Making knowledge accessible is an art Islam is more than five pillars, but they do give a good overview of the religion. These five pillars are a good example of how the Prophet (peace be on him) used simplify the deen, so everyone could understand it. He would break down knowledge into concepts that could be people could easily recall, and reflect on and apply in their lives. Sometimes we attend talks where we leave without acquiring any benefit. There was a khatib (the one who delivers a sermon- khutba), who would read out a lecture for 45 minutes and inevitably his audience would simply fall asleep. Even though he would make good points, theres no way the audience could retain it; it would have been better published as a paper. Using clear language The prophetic way of delivering knowledge was simplicity. When you read a hadith, the language is not complicated. Occasionally the Prophet (peace be on him) would chose words which added a twist or interesting dimension to his words, but generally he would simplify deep knowledge in clear, succinct yet comprehensive words. He could have used over-complicated words, but he had come with a message for all humanity and so used language which was easy to understand. Allah Almighty sent him to convey the message in the language of his people. When learning is made hard I used to attend some classes where I would not understand a word because I was beginner but what the shaykh would say went straight over my head. It was like a PhD lecture being given to a GCSE student. When I came to this country, I found that some people’s English was so hard to understand, you needed a dictionary to check every other word. The timelessness of the Arabic language … Continue reading ‘la ilaha illa allah’ – The deleter of sins