This topic was delivered by Imam Khalid Hussain in Peterborough on 24th December 2010 to begin the Traditional Halaqa with Shaykh Samir an-Nass, Ustadh Haroon Hanif and Ustadh Tanweer Hussain.

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful and Compassionate

All praise to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. And salutations and greetings upon our master Muhammad and upon his family and companions.
I intend to study and teach, take and give a reminder, take and give benefit, take and give advantage, to encourage the holding fast to the book of Allah and the way of his messenger, and calling to guidance and directing towards good hoping for the countenance of Allah and His pleasure, proximity and reward, transcendent is He.

“The Best of Places are the Houses of Allah and the worst of places are the markets.” – Prophetic Tradition.

It is only through the grace of Allah that we are able to come together for His sake. It is a great blessing (ni’mah) to learn the deen and we can’t thank Allah enough for this. The Scholars of the Deen are those who have inherited from the Prophets not dinar and dirham’s. You can only worship Allah if you know how to worship Allah.

Closeness only comes across once you start knowing or/and learning about each other. Sayiddina Anas bin Malik (May Allah be pleased with him) got so close to RasulAllah that when the courgettes were ready he said, “Sayiddi they are ready.” (It is wajib to attach a worthy title to RasulAllah). No-one had this closeness like Anas bin Malik. He responded ever if they were in separate rooms.

If you want to worship Allah and correct your faults you have to learn Sacred Knowledge. Deen is not learned from books, internet or televisions. This is a means/tool. Deen is learned from Scholars, the Ulema. All of the Shuyukh have received from the chest of their teachers. The Prophet’s chest was full of knowledge, when it diffused then people picked up their pens. This is when books became a tool.

Adab is key.

Whatever knowledge you receive acknowledge the fact that you have received it only through the grace of Allah (Exalted is He). Only seek Sacred Knowledge to humble yourself in the presence of Allah. Allah’s mercy in the third part of the night is in the first sky when Allah’s mercy is closest to us. His mercy falls into the laps and hearts of His slaves.

When you enter the gardens of knowledge say “Masha’Allah la hawla wa la quwatta ila billah” and when you leave the gardens of knowledge say “Alhamdulilah la hawla wa la quwatta ila billah.”

Adab to Teachers:

  1. Do not move, just contemplate.
  2.  Have high intentions; just think about you and Allah not worldly affairs.

You should be ready to learn the deen. Even the most ridiculous of teachings from your teachers should be taken as ‘crowns of your heads.’

Any mistakes, errors or misinterpretations of words are from me. Please correct me when you spot any mistakes.