Knowledge is a means to all excellence.
Tag: ilm
The most amazing of those who memorised in our time
From amongst the most amazing of those who memorised [knowledge] in our time was Ibn Taymiyyah. He would read a book only once and it would be etched in his mind.
Out of fear that it may rest upon my heart
My ears have never heard anything of knowledge except that it has rested upon my heart (i.e. I have memorised it).
Nothing I have ever memorised
There is nothing I have [ever] memorised and then [later] forgotten.
I have never revised a hadeeth
I have never revised a hadeeth, and nor have I ever had any doubt in [the memorisation of] a hadeeth, except one hadeeth; and when I questioned my colleague about it, [I found] it was [exactly] as I...
The issue is one of desire
Shaykh Hammaad al-Ansaaree recalls tracking down the only complete manuscript of a rare book, after twenty incomplete copies.
When his house burnt down
Abu 'Amr al-'Alaa's home was full of books. So when his house burnt down, all that we took from him (in terms of knowledge) thereafter until he died was from his memory.
Accuracy in memorisation
A student confidently quoted a hadeeth from Buloogh al-Maraam — only to be firmly corrected by the Shaykh, who knew the book by heart.
Concern for his students
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen provided free accommodation and support to foreign students, easing the hardships they faced while seeking knowledge.
Qataadah was the best at memorising
From amongst the people of al-Basrah, Qataadah was the best at memorising; whatever he heard, he would memorise. The book 'Saheefatu-Jaabir' was read to him [only] once and he memorised it [all].