Time isn’t money. Time is more than that… Time is money in the West. From an Islamic perspective, time is life. Time is the substance of life, the sphere in which man exists, the fortress of his spirit. Life is more valuable than money. With every passing second and every passing breath, we are losing our life. It is more precious than any money we can earn, when our time is over, we leave all the wealth behind. This life passes faster than the passing clouds and it determines one’s eternal residence,......

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Thirst and Ambition to Seek Knowledge Knowledge is a vast ocean, and the seeker will never attain all of it. You should not be frustrated by the little you know, however this should not make you become lazy by being content with the little you do know. Have the desire to learn, starting with the foundation and building on this, for every mighty structure is built first from the foundation, and every brick has a potential to be part of a skyscraper. Imam Nawawi said: One of the requirements of the knowledge......

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Sincerity and purity are interwoven. Purity of intention leads to sincerity in one’s action, and sincerity in action will in turn bring further purity of the heart. The student must be sincere to himself and to his Lord when seeking knowledge. Since seeking knowledge is an act of worship and as stated in earlier in a hadith, the angels lower their wings for the seeker of knowledge out of contentment for what he is doing. Therefore, this act of worship must be done sincerely for Allah’s sake in order for it to......

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‘Everything has a fruit, and the fruit of knowledge is being closer to Allah’. Rabi’ah al Adawiyya; great female scholar once said this, and a poet once commented that if you have impurities in your heart then the seed of imaan and Islam will never grow toward excellence (ihsan). Rather than utilising the shade of this tree of knowledge we would have a tree with no fruit. ‘Knowledge is like rain and the behaviour is the soil. If the soil becomes polluted, then the rain will have no effect.’. The Joy of Seeking Knowledge Seeking knowledge......

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How to Get the Best from Students Islam has placed a burden of responsibility on the shoulder of all people, from none may be excused. The Prophet (peace be on him) of Allah said: ‘Each one of you is a shepherd (trustee) and each of you is responsible for his flock (that which is entrusted to him) . A leader is shepherd and is accountable for his flock, a man is the shepherd of his family and is responsible of his flock; a woman is the shepherd in the house of her......

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Keeping the Audience Engaged   Space out Lessons, Lectures and Circles The gathering of knowledge should not be every day because this will cause the student of knowledge to become weary. It was recorded in Bukhari Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud used to give a sermon to the people on every Thursday. A man said to Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud, ‘I would love that you give a sermon to us every day’. So he replied: ‘What prevents me from doing that is that I fear that I should bore you. Rather I give it to you......

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A scholar must be aware of the reality in order to give rulings specific to locations, times and the reality of people....

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Knowing the Limits of your Knowledge Knowledge is a trust; the one who has knowledge should not betray what Allah has entrusted him with. A teacher should not deceive or misguide his student by giving them wrong information or the wrong advice or even give advice where he does not have adequate knowledge. Deep knowledge and understanding is an essential obligation of the teacher on the subject.  He should beware of calling to Allah based upon ignorance, and beware of speaking without due knowledge. Indeed, ignorance destroys, it does not build and......

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Why Teachers should belong to Respected Professions In the lengthy introduction of Sahih Muslim, Imam Muslim makes mention that it is impermissible for knowledge seekers to humiliate themselves. They should avoid entering professions that are viewed by the general public as lowly professions or looked down upon. E.g. like a street sweeper. This reflects badly on them, and will be held against them if they want to hold a circle of knowledge. It becomes a barrier between them and having a position of respect when people wish to acquire knowledge from them.......

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The Importance of having the Right Intention Purity of intention is one of the most important ingredients a teacher requires. He must be honest with himself and sincere with Allah Almighty about the true purpose of his acquiring knowledge. The moment a teacher takes a step in the circle of knowledge, he is looked upon as a person of knowledge and praised for his abilities. There is nothing wrong in being recognised for what Allah Almighty has given him. But the moment he likes the attention, the respect and the superiority from......

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