Knowledge is a sea without an end. At best we have only dipped a toe, before we dive in to extract the pearls, perhaps, it is best for everyone’s sake we learn to swim first.

Learning without a Shaykh

Every science of Islam is passed down. For instance, let’s take the ‘simplest’ science. The science of recitation (Tajweed); a student learns to pronounce the letters from his Shaykh in a one-to-one basis, his Shaykh then recites verses of the Qur’an and he reads it back to his Shaykh time and again until his pronunciation is sound. He continues to recite in this manner until he learns one of the Qira’at from his Shaykh who took it from his Shaykh all the way back to the eight Companions who took it directly from the Prophet (ﷺ) who had pronounced the letters in such and such a manner. It would be incredibly naive if not foolish to think one can learn Tajweed without a teacher. This is one Qira’at, and there are more than 7 Qira’at. Likewise, he learns Arabic (grammar, syntax, morphology, rhetoric) from his teachers. Similarly, all of the Islamic disciplines are passed on via a chain of transmission.

Today, there is a growing ‘trend’ amongst some people who believe it is possible to learn the Deen without Shuyukh. They believe they can grasp and even master the revelatory disciplines by themselves. Armed with a book, a tablet and/or a smartphone, knowledge is often sought through questions addressed to Shaykh Google who points the seeker to many outposts. There are many dangers in learning in such a manner.

Harms of learning without a Shaykh

When someone embarks upon seeking knowledge without a teacher, quite often, he will make mistakes, especially more so, if he hasn’t studied the basics of the Deen. If he starts using Google to find everything rather than consulting the people of knowledge, his search will no doubt return back with multiple narratives, some complimentary and others conflicting. He will face a number of hurdles which he must address.

• How to verify if something is authentic or fake?
• How to make amends between conflicting and complimentary reading?
• What are his source of knowledge?
• When a word has multiple meanings, how will he choose which meaning to adopt and which to reject?
• How does he know what he knows is true?
• How does he know what he knows is not untrue?

If the seeker of knowledge continues to learn without a teacher, one will find that he is lacking and deficient in the following:

1. Lack of understanding
   • Without a proper barometer he is unable to critically scrutinise the information he finds.
   • In the best case, he is likely to misinterpret what he thinks the text says. This means that his understanding will either be literal without understanding the context or contextual without embodying the literal essence of the knowledge, nonetheless, it is going to be formed of opinions – perhaps, lots of opinions picked and chosen due to what his Nafs likes or his intellect finds reasonable.
   • Having access to multiple narrative actually makes people overwhelmed and leads to more confusion.
   • In the worst case, he adopts erroneous ideas and practices from unreliable or outright fabricated sources masqueraded as if it were the truth and thereby goes astray.
2. Lack of respect for knowledge
   • When something becomes readily available, its value is lessened in the eyes of the seeker.
   • Knowledge as we know is a treasure, it is sought with sustained effort over a long time.
   • Its known that, “knowledge only gives a part of itself when you give all of yourself.” 
   • Knowledge is a hard graft, it’s difficult in ascertaining and understanding it, and this is what makes it cherished.
   • Knowledge is honourable, when carried, it makes the carrier honoured. When knowledge becomes mere information, it loses value much like yesterday’s newspaper that litter the streets which people tread under their feet without a second thought.
3. Lack of respect for authority and a failure to recognise scholastic edicts
   • When someone has a query, if all it takes is just to ask Google and there… the answer is placed before him. Quickly, he will lose the reverence for those individuals who dedicated their entire life learning and living the knowledge.
   • One begins to feel anyone can be a Shaykh, in fact why do we even need a Shaykh?
   • One begins to foolishly look across to Shuyukh and think: “you and I are not all that different.”
   • Many express that there’s no reason to listen to local scholars, as they are totally irrelevant or have no understanding of ‘our’ reality.
   • A failure to grasp who is an authority and why?
   • Who do they listen to? So the cycle continues and it’s back to Shaykh Google.
4. Lack of appreciation of Isnad (the chain of transmission of knowledge)
   • Without having an appreciation for authority, the chain of transmission for the knowledge is discarded. The knowledge goes from lived knowledge expressed by people in their words and action to be mere information.
5. Lack of a structured learning program
   • Knowledge is an endless sea without a shore.
   • Without the guidance of a Shaykh, the seeker may be at loss as to which of the many disciplines of the Islamic disciplines he should begin with. What knowledge is essential over another? What to prioritise first? What should he specialise in?
   • If he leaves it to his Nafs to decides…this is a recipe for disaster.
   • I once came across someone who quoted their source of knowledge as the internet. Silly as it sounds, this is a real issue. They just cannot fathom the analogy that just because someone can read a book of medicine, it doesn’t make them a doctor, as much as someone who reads on Islam, it too doesn’t make them a scholar.
6. Lack of appreciation of the bigger picture
   • As the saying goes: “A little knowledge in the wrong hands is dangerous.”
   • The seeker needs to recognise that whenever he reads an article or book only captures a narrative the author had intended to convey. It is not the totality of the author’s knowledge.
   • The seeker needs to recognise that whenever he listens to a Shaykh, the Shaykh never conveys everything he knows but filters his knowledge to that which is relevant or more relevant, and selects a narrative that works with the audience he is addressing in the time frame he is given.
   • The books of scholars are tools of knowledge, they help facilitate the knowledge but they are not the knowledge.
   • So our seeker needs to recognise, learning from any source is only giving a piece of the overall whole. Inherently, there will be gaps in his knowledge, and even more so if he only rely in gaining knowledge from books and the internet.
7. Lack of wisdom in implementation between pragmatism and idealism.
   • How is what is read in books applied in real life? What are the conditions and preconditions in applying a certain ruling?
   • Who applies the ruling? Who is the ruling for?
8. Lack of compassion and empathy and a rise of arrogance
   • As hard as it to accept, some people were nicer before they embarked on seeking knowledge.
   • When someone learns by themselves from books or social media, they don’t have any accountability to anyone.
   • Without the scrutiny of the Nafs, without seeing a living example of the knowledge, the seeker can begin to look down on others who may not be as practising. He becomes judgemental or harsh, opting to take the hard-line approach. Soon follows the fire and brim-stone sermons, whilst the Deen is to give glad tidings and make things easy for people.
9. Lack of Adab and reformation of the self
   • Studying without a Shaykh is also likely to lead to a lack of Adab in terms of knowledge.
   • It’s unlikely their knowledge will be transformative as it does not go back to the source through neither a chain of transmission nor a succession of people who lived, were enlightened, embodied and were transformed by the knowledge.
   • One only needs to look at a post of a Shaykh on social media, and 101 different opinions will come hurtling back in the comments sections. What he said here was good…, what he said there was so so…, I don’t agree with him there… and some comments are nothing but outright abuse. Is this the transformation and reformation of knowledge?

Besides, when someone searches using Google, it has an active filter which runs an algorithm taking into consideration more than 40 factors (name, ethnicity, education, location, browser, browser history, search queries, networks, friends etc) to return personally tailored search results. This means any new search will return results based on the information Google has on him and return what Google thinks he is most likely to be interested. In other words, when two people search for the same thing, they’ll both get very different search results based on their personal data. So if our seeker happen to like or read a certain narrative, Google will return more of the same content even if the narrative was wrong. What does that end up doing? It makes his ignorance worse than before. He thinks he knows something, when he doesn’t know that he doesn’t know. Thus, his ignorance is compounded!

Benefits of learning in the absence of a Shaykh

As for benefits, there are plenty of benefits.

1. Ease of access to large array of material from across the globe.
2. Access to live and pre-recorded sessions.
3. Being able to be present despite not able to physically attend.
4. Digital recording and dissemination of knowledge.

The bottom line here is Google, online platforms and books are tools. They can serve as a viable means in facilitating knowledge, perhaps, the poorest means of learning. Nonetheless, they have their uses but they are not a substitute for the rich learning attained through Suhba. Suhba then is the most effective way of learning as it combined Ta’lim and Tarbiyah. It certainly proved to be the soundest means of learning in the past.

“The light of knowledge is taken from teachers and is not found in books.”

Knowledge is never taken from books or online platforms alone

 “In the earlier times knowledge was found in the chests of men. Then it was transferred to books, but the keys still remain in the chests of men. Therefore a student definitely requires a tutor who will open up for him the discussions and ways of understanding.”[Ibn Rushd]

It is often said:

“He who takes his knowledge from books alone becomes deficient in his knowledge, understanding, character and conduct even if one were to study the Qur’an and Sunnah.”

Books and digital media help us facilitate in building our knowledge capital and further develop it, however, they are not a substitute to having a teacher to explain the text.

“Classes, courses, workshops, seminars. Institutes, universities, colleges. Live streaming, downloads, PDFs. These are all good things and serve a need, but they will never replace the intimacy and ecstasy found in private gatherings of knowledge, remembrance, praise and benedictions.” [Abdul Aziz Suraqah]

Those who are learning knowledge without Shuyukh need to recognise that they are embarking on a journey upon a sea that has no shore and at best they have only dipped a toe in the sea. Before they can dive into the sea and extract the pearls, perhaps, it is best for everyone’s sake if they learn to swim first. This is not to belittle people’s efforts but to be true to oneself and recognise one’s level. Having said this, we as an Ummah are facing a crisis of knowledge and scholarship.

We are still learning to read, whilst the rest of the world are reading to learn.

So read as much as you can and then validate your understanding with a teacher or with someone whom you trust and is more knowledgeable than you. Be humble, respect authority and know your own limitations.

“Half of knowledge is to say, ‘I don’t know’.”

In our day and age, yes, it may be difficult to keep Suhba of a Shaykh, if this is so, then attend regular retreats and knowledge circles of Shuyukh. Create a brotherhood of knowledgeable and pious people and keep the Suhba of such companions. You may have little time with the Shuyukh but with sincere intention and the blessing of their presence it can be transformational.