Aspiring to be...

Last week, on Seats of Scholars, Muhammad Alshareef talked about Imam Ahmad Hanbal in Under the Shade of Scrolls. The week before he talked about Imam Shafie and the week before we covered the lecture on both Imam Abu Hanifah and Imam Malik.

One recurring theme in the lives of the four imams : their mothers' dedication towards their Islamic education.

Imam Malik, was scolded to the point of crying by his father when he wasn't able to answer the question his father asked.

"You were playing with the birds too much!" was his father's reprimand, for Imam Malik used to play with birds, and maybe now we can liken that obsession with the obsession over the latest video game.

Imam Malik went crying to his mother, and as a result, the very next day, his mother took him to Masjid An Nabawi to seek a really good teacher to teach him.

Imam Shafie, was poor and had to be represented by someone from his town. His power of memorization proved his worth. Not being able to afford any writing materials, he memorized everything that was taught. Look at us now and our laptops, fancy notebooks and such, and we're still not able to retain what we learned.

Imam Abu Hanifah's dad once reprimanded him for taking out Hammad Ibn Abi Sulayman's garbage. After Hammad's death, all the people gathered in front of his house, and only then did Imam Abu Hanifah's father realize the virtue of Hammad Ibn Abi Sulayman and the wisdom of his son in serving this great teacher in order to learn as much from him as possible.

Imam Ahmad was also poor but the thing that touched me the most about his story was his relationship with his son, Abdullah. As Muhammad Alshareef put it, when fathers today would ask his son to play some ball, Imam Ahmad would ask Abdullah to play 'hadith ball'. Father would ask son to recite ahadeeth without the isnad and father would then say the whole list of isnad. There was also the scene where a man cursed Imam Ahmad in front of little Abdullah. All strings of expletives came out and what did Imam Ahmad do? He took Abdullah's hand and led him out of the masjid in silence.

Imam Ahmad was the only one who maintained that one has to make wudhu' after eating camel meat. Just like the people of today, the people of that time then asked him,

"If someone eats camel meat and then makes salat without making wudhu', would you pray behind him?"

This issue of praying behind someone who is not from your mazhab is also prevalent today. What did Imam Ahmad answer?

"Would I not pray behind Imam Shafie? Would I not pray behind Imam Malik? Would I not pray behind Imam Abu Hanifah?"

What a beautiful answer. These Imams were students of one another. The issues were issues of ijitihad and when there is issue of ijtihad, you cannot say that another person is wrong.

As I reflected on the eight year old boy reciting Yaseen (previous entry), and what his parents have gone through to find him that kind of education, I slumped in despair, thinking I would never find anyone to teach my children. We want our children to grow up to be good Muslims, but we should always aim for the stars. It's definitely a different path but it's a worthwhile path indeed insyaallah.

May Allah lead us to people who will guide us and bring us to greater heights of iman. Ameen.

Right now, we have one source of shaytannic activities that still needs to be thrown out. May Allah guide us all. Ameen.

Oh Allah, give me patience and wisdom and let not my tongue speak out in harshness in response to the rising hatred I feel in my heart for that object and what it brings into the household. In my twenties, I would have spoken out impromptu, but I have realized that it's not always necessarily productive. In fact, it can be very counter productive, so let me just nurse my aching heart while building up the hikmah to carry out the conveyance of this important message I have always intended to deliver in the most gentle and non-provoking way.

I do not want another child brought up in its presence. In reaching for the stars, we need as natural an environment as we can get.