Khutbah Reflections: Emulating the Diligence in Pursuing Islamic Knowledge – Lessons from the Story of Abdul Rahman Bin ‘Auf
While the khutbah on 1st February 2013 spoke about the Companions in general, the one on 8th February 2013 spoke about a particular Companion by the name of Sayyidina Abdul Rahman Bin ‘Auf.
He was one of the first people to embrace Islam and had given up much of his wealth for the benefit of the poor and needy. He was without any wealth when he migrated to Madinah and when another Companion, Sayyidina Sa’ad Ibn Al-Rabi’ offered to give half of his wealth to Sayyidina Abdul Rahman Bin ‘Auf, he simply refused but instead asked for directions to the market where he would trade.
Not only was Sayyidina Abdul Rahman Bin ‘Auf diligent in striving for his business, he was also earnest in his pursuit of knowledge. This was particularly evident in an incident where the Companions were discussing about what to do when in doubt of the rakaat a person has performed in Salah. None present knew the solution until Sayyidina Abdul Rahmin Bin ‘Auf came and told them that he heard Rasulullah(S) say that they should decide on the lesser number of rakaat to remove the doubt then perform sujud twice and give salam.
From the example of Sayyidina Abdul Rahman Bin ‘Auf, we can learn that our worldly affairs is no excuse to ignore the pursuit of knowledge. He was able to excel at both areas and we can too. The problem with us is that we keep telling ourselves that we “don’t have the time” to attend classes or talks. I’m personally guilty of this as well. If we’ve already set our minds that way, then we’re not going to spend effort to make time for it.
Another thing we can learn from the Companions and not just Sayyidina Abdul Rahman Bin ‘Auf alone is to make sure that our sources of knowledge are credible, to the best of our abilities. While we may not have the chance to learn from Rasulullah(S) directly, we can learn from those who followed him (the tabi’in) and the people who followed the tabi’in(the tabi’ut tabi’in.)
I’d like to take this opportunity to remind myself and others to take some time to process whatever we’ve read or were taught. Ponder and reflect on these things to understand them on a deeper level before we share it with others. This is especially important in this day and age where sharing something is as simple as a click of a button. Before we click that “share” or “retweet”, ask ourselves this: “Do I really understand this?”
Time is a precious commodity that we can’t take back so spend it wisely. More often than not, it’s the quality rather than quantity of time we spend doing something that is more beneficial to us. The pursuit of knowledge is no exception. Even if we reschedule our activities only to be able to spare just half an hour per week purely for knowledge, InshaAllah that time would help us to learn to become Muslims.
[divider]Fadhuli Taufek
Fadhuli is an aspiring writer and believes in putting in the time and effort into meaningful causes. He strives to improve himself as a person and as a Muslim.