What did al-Nawawi say about seeking knowledge?
Al-Nawawi wrote on the etiquette of the student and the teacher in both the Riyāḍ and his Muqaddimah. His standards — humility, purification, patience with ignorance — are exacting.
10 passages from 5 books in the library
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 5 books by Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn Battuta — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"For example, there is no doubt when someone aims a needle at your eye or a sword at your body, your knowledge does not hesitate that pushing it away is better for you, and so will arises inevitably from knowledge."
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"The eternal power does not emit will except after knowledge, no knowledge except after life, and no life except after the place for life,"
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"They confined knowledge to the five senses and thus denied power, will and knowledge because they are imperceptible by the five senses."
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"Will follows knowledge that judges a thing favorable to you, and things divide into what your manifest or internal observation decisively judges favorable, without confusion or hesitation, and what the mind may hesitate over."
14th century · Tangier, Morocco
The Riḥlah — a 30-year, 75,000-mile journey across three continents, and the most important travel account of the pre-modern world.
More on Ibn Battuta →
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"There was a judge there from among the virtuous and generous scholars following the Shafi'i school, named Badr al-Din al-Mabari, who also taught knowledge."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"He emphasized it is not fitting for the ignorant to remain silent about their ignorance nor for the knowledgeable to remain silent about their knowledge"
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"the first is a likeness for those benefiting from their knowledge the second for those who benefit others and the third for those deprived of"
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"the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam further stated to go and learn a chapter of knowledge is better than praying a hundred rakas and"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Another story a man attempted to embarrass Ubaidullah Ibn Abbas by inviting the nobleman of Quraysh to his home for lunch without his knowledge"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Perhaps you envy a man of knowledge and wish that he would err in the religion of Allah, so his mistakes would be exposed, disgracing him."
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