Ep. 11: Ibn Abbas & Knowledge | Our Models – The Heroes We Want to Be

When the prophet (SAW) passed away, the sahaba (RA) were filled with concern and worry about what was going to happen. At the same time, this gave them a chance to rise and fulfill their responsibilities of the world. At that time, there were some young children that were around at the time of the prophet (SAW), and now that they realized that the prophet (SAW) was no longer with them, they realized that they had to do whatever they possibly could to gain knowledge from those that he has left behind. One of the young men who undertook this was Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA), the cousin of the prophet (SAW). Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA) was close to the prophet (SAW) and used to tend to him. The prophet (SAW) was married to his aunt, Maymoonah (RA), so he would spend the night at Maymoonah (RA)’s house, and when the prophet (SAW) would sleep there, he would make sure that the water for tahajjud was ready in the middle of the night so that when the prophet (SAW) got up, everything was ready for him. Once the prophet (SAW) saw all of that which had been prepared, he asked his family who prepared it, and they replied, “Abdullah did it.” The prophet (SAW) made du’a for him; “O Allah, give him the understanding of deen and teach him the meaning of the Qur’an.”

After the prophet (SAW) passed away, Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA) took it upon himself to gain as much knowledge as possible from the senior companions. The way he would do this was, of course, he would sit in their gatherings, but he would also wait outside their houses. They would be at home, and when they would come out to go somewhere or to come to the masjid, he would then get up and ask them whatever he wanted to ask them at their convenience. Sometimes, as he narrates himself, he would wait there for hours in the blowing wind. He would get covered in dust, and whenever the companions would come out and see him sitting there, they would say, “You are the cousin of the prophet (SAW). You are so honorable, so noble. You should have told me and I would come to you.” He would reply, “This is the way of knowledge; whoever wants it must go to the person who has it. I have not come to you today as the prophet (SAW)’s cousin – I have come to you as a seeker of knowledge.”

People his age used to say, “Abdullah, enjoy your life. Take it easy.” He would not give up this pursuit and remained steadfast on the path of knowledge until he became one of the most knowledgeable of all of the sahaba. In fact, Umar (RA) recognized how clever this boy was, so he used to keep him with him in his council. Abdullah ibn Abbas, though he was growing quickly, was still the most junior of them, and some of them had the question, “Why does he keep this young man here? Why is this young man here at such a high-level gathering?” Umar (RA) felt this, and said, “One day, I will solve this question in their minds.” One day, as he was sitting in his council, he posed this question; “I would like you to tell me the tafsir of the surah Nasr.” To Umar (RA)’s right side sat Abdullah ibn Abbas, and following the etiquette at the time, Abdullah ibn Abbas would be the first to respond; however, when he was asked to speak, he said, “How could I speak first with all of these elders here? I find it disrespectful to present my opinion before my elders have spoken.” All of the sahaba gave their opinions and everyone came to the conclusion that the verse they were discussing meant that whenever you see the help of Allah (SWT), you should thank Allah (SWT) by praising him and make Istighfar for your mistakes. After all of the elders had spoken, Umar (RA) turned to Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA) and asked, “So, Abdullah, tell me; what have you understood from this?” He said, “This surah was there to inform the prophet (SAW) that the time in his life was running up. This is the message of the surah. The help of Allah (SWT) has come and people have entered into deen in large numbers, and now, it is time for the prophet (SAW) to turn to Allah (SWT) and meet him.” Umar (RA) said, “This is exactly what I have understood from this surah.” The seniors then understood that Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA) was no ordinary boy – he was a young man who had applied himself, and of course, the du’a that the prophet (SAW) made him one of the greatest Mufassir of the Qur’an. Everyone used to turn to him for that.

Age is not a requisite for acquiring knowledge. Two things are necessary – one, acceptance from Allah (SWT), and two, a great deal of effort and sacrifice where you have to first let go of yourself and your ego. If he had considered his status, he would have waited for people to come to him, but people do not come to you and teach you knowledge. You must first go to the people of knowledge. You have to let go of your grandeur and self-importance – there is no room for that in the knowledge of deen. We will talk about this in more detail another time. This is the first thing that Abdullah ibn Abbas did. He had the du’a of the prophet (SAW) and his sacrifice. If he had relied on the prophet (SAW)’s du’a and did not push himself, he might have acquired some understanding, but the Ummah would not have benefited from him the way they did. We must get ourselves accepted in the sight of Allah (SWT). This is a concept that we should start thinking about. We will only get knowledge and serve deen to the extent that Allah (SWT) allows you. We must make the du’a for Allah (SWT) to accept us for acquiring the knowledge of the deen, practicing it and conveying it to the whole of mankind. The acceptance is necessary, and so is the sacrifice for the sake of knowledge. Without these two things, you do not get much from Allah (SWT). May Allah (SWT) give us the ability to acquire that acceptance and open up the doors of knowledge and enable us to get past our own weaknesses: our laziness, ego and hesitations. May Allah (SWT) pave the path of deen for us.