I SEE, I FORGET. I HEAR, I REMEMBER. I DO, I UNDERSTAND.

“That person who shall pursue the path of knowledge, God will direct him to the path of Paradise; and verily the superiority of a learned man over an ignorant worshipper is like that of the full moon over all the stars.”

Life is a learning process, which is why there is a saying which goes,

“He who knoweth himself, knows Allah”

Careful of the way you might interpret this; a man who knows himself, knows his rightful purpose of living in this dunya; as both His servant and caliph. That is how one will know his master.  

The 10^th testament of As-syahid Hasan al Banna states that “Our obligations requires more time than that is available to us, so use time well and simplify its implementation.”

Time; is never on our side. It never once will wait for you; instead you would have to chase it yourself. As students, we always complaint of not having enough time on our side, don’t we? I mean, who doesn’t? With very little time on our side, what are we to do?! *panics*

Relax. Breath. Istighfar.

Right, now let us look at this,

Imam Ahmad's saying:

الناس أحوج إلى العلم منهم إلى الطعام و الشراب ، لأن الطعام والشراب يحتاج إليه في اليوم مرة أو مرتين ، والعلم يحتاج إليه في كل وقت
“People need knowledge more than they need food and drink, because they need food and drink two or three times a day, but they need knowledge all the time.”
["Majmu' Al-Zawaid", 1/201].

“People need knowledge more than they need food and drink…”  

*Ya Rabb!* Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal rahimahullah actually made a comparison between knowledge with food and drink. Think about it, isn’t food and drink a necessity? *Hopefully all of us here eat to live, and not the other way round, InsyaAllah.* If all of us here agrees that food and drink is a necessity indeed, then what Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal rahimahullah is trying to say is; knowledge is of a higher level than ‘need’, it’s a requirement to survive. Knowledge is something that everyone must crave for, more than any food or drink. Don’t you agree?

We are indeed caliphs; gifted with the ability to think and analyze. Allah had repeatedly reminded us in His Quran about this.

To think.  To analyze.

In order for us to do this, evidently we must acquire useful knowledge, don’t we? What useful knowledge should we acquire then?

Anything and everything; with one condition that is. Our way of thinking and analyzing should be based on ‘Islam’. That way, we will never be astray.

Some of you may even wonder, how do you think and analyze based on Islam?

I’d say: ‘Open your Quran, then you’ll understand.’

‘..knowledge all the time’.  

What does this implies actually? To not complicate matters, I’ll subdivide this into three criteria.

Understand.  Remember.  Apply.

Understand the subject that you are learning about. Let’s take an example close to our hearts *insyaAllah*, the Quran. A book written by Allah; and is depicted in the most noble manner by our Muhammad saw. Note that the amount of Quran you read is not as important as the quality of your understanding.

Picture this: You read at least 10 pages of the Quran a day. At the end of the day, what do you get? (With exception of the deeds you InsyaAllah had collected, of course!)

What take-home messages do you get? What have you actually learned from the Quran? What was it that Allah had said to you?

No doubt that reading the Quran itself is better than not touching it at all. I do agree, but don’t you think that YOU would benefit more by reading the meanings as well? Understand the messages Allah is trying to put forth. Do bear in mind that deep understanding of a particular knowledge is of a higher level than merely knowing about something.

Remember! You must, MUST always remember important facts. These have to be retained in your mind, so that it will be easier for you to recall it later. Memorizing is never a favourite past-time activity of mine, and I bet it’s never is yours too! Nevertheless, all of us disregard its importance when it comes to… sunnah for example. It’s ever important for us to always remember certain important sunnah, so that not only our lives will be InsyaAllah blessed, but also it will benefit ourselves in the long run.

We all know who Muhammad saw is, don’t we? A truly humble and practical person he is, who taught us all the sunnah. If he, a normal human being could actually practice it in his daily lives, then why can’t we? Remember!

Lastly, apply the knowledge that you have learned. This third step; is easier said than done. We know that Allah loathe those who say things; but they themselves do not practice it (refer AsSaff: 3). However, keep in mind that this should not deter us from telling people of what we know so that InsyaAllah, in the long run, it would train us to perform the things that we say.

Back to the topic, now tell me, how do you apply your knowledge?

Well, one of the easiest modes of application is for you to share the knowledge that you have, by merely teaching other people. This would not only strengthen your own knowledge, but allows you to understand the topic at a greater depth. A good way to practice this is by listening to your friend reading the Quran for example. Someone once told me that listening attentively to your friend who is reading the Quran, and correcting their tajweed or pronunciation, would eventually mold you into a good listener and reciter! SubhanAllah, how great is that?

Lastly, Wahb Bin Munbih once said:

مثل الدنيا والآخرة كمثل رجل له ضرتان إن أرضى إحداهما أسخط الأخرى

“The example of the dunya (worldly life) and hereafter is like the example of a man who has two wives. If he pleases one of them, the other one will be displeased”.
[“Kitaab Dham Ad-Dunya”, 1/119].

How charming is this saying? J

Before I end my writing, please do keep in mind that you can strive to be the best of the best in this world, this provisional life; but never once should you forget of your upcoming life hereafter.

My muse: “Ya Allah, hambaMu ini memohon padaMu, berkatilah segala ilmu yang Kau curahkan padaku. Permudahkanlah bagiku untuk memahami, mengingati dan mengaplikasikan segala ilmuMu Ya Allah. Ingatkanlah ku kembali sekiranya hambaMu ini terlupa Ya Allah. Sesungguhnya hanya Engkau Yang Maha Pengasih lagi Maha Penyayang, dan hambaMu ini serba berserah sepenuhnya kepadaMu. Amin”

A small reminder, “Things you don't know, SEEK and ASK. Things you do know, SHARE and TELL.”