How can a young man now obtain a sound upbringing that avoids the errors of collective or individual educational experiences?

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : The issue of upbringing now, for example, has settled on the fact that purification, upbringing, and methodology are needed to return the ummah (the Muslim community) to its glory. Purification has made considerable progress, and you mentioned in the introduction to *Sahih al-Adab al-Mufrad* that the ummah is in need, in light of contemporary conditions, of some upbringing, given the scarcity of scholars and students of knowledge and their preoccupation with the abundance of the awakening. How can a young man now obtain a sound upbringing that avoids the errors of collective or individual educational experiences, which have also become afflicted with the ills of knowledge, and so on? We need your vision and your Excellency’s perspective on the subject.

The Shaykh : By Allah, your vision is as He (peace and blessings be upon him) said in a general, comprehensive, and inclusive text: , and as He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said in the Noble Qur'an: , and as it came in the well-known authentic hadith: . It is obligatory for the conscious Muslim youth, first, and the one eager to seek knowledge, second, to increase his blackness, and the first of that blackness is maintaining the prayers in the mosques with the congregation of Muslims. After that, he should strive to achieve responsiveness and gathering for Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), first, and then by studying the knowledge that leads to knowing what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has legislated in the Book or the Sunnah, and what the righteous Salaf (the earliest generations) were upon. Then, they should remember what the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to remind each other of when they parted, by one of them reciting . This reminder means that these people who are connected and neighbors in Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), and who gather to study the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), upon whom tranquility descends, the angels surround them, and Allah mentions them among those with Him, should advise one another to truth and advise one another to patience. We are in this era in need of these two pillars more than anything: advising one another to truth and advising one another to patience. I do not find today, unfortunately, anything to remind or advise with except this. Otherwise, I would like to say that scholars are many, and praise be to Allah in this land, and the mosques are full of scholars and lessons are delivered in them. But, with great regret, I experienced a time in Damascus when I was a young man of mature age, where lessons were delivered in the Great Mosque, the Umayyad Mosque, and dhikr (remembrance of Allah) circles in an unlegislated manner, and so on, until I reached a time when I said, I wish that time had continued today. Even though the circles that were held were unlegislated dhikr circles, I know that those people intended to remember Allah, but they were like the group that Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) disapproved of in the story we mentioned in more than one place in my books, which Imam al-Darimi narrated in his *Sunan*, and Abu Nu'aym in his *Hilyah*, and others: "Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, due to his excellence and knowledge, was sought out by worshippers for the Fajr prayer in his house, waiting for him to come out to gain his company from the house to the mosque, hoping to benefit from him with some knowledge. One day, Abu Musa al-Ash'ari came and found the people waiting for him. He said: 'Has Abu Abd al-Rahman come out?' (the kunya of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud). They said: 'No.' So he sat and waited for him until he came out. He said: 'O Abu Abd al-Rahman, I saw something in the mosque just now that I disapproved of, and yet, praise be to Allah, I saw nothing but good' . Look now, I benefit from this something, and it is very important: he disapproved of it, and it was good. How can one disapprove of good? Because it is contrary to the Shari'ah. He said: What did you see? He said: 'If you live, you will see it. I saw people in circles, and in the middle of each circle a man saying to those around him: 'Subhan Allah (Glory be to Allah) so much, Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah) so much, Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest) so much,' and in front of each man pebbles to count the tasbih, takbir, and tahlil with. He said: 'Did you not disapprove of them? Did you not order them to count their sins and guarantee that nothing of their good deeds would be lost?' He said: 'No.'" Look at the etiquette, and this reminds me of the bad etiquette in our gatherings today, no offense. "He said: 'No, I was waiting for your order or your opinion.'" Abu Musa al-Ash'ari is not like that Bedouin who urinated on his heels; he is a man who reads the Qur'an, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) listened to him one night along with the Lady Aisha, and when it became morning at the Messenger's (peace and blessings be upon him) place, he said: مَرَرْتُ بك البارحة وأنت تقرأ القرآن I passed by you last night while you were reciting the Qur'an., and the Messenger said: يا عائشة ، لقد أُوتِيَ هذا مزمارًا من مزامير داود - عليه السلام - فقال أبو موسى : لو علمت ذلك لَحبَّرْتُه لك تحبيرًا O Aisha, this man has been given a flute from the flutes of Dawud (peace be upon him). Abu Musa said: If I had known that, I would have embellished it for you with embellishment., despite his excellence, jurisprudence, and knowledge, and he was among those the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) sent in the path of da'wah (calling others to Islam). "He said to Ibn Mas'ud: 'No, I did not do anything, I was waiting for your order or your opinion.'" This indicates what I said earlier about the awakening, but there is no upbringing. There is a gathering of knowledge like this gathering, but it is not just a lecture; rather, the one sitting asks the scholar from among the scholars whom he thinks is one of them. A questioner asks, and one of them there stands up and answers. This is something I have seen a lot of from them. Look at the difference between our situation and that situation. Abu Musa al-Ash'ari does not see the newly invented evil and says it is better to disapprove of this evil. It is Abdullah ibn Mas'ud who came to him and said: 'Did you not disapprove of them?' He said: 'No, I was waiting for your order and your opinion.' He said: 'Did you not order them to count their sins and guarantee that nothing of their good deeds would be lost?' Then he returned to the house and came out veiled. He entered the mosque and saw the circles as described to him, so he removed the veil and the mask from his face and said: 'Woe to you, what is this you are doing? I am Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, a Companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).' They said: 'By Allah, O Abu Abd al-Rahman—here is the point—we did not intend anything but good.' He said: 'How many are there who intend good but do not attain it! Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) told us: إن أقوامًا يقرؤون القرآن there are people who recite the Qur'anSahih Muslim 822a No, 'what?' Their throats.'"

The questioner : لا يجاوز تراقيهم it does not go beyond their throats. .

The Shaykh لا يجاوز حناجرهم ، يمرقون من الدين كما يمرق السهم من الرمية but it would not go beyond their throats; they would (hurriedly) pass through (the teachings of their) religion just as the arrow passes through the preySahih Muslim 1064b. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said: "We certainly saw those people fighting us on the Day of al-Nahrawan."
Allahu Akbar. I derive many things from this story, among them what the scholars say: "Minor sins are the herald of major sins." The sins of minor sins are the herald of the sins of major sins. I quote from this word and the story and say: minor bid'ah (religious innovation) leads to major bid'ah. These people innovated an unlegislated dhikr, which Abdullah ibn Mas'ud disapproved of, and that led them to the bid'ah of rebellion. The point from this is that I experienced these circles in the Umayyad Mosque and experienced some lessons in preaching and jurisprudence and the like. So did I know something of the knowledge? I became one who disapproves of these dhikr circles and disapproves of much of what I heard of statements contrary to the Book and the Sunnah. But today, I wish these would return to the mosques, the mosques of Muslims today. You do not find in them except this prayer, and this prayer is also almost prevented from Muslims, because the doors are quickly closed after the obligatory prayer ends, and so on. So now, only these individuals remain, cooperating with one another, and this one knows a word and that one knows a word, and they cooperate to read a book from the books whose virtue and the guidance of its author are recognized, and the like. Otherwise, we would say to you: go to the mosques, because there are scholars there who study this tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), this hadith, this language, and this adab (proper conduct). But they have become empty, and this is regrettable. But we return to saying: Fear Allah as much as you can وَلَا تَيْأَسُوا مِنْ رَوْحِ اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَا يَيْأَسُ مِنْ رَوْحِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْقَوْمُ الْكَافِرُونَ and despair not of relief from Allah. Indeed, no one despairs of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people."[Yusuf 12:87], and perhaps this amount is sufficient. And perhaps Abu al-Abd is coming and going, do you allow us, Abu al-Abd?

The questioner : Why?

The Shaykh : Because the time has ended.

The questioner : No, we do not allow you...