From the signs that one has beneficial knowledge is that it leads him to flee from the worldly life and its splendors, as well as from leadership, fame and praise. Keeping far away from these things and exerting one’s efforts in avoiding them are indications that one has beneficial knowledge. And if he were to fall into committing any of these things unintentionally and unwillingly, he would be in immense fear of being punished for that since he would fear that such (praise or leadership or fame) is perhaps a plot or gradual delusion (before inevitable punishment from Allaah). Such was the case with Imaam Ahmad, for he would fear for himself when his name became famous and his reputation spread.
Also from the signs of beneficial knowledge is that one does not claim to have knowledge nor does he use it to act arrogantly towards anyone, nor does he describe anyone as being ignorant – except for those who oppose the Sunnah and its followers, for in this case, he may speak about them out of anger for the sake of Allaah and not his own sake nor intending to elevate himself over anyone.
As for the one who does not have beneficial knowledge, his only concern is to use his knowledge to arrogantly elevate himself over people and to manifest the virtue of his knowledge to them while at the same time ascribing them to ignorance. His only concern is to belittle them so that he may exalt himself over them by doing that. This is one of the vilest and most despicable of actions. Perhaps he may even describe those scholars that came before him as being ignorant, negligent and forgetful. So his love for himself and his love for exposing himself leads him to think highly of himself while thinking poorly of those who preceded him!
Those who possess beneficial knowledge are upon the opposite of this, for they think poorly of themselves while thinking highly of those scholars that came before them. And they affirm with their hearts and souls the virtue and superiority that their predecessors have over them and their own inability to reach and attain the levels that they were at, let alone get near to them.
How beautiful was the response of Imaam Abu Haneefah[7] when he was asked about ‘Alqamah[8] and Aswad[9] as to which of them was better. He replied saying: “By Allaah, we are not qualified to even mention their names, so how can we choose between them?”
When the etiquettes of those who preceded would be mentioned, Ibn Al-Mubaarak would recite the following verses of poetry:
“Do not present our mention along with their mention,
The healthy one who walks is not like the crippled.”
So if this individual with non-beneficial knowledge feels that he is superior to those who came before him in terms of producing elaborate speech and statements, he will then assume that he is also superior to them in knowledge and rank before Allaah, due to his having a special virtue over those who preceded him. This will then lead him to scorn those who came before him (i.e. the Salaf) and audaciously accuse them of having little knowledge. However, this ignoramus doesn’t realize that the reason why the Salaf made such few statements was only because of their piety and fear of Allaah. Had they wanted to speak profusely and elaborate themselves through many statements, they would not have been unable to do it.
Footnotes:
[1] Saheeh: Reported by Ibn Maajah (254) from the narration of Jaabir bin ‘Abdillaah and authenticated by Al-Albaanee in Saheeh-ul-Jaami’ (7370).
[2] Al-Qaraamitah: They are one of the deviant factions that emerged from the Raafidah whose adherents follow Abu Sa’eed Bahraam Al-Hanaabee who was the founder of the Qaraamitee belief. They believed that ‘Abdullaah bin Al-Haarith Al-Kandee was a prophet and so would worship him. And they have other corrupt beliefs apart from that.
[3] Al-Baatiniyyah: This is a name given to a group that splintered from the Isma’eeli Shiites. They believe that the entire Book of Allaah is open to reinterpretation and claim that it cannot be understood in its apparent (literal) form and so as a result they went astray. Their beliefs have influenced the Sufi movement, which claims that all of the Qur’aan has an apparent as well as a hidden meaning.
[4] Reported by Ahmad in az-Zuhd (pg. 267), Ad-Daarimee (1/89), Al-Aajurree in Akhlaaq-ul-‘Ulamaa (pg. 74), and Abu Nu’aim in Hilyat-ul-Awliyaa (2/147) and its chain of narration is sound (hasan). [A]
[5] Reported by Ad-Daarimee (1/88) as a statement of Ibn ‘Umar. [A]
[6] Reported by Al-Aajurree in Akhlaaq-ul-‘Ulamaa (pg. 71 and Al-Khateeb in al-Faqeeh wal-Mutafaqqih (2/113) as a statement of Ayoob, and its chain of narration is authentic (saheeh). [A]
[7] He was the great Imaam, Abu Haneefah An-Nu’maan bin Thaabit, the Jurist from Iraq. He saw Anas bin Maalik on more than one occasion. He was pious, knowledgeable and diligent in performing deeds. Ash-Shaafi’ee said about him: “With regards to Fiqh, the people are dependent upon Abu Haneefah.” He died in 150H.
[8] He was ‘Alqamah bin Qais bin ‘Abdillaah bin Maalik bin ‘Alqamah An-Nakha’ee from Koofah, Iraq. He was born during the lifetime of Allaah’s Messenger but never met him. He was from the major Taabi’een, being the main Jurist and Muhaddith of the people of Iraq. He studied very closely under Ibn Mas’ood and spread his knowledge after him, passing rulings and verdicts. He died in 72H and some say in 73H.
[9] He was Al-Aswad bin Yazeed bin Qais An-Nakha’ee from the companions of Ibn Mas’oodt. His kunyah was Abu ‘Amr, but he was also called Abu ‘Abdir-Rahmaan. He was from the major Taabi’een, reliable and knowledgeable, and he narrated many hadeeth. He passed away in either 74H or 75H.
