Sharh Riyad as-Saliheen by Ibn Uthaymeen — Volume 1 (شرح رياض الصالحين) — Page 707

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

أَوِ الإِمَامُ الشَّافِعِيُّ، أَوْ غَيْرُهُمْ مِنَ الأَئِمَّةِ، وَهَذَا يُنْذِرُ بِخَطَرٍ عَظِيمٍ؛ إِنْ لَمْ يَتَدَارَكِ اللهُ الأُمَّةَ بِعُلَمَاءَ رَاسِخِينَ، عِنْدَهُمْ عِلْمٌ قَوِيٌّ وَحُجَّةٌ قَوِيَّةٌ.

Or Imam al-Shafi'i, or other such Imams. This signals a grave danger if Allah does not rescue the Ummah with deeply grounded scholars who possess profound knowledge and compelling arguments.

وَلِهَذَا نَرَى أَنَّ طَلَبَ الْعِلْمِ الْيَوْمَ أَفْضَلُ الأَعْمَالِ الْمُتَعَدِّيَةِ لِلْخَلْقِ؛ أَفْضَلُ مِنَ الصَّدَقَةِ، وَأَفْضَلُ مِنَ الْجِهَادِ، بَلْ هُوَ جِهَادٌ فِي الْحَقِيقَةِ؛ لأَنَّ اللَّهَ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى جَعَلَهُ عَدِيلاً لِلْجِهَادِ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ، وَلَيْسَ الْجِهَادُ الَّذِي يَشُوبُهُ مَا يَشُوبُهُ مِنَ الشُّبُهَاتِ، وَيَشُكُّ النَّاسُ فِي صِدْقِ نِيَّةِ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ؛ لأَنَّ الْجِهَادَ الْحَقِيقِيَّ الَّذِي تَعْلَمُ عِلْمَ الْيَقِينِ أَنَّ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ يُجَاهِدُونَ لِتَكُونَ كَلِمَةُ اللَّهِ هِيَ الْعُلْيَا، فَتَجِدُهُمْ مَثَلاً يُطَبِّقُونَ هَذَا الْمَبْدَأَ فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُجَاهِدُوا غَيْرَهُمْ، فَالْجِهَادُ الْحَقِيقِيُّ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ: الَّذِي يُقَاتِلُ فِيهِ الْمُقَاتِلُونَ لِتَكُونَ كَلِمَةُ اللَّهِ هِيَ الْعُلْيَا يُعَادِلُهُ طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ الشَّرْعِيِّ، وَدَلِيلُ ذَلِكَ قَوْلُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَمَا كَانَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ لِيَنفِرُوا كَافَةً فَلَوْلا نَفَرَ مِن كُلِّ فِرْقَةٍ مِنْهُمْ طَائِفَةٌ لِّيَتَفَقَّهُوا فِي الدِّينِ وَلِيُنذِرُوا قَوْمَهُمْ إِذَا رَجَعُوا إِلَيْهِمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَحْذَرُونَ﴾، فَجَعَلَ اللَّهُ طَلَبَ الْعِلْمِ مُعَادِلاً لِلْجِهَادِ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ الْجِهَادِ الْحَقِّ الَّذِي يُعْلَمُ بِقَرَائِنِ الأَحْوَالِ وَحَالِ الْمُجَاهِدِينَ أَنَّهُمْ يُرِيدُونَ أَنْ تَكُونَ كَلِمَةُ اللَّهِ هِيَ الْعُلْيَا.

For this reason, I consider seeking knowledge today to be the most beneficial deed for others—superior to charity and even to Jihad. In truth, it is a form of Jihad, as Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, has placed it on par with striving in His path. This is not the type of Jihad clouded by ambiguity, where people question the sincerity of the fighters. True Jihad is that which you know with certainty is waged solely to make the word of Allah supreme. You see those who embody this principle within themselves before they ever take it to others. The true Jihad in the path of Allah—where fighters battle to ensure His word is supreme—is matched by the pursuit of religious knowledge. The evidence for this is the Almighty’s saying: 'It is not for the believers to go forth all together. For there should separate from every division of them a group to obtain understanding in the religion and warn their people when they return to them that they might be cautious.' Allah thus equated seeking knowledge with the true Jihad, the kind where the circumstances and the state of the fighters clearly demonstrate that their sole intent is for the word of Allah to be supreme.

فَالْمُهِمُّ أَنَّ طُرُقَ الْخَيْرِ كَثِيرَةٌ، وَأَفْضَلُهَا فِيمَا أَرَى بَعْدَ الْفَرَائِضِ الَّتِي فَرَضَهَا اللَّهُ - هُوَ طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ الشَّرْعِيِّ؛ لأَنَّنَا الْيَوْمَ فِي ضَرُورَةٍ إِلَيْهِ.

The paths to goodness are many, but in my view, the best of them after the obligatory duties is seeking religious knowledge, as we are in dire need of it today.

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Vocabulary · المفردات (24 verbs · 49 nouns)

• أَنْذَرَ — to portend
• تَدَارَكَ — to rectify
• رَأَى — to consider
• إِمَام — imam
• خَطَر — danger
• أُمَّة — nation