حياة السلف بين القول والعمل

Defining knowledge, how to acquire it, and explaining its virtue: Sufyan al-Thawri, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Seeking knowledge is not ‘so-and-so from so-and-so’; seeking knowledge is only reverence for Allah, Mighty and Majestic. [Hilyah (abridged edition) 2/365].

Defining knowledge, how to acquire it, and explaining its virtue: Sufyan al-Thawri, may God have mercy on him, said: A man is more in need of knowledge than he is of bread and meat. [Al-Hilya (its abridgment) 2/404].

Defining knowledge and how to acquire it, and explaining its virtue: On the authority of Muhammad bin Yusuf Al-Firyabi, Al-Thawri said: There is no deed better than seeking hadith, if the intention in it is correct. Ahmad said: I said to Al-Firyabi, may God have mercy on him: And what is the intention? He said: You intend by it the face of God and the Hereafter. [Al-Hilya (its abridgment) 2/364].

Defining knowledge, how to acquire it, and explaining its virtue: On the authority of Sufyan ibn Uyaynah, may God have mercy on him, he said: The scholar is not the one who knows good from evil, but rather the scholar is the one who knows good and follows it and knows evil and avoids it. [Al-Zuhd by Imam Ahmad / 308].

Defining knowledge, how to acquire it, and explaining its virtue: Shaqiq al-Balkhi, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Entering into action is through knowledge, remaining steadfast in it is through patience, and surrendering to it is through sincerity. Whoever does not enter it with knowledge is ignorant. [Hilyah (abridged edition) 2/502].