I Love My Arabic Letters

The Etiquette of Seeking Knowledge … to adorn oneself with beautiful etiquette, noble manners, good behaviour, and pious conduct are distinguishing characteristics of the people of Islaam, and knowledge – the most precious pearl in the crown of the purified Shareeah – cannot be attained except by those who adorn themselves with its etiquette and those who leave evil qualities associated to it. For this reason the scholars devoted their attention to this etiquette, outlined its importance and wrote books solely on this topic; either pertaining to (general conduct] with all types of knowledge or to specific types of knowledge such as the etiquette of the carriers of the Noble Quireaan, the etiquette of the muhaddith, the etiquette of the muftee, the etiquette of the qaadee (judge), the etiquette of the muhtasib (the one who enjoins good and forbids evil for the sake of Allaah) and so on. The issue of this book is the general conduct of those who take the path of seeking the knowledge of the Sharee’ah.

One might say, “I want to repent, but who can guarantee that Allah will forgive me if I do so? I want to follow the Straight Path, but I feel very hesitant. If I know for sure that Allah would forgive me, I would definitely repent.” Shaykh Muhammad Sâlih al-Munajjid, may Allah reward him, gives a clear-cut response to such doubts and questions in this booklet. In order that the response reassures everybody concerned, it is based on the Noble Qur’an and the honourable Sunnah, quoting many verses and hadiths confirming that Allah’s mercy and forgiveness embrace all creation and are greater than any and all sins. The Shaykh then goes on to explain the preconditions and necessary steps for achieving true repentance, at which Allah is just waiting to forgive any of His penitent servants.