The Signs of Beneficial and Non-Beneficial Knowledge (1/2)

The sign of knowledge that does not benefit is pride, arrogance, and conceit. Such a person seeks high position and ranking in this world and competes for it. He debates with the scholars with the aim of defeating them, and argues with the foolish with the aim of directing their attention towards him. It is reported from the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, that whoever seeks knowledge for this purpose, "for him is the Fire, the Fire!"[1]

It is possible that some who possess this type of knowledge claim to have gnosis of Allah and that they only desire Him and nothing else. Their purpose  behind  this claim is naught but the desire for precedence  in the hearts of people  such as kings and others,  that  people  think  well of them,  and  that  they enjoy  a large, dedicated following.

The sign of this is that they will openly make the claim of wilayah just as was the habit of the People of the Book, and later, the practice of the Qaramita, the Batiniyyah and those like them[2].

This is the exact opposite of the state of the Salaf who used to think little of themselves, both inwardly and outwardly. 'Umar said, 'Whoever says, "I am a scholar" is an ignoramus,  whoever says, "I am a believer" is a disbeliever and whoever says, "I am in Paradise" is in Hellfire.'

A further sign of this is that such a person will not accept the truth or submit to it. He will act arrogantly towards those who speak the truth, especially if they are seen to be of a lesser stature than him in the eyes of the people. This person will persist upon his falsehood simply out of fear that the hearts of people may become averse to him by his accepting the truth and therefore changing his stance. Perhaps such people may even outwardly censure themselves and show that they think little of themselves in front of an audience so that people believe that they are humble and thereby praise them. This is from the more subtle forms of showing off (riya) as pointed out by the Successors and those scholars who came after them. These people will openly accept praise and encourage it in a way that negates truthfulness (sidq) and sincerity (ikhlas). 

The truthful person will always fear falling prey to hypocrisy and meeting an evil end. The truthful person is always trying to avoid praise and always trying to avoid willing acceptance of it if it comes to him.

This is why a sign of the People of Knowledge is that they do not think themselves to be of any great stature or station, they detest in their very hearts praise and commendation and they do not act arrogantly towards anyone. al-Hasan said, 'The Legal Jurist is one who is abstemious  of this world and desirous of the Hereafter, he has perspicuous insight into his religion, and is continuous  in the worship  of his Lord,'  in another  narration,  'One who  does  not  envy those  above  him,  or mock  those  beneath him, and does not take wages for knowledge that Allah has taught him.'[3] The meaning of this last statement has also been reported to us from ibn ‘Umar.[4]

Each time the People of this beneficial knowledge increase in knowledge, they increase in humility before Allah, fear of Him, and submission to Him. Some of the Salaf said, 'It is desirable that the scholar sprinkle dust on his head out of humility before his Lord.[5]  Each time he increases in knowledge and cognisance of his Lord, he increases in fear and love of Him, as well as humility and submission.

From the signs of beneficial knowledge is that it will teach one to flee from the worldly effects, the greatest of which is the de­ sire for leadership, fame, and praise. It will teach one to avoid these and to expend effort in staying away from them. If any of this does occur, without his choice or desire, he is in a state of extreme fear of his end because it could just be a divine plan and a means of gradually leading him to perdition (istidraj).  It was because of this that Imam Ahmad used to be in a state of fear when he became famous.

From the signs of beneficial knowledge is that one does not lay claim to having knowledge or become boastful of it. He does not accuse others of ignorance unless they oppose the Sunnah and its people, in which case he speaks against him out of anger for the sake of Allah, not out of personal anger or the desire of gaining ascendancy over him.

As for he whose knowledge is not beneficial, he has no concern but to show his supremacy over the rest of the people by means of his knowledge, to accuse them of ignorance, and to demean them. This is from the meanest of traits to be found in people! It is possible that this person even accuse the scholars who came before him of ignorance and negligence; such a person loves his self and desires to promote it, he has a good opinion of himself and a bad opinion of those who came before him.

The People of beneficial knowledge are the exact opposite; they have a bad opinion of themselves and have a good opinion of the scholars of the past. Their hearts accept the nobility and excellence of their predecessors and their inability to come close to their ranks, let alone actually reach them! Excellent indeed is the saying of Abu Hanifah when he was asked as to which of the two was better, 'Alqamah or al-Aswad,'By Allah we are not even deserving  of  mentioning  them  let alone determining  which of them is better!'

When the manners of the Salaf were mentioned to him, ibn al­ Mubarak would say the following lines of poetry:

Do not mention us in the same context as them

The healthy, when walking, are not like the decrepit.

(Continued)