Dought & clear, - How can a seeker of knowledge make a schedule to organise his time?.

Can you advise me as to how a seeker of knowledge can make a schedule
to organise his time?
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
The status of the seeker of Islamic knowledge is great in Islam.
Allah, mayHe be blessed and exalted, has praised knowledge and those
who seek it, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Say: Are those who know equal to those who know not?' It is only men
of understanding who will remember (i.e. get a lesson from Allahs
Signs and Verses)"
[az-Zumar 39:9]
"It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allah"
[Faatir 35:28].
It was narrated that Humayd ibn 'Abd ar-Rahmaan said: I
heardMu'aawiyah say, when he was delivering a khutbah: I heard the
Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say:
"When Allaah wills good for a person, He deepenshis knowledge of
Islam.
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (71) and Muslim (1037).
It was narrated that 'Abu'd-Darda' said: I heard the Messenger of
Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say: "Whoever follows
a path in the pursuit of knowledge, Allaah will make easy forhim a
path to Paradise. The angels lower their wings in approval of the
seeker of knowledge, and everyone in the heavens and on earth prays
for forgiveness for the seeker of knowledge, even the fish in the sea.
The superiority of the scholar over the worshipper is like the
superiority of the moon over all other heavenly bodies. The scholars
are the heirs of the Prophets, for the Prophets did not leave behind
dinars or dirhams, rather they left behind knowledge, so whoever takes
it has taken a great share."
Narrated by at-Tirmidhi (2682), Abu Dawood (3541) and Ibn Maajah
(223); classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh at-Targheeb, 1/17
Islamic knowledge brings a person the good of this world and of the
Hereafter; it takes precedence over all other branches of knowledge,
especially if one's intention is pure.
See the answer to question no. 10471
Secondly:
The best thing you can spend your time on when beginning to seek
knowledge is memorising the Book of Allah, may He be glorified and
exalted. This is the best thing in which people may compete and
strive, and it is the best thing on which the seeker of knowledge may
focus his efforts.
See the answer to question no. 14035 for information on the advantages
of memorising the Book of Allah.
See the answers to questions no. 7966 and 11561 for information on the
basic principles ofmemorising the Book of Allah.
Thirdly:
One of the things that will make things easier for the seeker of
knowledge is to have many shaykhs and scholars from whom he can learn.
The quickest way to seek knowledge and the best way to attain the goal
is if Allah makes it easy for him to find one shaykh or scholar among
the scholars of the Sunnah, from whom he may acquire knowledge
directly. See the answer to question no. 22037 .
Fourthly:
With regard to organising your time, it may be as follows.
(a)
Have fixed times for regular things every day,such as a time for
sleeping, a time for meals, a time for visits, a time for gatherings,
a time for revision.
(b)
One of the things that will help you make the most of your time and
save time is to put a stopto time wasters such as sleeping, eating and
drinking too much, or meeting people except for Islamically beneficial
purposes. You should also avoid time wasters such as means of
entertainment like TV shows, soap operas, newspapers, magazines,
games, sports matches and competitions.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The seeker of knowledge must make the most of his time and avoid
wasting time. Wasting time may take the following forms:
1. Failing to review and revise what he reads
2. Sitting with his friends and engaging in idle talk in which is no benefit
3. The most harmful time waster for the seeker of knowledge is
when he has no interest except finding out aboutpeople, what they are
saying and what they are doing, with regard to a matter that does
notconcern him. This undoubtedly stems from a weakness of commitment
to Islam, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: "Part of a person's beinga good Muslim is leaving alone
that which does not concern him." Narrated by at-Tirmidhi, 2318;
classed as saheeh by al-Albaani.
Focusing on who said what and asking a lot of questions is a waste of
time. In fact it is a kind of sickness which if it affects a person –
we askAllah to keep us safe andsound – will become his main focus and
concern and he may end up showing a hostile attitude towards one who
does not deserve enmity, or he may be friendly towards one who does
not deserve friendship, because of his interest in these matters that
are distracting him from seeking knowledge, on the grounds that this
is part of supporting the truth. But that is not the case; rather this
comes under the heading of being distracted by that which does not
concern one. But if news comes to you without you seeking it or
looking for it, everyone receives news but you should notbe
preoccupied with it or focus on it, because this causes distraction
for the seeker of knowledge and may confuse him, and it opens the door
to partisanship and division amongst the ummah.
Kitaab al-'Ilm, p. 143-144
(c)
Another matter that is detrimental to the issue of organising one's
time and making the most of it is procrastination. Procrastination is
a severe disease that deprives one of many good things in this world
and in the Hereafter.
(d)
One of the best ways of succeeding in this world is to keep yourself
busy at all times with that which is best for you and most beneficial
for you in the Hereafter, as Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on
him) said:The best act of worship is to strive to please the Lord at
all times by doing that which is mostappropriate and is expected at
any particular time.
Madaarij as-Saalikeen, 1/88
(e)
Investing one's time as much as one can and notwasting a single moment
in anything thatis not an act of obedience or worship. Our early
generations (may Allah have mercy on them) set an amazingexample of
making the most of their time. All seekers of Qur'anic knowledge were
keen to study under Abu Na'eem al-Asfahaani (d. 430) and every day one
of them would have his turn and he would studywhatever he wanted with
the Shaykh until just before Zuhr. Then when he got up to go home,
another student might recite a juz' to himon the way (for him to
listen and correct), and he never showed any impatience.
Saleem ar-Raazi was a Shaafa'i. One day he went home and came back,
and he said: I recited a juz' on my way.Al-Haafiz adh-Dhahabi (may
Allah have mercy on him) said in his biography of al-Khateeb
al-Baghdaadi: The khateeb used to walk with a juz' in his hand, which
he would study.
For forty years, Ibn 'Asaakir (may Allah have mercy on him) – as his
son said – did not focus on anything except matters of knowledge, even
during his free time or when he was alone. He always had with him
books of knowledge and the Qur'an, which he would read and memorise.
They were always keen to make the most of their time by doing more
than one thing at the same time. If the penbecame blunt and he needed
to sharpen it, one of them would move his lips with remembrance of
Allah whilst fixing his pen, or he would review things that he had
memorised lest any time pass without him doing something useful.
Abu'l-Wafa' 'Ali ibn 'Aqeel (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I do
not allow myself to waste even one hour of my life; even when I am not
reading anything or reciting anything, I would think whilst I am
resting of some issues of knowledge and I will notget up until I have
come up with something I can write down.
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:I know someone who
fell sick with a headacheand fever, and his book was beside his head.
When he was awake he would read, and when he fell asleep he would put
it down.
(f)
With regard to making aschedule and organisingone's time, that may be
done as follows:
1.
The program of the seeker of knowledge begins at dawn, which isthe
time for memorisation of Qur'an and hadeeth. The best time for
memorising – especially memorising Qur'an – is the time just before
dawn and after Fajr prayer, when the mind is clear and it is easier to
memorise. So the seeker of knowledgeprays in the mosque andremains
there until sunrise or afterwards, memorising and reviewing what he
has memorised. When he has finished that, he begins to memorise
textsof knowledge – the textsof hadeeth, fiqh, usool and Arabic
language.
2.
If he has a job or is in school, he goes to it. Otherwise he spends
the rest of the morning memorising and revisinguntil Zuhr, then he
takes a siesta and rests a little.
3.
As for the afternoon, it isfor studying and reading, or studying with
others, or discussion and reviewing issues of knowledge with others.
4.
After Maghrib, he attends study circles and after 'Isha' he reviews
what he has learnt or he may read a new book.
It should be noted that what we have mentioned here comes under the
heading of organising time in general terms. Each student should
organise his time according to his circumstances, whether he is
working or not, whether he is married orsingle, whether he devotes all
his time to Islamic knowledge or he has some other preoccupations, and
so on. What matters with regard to organising time is that there
should be some hours of the day and night in which he makes himself
memorise and read. People tend to want to rest and like to be somewhat
lazy, so he should train himself to work hard and be active,and he
should make himself get used to being organised and adhere to doing
acts of worship and obedience. Otherwise he will have wasted his day
and then he will have wasted his life.
For information on how to seek knowledge, see the answer to question no. 20191
For information on the etiquette of seeking knowledge, see the answer
to question no. 10324
See also the lecture, Kayfa yunazzim al-Muslim waqtahu (Howthe Muslim
should organise his time) whichis transcribed here:
http://knol.google.com/k/-/-/2344rncejpadn/47#
And Allah knows best.

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