Brief Recollections from a Recent Umrah Trip
Abu al-Hasan Malik al-Akhdar
Al-Madinah: Friday, the 29th of Rabi’ al-Thani, 1441 AH
This evening, by the Permission of Allah, we were blessed with the opportunity to visit our Shaykh, al-Allamah Ubayd al-Jabiri, may Allah preserve him. As always, it was a tremendous gathering full of benefits, reminders, and advices. From these advices, he reminded us to focus on seeking beneficial knowledge and to avoid politics, about which he mentioned the statement of al-Shinqiti (رحمه الله),
السياسة بنت كلب
“Politics is nasty game.”
Also, concerning calling one’s non-Muslim parents to Islam, Shaykh Ubayd advised with “reading Surah Maryam to them.” Before leaving, he asked me how long we’ve known one another. “Twenty years,” I said. To this, he smiled, nodded, and simply replied, “Mashallah.” I am ever grateful to our Shaykh for welcoming us and for imparting such fatherly advice. May Allah bless him for his direction these many years.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said,
مَنْ لاَ يَشْكُرِ النَّاسَ لاَ يَشْكُرِ اللَّهَ
“Whoever has not thanked the people has not thanked Allah.”[1]
Accordingly, we would like to thank our brothers Uways al-Tawil and Adil b. Arif for taking from their time to aid us and for making us feel at home while on our travels. Indeed, Allah is Most Generous, Most Beneficent to His worshippers.
Makkah: Monday, the 3rd of Jumada al-Ula, 1441 AH
Tonight, we were blessed to attend the lesson of al-Muhaddith Muhammad b. Ali b. Adam al-Ithyubi, may Allah preserve him. He taught from Alfiyah al-Suyuti in mustalah (hadith terminology). In the lesson, the Shaykh covered the chapter “The Etiquettes of the Student of Hadith,” touching on several important topics, including: purifying one’s intentions, seeking knowledge from the scholars in one’s land before traveling abroad, putting your learning into practice, having noble character, etc. During the reading, we came across one narration that beautifully summed up the importance of this chapter and class: “Whoever seeks hadith has sought the loftiest affair of this life, so he must be from the best of the people.” It was a knowledge-based lesson from start to finish. May Allah reward the Shaykh abundantly.
[1] Collected by Abu Dawud in his Sunan (no. 4198) and authenticated by al-Albani in al-Silsilah al-Sahihah (no. 416).