Finding A Suitable Teacher

This topic is one which can really confusing for a student of Knowledge, finding the correct teacher? what constitutes as being a good teacher and what do I need from a good teacher. As a student of knowledge you want to look for someone who can teach at your level, which may mean, not going to the where all the glitz and glam maybe. Sometimes going to the biggest  Alim in hopes of benefitting may bring no results,maybe that Alim is not teaching what you specifically need at that time and his classes are aimed towards the masses so the material is too simple. Conversely it could be that he is teaching something too advanced for you to comprehend at your current stage in knowledge. So it may benefit you to find a Sheikh willing to teach you what you need at your level. 

When choosing a Sheikh to study with you need to take into consideration his history with teaching books, if you are of limited time it may not be wise to sit with a Shiekh who is well known to go off topic and not keep to the discipline you are studying, this is known as Istitraad  i.e to constantly go off topic. You need to find a sheikh who, keeps to the book you are studying and gives the book it's Haqq. What do I mean by giving the book it's Haqq? I mean by that the sheikh teaches the book the way it was intended to be wrtitten, and does not teach his own book by way of teaching someone else's book. An example of that would be for a sheikh to teach a book and constantly criticize the Author of the book, while at the same time actually skipping over what the Author intended in any given chapter, because, the result of that can only be seen when a student revises that book only to realize the Sheikh never really explained it and rather gave his own explanation. So it's very important you choose a sheikh who actually explains books properly. It's very easy to gain that skill and it is simply to ask older students of knowledge who have proceeded you in learning, a student in his first Month studying abroad should not feel so haughty he can't even ask a student at the end of his studies in  Kulliyah (Faculty) about what Sheikh is most suitable for a beginner. Another way would be to search the Sheikh's classes online and see how long it takes for him to finish a basic book. If a sheikh teaches Bayquniyyah in 30 Lessons then it's clear that this is not what you want to be embarking on. Stick to teachers who keep to the book and teach it the way it should be taught.

The reason behind that is the fact that you are studying the Usool in the beginning and not a long Magnum Opus.

A small thing to think about before going abroad to seek knowledge for a long period of time.

In the Name of Allah, and may peace and salutations be on the Messenger of Allah and his companions.

The topic of seeking knowledge can be a tough one, especially given the fact that many people talk about it and very little do it. On social Media, for example, you can find a plethora of people who speak about the virtue of seeking knowledge because its the cool thing to do in our day and time. There is influx of self styled Sheikhs giving Da'wah on Youtube and other social Media platforms, and that can create the notion that everybody seeks knowledge, when in reality that may not be the case.

This small article is just a brief reminder to anybody who truly wishes to embark on this great Journey of seeking knowledge, that your life will change forever, for better or worse, and it's upon you to take this golden opportunity and change your destiny forever. However having said that, you need to take into consideration the many challenges you are going to face when embarking on this path, especially if you are going to study in Saudi, with no more than the pounds in your pocket, the challenge maybe just a little bit more harder.

A challenge you may face could be a total change in environment, from a Western environment to the Middle East. This  maybe extremely difficult for a student to take, it is therefore extremely important you speak to people who have sought knowledge in other countries and seek advice on how to handle these kind of initial difficulties you may face when going abroad.

Also mental health, I have heard stories of students who have gone to Universities and left due to mental health issues, seriously, this is not the place to come to if you are suffering from severe mental health issues such as Bipolar etc. You may find that the heat and the stress of such a large workload could flare a mental episode possibly putting your own life in danger. A person needs to be really honest and ask himself if this is what they want to do in life, and see this as a Marathon and not a race. Coming here with mental health issues may not be the wisest choice a person makes. Hikmah is needed in this situation and you have to have a really honest discussion with yourself on whether you can handle this. There was once a student here with us from Turkey, who had mental health issues who eventually left because of them, so you need to do the right thing and be honest with yourself and ask yourself is this the right choice for you. Allah says

                                        وَمَنْ يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِيَ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا 

   (And whoever has been given Hikmah has indeed been given A lot of good) Baqarah:269

You should also have an understanding of what it means to actually seeking knowledge, meaning, you should know as a student of knowledge how to study and how to go about studying this religion, in a systematic manner, taking each Islamic science step by step, which I will be later explaining in further blog posts. 

Also, on the basis that you studying such a great Science you are going to be afflicted with trials, and you need to understand that whilst studying here you will be tested, and to think that you will not be tested is something you have to remove from your mind, as there are so many Ayaat and Ahadeeth which speak about Allah's slaves being tested, so how about the person who is seeking knowledge? will they be left alone?

Khalid Zakaria Hassan 

Burdaidah Saudi Arabia, October 5th 2018.