The following translation is an excerpt from the Chapter on Knowledge and Learning of Imam al-Ghazali’s Mukhtasar Ihya ‘Ulum al-Din. It includes a clarification of individually obligatory knowledge & communally obligatory knowledge.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every male and female Muslim.”
It is obligatory for a person who has reached puberty and is in a state of Islam to know the two testimonies and understand their meaning.
However, it is not necessary for him to be able to prove them through evidences. Rather, it is sufficient for him to believe firmly in them both without any doubt, even if he imitates someone else in that.
That was the method of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with those who became Muslim from among the coarse Arabs. Afterwards, he ﷺ would instruct them to occupy themselves with each of the commands of Allah, such as the prayer, when these commands became obligatory for them. For example, the new Muslim would learn the prayer when it became obligatory for him. However, he would prepare to learn it before it was obligatory. It was the same for fasting.
As for Zakah, the convert would learn it at the time that it became obligatory upon him, when he had owned the amount of wealth over which Zakah is due for more than a year, after he had entered Islam. Such knowledge was only obligatory upon him according to his need. In addition, the new Muslim should be informed of the obligation of Hajj, though it is not immediately imperative that he study its rulings, just as it is not immediately obligatory that he perform it.
It is also obligatory upon a Muslim that he study the acts of disobedience that he is obliged to avoid, according to whatever necessity occurs to him, throughout his life. So, if any doubt should occur to his mind regarding his beliefs, it is imperative that he investigate it through study and investigation, as much as is necessary to remove his doubt. He should also study the sciences by which one can be saved from destructive traits, and by which he may obtain degrees of nearness to Allah. Obtaining such knowledge is also an obligation upon every individual. All the sciences apart from these are communally obligatory, not individually obligatory.
You should know that the hierarchy of the sciences is arranged according to their proximity or remoteness from the knowledge of the Hereafter. Consequently, just as the sciences of the Sacred Law are superior to other sciences, the science that is related to the realities of the Sacred Law is superior to the science that is related to the apparent rulings. Thus, the jurist rules outwardly on the validity or the invalidity of acts, while beyond his knowledge is a science by which it can be known whether worship is accepted or rejected. Those are the sciences of the Sufis, as will be discussed later.
The famous Scholars, to whose schools people adhered, and whom people followed, had in fact joined between the knowledge of jurisprudence, the knowledge of realities, and action upon that knowledge. However, this can only be known through examining their states and transmitting some of their statements.
The Scholars to whom we are referring are five: al-Shafi’i, Malik, Abu Hanifah, Ahmad b. Hanbal and Sufyan al-Thawri (may Allah have mercy on them all). Each of them was a worshiper, an ascetic, a Scholar of the sciences of the Hereafter, and equally a Scholar of the sciences of apparent rulings which are related to rectifying the affairs of people. Above all, their only objective with all their knowledge was the Countenance of Allah سبحانه وتعالىٰ.
The jurists of the age only follow them in a single characteristic out of the five that we mentioned: propagating and excelling in the branches of jurisprudence. That is because the other four characteristics only rectify the affairs of the Hereafter, whereas this single characteristic rectifies both in this world and in the Hereafter. Here, we will transmit something of the states of these five Scholars, which indicate that they possessed the other four characteristics as well as this one.
As for al-Shafi’i رَحِمَهُ ٱللَّٰهُ, his being a worshiper is indicated by the fact that he would divide his night into three parts: a third for knowledge, a third for prayer and a third for sleep.
Al-Rabi’ said, “Al-Shafi’i رَحِمَهُ ٱللَّٰهُ would complete the Qur’an sixty times during Ramadan. All of that would be during prayer. Al-Buwayti, one of his companions would complete the Qur’an once every night.”
Al-Husayn al-Karabisi رَحِمَهُ ٱللَّٰهُ said:
“I spent the night with al-Shafi’i on more than one occasion. He would pray close to a third of the night. However, I didn’t notice him reciting more than fifty verses, or one hundred at the most. He would not pass a verse of mercy, except that he asked Allah (Exalted is He) to grant mercy to him and to all the believers. He passed no verse of punishment, except that he sought refuge from it and asked Allah (Exalted is He) to safeguard him and all the believers from it.”
His limiting himself to fifty verses is an indication of his deep understanding of the secrets of the Qur’an.
Al-Shafi’i said, “I have not eaten till I was full for sixteen years, because it causes the body to become heavy, hardens the heart, removes intelligence, causes drowsiness, and weakens one’s capacity for worship.”
He also said, “I have never sworn by Allah, whether in truth or in a lie.”
Al-Shafi’i was once asked a question and remained silent. He was asked, “Aren’t you going to answer?”
He responded, “Not until I know if my silence is better, or my response.”
Ahmad b. Yaha said:
“One day, al-Shafi’i exited the lamp market, and we followed him. We came upon a man who was abusing one of the people of knowledge. Al-Shafi’i said to us, ‘Guard your ears from vulgarity as you would guard your tongue from speaking it. For the one who hears it is a partner of the one who speaks it. The abusive person looks towards the ugliest thing that his container has, and he wishes to rid himself of it by casting it into your container. If the words of a vulgar person are repelled, the one who repels it will be felicitous in the same way that its speaker is made wretched.’”
Al-Shafi’i also said, “A wise man once wrote to another wise man, saying, ‘You have been given knowledge. Don’t defile it with he darkness of sin, such that you remain in darkness on the day in which the people of knowledge will walk by the light of their knowledge.’”
As for his asceticism, he (may Allah have mercy on him) said, “If someone claims that they have joined between love of the world and love of its Creator, they have lied.”
Also, his whip once fell from his hand. A person picked it up and gave it to him. So, al-Shafi’i rewarded the person with fifty dinars. And the generosity of al-Shafi’i is more apparent than the Sun.
His fear of Allah سبحانه وتعالىٰ, and his aspirations being occupied with the Hereafter, are indicated by the narration that al-Shafi’i heard Sufyan b. ‘Uyaynah relating one of the Hadiths that soften the hearts, and al-Shafi’i fainted. It was said to him (Sufyan), “He has died.”
He (Sufyan) said, “If he has died, then the best of the people of his time has died.”
Some people then recited: (On this day, they will not speak) (al-Mursalat, 35).
The color of al-Shafi’i’s skin noticeably changed and his skin quivered. He became very disturbed and fell deeper into his trance. When he came out of it, he began to say:
“I seek refuge in you from the position of the arch liars and from the distraction of the negligent. O, Allah! The hearts of the ‘arifin have humbled themselves to You. And the necks of those who yearn (for You) have been lowered before You. O, Allah! Grant me Your generosity. And cover me in Your covering. Support me and pardon my shortcomings through Your noble countenance.”
As for al-Shafi’i’s knowing the secrets of the hearts, it is indicated by the fact that when he was asked about showing off, without thinking, he said:
“Showing off is an affliction that unlawful desires have tied over the insight of the hearts of the scholars, until, when they inclined towards it with their corrupt, egotistical desires, it destroyed their works.”
Al-Shafi’i also said:
“If you fear conceit for your soul, then consider whose satisfaction you are seeking, for which felicity you hope, from which punishment you are fleeing, for which state of wellbeing you are grateful, and from which affliction you take heed.”
Al-Shafi’i’s seeking through his jurisprudence and debates only the Countenance of Allah سبحانه وتعالىٰ is indicate by his statement, “I would love for the people to benefit from this knowledge without attributing any of it to me.” This statement is unequivocal proof that he sought no position among people, nor any of the goods of this world.
Al-Shafi’i also said:
“I never debated anyone at all with the desire that he err. I never spoke to anyone, except that I desired that he be granted Divine success, that he be guided, that he be granted Divine assistance, and that Allah (Exalted is He) should guard and protect him.”
Al-Shafi’i also said, “I never spoke to anyone at all, except that I desired that Allah سبحانه وتعالىٰ make the truth clear, whether upon his tongue or my own.”
Ahmad b. Hanbal said, “I haven’t prayed a single prayer in forty years, except that I supplicated for al-Shafi’i.”
As for Imam Malik رَحِمَهُ ٱللَّٰهُ, he exhibited all five of these traits. This is indicated by the fact that he was asked, “What do you say about seeking knowledge?”
He replied, “It is excellent and beautiful. However, inspect that which is imperative upon you from the time that you wake until the time that you go to sleep, and fulfill that.”
Al-Shafi’i رَحِمَهُ ٱللَّٰهُ said, “I saw that he (Malik) was asked about forty matters. He said, ‘I don’t know’ about thirty-two of them.”
Imam Malik’s asceticism and caution are so famous that they need not be mentioned.
As for Abu Hanifah (may Allah be pleased with him), it has been narrated that he would spend half the night in prayer. Then, from the time that people started to say about him, “That is the one who spends all the night in prayer,” he never ceased praying the whole night.
He said, “I am ashamed that I should be given a description that I don’t have.”
Likewise, the asceticism and caution of Ahmad b. Hanbal and Sufyan al-Thawri are so famous that they need not be mentioned. Throughout this book, we will narrate some of the stories that indicate that.
So, consider whether those who claim to follow these men have been truthful in their claim, or not.
Clarifying That not Every Science is Praiseworthy
On Sorcery, Talismans, Astrology, Philosophy and Their Like
Sorcery and talismans are blameworthy, because they both lead to many different kinds of harm. As for astrology, it is blameworthy because it has been forbidden.
The Prophet ﷺ said, “When the stars are mentioned, remain silent.” He only commanded us to remain silent because the human being is captivated by apparent causes, meaning the physical, conceivable means to accomplishing ends. As such, it is possible that a person may be distracted by the apparent means from the Establisher of means.
As for philosophy, it is blameworthy because it is conducive to matters that contradict the Sacred Law. This does not mean that the conclusions arrived at (through philosophy) are unquestionable or incontrovertible. However, it is a door to other blameworthy matters. Thus, one should only study as much of it as is necessary.
Similarly, a person should limit himself, in the knowledge of temperaments, to what is needed for medicine. And, in the knowledge of the stars, he should limit himself to knowing the stages of the moon and the way to determine the qiblah.