These points come from the writings of Imam Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali which have been summarized from a Ramadan lecture by Shaykh Abdul-Hakim Murad of Cambridge.
- When you’re studying (sacred knowledge), you should begin with purifying your soul. Meaning, to not enter the learning environment with a mass of conflicting intentions, insecurities, anxieties, and questions as a mass of confusion. Rather, your intention should be to serve God and serve mankind. Digging deeper, one must already establish a level self-awareness about who one is and what one is about in order to get to purifying your soul.
- Use your studies as a way to help detach yourself from the dunya. Live in a strange, thought-provoking, and ‘less-dunya-like’ environment when studying. With the right intention, this will reduce your attachment to this world and lead you to greater concentration on the ahkira.
- Have humility in seeking knowledge. This includes having respect for one’s teachers. Don’t outsmart your teacher even if you know they’re wrong on a particular issue. Instead, use adab. Indicate to the teacher after the class so long as nobody else becomes actively misled by your dialogue.
- If you’re a beginner, don’t gratify your ego by diving into controversial issues. Understand what the teacher is saying correctly, and when you consider different views (the Islamic sciences are ever expanding with them), ensure your teacher knows those different views and can explain them rather than listing what they are. You will benefit and learn better from the explanation of differing views from one that can soundly discourse in them.
- Don’t overspecialize. Know, at least, the outline of all the disciplines. There is so much outward material that is known to us that one can live a life focused on one subject and at the same time be completely aloof on essential material from a wide, diverse range of common topics. We need an all-round type of education.
- The student should recognize what is REALLY important and focus on that. When listening to the lecture know what the key take-aways are. This is a studying skill that can be developed over time. Don’t be distracted by trivia.
- Be methodical. Don’t move onto something new until you fully grasp what is currently in front of you. Don’t turn the page to soon in your eagerness to know more.
- Knowledge is noble because of its outcomes not because of the strength of its proofs. For example, medicine is a nobler science than mathematics even though it’s proofs are weaker. Medicine can cure the sick, bring children into this world, and enrich other aspects of human well-being. These outcomes are nobler than working out an equation and establishing the strongest proofs.
- You must have the right intention to properly integrate what you know in your natural existence. This means becoming a better person overall — including spiritually.
- It’s an obligation to know how each thing you learn relates to the purpose of that discipline. Don’t get lost in the small details and complexity of a topic without knowing what good it can be for your purpose with God and with mankind, meaning know it’s purpose within your deen. Sometimes such information can be tenuous in terms of religion, but there is always a correct intention behind anything you learn.