Chapter I: Acquisition of Knowledge
The Prophet said: Word and guidance act two matters. The best word is the word of God and the best guidance is the guidance of the Prophet. Beware of innovation, because it is the worst thing. Every innovation is here say and every here say is a sin. Beware don't think that the end will be delayed. Your hearts may become hard. Whatever is ordained is impending. Beware, what has passed will not return. The Prophet said in a sermon:
Blessed is he whose concern for his own faults keeps him away of finding fault of others, who spends out of his lawful earnings, keeps company with theologians and the wise and spurns the sinners and the wicked people. Blessed is he who humbles himself, makes his conduct refined, heart good and does not do harm to the people. Blessed is he who acts up to his knowledge, spends his surplus wealth, abstains from superfluous talks, follows sunnah and does not introduce innovations.
Ibn Masud used to say: In latter days, good guidance will be better than many actions. He also said: You are now in an age when the best of you is one who is quick in doing good deeds, but soon there will come an age when the best of you will be one who will be firm in faith and remain silent to ward of doubt. Hazrat Huzaifa said a more wonderful saying: Your good deeds of this age are the evil deeds of the past age and the evil deeds of. this age will be considered as good deeds of the next age. You will be in good deeds till you know the truth. The learned man among you will not conceal truth. He said the truth, because most of the good deeds of this age were reprehensible at the time of the companions. The good deeds of our age is the embellishment of mosques, excess in ablution and bath, huge expenses in the construction of buildings for mosques, spreading of soft and fine rugs in mosques etc. The early Muslims seldom placed anything for their prayer. Hazrat Ibn Masud truly said: You are living in an age when passion is harnessed by knowledge, but soon there will come over you a time wherein passion will have priority over knowledge. Imam Ahmad-b-Hanbal used to say: People have discarded knowledge and followed strange things. How little is their learning. God is our helper. Imam Malek said: In past times people were not in the habit of questioning as they do now-a-days and their learned men did never say that such a thing
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is lawful and such a thing is unlawful and the question of unlawfulness never arose, as their condemnation of unlawful thing was open.