Aug 2, 2026 · 42 min · 5 segments
We all say we want to study Islam. To become people of knowledge. But what happens when seeking knowledge begins to cost us comfort? A young Sahabi was told that nobody would ever need him. Years…
In a narration of Pawus from Ibn Abbas radiallahu anhuma, I used to ask one issue to thirty companions.
Go to one and the other and other and lie outside his house until he got that knowledge.
What happened to him then? There's a story in which the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam saw from Ahlus Suffah extreme, extreme hunger.
He said, "Why did you keep the other one, Abu Huraira?" Qala li ummi, to feed my mother.
But how serious are we? How dedicated are we? Do we really want it or we say we want it with our tongues, but actually our lives and our bodies and the way we spend our time doesn't really testify to the truthfulness of what it is that we say that we want.
Wassalatu wassalam ala abdullahi wa rasulihi nabiyyina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een.
We ask Allah to exalt the mention and grant peace to our messenger Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, to his family and to his companions.
My dear brothers and sisters, we are continuing on with this monthly program, Stories from the Golden Generations.
And I was chatting with some of you before the class started, and we were reflecting upon the fact that there aren't that many people who cover this topic in the English language.
There's a lot, even if you look at maybe the, the Khulafa Ar-Rashidin, there's a lot of material.
But when it comes generally to the stories and the biographies of the early generations, the Sahaba, the Tabien, and those who followed them in good, it's nice to be able to contribute something to that in the English language.
And as I said to you last week, we are gonna have a theme for each and every single lesson that we do, and our previous theme was the topic of bravery.
And I just wanna start by reminding all of you and myself that seeking knowledge requires dedication.
The famous statement of Yahya Ibn Abi Kathir Rahimahullah, la yustata'u l-ilmu bi rahati l-jism.
And that's why when it comes to seeking knowledge, we often think about, you know, what it's like to have knowledge, what it's like to be able to know the answer, to convey knowledge to people.
But sometimes we don't see all the nights and all the days that a person spends sitting in pain on the floor trying to memorize something, trying to revise something, or we think this person is just gifted.
You know, we see these great scholars and we think this person was just gifted by Allah Subhanahu Ta'ala, and no doubt, knowledge is a gift from Allah.
That's what I wanted to show you this week, the hard work that goes into it.
He said, ma talaba ahadun shay'an bi jiddin wa sidqin illa nalah, fa illum yanalhu kullahu nala ba'daha.
He said there's no one who seeks something with determination and truthfulness, and by truthfulness meaning they really want it.
Someone says, "I truly want to be a person of knowledge, and I am willing genuinely, sincerely to put the time, the effort, the hard work, the pain into it to be able to get it." There is no one who seeks something out with determination and truthfulness except that he will get it.
So really, what I want us to think about in this lesson is I want us to reflect upon those two things, al-jidd wa sidq.
How determined are we? How hard are we working? We all want to be people of knowledge.
We all say as Allah Subhanahu Ta'ala commanded the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, wa qul rabbi zidni ilmaa, my Lord, increase me in knowledge.
But how serious are we? How dedicated are we? And how truthful are we? Do we really want it or we say we want it with our tongues, but actually our lives and our bodies and the way we spend our time doesn't really testify to the truthfulness of what it is that we say that we want.
Read the full transcript.
Create an account to read the whole episode, search across every transcript, and follow the shows you care about.
