The Tradition of Seeking Knowledge- Humility

الإِسْنادُ مِن الدِّينِ

Al-Isnaadu min Ad-deen: The chain of narration is part of religion.

The succession of knowledge is the method in which the knowledge of our deen is passed on. The tradition of seeking knowledge is to humble yourself in front of a scholar and to get the correct knowledge from him, who learned it from a previous scholar, who learned it from a previous scholar. If it were not for the isnaad, then anyone could say whatever they wanted, and it would be difficult to verify what anybody is saying. This is done to preserve the deen.

There are two extremes. There was a time when knowledge was only for the elite, and the common people remained ignorant and were expected to blindly follow the scholars without question. We see this still happening in some third world countries such as India and Pakistan. In the other extreme, which is a huge problem in the Western world, there is no respect for the isnaad and the passing down of knowledge. We have self proclaimed scholars who read a few hadith or ayaat and then go around spewing them out, coming up with their own fatwas, and undermining the scholars, who have been sitting in front of these pages for years.  These people think they have a better understanding of the deen than the scholars who have humbled themselves in front of their teachers for years. The way you learn the knowledge will effect the way you carry it out.

Shaikh Abdul Nasir said: The mimbar (the pulpit where the speaker gives his khutba) is not yours. It does not belong to you. Think of it as an extension of the Prophet (salallahu 'alaihi wa sallam)'s mimbar, and you are borrowing it for a short amount of time. Humble yourself, and know that you will soon be passing it on to somebody else.