The Virtue of the Gatherings of Knowledge

The Shaykh : Praise is to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and the badness of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide, and whomsoever He misguides, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His messenger. As for what follows,
For the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and the worst of matters are their newly invented ones, and every newly invented matter is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
And after that, it brings me great joy that you are turning to this blessed land, if Allah wills, with its residents who desire to follow the Sunnah of their Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). This turning of yours reminds me of a hadith that the Imam al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting one day with his Companions around him, reminding them and teaching them from the revelation that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) had given him, when three people came. As for the first, he found a space and moved forward. As for the second, he was shy and sat in the back. As for the third, he turned his back and left without looking back. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He (peace be upon him) said: And as for the other who was shy and sat in the back, he said: "So he has As for the third one who turned his back and left, Allah turned away from him and averted Himself from him. So your turning to this gathering of knowledge is a sign of great good, if Allah wills (Blessed and Exalted is He).
This also reminds me of another hadith narrated by Imam Muslim in his Sahih, within a hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). In this hadith, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So we ask Allah the Mighty and Majestic to make us among those whom the angels surround and upon whom mercy descends. This virtue mentioned by him (peace and blessings be upon him) in this hadith does not apply to any knowledge around which students gather unless it revolves around the Book of Allah and the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), for this knowledge, which is based on the two revelations, is the knowledge by which Allah saves those who follow them. It was the method of seeking knowledge in past eras for students to gather around a noble scholar who would teach them from what Allah the Mighty and Majestic had taught them from the Book of Allah and the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Then time turned its course, and the educational situation reversed in a way that does not bode well, for we rarely find a scholar sitting with students of knowledge, and we find scholars who do not sit with students, and students who do not desire to seek knowledge. Therefore, the mosques, the houses of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He, have become empty of those scholarly circles I mentioned earlier, which used to fill the houses of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He. I personally witnessed many of the circles that were held in some mosques, and I was personally among the regular attendees of those circles, listening to the scholars and benefiting from each of them according to what he had of knowledge of the noble Shari'ah. Then, unfortunately, these mosques became empty, with hardly a scholar sitting in them surrounded by those seeking knowledge. But

The questioner : Peace be upon you

The Shaykh : And peace be upon you.
But the seeking of knowledge has today turned into another means, namely through the abundance of books published today due to the means of disseminating knowledge that Allah the Mighty and Majestic has facilitated, such as printing and broadcasting, as you know. This is a means that was not known before. And another means that Allah the Mighty and Majestic legislated since He revealed His words to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): This is a means by which Allah mentioned to His servants that those among the Muslims who do not know should ask the people of knowledge.