Muftī Ismail Moosa (may Allāh Ta’ālā preserve him)
If one were to summarize all the teachings of Islām in one word, that word would be: Adab (etiquette). Islam is all about Ādāb. Every action of the Prophet (ṣallAllāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) is a benchmark for proper etiquettes and good conduct. Etiquette is the most valuable asset. Mullā ‘Alī al-Qārī (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him said):
«فإن الأدب خير من الذهب». (شرح شرح نخبة الفكر – ص: 358)
“Etiquette is better than gold.”
The senior scholars of Aḥādīth understood this well and they gave more importance to improving one’s conduct, rather than immersing oneself in ‘Ilm. ‘Abdullāh ibn al-Mubārak said:
نحن إلى كثير من الأدب أحوج منا إلى كثير من الحديث». (الجامع لأخلاق الراوي وآداب السامع – 1 / 80)
“We are more in need of good manners compared to (just reading) many Aḥādīth.”
Likewise, the great Mujtahid, Imām al-Layth ibn Sa’d (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him) told the students of Ḥadīth:
«أنتم إلى يسير من الأدب أحوج منكم إلى كثير من العلم». (الجامع لأخلاق الراوي وآداب السامع – 1 / 405)
“You are more in need of good manners compared to lots of knowledge.”
‘Allāmah al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī (may Allāh Ta’ālā be pleased with him) wrote:
«والواجب أن يكون طلبة الحديث أكمل الناس أدبا، وأشد الخلق تواضعا، وأعظمهم نزاهة وتدينا، وأقلهم طيشا وغضبا، لدوام قرع أسماعهم بالأخبار المشتملة على محاسن أخلاق رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وآدابه ، وسيرة السلف الأخيار من أهل بيته وأصحابه، وطرائق المحدثين، ومآثر الماضين، فيأخذوا بأجملها وأحسنها، ويصدفوا عن أرذلها وأدونها». (الجامع لأخلاق الراوي وآداب السامع – 1 / 78)
“It is essential for students of Ḥadīth to have the most perfect character, and the most humility, and they should be the purest and most pious. They should have the lease amount of heedlessness and anger. (Their conduct should be such) because they are constantly hearing about the noble character of the Prophet (ṣallAllāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and his etiquettes. They are learning about the good conduct of earlier scholars, from the household of the Prophet and his companions, and the chains of the Muḥaddithīn, and the behaviour of the pious of the past. They should take the best of mannerism and most noble habits, and stay away from the opposite.”
Imām Mālik quotes Muḥammad ibn Sirīn describing the practice of the Tābi’īn:
«كانوا يتعلمون الهدي كما يتعلمون العلم». (الجامع لأخلاق الراوي وآداب السامع – 1 / 79)
“They would learn good conduct like how they would learn (other branches of) knowledge.”
Throughout time, scholars were always unanimous that it is more important to learn basic etiquette before one can even commence his journey of seeking knowledge. Scholars would always advise their children to learn good conduct before embarking on journey of knowledge. Ibrāhim ibn Ḥabīb says that his father told him:
«يا بني، إيت الفقهاء والعلماء، وتعلم منهم، وخذ من أدبهم وأخلاقهم وهديهم، فإن ذاك أحب إلي لك من كثير من الحديث». (الجامع لأخلاق الراوي وآداب السامع – 1 / 80)
“O my son, go to the jurists and scholars and learn from them. Take from their manners, character, and conduct. Verily, that is more beloved to me than just going to learn lots of Aḥādīth.”
Likewise, the mother of Imām Mālik advised him to first learn from the etiquette of Rabī’ah. She would tell him:
«اذهب إلى ربيعة فتعلم من أدبه قبل علمه». (الديباج المذهب في معرفة أعيان علماء المذهب – 63)
“Go to Rabī’ah and learn from his manners before his knowledge.” (Ad-Dībāj al-Maḏab – 63)
After becoming a great scholar, Imām Mālik was sure to be a role model for his students. His very close student, who spent decades in his company, Ibn Wahb said:
«ما نقلنا من أدب مالك، أكثر مما تعلمنا من علمه». (سير أعلام النبلاء – 8 / 113)
“What we relate from the conduct of Imām Mālik is more than what we learnt from his knowledge.”
Imām Mālik continued to stress upon the importance of first learning manners. He gave the following advice to a student:
«يا ابن أخي تعلم الأدب قبل أن تتعلم» (حلية الأولياء – 6 / 330)
“O my nephew, learn etiquette before you learn anything else.”
The practise was that students would examine the conduct of their teachers and learn from his personality. Ismā’il ibn ‘Ulayyah explains about the gatherings of Imām Aḥmad saying:
«كان يجتمع في مجلس أحمد زهاء خمسة آلاف أو يزيدون نحو خمس مائة يكتبون، والباقون يتعلمون منه حسن الأدب والسمت». (سير أعلام النبلاء – 11 / 316)
“More than five thousand odd students would gather in the circles of Imām Aḥmad. Only five hundred would be writing Ahādīth. The remaining would be learning from his manners and personality.”
‘Abbās al-‘Ambarī how the student of ‘Ali ibn al-Madīnī were (they then grew to become very senior Muḥaddithīn):
«كان الناس يكتبون قيامه وقعوده ولباسه، وكل شيء يقول ويفعل أو نحو هذا». (تاريخ بغداد – 13 / 421)
“People would write down his method of sitting, standing, dressing, and every word he said or action that he done.”
Besides the students just looking at their teachers, their teachers in turn would admonish his student once they found any shortcoming in his behavior.
Shaykh Muḥammad ‘Awwāmah (cites a few examples of how teachers would correct their students the minute they noticed him doing something that is unethical.
Shaykh ‘Awwāmah then explains that one of the setbacks of online learning is that a student is not admonished by his teacher for missing out on proper etiquette.
As such, it is essential for a teacher who is conducting lessons online to work on his spirituality to such an extent that student can benefit from him even if they are at the other side of the world.
The students, in turn, should see how they can overcome this shortcoming. Besides their online lessons, they should have teachers in their localities or mentors in their vicinity who would not hesitate to admonish them if they find some deficiency.
If they do not have someone close by who can be their mentor, they will have to spend extra time inspecting and introspecting their own character. They will have to be even more cautious. They should then write to their teachers who are far or to their spiritual guides so that they can polish their character and enhance their conduct.
Ultimately, the objective when studying under teachers is not just to derive from their knowledge. Rather, the student should aim to attain from the etiquette, habits, spirituality and piety of the teacher.