For the longest time I had wished that I could sit with a teacher to learn this book in its entirety. I had learnt some of the knowledge through teachers like Ustazah Farhana in her classes. I was hoping the translator of the book, Shaykh Ahmed Saad, would be able to teach the book in SG as he had done elsewhere. Little did I expect Allah ﷻ would send another teacher for me to sit with. Alhamdulillah for the blessing!
Fiqh tahawwulat is such an important knowledge to have as we navigate our lives at the end of times. It affirms the beliefs that I have when it comes to raising children and reminds me that in fact, there are more to be added to the long list. That I’m not being overly strict for saying no to a lot of things for my children because I’m trying biidznilah to protect them from possible fitnah which is real, and not imaginary as some would say.
Just to share something that happened on the last day. On Friday morning during recitation of the Burdah, after we had completed learning the book the previous night, I realised that my water bottle had not been properly capped and it had emptied itself into my bag. Amongst the items that were drenched was my book, Al Nubdhah Al Sughrah. All my handwritten notes inside the book was smeared beyond comprehension. The first thing that came to mind was the lesson from the life of Imam Al Ghazali. One day while travelling, his caravan was attacked by bandits. He begged the bandits not to take his notebooks as they contained precious knowledge. The chief bandit laughed at him and said, “What kind of knowledge is this if it can be so easily taken away by the likes of me?”
May the knowledge learnt not be mere words on papers and in books but knowledge that is kept in the hearts, to be practised and passed on from one to the other. Ameen.
Al ilmu fi sudur
La fi sutur
