Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
Hazrat Abdullah bin Abbaas (radhiyallahu ‘anhuma) says:
After the demise of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), I said to one of my Ansaari friends, “Come, let us go and learn (the knowledge of Deen) from the Sahaabah (radiyallahu ‘anhum), while many of them are still present among us.”
He said to me, “O Ibnu Abbaas! By the qasm of Allah, I am surprised that you think people will need to refer to you (in deeni matters) whereas these great Sahaabah are present among us!”
Despite the statement of his friend, Hazrat Abdullah bin Abbaas (radiyallahu ‘anhuma) was not in any way discouraged from his pursuit of ilm. He says:
Rather, I continued my quest for knowledge and began approaching every Sahaabi (who had heard Ahaadith from Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam)).
In this way, Hazrat Abdullah bin Abbaas (radiyallahu ‘anhuma) managed to gather a substantial amount of ilm from the Sahaabah (radiyallahu ‘anhum). He further says:
On my visit to any Sahaabi (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), if I found him resting, I would spread my shawl at the entrance of his home and remained seated there, waiting for him to come out of his house. At times, my face and entire body would get covered with dust while waiting outside his home.
However, this did not dissuade Hazrat Ibnu Abbaas from his endeavour of seeking knowledge and he continued to remain seated there, anxiously awaiting the Sahaabi’s emergence. He mentions:
When the Sahaabi would come out from his home after resting and he would see me, he would say, “O cousin of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam)! Why did you come to me? You should have sent a message calling me, then I would have come to you!” Hearing this, I would respond, “No! It is more right for me to come to you (as I am the student and you are the ustaad)!”
Hazrat Abdullah bin Abbaas (radiyallahu ‘anhuma) thus continued his pursuits until there came a time when people began to flock to him for learning the knowledge of deen. He says:
My Ansaari friend lived till the time he witnessed the people benefitting from my knowledge (at that time, he realised what I had done was the better thing), and thus he remarked, “This person has surely proven himself to be more intelligent than me.” (Mustadrak Haakim #363)
