Hayatus Sahabah - The Lives of the Sahabah - Part 3

312 THE LIVES OF THE SAHABAH @,Em& (Vol-3)
The Disappearance and Forgetting of
Deeni Knowledge
What Rasulullaah Meant when he Stated that
Deeni Knowledge will be Lifted
Hadhrat Awf bin Maalik Ashja'ee 3,= reports that Rasulullaah @%% looked to
the sky one day and said, "(There shall come) A time when Deeni knowledge will
be lifted (off the surface of the earth)." A man from the Ansaar called Labeed
W@3 asked, "0 Rasulullaah @&! How will this knowledge be lifted when it is
recorded in script and safeguarded in people's hearts?" Rasulullaah @@ remarked,
"I was of the opinion that you were one of the most perceptive people in
Madinah." Rasulullaah &?$$ then proceeded to explain how the Jew and the
Christians deviated from the path even though Allaah's scripture was with them.
The narrator says that when he met Hadhrat Shaddaad bin Aws BGw and
narrated the ~adit6 of Hadhrat Awf ?&3W> to him, he said, "Awf 9GWj has
spoken the truth. Shall I not inform you about the first thing to be lifted?"
When the narrator begged to be informed, Hadhrat Shaddaad 9Gw said, "It is
devotion. It will be so completely removed that you will not find a single
person with any devotion." (I)
An'other narration adds that a person by the name of Ziyaad bin Labeed who was
from the Ansaar asked, "0 Rasulullaah m! How will it be lifted from us when
we have theBookof Allaah with us, which we teach to our wives and children?"(2)
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Yet another narration states that Hadhrat Shaddaad asked, "Do you know
what is meant by knowledge being lifted?" When the narrator submitted that he
did not know, Hadhrat Shaddaad %i%3W4 said, "It refers to the leaving of the
containers of knowledge (the Ulema). And do you know which knowledge will
be the first to be lifted?" When the narrator again submitted that he did not know,
-
Hadhrat Shaddaad said, "It is devotion. It will be so completely removed
that you will not find a single person with any devotion." (3)
A similar narration from Hadhrat Abu Dardaa BG4!& states that Rasulullaah
said, "Of what benefit was the Torah and the Injeel that were with the Jews and
the Christians?" (4) A narration from Hadhrat Wahshi wj mentions that
Rasulullaah &%% said, "They (the Jews and Christians) did not pay any attention
to it (their scriptures)." (5) Yet another narration from Hadhrat Ibn Labeed
quotes Rasulullaah @%$ as saying, 'They however did not benefit from it (their
scriptures) at all." 6)
(1) Haakim (Vo1.l Pg.99). Bazzaar and Tabraani have reported a similar narration, as quoted in
Majma'uzzawaa W(Vol. I Pg.200).
(2) Ibn Abdul Birr in hls Jaami (Vol. 1 Pg. 152).
(3) Ibn Abdul Birr in his Jaami (Vol.1 Pg.152). Haakim and Tabraani have reported a similar narration,
as quoted in Majmaut ZawaaYd
(4) Haakim.
(5) Tabraani.
(6) Haakim.