The Etiquette of the Seeker of Knowledge

1. Sincerity of Intention (Niyyah)

Whoever wishes to seek knowledge of hadith must have the intention of doing so for the sake of Allah. He must leave his worldly concerns and purify his heart from the desires and ambitions that belong to this world.

2. Character and Manners (Adab)

He should exhibit good character and strive for good conduct. He should exert himself to achieve what he seeks, and ask Allah to facilitate his endeavor, guide him towards the goal, and grant him success (tawfiq).

3. Choice of Teacher

One begins by seeking teachers who can transmit hadith in the city where one lives, and one should strive to find those who are most reliable regarding the chain of transmission (isnad) and knowledge, and who have a good reputation and true religiosity. When he has acquired the knowledge from them, he should follow the tradition of prominent hadith scholars and travel onward to seek the highest isnads, and to sit with other teachers and benefit from their lectures and the special knowledge each of them possesses.

Sayyiduna Ibrahim ibn Ad-ham (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

“Allah will most certainly remove calamities from this Ummah because of the travels of the seekers of hadith.”

An example from the history of hadith narrators: Jabir b. ´Abd Allah al-Ansariyy traveled for a whole month to acquire a single hadith.

4. Acting Upon the Hadith One Has Heard

One should act in accordance with what one has heard in hadiths concerning acts of obedience (´ibadat), other good deeds (fada’il), conduct (adab), ethics (akhlaq), etc. For this is the zakat required of one who collects hadith, and it is the purpose of learning them.

Bishr al-Hafi (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say:

“O you who possess hadiths: Pay the zakat for them! Five for every two hundred.”

كان بشر الحافي يقول : يا أصحاب الحديث أدّوا زكاة الحديث : من كل مئبي حديث خمسة

´Amr ibn Qais al-Mula’iyy (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

“If you hear of a hadith, then act upon it, even if you only do it once, and you will belong to the People of Hadith (Ahl al-Hadith).”

إذا بلغك شيء من الخبر فاعمل به ولو مرة تكن من أهله وقال عمرو بن قيس :

Al-Waki´ (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

”If you want to remember the hadiths, then act in accordance with them.”

وقال الوكع : إذا أردت حفظ الحديث فاعمل بها

5. Showing Appreciation for One’s Teachers

Expressing praise and appreciation for one’s teacher is a means to benefit from what one has learned. One should be convinced that the Sheikh from whom one takes hadith is the greatest and has the most well-founded knowledge in the field. One should seek what pleases him and be careful not to disturb him, for example, by staying longer than necessary. One should accept his advice and not become impatient if treated harshly by him.

Al-Asma’i said:

“Whoever does not endure the humiliation of seeking knowledge for a short while will remain in the humiliation of ignorance forever.”

قال الأثمعي : من لم يتحمل ذل العلم ساعة بقي في ذل الجهل ابدا

6. Not Letting Prestige Guide the Choice of Teacher

One should focus on what is important and not waste time by going to many different teachers just to collect a large number of names and the prestige that accompanies them. Nor should one disdain to acquire knowledge from someone of lower rank, for example, with respect to lineage or age.

Mujahid said:

“Neither the shy nor the arrogant attains knowledge.”

قال مجاهد : لا ينال العلم مستحي ولا مستكبر

´Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

“He whose face is sensitive, his knowledge will be scant.”

قال عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه : من رَقَّ وجهُه رَقَّ علمُه

Our mother Sayyida ´Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said:

“Admirable are the women of the Ansar—shyness did not prevent them from deepening their understanding of the religion.”

قالت أمنا السيدة عائشة رضي الله عنها : نعم النساء نساء الأنصار, لم يكن يمنعهن الحياء أن يتفقهن في الدين

Waki´ said:

“No man becomes distinguished until he has written down [knowledge] from one who is above him, from one who is his peer, and from one who is below him.”

وقال وطيع : لا ينبُل الرجلُ حتى يكتب عمن هو فوقه وعمن هو مثله وعمن هودونه

7. Going Through the Entire Book

One should listen to and write down the entire book that one has started, not just parts of it, unless there are compelling reasons, such as the allotted time being insufficient to write down all versions of a hadith.

Addition From Imam al-Shafi´i’s Diwan

اِصْبِرْ عَلَى مُرِّ الجَفَا مِنْ مُعَلِّمٍ *** فَإِنَّ رُسُوبَ العِلْمِ فِي نَفَراتِه

وَمَنْ لَمْ يَذُقْ ذُلَّ التَّعَلُّمِ سَاعَةً *** تَجَرَّعْ ذُلَّ الجَهْلِ طُولَ حَيَاتِه

وَمَنْ فَاتَهُ التَّعْلِيمُ وَقْتَ شَبَابِهِ *** فَكَبِّرْ عَلَيْهِ أَرْبَعًا لِوَفَاتِه

حَيَاةُ الفَتَى – وَاللهِ – بالعِلْمِ وِالتُّقَى *** إِذَا لَمْ يَكُوْنَا لَا اعْتِبَارَ لِذَاتِه

Be patient with the bitterness of a teacher’s harshness,

For the attainment of knowledge lies in bearing it.

He who has not tasted the humiliation of learning for an hour,

Will sip the humiliation of ignorance for his entire life.

He who misses out on learning in his youth,

Then pronounce four takbirs upon him for his death.

A young man’s life—by Allah—is in knowledge and piety.

If these two are not present, his existence is of no consequence.

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Excerpts from Imam al-Nawawi’s Taqrib, with additions from Imam al-Suyuti’s Tadrib and Imam al-Shafi’i’s Diwan. Compiled and translated by B. Muhammad 2012. The Damas Cultural Society.