Learning Manners Before Learning Knowledge

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Ibn Mubarak On Character: You Need Manners More Than Knowledge

Ibn ‘Asakir reported: Ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him, said to the people of hadith,

“You are in greater need of a little manners than a great deal of knowledge.”
Source: Tārīkh Dimashq 32918

Ibn al-Qayyim said:

“The reality of manners is that it results from beautiful character. Thus, manners is the externalization of the integrity and strength in one’s inward disposition into action.”
Source: Madārij al-Sālikīn 2/361

Good character, morals, and manners are the heart of Islam. All of the Islamic sciences are directed towards refining people’s inward and outward behavior and their relationship with Allah and humanity at large. Ethics has its own science in Islam and, in reality, is the most important science to precede all other advanced fields of knowledge.

It has been established from the Prophet (PBUH) and his companions that the transmission of ethical knowledge is an essential objective of the religion of Islam.

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

إِنَّمَا بُعِثْتُ لِأُتَمِّمَ صَالِحَ الْأَخْلَاقِ

Verily, I have only been sent to perfect righteous character.
Source: Musnad Aḥmad 8729, Grade: Sahih (authentic)

Al-Dahhak, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

السَّيِّدُ الْحَسَنُ الْخُلُقِ

The head of the matter is good character.
Source: Makārim al-Akhlāq lil-Kharā’iṭī 524

Hence, every rule, concept, and practice in Islam is meant to ultimately affect our inward and outward behavior.

Ibn al-Qayyim writes:

الدِّينُ كُلُّهُ خُلُقٌ فَمَنْ زَادَ عَلَيْكَ فِي الْخُلُقِ زَادَ عَلَيْكَ فِي الدِّينِ

The religion itself is entirely good character, so whoever surpasses you in character has surpassed has surpassed you in religion.
Source: Madārij al-Sālikīn 2/2

And Al-Shatibi writes:

وَالشَّرِيعَةُ كُلُّهَا إِنَّمَا هِيَ تَخَلُّقٌ بمكارمِ الْأَخْلَاقِ

The Shariah in its entirety only creates noble morals.
Source: al-Muwāfaqāt 2/124

The companions understood that ethics is a science distinguished but integral to other Islamic sciences. They encouraged their students and the Muslims as a whole to seek knowledge while at the same time learning good character and manners.

‘Imran ibn Muslim reported: Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

تَعَلَّمُوا الْعِلْمَ وَعَلِّمُوهُ النَّاسَ وَتَعَلَّمُوا لَهُ الْوَقَارَ وَالسَّكِينَةَ وَتَوَاضَعُوا لِمَنْ يُعَلِّمُكُمْ عِنْدَ الْعِلْمِ وَتَوَاضَعُوا لِمَنْ تُعَلِّمُوهُ الْعِلْمَ وَلا تَكُونُوا جَبَابِرَةَ الْعُلَمَاءِ فَلا يَقُومُ عِلْمُكُمْ بِجَهْلِكُمْ

Acquire knowledge and teach people. Learn along with it dignity and tranquility and humility for those who teach you and humility for those whom you teach. Do not be tyrannical scholars and thus base your knowledge upon your ignorance.
Source: Shu’b al-Imān 1650, Grade: Sahih

Good character and manners is not something that comes without effort. Just as we study large books of commentary on the Quran and Sunnah, likewise we need to study ethics and etiquette.

Raja’ ibn Haywah reported: Abu Darda, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

إِنَّمَا الْعِلْمُ بِالتَّعَلُّمِ وَإِنَّمَا الْحِلْمُ بِالتَّحَلُّمِ

Verily, knowledge only comes by learning and forbearance only comes by cultivating forbearance.
Source: Rawḍat al-ʻUqalā 100, Grade: Sahih

Character and manners are actually two side of the same coin, two aspects of single ethical reality. Character (al-akhlaq) are the qualities that reside in the heart, and manners (al-adab) are the outward behavior that people manifest. In other words, good manners is the result of good character. As such, we need to learn about the methods of achieving a pure heart and the social behavior that should follow it.

Ibn al-Qayyim writes:

وَحَقِيقَةُ الْأَدَبِ اسْتِعْمَالُ الْخُلُقِ الْجَمِيلِ وَلِهَذَا كَانَ الْأَدَبُ اسْتِخْرَاجَ مَا فِي الطَّبِيعَةِ مِنَ الْكَمَالِ مِنَ الْقُوَّةِ إِلَى الْفِعْلِ

The reality of manners is that it results from beautiful character. Thus, manners is the externalization of the integrity and strength in one’s inward disposition into action.
Source: Madārij al-Sālikīn 2/361

Since ethics has such an important place in Islam, it should be our top concern after learning the basics of Islamic beliefs and worship. It was the practice of the righteous predecessors (al-salaf al-salihin) to focus on acquiring good character and manners before seriously approaching the advanced fields of Islamic knowledge related to Quranic exegesis (al-tafsir), the Sunnah (al-hadith), creed (al-‘aqidah), law (al-fiqh), biography (al-sirah), history (al-tarikh), leadership (al-imamah), and other subjects.

Malik ibn Anas, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

تَعَلَّمِ الأَدَبَ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَتَعَلَّمَ الْعِلْمَ

Learn good manners before seeking knowledge.
Source: Gharāʼib Mālik ibn Anas 45

And Malik said:

كانت أمي تعممني وتقول لي اذهب إلى ربيعة فتعلم من أدبه قبل علمه

My mother would dress me up and say to me: Go to Sheikh Rabi’ah and learn from his manners before his knowledge.
Source: Tartīb al-Madārik 1/130

Ibn al-Mubarak, may Allah have mercy on him, said to the people of hadīth:

أنتم إِلَى قَلِيلٍ مِنَ الْأَدَبِ أَحْوَجُ منكم إِلَى كَثِيرٍ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ

You are in greater need of a little manners than a great deal of knowledge.
Source: Tārīkh Dimashq 32918

And he said:

طلبت الأدب ثلاثين سنة وطلبت العلم عشرين سنة وكانوا يطلبون الأدب ثم العلم

I sought manners for thirty years and I sought knowledge for twenty years. The righteous predecessors would seek manners and then seek knowledge.
Source: Ghāyat al-Nihāyah 1/446

Sufyan al-Thawri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

كَانَ الرَّجُلُ إِذَا أَرَادَ أَنْ يَكْتُبَ الْحَدِيثَ تَأَدَّبَ وَتَعَبَّدَ قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ بِعِشْرِينَ سَنَةً

If a man intended to write the hadīth, he would study good manners and worship for twenty years before doing so.
Source: Hilyat al-Awliyā 361

Al-Layth ibn Sa’d, may Allah have mercy on him, said to the people of Hadith:

تَعَلَّمُوا الْحِلْمَ قَبْلَ الْعِلْمِ

Learn forbearance before seeking knowledge.
Source: Jāmi’ Bayān al-‘Ilm 581

In fact, the righteous predecessors would learn more from a scholar’s manners than they would from his knowledge.

Al-Zuhri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

كُنَّا نَأْتِي الْعَالِمَ فَمَا نَتَعَلَّمُ مِنْ أَدَبِهِ أَحَبُّ إِلَيْنَا مِنْ عِلْمِهِ

We would come to a scholar and what we learned from his manners was more beloved to us than his knowledge.
Source: Hilyat al-Awliyā 4575

Ibn Wahb, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

مَا تَعَلَّمْتُ مِنْ أَدَبِ مَالِكٍ أَفْضَلَ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ

What I learned from the manners of Malik was better than his knowledge.
Source: Jāmi’ Bayān al-‘Ilm 581

Failure to understand the importance of ethics and its status among the fields of knowledge is causing much misguidance among Muslims today. The reason is that the advanced Islamic sciences contain complicated details related to creed, sects, differences of opinion, and confusing issues that most people do not know about it.

Only those who are strongly grounded in Islamic ethics are able to approach these issues in the best way, without causing confusion among the masses or indulging in fruitless arguments. In contrast, many young people learn a little bit of advanced knowledge, without its requisite manners, and thus they engage in sectarianism and transgression against other Muslims.

The Prophet (ﷺ) and righteous scholars warned us that bitter and self-righteous debates in the religion are one of the main causes that lead people astray and foment hatred.

Abu Umamah reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

مَا ضَلَّ قَوْمٌ بَعْدَ هُدًى كَانُوا عَلَيْهِ إِلَّا أُوتُوا الْجَدَلَ

No people go astray after being guided except that they indulge in arguments.

Then, the Prophet (ﷺ) recited the verse:

مَا ضَرَبُوهُ لَكَ إِلَّا جَدَلًا بَلْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ خَصِمُونَ

They strike an example for you only to argue. Rather, they are a quarrelsome people. (43:58)

Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 3253, Grade: Sahih

Malik ibn Anas, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

الْمِرَاءُ وَالْجِدَالُ فِي الْعِلْمِ يَذْهَبُ بِنُورِ الْعِلْمِ مِنْ قَلْبِ الرَّجُلِ

Disputation and arguments about sacred knowledge cause the light of knowledge to extinguish in a man’s heart.

And he said:

الْمِرَاءُ فِي الْعِلْمِ يُقَسِّي الْقَلْبَ وَيُؤَثِّرُ الضَّغْنَ

Disputation about sacred knowledge causes the heart to harden and results in hatred.
Source: Jāmi’ al-‘Ulūm wal-Ḥikam 1/248

The solution is to return to the ethical knowledge in the Quran and Sunnah as the primary Islamic science. The purpose of everything that we learn in Islam is to make us better people, better servants of Allah and better companions to humanity at large. When we understand this, we will be able to confront modern problems and complicated issues without descending into misguidance and hatred.

Success comes from Allah, and Allah knows best.

The number of people embracing Islam in western countries and other places is increasing daily and it is not because of some major Da’wah (invitation to Allah) programs, it is because of the behavior and moral conduct of simple Muslims living in these countries.

It is a well-documented fact that Islam spread eastward because of the interactions of Muslim traders and the expansion of business outposts.

And here I would like to mention a text written by a non Muslim Professor about the causes of the fast and vast expansion of Islam in the first century following the life of the Prophet Mohammed (ﷺ).

Please read in the notes the lecture titled “The Mediterranean World in 732” .^[1]

The interaction of Muslims with their environment at a personal level is what causes people in the majority of cases to enter Islam. To build the faith and capacities of the individual and make him more effective in his ( her ) silent Da’wah (invitation to Allah) it is extremely important to (in case A) revive the role of the Masjeed.

^[1] this lecture by Lynn Harry Nelson, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the University of Kansas.

What follows is an excerpt:

The Mediterranean World in 732

By 732, Islam had spread from Spain to Sumatra, and Muslim ships dominated both the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean. The reasons for this rapid expansion were numerous.

a. The Persian and Byzantine empires were exhausted and could not resist Muslim attacks.

b. Many people in the lands of both the Byzantine and Persian empires favored monotheism and found the Byzantine trinity and Persian dualism distasteful. Islam was more to their liking, and they not only converted to Islam, but helped to spread it further.

c. The Muslims swept away the burdensome taxation and top-heavy government in those lands that accepted them.

d. Islam was simple to understand, and its observances were clear and unequivocal. It did not call for asceticism and condemned excesses of all kinds.

e. Conversion was a simple and straightforward matter.

f. The Muslims practiced at least a limited religious toleration, and the social and economic doctrines of Islam were far more humane than those of the other peoples of the time. Islam was a liberal force. Religious toleration in Islam consists of the recognition of the revelations given by God to the Jews, whom the Muslims call “The People of the Law,” and to the Christians, who are called “The People of the Book.” Muslims recognize the Jewish prophets and the Christian Jesus as having been inspired by God but accord the highest position to Muhammad as “The Seal of the Prophets,” to whom God revealed his final and complete message. One should note, however, that the Qu’ran does not suggest that those who worship Idols should be tolerated. In fact, it states that they are either to be converted to Islam or face war.

g. Arabic gave the peoples of Islam a common language, and the Qu’ran gave them a common set of laws and values.

It is useful to think a moment about the nature of the Muslim expansion. Some people regard it as amazing that the relatively small and primitive – if one can use such a word in such circumstances – people as the Arabs were able to defeat powerful empires and gain control of such vast expanses of territory in so short a time. One must remember that we are talking about the Muslim expansion, not Arab conquests. The expansion of Islam was as much, or perhaps much more, a matter of religious conversion than it was of military conquest.

Learning Manners Before Learning Knowledge

Ibn Mubarak On Character: You Need Manners More Than Knowledge

The Mediterranean World in 732

Learning Manners Before Learning Knowledge

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