How did you manage to combine the pursuit of knowledge with working in your profession?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Well, regarding combining the job with acquiring knowledge?
The Shaykh : You mean the trade, right?
The questioner : The trade, yes.
The Shaykh : No one hears of someone like that and takes advantage of it, saying the Shaykh was an employee.
Yes, this is a matter, praise be to Allah, of Allah’s (Mighty and Majestic) guidance. Just as I used to, when I was with my father, seize the opportunity of his free time and lack of work at his shop, I would head to the market and to that Egyptian to browse through the books he had. Later, I became free and independent when I took over the shop on my own. It seems that our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) created me with contentment, especially when I secured a shop and a house for myself, and I was rid of the rent for the house and the shop. As I told you earlier, when I left my father and became independent with my shop and work, I said, and the Generous One said, “Take,” meaning the customers increased, so I saved enough to buy a piece of land outside the organized area, which remained cheap. I also built without a permit, because the area was not organized. I settled in this house, a modest house, about a quarter or less of the size of this house you have seen part of, and I was rid of the housing rent. Then I saved some money, and some people helped me with a good loan, so I bought a piece of land that was part of a house where the road had passed, leaving a space for a shop. I developed it, lived in it, and became self-sufficient, so all I had to secure from my earnings was enough to support myself, my wife, and then my children.
Therefore, after I had settled into this stability, I would work in my shop for one or two hours until eight or nine o’clock, when the al-Zahiriyyah Library opened its doors. I would close the shop and head to the al-Zahiriyyah Library for at least three hours before noon. Then I would pray the midday prayer there in congregation with some of the regulars at the library. When it closed its doors, I would go to my shop and work there for half an hour or an hour until it was time for lunch. I would then go to the house. I had bought a regular bicycle, so I would ride it. For the record, I say that for the first time, the people of Damascus saw a Shaykh with a white turban, a white turban, not this kind.
The questioner : The ghutrah!
The Shaykh : The ghutrah, riding a regular bicycle, until it was said to me, “I have never seen this.” We had a magazine called *The Funny and the Sad*, published by a man who was probably a Christian. He mentioned some of the oddities and jokes, and among them was that a Shaykh was riding a regular bicycle.
The questioner : Do you mean you, my teacher?!
The Shaykh : Yes, because there was no one else at that time, and I did not care about traditions and customs. I was concerned with saving my time. Without a doubt, if I had the ability to buy a car, I would not have ridden a bicycle. At that time, I was wearing a turban based on previous sectarian ideas and some weak, or even fabricated, hadiths:. Yes, and I was also wearing a jubba, which I had bought ready-made due to financial constraints. But over time, I realized that these traditions were not sent down by Allah with any authority, so the jubba went, and the turban went, and I started wearing what people wear.
The questioner : So, what color was the turban you were wearing?
The Shaykh : A white turban, like what you see here, for example!
The questioner : The wrap, I mean.
The Shaykh : Yes, the wrap, for example, like the wrap of your Minister of Awqaf.
The questioner : Yes, just like it.
The Shaykh : Over a red tarboosh, like my father’s, I mean.
The questioner : The Al-Azhar style, we have it like that.
The Shaykh : But the Al-Azharis’ wrap is simple, I mean, it doesn’t have these layers and folds. You haven’t seen it?
The questioner : I haven’t seen it.
The Shaykh : I haven’t seen it.
The point is that I was content with a little from the work, and I saved the rest of the time for the al-Zahiriyyah Library.
The Shaykh : You mean the trade, right?
The questioner : The trade, yes.
The Shaykh : No one hears of someone like that and takes advantage of it, saying the Shaykh was an employee.
Yes, this is a matter, praise be to Allah, of Allah’s (Mighty and Majestic) guidance. Just as I used to, when I was with my father, seize the opportunity of his free time and lack of work at his shop, I would head to the market and to that Egyptian to browse through the books he had. Later, I became free and independent when I took over the shop on my own. It seems that our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) created me with contentment, especially when I secured a shop and a house for myself, and I was rid of the rent for the house and the shop. As I told you earlier, when I left my father and became independent with my shop and work, I said, and the Generous One said, “Take,” meaning the customers increased, so I saved enough to buy a piece of land outside the organized area, which remained cheap. I also built without a permit, because the area was not organized. I settled in this house, a modest house, about a quarter or less of the size of this house you have seen part of, and I was rid of the housing rent. Then I saved some money, and some people helped me with a good loan, so I bought a piece of land that was part of a house where the road had passed, leaving a space for a shop. I developed it, lived in it, and became self-sufficient, so all I had to secure from my earnings was enough to support myself, my wife, and then my children.
Therefore, after I had settled into this stability, I would work in my shop for one or two hours until eight or nine o’clock, when the al-Zahiriyyah Library opened its doors. I would close the shop and head to the al-Zahiriyyah Library for at least three hours before noon. Then I would pray the midday prayer there in congregation with some of the regulars at the library. When it closed its doors, I would go to my shop and work there for half an hour or an hour until it was time for lunch. I would then go to the house. I had bought a regular bicycle, so I would ride it. For the record, I say that for the first time, the people of Damascus saw a Shaykh with a white turban, a white turban, not this kind.
The questioner : The ghutrah!
The Shaykh : The ghutrah, riding a regular bicycle, until it was said to me, “I have never seen this.” We had a magazine called *The Funny and the Sad*, published by a man who was probably a Christian. He mentioned some of the oddities and jokes, and among them was that a Shaykh was riding a regular bicycle.
The questioner : Do you mean you, my teacher?!
The Shaykh : Yes, because there was no one else at that time, and I did not care about traditions and customs. I was concerned with saving my time. Without a doubt, if I had the ability to buy a car, I would not have ridden a bicycle. At that time, I was wearing a turban based on previous sectarian ideas and some weak, or even fabricated, hadiths:
Praying with a turban is seventy times better than praying without a turban.
صلاة بعمامة تفضل سبعين صلاة بغير عمامةThe questioner : So, what color was the turban you were wearing?
The Shaykh : A white turban, like what you see here, for example!
The questioner : The wrap, I mean.
The Shaykh : Yes, the wrap, for example, like the wrap of your Minister of Awqaf.
The questioner : Yes, just like it.
The Shaykh : Over a red tarboosh, like my father’s, I mean.
The questioner : The Al-Azhar style, we have it like that.
The Shaykh : But the Al-Azharis’ wrap is simple, I mean, it doesn’t have these layers and folds. You haven’t seen it?
The questioner : I haven’t seen it.
The Shaykh : I haven’t seen it.
The point is that I was content with a little from the work, and I saved the rest of the time for the al-Zahiriyyah Library.