Grand Islamic Center

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1. Test Your Knowledge and Ability to Reasearch by seeing if you know "Who Was This Man?"
2. When to Say Masha Allaah
3. Memorization or Fahm, Which Takes Precedence?

When to Say Masha Allaah

Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Saalih al-Uthaymeen - When to say Masha Allah Tabarak Allah:

Fatawaa noor 'ala adarb tape no321

Questioner: May Allah extend your life! This is the questioner, Abu Abdullah, he says in the first question, If a person sees what amazes him, does he say Maashaa Allah Tabaarak Allah (As Allah wills, blessed is Allah!), or Maashaa Allah Tabaarak Allah Laa Quwwata illah billah (As Allah wills, blessed is Allah, there is no strength except with Allah) and are they all correct?

Answer: All praises are due to Allah, Lord of the worlds and prayer and salutation upon our prophet, Muhammad, his family, his companions and those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Judgement.
If a person sees that which amazes (pleases) him, pertaining to his wealth, then he should say Maashaa Allah Laa Quwwata illa billah, just as in the story of the companion of the two gardens, when his companion said to him: It was better for you to say, when you entered your garden: That which Allah wills there is no power except with Allah. This is if he sees something amazing (pleasing) with his wealth.
If he sees it in other than himself then he should say Barakallahu Alaihi (May Allah bless it for him) or a statement similar to it.
And if he sees something that amazes (pleases) him from the matters of the Dunya (world) he should say: Labbaik, Innal Aish, Aishul Aakhirah, as the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) used to say. So he says Labbaik meaning an answer to you then he said verily the (real) life is the life of the hereafter. He makes it firm within himself at the same instance that the Dunya and whatever is within it does not remain and there is not any life in it but verily the real life is the life of the hereafter.

Source:
http://sahab.net/forums/showthread.ph...

Memorization or Fahm? 

Questions posed to Shaykh Ahmad an-Najmee:

س52- الحمد لله رب العالمين، وبعد: فهذه أسئلةٌ جاءت من أحد الإخوة السلفيين من قطر, أسأل الله أن يوفقنا وإيَّاه لكل خير، وأن يجنبنا وإيِّاه كلَّ شر وضير؛ قال السائل: هل طالب العلم إذا قرأ على شيخٍ متنًا من المتون العلمية، وفهمه دون أن يحفظه؛ هل يكفيه ذلك، ومن ثَمَّ هل يستطيع أن ينتقل إلى متنٍ آخر أم لا بدَّ أن يحفظ المتن، ويستوعب مسائل شيخه أفيدونا مأجورين ؟

All praise is due to Allaah, the Lord of the whole of the creation. To proceed: These questions are from one of the Salafi brothers in Qatar. I ask Allaah that he grant us and him success in achieving all that is good and that he distances us and him from all that is evil and harmful.
 
The questioner says:

"If a student of knowledge was to read a text from the Islamic religious texts and he understood it without memorising it, is this sufficient for him? Also, is it (correct) for him to move on to another text or is it necessary to memorise the text he has studied and understand the issues that his shaykh has mentioned, benefit us may you be rewarded?  

ج: المهم فهم المتن ومعرفة معناه، فإن اجتمع للإنسان الفهم والحفظ فحسن، وإلاَّ فالفهم الفهم

The most important thing is to understand the text and understand its meaning. If a person can memorise and understand then this is good but if not then give precedence is given to understanding,  precendence is given to understanding.
 

وقد قال النَّبِي: نضَّر الله امرأَ سمع مقالتي فوعاها، وأداها إلى من لَم يسمعها فربَّ حامل فقهٍ غير فقيه، وربَّ حامل فقهٍ إلى من هو أفقه منه؛ ثلاثٌ لا يغلُّ عليهنَّ قلب مسلم: إخلاص العمل لله، ومناصحة ولاة الأمر، ولزوم جماعة المسلمين، فإنَّ دعوتَهم تحيط من ورائهم¹

The Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said:

May Allah brighten the face of His servants who hears my words, remembers [or preserves] them, guards them, and hands them on. Many a transmitter of knowledge does not himself understand it, and many may transmit knowledge to others who are more versed in it than they. The heart of a Muslim shall never harbor vindictive feelings against three things: sincerity in deeds made for Allah's sake; faithfulness to Muslims; and conformity to the community of believers. For truly their supplication encompasses the rest of the people.²

ومن جهةٍ أخرى: فإنَّ الحفظ يتهدَّم، ويذهب غالبًا؛ أمَّا الفهم فإنَّه يبقى

 From another angle, then verily what has been memorised will eventually be forgotten and normally lost but as for understanding then it remains.
 

ومن جهة ثالثة: فإنَّ حفظ الألفاظ بدون فهمٍ للمعنى لا فائدة فيه، وقد سمعنا منذ زمن أنَّه كان باليمن طالب علم يحفظ الروضة في فقه الشافعية، وإذا سئل عن مسألةٍ لايستطيع أن يشرحها ويبينها، فكان الطلبة إذا اختلفوا في مسألةٍ فقهيةٍ، وأرادوا أن يستشهدوا عليها من الروضة دعو ذلك الطالب، ويقولون اقرأ لنا باب كذا من الروضة فيقرأه لايخرم منه حرفًا، فسموه حمار الروضة

From a third angle:then merely memorising words without understanding the meaning is of no benefit. We heard a while ago that there was a student of knowledge in Yemen who memorised ar-Rawdah that covers the Fiqh of the Shaafi'ee school of thought, and if he was asked about an issue he would not be able to explain and clarify it. 

 When the students differed about a matter of Fiqh and they wanted to recall a portion of ar-Rawdah to support their position then they would call this student. They would say: Read for us such and such a chapter from ar-Rawdah; and he would read it without omitting a letter. So they called him the donkey of ar-Rawdah
 

ومن جهةٍ رابعة: على طالب العلم أن يدعو الله أن يرزقه فهم كتابه، وسنة نبيه وأن يفقهه في الدين، وقد قال النَّبِي: من يرد الله به خيرًا يفقهه في الدين 

The fourth angle: It is upon the student of knowledge to supplicate to Allaah that He bestows upon him the understanding of His Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet, and that he give him understanding of the religion. The Prophet said: " If Allāh wants good for someone, He gives him correct understanding of the religion."³

--س53- هل تكرار دراسة متنٍ من المتون العلمية الشرعية أفضل أم الاكتفاء بدراسته مرةً واحدة ومن ثُمَّ الانتقال إلى متنٍ آخر أفيدونا مأجورين ؟

ج- هذا يتوقف على فهم الطالب، فإن كان الطالب قويّ الفهم، وفهم الدرس مضبوطًا فالأحسن له الانتقال إلى متنٍ آخر

أمَّا إذا كان فهم الطالب ضعيفًا، ولَم يفهم المتن، فينبغي أن يكرر المتن حتى يفهمه جيدًا، ولا شكَّ أن تكرير المتن مرةً ثانيةً يكون تثبيتًا للمعلومة، وبالله التوفيق.

 
Question: Is it better to repeat the study of a text from the Islamic religious texts or is it sufficient to study it once and then move on to another text, benefit us may you be rewarded?
 
Answer: This depends upon the understanding of the student. If the student has a strong understanding and he understands the lesson properly then it is better to move on to another text.

However, if the student's understanding is weak  and he does not  understand the text then it is appropriate for him to study it again until he understands it properly. And without a doubt that repeating the text for a second time will consolidate the information. ...Rather, he mentions that the people of Ahlus-Sunnah are always mentioning the statements of Allaah and his Messenger and the understanding of the Salaf, constantly returning to the 'Ulaama for understandings.

 أخرجه ابن عبد البر في كتاب فضل العلم¹

²Reported by Ibn Abdil Barr in the book 'Fadl al-Ilm'

³Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim