Sh. Yahya on Seeking Knowledge

Bismillah. Alhamdulillah, we were blessed this past weekend with a visit from Shaykh Yahya Rhodus to SeekersHub, and I was able to attend the session on Seeking Knowledge.


Your entire life is learning: either formally or informally.

• Book Recommendation: Mindset. Speaks about people being of two mindsets: Growth Mindset (belief that we have the ability to change and examining life experiences with this in mind so that we can learn/grow from all experiences) and Fixed Mindset (people who think you cannot change yourself). Our deen, he said, is of a Growth Mindset. Our varying temperaments and personalities will respond differently to various virtues, but we can learn how to attain them by tuning into ourselves.

Importance of foundational learning.

• Take formal learning and solidify it through informal experiences.
• We don't learn our  foundations and then never return to them again. As we grow, Insha'Allah, the Ihsan dimension of our faith will help to perfect the Iman and Islam dimensions.

If you don't preoccupy yourself with good, you will be occupied with evil. Don't waste time. Make a schedule. Prioritize learning. Imam Shafi'i said, "make knowledge and excuse for other things, don't make other things an excuse for knowledge".  You will never truly learn until you make knowledge a priority.

• Slow & steady wins the race! Some examples of how to incorporate learning into your busy day:
• Keep a book of hadith in your car. Resolve to read one each time you get in the car.
• A book by your night stand that you read for X number of minutes each night or read X number of pages each night.
• Listen to a lecture or podcast while you drive. If not the entire time, then at least for ten minutes each time.
• These are points of contact to stimulate you throughout the day!

Four Components of Learning

1. Shaykh Fattah. A teacher who can unlock the treasure chest of wisdom for you.
2. Aql Rajjah. Intelligence/discernment.
• Think about the knowledge you are learning. Knowledge is a great companion!
• Always keep a notebook! Take notes, review them within a day or two. When it is full, transcribe it into another notebook or digitize it.
• We should all have a daily time for reflection. This is the forgotten sunnah!
• Book of Assistance. Chapter on Reflection. Do the exercises.
3. Kutb Siha. Correct books.
• A qualified teacher to guide you in this regard.
• Respect for the matn (textbook) tradition.
4. Mudawwama wa Ilha. Perseverance.
• Fight your nafs! We have energy for tv, but not for books.
• Consistency is the key to the great station of istiqama (steadfastness).

Allahuma ilma lana illa ma alamtana, rabbi zidni ilma.