It is said that in truer times, the scholars of Islam were often hard on themselves and lenient with their students. Nowadays we find that it is often the other way around, where the prominent sheikhs of our time are extremely lenient with their own behaviour, while publicly promoting the hardest of opinions for the masses to follow.
Seek out, if you can, a down-to-earth teacher who lives like other men: it will be better for both of you. Sit at the feet of the scholar who has a day job, who toils hard in his own employment, independent of state interference or business profits. Such a teacher may have less time to study or teach, but will ultimately provide a better education, more intimate and human, than the providers of high-volume, high-cost edutainment that dominate the religious landscape today.
Last modified: 4 November 2017
Very good advice. The celebrity scholar has become a dangerous phenomena… Even if he is true to his preaching it remains an unhealthy relationship between teacher and so-called student. The best way to honour our teachers is to implement the teachings and guidance they offer. All else is froth.