Asy Syeikh Dr Sa'ad Gawish a prominent hadith scolar from Al-Azhar University, Egypt

" The Halaqah Tour is one of the scholarly programmes conducted by the "Tradisi Halaqah" of Masjid Al-Amin. Its vision and mission are to offer an alternative approach to academic Islamic study by bringing scholars from overseas, educating each Muslim individual with the skills to live in guidance and obedience to the commandments of Allah and His Messenger, and ultimately be amongst those whom Allah loves. "Tradisi Halaqah" hopes for Allah s.w.t. to bestow success in achieving its vision and mission.

In collaboration with:

Masjid Sultan, Masjid Abdul Aleem Siddique, Masjid Omar Kg Melaka, Masjid Al-Istiqamah, Masjid Al-Taqua, Masjid Haji Mohammed Salleh@Makam Habib Nuh, Masjid Al-Istighfar, Madrasah Aljunied, Madrasah Al-Maarif, Madrasah Al-Irsyad, Madrasah Wak Tanjong & PERGAS"

Collection of lecture by Dr Saad Gawish while in Singapore
8-15 Nov 2007
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Lecture of Dr Saad Gawish at Masjid Sultant

The 5th Haul of Ustaz Abdillah at 'Masjid Sultan' were attended by a lot of 'habib' but not as crowded as the previous year.

The special guest was Dr Saad Gawish, an ulama' and 'Ahli Tafsir' from Egypt, teaching at Al-Azhar University. He stressed the importance of attending ilm' circles. He said, Nur (light) and Rahmah (blessings) descend on an Ilm' gathering. He talked about the importance of respecting the ulama' as they are the inheritors of the Prophets. They are the ones who implant the love of Allah and Rasul (saw) in our hearts. It is important to respect the ulama'. He stressed again, the importance of seeking knowledge. We cannot expect the teachers to come to us, we should come to the teachers to learn. In the past, kings and sultans used to request the ulama' to come to their palace to teach them personally, but the ulama' reject such requests, as they do not give special attention to those of high status. The advise is, we need to seek knowledge, and we cannot expect knowledge to come to us.
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Later at a Madrasah, he also encouraged people/student to learn Arabic as the Arabic language is the language of Jannah. We should have motivation to learn Arabic.

He said, the community today regard Muslims as backward. Turkey was once told that it will not be accepted in Europe if it continues practising Islam. So, we should have the inner strength to stand up for Islam. The young in society should come forward, bringing Islam to a better state. Although we're not Arabs, we should know that knowledge is not limited to Arabs only. One of his respected teachers for Hadith is an Indonesian, who studied with a sanad which leads to Rasulullah (saw).

Seek Knowledge with Motivation:
Imam Abu Hanifa once said, "I will bring ink even to my grave." Which means, he will seek knowledge till his death. This shows the importance of seeking knowledge and being motivated to learn. Imam Abdullah who taught at Masjidil Haram was so motivated in seeking and spreading knowledge that he once prayed at the Multazam, for Allah to grant him the opportunity to teach at Masjidil Haram. A few days later, he was invited to teach at Masjidil Haram.

As-Sheikh Sa'ad said, at 67 years of age, besides his normal routine, he spends about 15 hours every day to teach and learn. So, we should be motivated in learning, and spend as much time as possible studying or doing something useful. We should be serious in seeking knowledge. Allah says in the Al-Quran:

يَا يَحْيَى خُذِ الْكِتَابَ بِقُوَّةٍ
"O Yahya, hold fast to the book." (Surah Maryam:12)

We should have this strength.

Don't waste your time with TV and internet:
Now, Muslims are targets of the enemies of Islam and we must be prepared to face it. Things like internet and television are tools which take away our time without us realising it. How much time do we spend on the internet? How much time do we waste watching TV? They do this in a subtle way...If a person wants to destroy us, he will choose a time when we are caught unawares. They try to take away our religion, without us realising, so we should be wary. We will be asked about the time we spent. How far can we follow in the footsteps of the ulama'?

As students, we have our responsibilities to Allah, to our parents, to our teachers and the community. A student should pay special heed to the commands of Allah. He should carry out his prayers, fast etc. Allah says in the Al-Quran,

وَاسْجُدْ وَاقْتَرِبْ
"Wasjud Waktarib" which means, if you prostrate or do sujud, you will be close to Allah (swt).

Lughah
Allah says in the Al-Quran, وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ لِذِكْرِي

"Establish the prayers to remember Me" Lizikr. There are two opinions from the ulama' which says, "Lizikri" in the ayat means "Do the prayers, so I, Allah, will remember you." or "Do the prayers, so you will remember Me."

When he was studying he met many ulama' who are Rabbani, who are special. When they look at a student, they don't just look at the physical being of the student, but they also look at his inner being, and are able to read the minds of the students. There was one teacher, who told a student to go bathe and make ablutions, because he was able to know certain hidden things.

Help your fellow Mu'min
We should have istiqamah. Allah says in the Al-Quran,

يَا بُنَيَّ أَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ وَأْمُرْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَانْهَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَاصْبِرْ عَلَى مَا أَصَابَكَ إِنَّ ذَلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ الْأُمُورِ

(31:17) The word Bunayya is from the word Ibn, which refers to a term used to address a child. It means "O Beloved child", which is the term used in the Al-Quran to enjoin people to establish prayers. Also, we should stop any bad deed if we see it. We should stop our friends if we see them wasting time on the internet or television. We must care for our friends too. A Mu'min and another are likened to our two hands. If we want to clean our hands, we need two hands. One hand is used to clean the other hand. A Mu'min is a mirror to another, where you see your own faults when you see the faults of another Mu'min.

Ask du'a from parents everyday:
He asked, who among us, when he leaves the house everyday, kiss the hands of his parents and ask his parents to make du'a?" This is a culture which has been forgotten. "If there are", he said, "then he has been given taufiq by Allah". We should have respect for our parents. We should make du'a for them. We should not say things which hurt them.

Respect your teacher:
An ulama once said, "We should respect our teachers as their status is close to that of the Rasul." Ulama' like Imam Syafie did not dare drink in front of his teacher because he was afraid his teacher would see him. He felt such awe and respect for his teacher. (As compared to me, who would wait for The Teacher to read the book and secretly drink, thinking he won't notice. My mom scolded me for drinking in Arabic class and I told her I think there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Haha. Guess I'm so wrong. My mom has much more adab than me.) Another ulama' did not even dare take out a piece of paper in front of his teacher because he did not want to disrupt his teacher.

Rasulullah (saw) said in a hadith, "Seek knowledge and then dress it with good character." So, besides seeking knowledge, we should also learn adab so that the ilm' is reflected in our actions.

Patience in seeking knowledge:
We should be patient when we are seeking knowledge, patient not only with learning a subject, but also patient with those who teach us...patient with the teachers.

Ilm is a gift:
We do not have the strength to gain ilm'. Ilm is a gift from Allah. Allah is the one who gives us understanding. Rasulullah (saw) said "Ana Qasim". Rasulullah (saw) delivers the message but Allah is the one who gives. Ar-rahman Alamal-Quran. We seek knowledge but it is Allah who gives the Ilm' to us.

Someone once asked Imam Hanifa a question which he was unable to answer. He did not try to give an answer to save his face. Instead, he said, "I cannot answer maybe due to a sin I've committed". So he took wudhu', did solat and came back. After that, he was able to answer the question. He said, "Now, Allah has forgiven me."

"Learn and continue learning", he said. Do not be left behind. Many branches of ilm' comes from Islamic scholars. In America, they took a satellite photo of earth, and everything on earth is dark except from Mecca and Madinah. There are two spots of light there. This is because Mecca and Madinah was where Tauhid was first spread.

Don't just think of food:
A lot of Muslims only think of food, food, food. We only think of our stomachs and clothes, such that we forget our responsibility to learn. He ended by saying that insyallah, the student will be able to go to Mesir to study one day. He said, "I love all of you"

Awhile later Ustaz Hasbi then added, "Ar-Rahman, Alamal Quran...Ilm does not come from books or the teacher. It comes from Ar-Rahman - He owns the Quran and He taught the knowledge, he opens the heart of whomever He wills. We will not be able to get that knowledge without the Arabic language. The Shaykh has opened up the door for us to study in Mesir, insyallah." He also informed us about a man from our institution who sold his house and went to Mesir with his wife and children so that he can study at Al-Azhar, even though his knowledge of Arabic at that time was not good. He is currently in second year and his son in third year.
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" Dr Saad Gawish at Masjid Abdul Alim Siddique "

Lecture of Dr Saad Gawish at Masjid Abdul Alim Siddique

Not enough to say Lailahaillallah...
When Sayidina Adam (as) first opened his eyes in Paradise, he saw Lailahaillallah Muhamadurrasulullah. It is not enough to just say Lailahaillallah, without the second part of the Syahadah! Allah has honoured Rasulullah (saw) by putting his name next to His Name, even before Sayidina Adam (as) was sent to earth.

Allah never calls Rasulullah (saw) by name
Allah has never called Rasulullah (saw) by his name in the Holy Quran. Other Prophets were called by their names...like "O Zakaria" and "O Yahya", but not Rasulullah (saw). There is no "Ya Muhammad". This is a lesson for us! Allah is teaching us to call Rasulullah in a polite manner.

A group of Arabs once raised their voices to Rasulullah (saw), calling him "Ya Muhammad". Immediately, Allah sends down the verse telling them not to raise their voice to Rasulullah (saw) like how they may talk to their friends etc. If they do so, their good deeds may become useless. This is a warning from Allah. How can you say, Muhammad, Muhammad. Who is Muhammad? Your friend?

Fabricated Hadith:
The hadith used to prevent people from calling Rasulullah (saw) Sayyid, is the fabricated hadith "La tusayyiduni..." which they say meant, "Do not call me Sayyid..." but there the term "La tusayyiduni" is wrong in Arabic. There is no such thing. Rasulullah (saw) is extremely well-versed in Arabic language and he will never use wrong Arabic language.

Khatimul Anbiya':
He will be the one who speaks in front of Allah in Yaumul Qiyamah. Khatimul Anbiya - all other prophets will not dare speak on that day, but Rasulullah will speak for his ummah, to save his ummah and give syafaat.

Earth made into Masjid:
The whole earth has been made a place for sajdah for Rasulullah (saw) ummah. It is not limited to a certain place of worship, as what the previous ummah needed to do.

Last few ayats of Surah Al-Baqarah:
When the ayat came down, Gabriel together with a lot of other angels came down to bring the ayat, from: "Lillahimafissama..." to the end. In the past, forgetting something is considered a mistake, but for this ummah, it is not a sin if your forget. In the past, if you want to repent, you have to be killed, but for this ummah, you just need to istighfar and repent. In the past, zakat is 25%, for this ummah it's 2.5%. Imam Muslim reported that when a person reads the last verses of Surah Al-Baqarah, Allah answers him. Allah teaches this du'a and Allah answers the du'a...
رَبَّنَا لاَ تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِن نَّسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا

رَبَّنَا وَلاَ تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا

رَبَّنَا وَلاَ تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لاَ طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ

وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا

أَنتَ مَوْلاَنَا فَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ

Allahumma solli ala sayiddina Muhammad wa ala alihi wasohbiihi wasalim adada khalqih waridha nafsih wazinata arsyi wamidada kalimatih.

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