Guiding Students of Knowledge to Enliven Gatherings with Remembrance and Knowledge
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
We see that some gatherings are attended by some of our brothers, the students of knowledge, but they do not seize the opportunity of their gathering to remind them of Allah. Instead, they join them in delving into matters that yield no benefit. What is Your Eminence’s advice to these people and those like them?
Answer:
My advice to every student of knowledge is to seize the opportunities. If he is in any gathering, he should command them to remember Allah, to recite the Qur'an, and to read the noble hadith, so that the gathering benefits, and so that his presence is beneficial to the gathering. He should not join them in backbiting, talebearing, or idle talk that has no benefit. Rather, whenever the student of knowledge finds a gathering, he should enliven it either by reciting the Qur'an and speaking about whatever verses are accessible, or by reading hadiths, such as *Riyad al-Salihin* and others, so that the benefit is for everyone, and so that the gathering becomes one of the gatherings of the Hereafter.
And if conversation is unavoidable, let it be little conversation about what Allah has permitted, not about backbiting, talebearing, or the like. Rather, let it be about ordinary needs that carry no religious concern, so that he gives them some opportunity for the conversations they desire. But along with this, he should fill the time with obedience to Allah, remembrance of Allah, advice, and reading. Thus, the time is shared: some of it for advice, some for reading the Qur'an or hadith, and some for their ordinary needs that have no religious concern, so that they do not become bored.
Question: Remembrance ... that people hear the tasbih, tahmid, and takbir?
Answer: This is part of it. If he sits in a gathering before prayer, he remembers Allah, or reads the Qur'an, and remembers Allah in his heart, and he glorifies and praises Allah. This is from ... Or if they sit in any place remembering Allah and discussing obedience to Allah, in a circle of one or two, or three, they discuss and remind one another of what is obligatory upon them, what Allah has forbidden them, what Allah has given them of sustenance and blessings, and the fear of Allah: have they fulfilled the right of Allah?
As the Companions used to do some of this? They would remind one another of their state in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance and what they were upon, and how Allah guided them to Islam. And so it is with the believers when they gather; they remind one another in any gathering.
We see that some gatherings are attended by some of our brothers, the students of knowledge, but they do not seize the opportunity of their gathering to remind them of Allah. Instead, they join them in delving into matters that yield no benefit. What is Your Eminence’s advice to these people and those like them?
Answer:
My advice to every student of knowledge is to seize the opportunities. If he is in any gathering, he should command them to remember Allah, to recite the Qur'an, and to read the noble hadith, so that the gathering benefits, and so that his presence is beneficial to the gathering. He should not join them in backbiting, talebearing, or idle talk that has no benefit. Rather, whenever the student of knowledge finds a gathering, he should enliven it either by reciting the Qur'an and speaking about whatever verses are accessible, or by reading hadiths, such as *Riyad al-Salihin* and others, so that the benefit is for everyone, and so that the gathering becomes one of the gatherings of the Hereafter.
And if conversation is unavoidable, let it be little conversation about what Allah has permitted, not about backbiting, talebearing, or the like. Rather, let it be about ordinary needs that carry no religious concern, so that he gives them some opportunity for the conversations they desire. But along with this, he should fill the time with obedience to Allah, remembrance of Allah, advice, and reading. Thus, the time is shared: some of it for advice, some for reading the Qur'an or hadith, and some for their ordinary needs that have no religious concern, so that they do not become bored.
Question: Remembrance ... that people hear the tasbih, tahmid, and takbir?
Answer: This is part of it. If he sits in a gathering before prayer, he remembers Allah, or reads the Qur'an, and remembers Allah in his heart, and he glorifies and praises Allah. This is from ... Or if they sit in any place remembering Allah and discussing obedience to Allah, in a circle of one or two, or three, they discuss and remind one another of what is obligatory upon them, what Allah has forbidden them, what Allah has given them of sustenance and blessings, and the fear of Allah: have they fulfilled the right of Allah?
As the Companions used to do some of this? They would remind one another of their state in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance and what they were upon, and how Allah guided them to Islam. And so it is with the believers when they gather; they remind one another in any gathering.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.