Basic
Ethics & Manners
Surah: An-Nahl (43)
Teacher and Student — The Memorization Student's Etiquette With Their Sheikh
فَسۡـَٔلُوٓاْ أَهۡلَ ٱلذِّكۡرِ إِن كُنتُمۡ لَا تَعۡلَمُونَ
— النحل الآية 43
The rank of the sheikh in Quran learning:
Ibn Al-Jazari: "Whoever memorizes the Quran without a sheikh has taken it from pages not from men — the Quran is received by transmission, not by individual self-learning."
Student etiquette with their sheikh:
"I would turn pages before Malik gently so he would not hear the rustling" — this is the etiquette of learning.
Ibn Al-Jazari: "Whoever memorizes the Quran without a sheikh has taken it from pages not from men — the Quran is received by transmission, not by individual self-learning."
Student etiquette with their sheikh:
- Acceptance and submission: Do not argue with the sheikh when corrected — even if the student knows more grammar. Tajweed is narration, not opinion.
- Presence of heart: "When you sit with your sheikh, bring your heart — for knowledge is transmitted, not merely transferred."
- Patience with the learning process: Consistency and patience with repeated correction are signs of genuine seeking.
- Supplication for the sheikh: "O Allah, forgive my sheikh and reward him well on my behalf" — this was the way of the pious ancestors.
- Not switching: Do not leave your sheikh for another without excuse — breaking chains of transmission is blameworthy.
- Informing the sheikh of absence: Absence without excuse is a breach of scholarly trust.
"I would turn pages before Malik gently so he would not hear the rustling" — this is the etiquette of learning.
Source: Al-Nawawi, Al-Tibyan (p.33-55); Ibn Al-Jazari, Ghayat Al-Nihaya (1/4); Al-Khatib Al-Baghdadi, Al-Jami
Test Yourself
Why did Ibn Al-Jazari say that taking the Quran without a sheikh is insufficient?
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