One of the greatest favours upon us by Allah (SWT) is that he gives us people who educate us and take us from one phase of our education to the next. These are our teachers – our educators. These are the people who deserve the credit for our achievements, whether they are academic or spiritual achievements. There is someone who played a role in us attaining that skill or learning that thing or showed us the right way to do a certain thing. Our tradition, the Islamic tradition, is very rich in the bond between students and their teachers. Our first teacher is the prophet (SAW), and we see how the sahaba (RA) had attached themselves to him. Those who spent the most time with him got the most out of it. Those who accompanied him in his journeys and while he was there in Madinah, those who saw his early days and work and who took part and assisted him in his work; those were the ones who benefited the most, and today, the hold the highest status in the Ummah. From the sahaba, those who accompanied them the most and dedicated their lives to attaining knowledge from them had the highest status after them, and so the chain goes. All of the great people of knowledge in this Ummah are those who stayed very close to their educators and teachers. The relationship between student and teacher was never limited to what happened in the classroom – learning that subject was never about that. It was more about connecting and bonding with that person and taking whatever knowledge they could from them.
Imam Malik (R)’s mother, who raised him independently, used to dress him in the clothing of scholars; she would tie a turban around his head and send him into Masjid Nabwi and would say, “Go to your teacher, Rabi’a, and learn from his etiquettes and mannerisms before you learn from his knowledge.” Students would mimic their teachers and practice speaking in their mannerisms and dressing in the manners that their teacher dressed. This is how they learned etiquette. Education was very practical, like when Ali (RA) went to Iraq and the people wanted to learn how to do wudhu, he did not do lectures or seminars, but instead, he said, “Find a high place for me and a jug of water.” They did this, and he said, “Gather everyone.” Everyone congregated, and he took the jug of water and performed wudhu in front of everyone. He said, “This is how I saw the prophet (SAW) do wudhu.” Through that short demonstration, which probably lasted a few minutes, all of Iraq learned how to do wudhu properly. These people learned through practical demonstration and they stayed with them. We should connect with our teachers like this, and this connection will outlive our study days. Our study days, in any particular school, are limited; however, our relationships with those teachers will live on throughout our lives, and late into our lives, those relationships come back. Those teachers continue to be our guides and mentors. The most accomplished scholars stayed with their teachers. Like this, all the sheikh benefit from their elders. The lesson here is to build this bond, because what our teachers have seen and experienced are far more than what we have begun to experience. They have gone through the ups and downs of life. They are the best possible people to guide us when we need it the most. May Allah (SWT) give us tawfiq.
