Muftī Ismail Moosa (may Allāh Ta’ālā preserve him)
The burning desire of the seeker of knowledge causes him forget about the temptations and pleasures of this world. This was a standard quality every successful scholar of the past, and it continues to be the habit of every learned person until this day.
It was this great zeal that caused Imām Yaḥyah al-Laythī to not even look at the face of the slave girl that he purchased to satisfy his human desire. Due to frequenting the lessons of Imām al-Layth, Imām Yaḥyah forgot about his desire, and ultimately sold the slave girl without even touching her.
Imām Yaḥyā al-Laythī attained the title of: ‘The intelligent one’ when he refused to go to see an elephant that was brought to Arabia; just because of his great zeal of spending time with Imām Mālik. (Tartīb al—Madārik, 1 / 198)
Nay, this extreme fervour made scholars oblivious of even necessities. The great scholar of Ḥadīth, Abū Ḥātim ar-Rāzī says:
“We spent 7 months in Egypt and we did not get a chance to eat gravy, because all our time was spent with the Shuyūkh. He relates how they once passed by a person selling fish and they purchased some fish. However, the time for the next Majlis set in before they could cook this fish. Their schedule was so filled, that in three days, they did not find a moment to prepare the meal. Since the fish was becoming stale, they then ate it raw.” (Siyar A’lām an-Nubalā, 13 / 266)
The scribe of Imām al-Bukhārī, Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥatim relates: “It reached me that Imām al-Bukhārī eats a particular fruit to boost his memory. (In order to verify this) I enquired from him whilst I was in seclusion with him if there is any medicine to improve one’s retentive ability. He responded saying that he is unaware of any such medication. But he then said: “I do not know of anything more beneficial for memorizing than: Extreme Passion and Constant Repetition.”
If we instill within ourselves this love of ‘Ilm and passion for education, then we will not be distracted with entertainment. Rather, we will give preference to our books, and we will not abandon lessons on the flimsiest of excuses.
It all starts with the fervent ‘desire to acquire’ and ardent ‘yearning for learning’.