it suffices you from exhausting doubts.

**[40:04]** "Wa 'an al-amal al-kadhiba." And from false hopes. "Wa 'an al-afkar al-mu'lima." And from painful thoughts.

**[40:20]** "Fa in lam yakun fi fadlihi illa hadha la kafa." If there were no virtue in it except this, it would suffice. So he's saying, look, knowledge, its virtue is immense. It gathers for you all virtues, it earns for you all good deeds.

**[40:36]** It helps you, it removes all your doubtful thoughts. Like when you have knowledge, all doubts are gone, alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. And these are exhausting doubts. You know, some people, they keep back and forth thinking about stuff that worries them and start getting into anxiety and they feel scared of these thoughts.

**[40:52]** He goes, knowledge will remove that for you. And also having false hopes for things. They keep trying to hope for things that will bring you nothing but pain. Like, for example, the pursuit of haram.

**[41:08]** They hope to get this much money so they can acquire a specific gain from this dunya or commit a sin, just false hopes. Knowledge will help you cut those hopes out. And also, it will suffice you from going through thoughts and ideas,

**[41:24]** building ideas that will bring you nothing but pain. Keep trying to build in your mind an idea that is not even achievable or wrong or haram and bring you nothing but pain. He says, if that is not enough as a rada, a deterrent,

**[41:40]** if the ilm is not enough to deter you from these thoughts, he goes, then I don't know what else I can tell you about its benefit in addition to what we mentioned before. Then he made a comparison. He said, that's why you see the kings,

**[41:56]** he has animosity about the political class of his time, obviously, from what happened to him. That's why you see all these kings doing what? They don't have that himmah, that high aspiration to pursue that knowledge. So what do they do? They go distract themselves with things like he mentioned over here:

**[42:12]** playing chess, playing games, and hunting, and drinking, and singing, and partying, and clubbing, basically. And that's what they do because they don't have that resolve or that himmah, that high aspiration to be knowledgeable people.

**[42:28]** So he says, "Fa ma al-fa'ida min dhalika?" Like, basically, what did I get out of this? Nothing. So is there any benefit from what they're doing? Absolutely nothing. Can I actually comment on his breakdown here?

**[42:44]** This is a different approach to ilm than any book of tazkiyah where you read about the virtues of ilm. Usually, when you open up, like Mukhtasar Minhaj al-Qasidin, which we study, ilm comes very quickly. But when you're studying the virtues of knowledge,

**[43:00]** it's fadl al-alim, the virtue of the scholar, or the virtue of... But here he's actually talking about your psychological well-being as a result of studying Islam. That's actually incredible. Your psychological well-being as a result of being thoroughly studied in Islam.

**[43:16]** So the first one is doubts. Your doubts are exhausting you. Okay, "Innama yakhsha Allaha min ibadihi al-ulama." Those who truly are in awe of Allah are people of knowledge, not people who indulge themselves in theory

**[43:32]** or indulge themselves in all these philosophies and talk about Islam in an academic way. You know, subhanAllah, one of those beautiful things I heard from Shaykh Tahir Wyatt, hafidh Allah, and I actually included it in my series, that some people know about Allah, but they don't know Allah. I loved how he said that. Some people know about Allah, but they don't know Allah.

**[43:48]** So I stole that from Shaykh Tahir. I've never stolen anything from Shaykh Yasser. I'll give you one. People have information about Allah. They don't have knowledge about Allah. Because Allah says, "Fa'lam annahu la ilaha illallah." Have the knowledge that there is no God worthy of worship but Allah.

**[44:04]** So people don't really have the knowledge of Allah. They have information about Allah, which is, subhanAllah, a lot of our younger generation today, and I see that as well. People come out, you know, boldly speaking about this, you know, in social media, why they left Islam, which brings a valid point

**[44:20]** that you would say is based on knowledge. Yeah, and you don't see people that are students of knowledge leaving Islam, like you see people that reach the epitome of knowledge in other traditions leaving those traditions to come to Islam as a natural progression.

**[44:36]** Like, I came to a realization that this is the way of Ibrahim (AS), this is the way of Isa (AS). How many students of knowledge do you see leaving Islam? Because even when you're reading a book of taharah, you're increasing in your yaqeen, you're increasing in your certainty.

**[44:52]** Sorry, it's a shameless plug. You're increasing in your certainty, you're increasing in your faith. I'm serious. You study water in the Sharia, you're like, if this is how much we have to learn about water, then how much more is there? This is so clearly based in something divine

**[45:08]** that Allah Azza wa Jalla has given us the basis by which we can know so much around us. That's why knowledge became a culture in Islam. How is it that ilm produced the greatest societies? How is it that Muslim scholars became at the forefront of mathematics and science and medicine?

**[45:24]** Because knowledge becomes addictive. And that's something that he's talking about here. Like, it becomes an addiction, and it dispels exhausting doubts. So the first thing is you become solid in your faith. So the first, you know, when someone comes to me and says that they're thinking about leaving Islam

**[45:40]** or that they're having questions about their faith, the first thing I say to them is, well, not everyone, obviously it's a different situation here and there, but one of the first things I usually say to someone is, like, did you ever really give it a chance before you left it? Like, did you ever really study it in order for you to come to the conclusion that it's not for you?

**[45:56]** Most of the time it's a personal trauma or something that's inducing the doubt, something emotional. But like, hey, did you ever really dive deep into this? Because there's something, subhanAllah, when you're in it, that peace of mind. Remember yesterday we were talking about peace of mind? Peace of mind.

**[46:12]** I know that I'm studying al-haqq. Like, I study the Prophet's life (ﷺ), and every single time I open up a book of seerah or anything about the Prophet (ﷺ), sadaqa Rasulullah (ﷺ), sadaqa Rasulullah (ﷺ), sadaqa Rasulullah (ﷺ). Like, this man is indeed a Prophet of Allah, and he speaks the truth.

**[46:28]** You become more attached to it. So dispelling of doubts. And then he mentions the endless fantasies that only produce stress, right? So he's talking about this world. If you know the nature of this world, then you won't be deceived by this world.

**[46:44]** So he's talking about the psychology of knowledge again. Like, I want to memorize more, I want to learn more, I want to read more, I'm getting addicted to this. So I'm not going to be deceived by all of these other lowly pursuits in this situation. And then the mental burden of a painful distraction.

**[47:00]** When you go through the natural difficulties of life, you will immediately go to Yusuf (AS), you will go to Ayyub (AS), you will go to this person and that person, you will go to Ta'if, you will go to Am al-Huzn, you will go to these beautiful words

**[47:16]** and these beautiful books of tazkiyah and the tribulations of the scholars, and it will give you peace of mind. Like, wait a minute, they went through this as well. You're elevating yourself, and you're putting yourself in the fraternity of these scholars. So be a scholar or be a student or be a follower.

**[47:32]** Be a scholar, be a student, be a lover, or be a follower, but don't be a fifth thing. Don't exclude yourself from the fraternity that surrounds knowledge. And wallahi, what I want to share with you all, dear brothers and sisters, come to the halaqat in the masjid after Ramadan is over.

**[47:48]** Come to the halaqat. Don't just suffice yourself with listening to lectures online. Go to the masjid, sit in the circles of knowledge. Shaykh Yasser does Taqseed, where they're reading classical texts as well. Be a part of your local halaqat, your local study circles,

**[48:04]** and you will see that not only is your faith increasing, but your worries are decreasing. Like, you're becoming a more purposeful person. When you're more purposeful, then it puts everything in perspective. So knowledge improves your psychology as well.

**[48:20]** I want to comment on something that is very important. I don't want to offend anybody here, but again, one of the signs of truly seeking knowledge, the knowledge that stays with you, is taking notes, really. And if you're not taking notes, you're just only enjoying the moment, that's all.

**[48:36]** You feel that your iman is increasing. And I heard from a brother yesterday, he's here in the crowd as well. He goes, I was sitting there, and every second you say something, I'm going to read these ones. He goes, it was all amazing. I don't know which one to keep.

**[48:52]** I said, if you really were taking notes, you wouldn't miss any one of them. So, my dear brothers and sisters, our scholars say, first of all, knowledge requires practice, which means if the knowledge is followed with practice, it stays.

**[49:08]** And also they said, "Al-ilmu saydu wa al-kitabatu qayduhu." Knowledge is just like a game, like you go hunting, for example, and your documentation is just like these strong ropes that you hold these animals to or these games to.

**[49:24]** Make sure that you hold your prize by tying it down very well. So documentation of knowledge is extremely, extremely important. The other thing, Shaykh, when you were talking about, as we were talking about knowledge, there is nothing little when it comes to the subject of knowledge,

**[49:40]** as long as it's truly a piece of knowledge or a piece of information that translates into knowledge. It's always virtuous. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, when He says in the Quran, He said, "Kunu rabbaniyyin bima kuntum tu'allimuna al-kitaba wa bima kuntum tadrusun."

**[49:56]** Be Rabbani by what you were teaching the book and what you were studying. But be Rabbani. The word Rabbani comes from the word rabb, which means to nurture, to grow, to raise. So the ulama, they say, "Al-Rabbani huwa al-ladhi yurabbi al-nasa bi sighar al-ilm qabla kibarih."

**[50:12]** The Rabbani is the one who raises people with the small matters of knowledge before the big matters of knowledge. So you start with the basics. And that's why, subhanAllah, when you look at the books of fiqh, they start with what? Taharah, purification.

**[50:28]** And some people, they say, "Why do we have to start with taharah? Why don't we start with something more interesting, like jihad or something like that?" Because that's what really, it's interesting. But to begin with something as basic as how even to use the bathroom, for them that's very inferior.

**[50:44]** And Hudhayfah (رضي الله عنه), when he was asked one time by an unbeliever, he says, like, your messenger, he taught you everything, including how to use the bathroom. He didn't use it that way. He actually used the actual slang word for using the bathroom.

**[51:00]** I don't need that right now. We already had the Roman's risk moment last year. Let's keep it clean. So he said to him, your Prophet (ﷺ) taught you everything, no, no, don't do it, please don't do it, how to use the bathroom. He said, yes, he did. He taught us how to use the bathroom.

**[51:16]** He said, basically, when you come to the bathroom, you know how to enter with your left foot and come out, of course, with your right, and don't use your right hand, and make the du'a, the basic things, the basic thing that I can tell a lot of adults probably they don't really know them, even though they probably have learned them at a young age,

**[51:32]** but we don't practice that. So knowledge, what he means by that again is the knowledge that stays with you, and that's when he comes next to the point. He said, "Wa man qadara ala talab al-ilm al-a'la fa lam yatlubhu fa huwa ka man yazra'u al-sha'ir fi ard al-hintah."

**[51:48]** He said, look, someone who is capable of seeking higher level of knowledge but they don't take that path, like they don't pursue the higher level of knowledge and education for themselves in matters of dunya and the akhirah as well too, it doesn't really matter. Like, if you can pursue higher education

**[52:04]** to become more knowledgeable and smarter and hopefully have a depth of that knowledge, because this is just like someone who is, unfortunately, planting corn in a field that gives you wheat. Like, yeah, you might get that corn, but it's not as valuable, it's not as good, it's not as maybe lucrative for you.

**[52:20]** So some of us are sitting here, their talents, it's amazing, unbelievable. And I think what's happening today is teaching many people to kind of summarize all their skills into one particular question, an equation I need to solve so they can get a PhD for it. And after that, that's it.

**[52:36]** They just kind of limit themselves and their ability to become encyclopedia of knowledge simply because they have been taught to take that path. I think, Shaykh, it's also like what I get from this text is why are you selling yourself so short? Like, you look around, I memorize a couple of verses of the Quran,

**[52:52]** I know a little bit here and there. Who are you comparing yourself to? We know people that convert to Islam, and within a few years, they memorize the Quran, they speak Arabic, they read the text and understand it. Why are you comparing yourself to the quote-unquote the average Muslim?

**[53:08]** So, yeah, you can say I know how to pray, I know how to do this, I know how to do that. Okay, you have been Muslim for 20, 25, 30 years. Why are you putting yourself at such a low level? You got your corn, you got a little bit here and there.

**[53:24]** And we are not saying the only alternative is to become a scholar, to become a shaykh, to become Imam Bukhari. No, no. Why weren't you building yourself this entire time? You have more capability, and Allah will ask you about that capacity as well. Just like Allah will ask you about the capacity of your health and your wealth and everything else,

**[53:40]** you had capacity to study more, to learn more. What caused you to learn less? By the way, Shaykh, one more thing I just came to my mind from yesterday. Jahl, the word jahl, of course, ignorance.

**[53:56]** We talk about jahl. Allah speaks of that pre-prophetic era as jahl. You know what the word jahl also means in Arabic poetry? Anyone know? Anger. Someone who is foul, who is angry, right? And subhanAllah, this idea, that's actually how some of the scholars of tafsir would talk about the ayah,

**[54:12]** "Wa ibad al-Rahman alladhina yamshuna ala al-ard hawnan wa idha khatabahum al-jahiluna qalu salama." The servants of the Most Merciful, when the ignorant approach them, ignorant of what? There are different Arabic poetries here. The word jahl, ignorance here, refers to a person who is actually foul-mouthed, who has no sense of control over their temper.

**[54:28]** What are they ignorant of? They are ignorant of themselves, right? They become fools. How are they acting foolish? How are they acting ignorant? The ignorance of Allah is the ignorance of self. You stop knowing how to behave, you stop knowing how to act, you stop knowing how to pursue, what to pursue.

**[54:44]** That ignorance is going to make you ignorant of purpose, ignorant of potential, as is what is being described here. Why are you pursuing something so little? You know what you are capable of. You could have done this a long time ago. You could have read so much more. I ask each and every single one of you,

**[55:00]** as we come towards the end of Ramadan, did you really read as much Quran as you were capable of? Why did you set the bar so low for yourself? You could have done more. You know that if you put a higher bar for yourself, you would have pushed yourself further. Why were you complacent with such a low goal for yourself?

**[55:16]** This is also part of what he is speaking about here in this regard. Now he is moving to talk about, now spreading that knowledge. His two points over here. Number one, make sure you don't spread that knowledge to the people who don't really appreciate that. Frankly, this is the most common today

**[55:32]** in our social media era. Why? Because a lot of people, they look for controversial questions and answers and issues, and then they go and put maybe a one-minute, two-minute video on that just for the sake of adding content. And eventually, you can check the comment section.

**[55:48]** The comment section is just unbelievable because these people don't even understand the background of the matter. So everybody is giving their fatwa because they have a microphone and they have access to a keyboard. So the idea is you have to be careful, even as a student of knowledge. When you give knowledge, give it to those who appreciate that

**[56:04]** and make sure to gauge and scale your audience, your people, your crowd, even online as well too. Because you have to be careful. The second thing he says, "Wa la tamnahu ila man la yastahiqquhu." Don't give it to those who don't deserve it. And then he says,

**[56:20]** "Wa la tamnahu ila man yastahiqquhu." And don't withhold it from those who deserve it. So he's saying, look, be careful. Don't give knowledge to those who don't deserve it, and don't withhold it from those who deserve it. So there's a balance here.

**[56:36]** You have to be wise in how you spread knowledge, inshallah ta'ala. Now, before we close, actually there is that point that we marveled at when we were talking earlier about it, subhanAllah. I want you to read and translate that for us. I love this section. This is like the real Ibn Hazm.

**[56:52]** So if there is any scholar in Islamic history that can be described as no filter, it is Ibn Hazm, rahimahullah, by the way. Like I said, even that praised him. They said, sometimes his tongue was sharp on some of the other scholars and things of that sort. And he is very transparent, very honest about himself as well too.

**[57:08]** The whole chapter that he is going to speak about his own faults, subhanAllah. Yeah, we have a chapter on his own faults where he writes about his faults. But he says, "Ghazani ahl al-jahl marratayni min umri." He said, ignorant people, again, if you were to use slang,

**[57:24]** but we are not going to do that because we are not going to go viral, right. But ignorant people made me mad twice in my life. One, when I was in my own days of ignorance, when they spoke about things that they had no idea about. So they spoke about things that they did not understand.

**[57:40]** And I was, I was very angry. And then he says, "Wa al-ukhra ba'd an a'lamani Allah." And the second time was after Allah taught me, when I see them speaking about things that they have no idea about. So he's saying, look, ignorant people made me mad twice. Once when I was ignorant myself, and once when I became knowledgeable.

**[57:56]** Because I see them speaking about things that they have no idea about. And this is a very important point. Like, you know, when you see people speaking about things that they have no idea about, it's very frustrating. And Ibn Hazm is saying, look, this is something that made me mad twice in my life.

**[58:12]** Once when I was ignorant, and once when I became knowledgeable. So, you know, be careful. Don't speak about things that you have no idea about. And if you see people speaking about things that they have no idea about, don't engage with them. Just move on, inshallah ta'ala.

**[58:28]** Jazakumullah khair, wa barakallahu fikum jami'an inshallah ta'ala. We'll see you tomorrow. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.

## Other Episodes in "Midnight Majlis"
- [Loving the People Who Remember Allah | Midnight Majlis S2 Ep. 7](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/midnight-majlis-s2-ep7-loving-the-people-who-remember-allah.md)
- [The Beauty of the Light of Allah | Midnight Majlis S2 Ep. 5](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/midnight-majlis-s2-ep5-the-beauty-of-the-light-of-allah.md)
- [Leave Your Nafs Behind and Come to Allah | Midnight Majlis S2 Ep. 6](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/midnight-majlis-s2-ep6-leave-your-nafs-behind-and-come-to-allah.md)
- [Freeing Yourself From Other Than Allah | Midnight Majlis S2 Ep. 4](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/midnight-majlis-s2-ep4-freeing-yourself-from-other-than-allah.md)
- [Allah Will Love You For Your Dhikr | Midnight Majlis S2 Ep. 3](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/midnight-majlis-s2-ep3-allah-will-love-you-for-your-dhikr.md)
- [Your Dhikr Makes You Beautiful | Midnight Majlis S2 Ep. 2](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/midnight-majlis-s2-ep2-your-dhikr-makes-you-beautiful.md)
- [When Your Heart Makes Dhikr | Midnight Majlis S2 Ep1](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/midnight-majlis-s2-ep1-when-your-heart-makes-dhikr.md)
- [Getting Past A Grudge | Midnight Majlis](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/getting-past-a-grudge-midnight-majlis.md)
- [Between Self-Admiration and Self-Hatred | Midnight Majlis](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/between-self-admiration-and-self-hatred-midnight-majlis.md)
- [How to Become A Great Person | Midnight Majlis](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/how-to-become-a-great-person-midnight-majlis.md)
- [How to Spot Fake Friends | Midnight Majlis](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/how-to-spot-fake-friends-midnight-majlis.md)
- [Be Your Own Toughest Critic | Midnight Majlis](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/be-your-own-toughest-critic-midnight-majlis.md)
- [When People Cause You Pain | Midnight Majlis](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/when-people-cause-you-pain-midnight-majlis.md)
- [Defeat Your Ego Before It Defeats You | Midnight Majlis](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/defeat-your-ego-before-it-defeats-you-midnight-majlis.md)
- [How to Break Free from Anxiety | Midnight Majlis | Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Yaser Birjas](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/how-to-break-free-from-anxiety-midnight-majlis.md)