Dear Believer,

I was sitting in a gathering when the teacher began mentioning great scholars of the Arabic language whom were non-Arabs. Individuals who did not speak Arabic as their mother tongue yet they went on to write some of the greatest texts and treatises on the Arabic language. Texts written centuries ago that are studied and memorized to this day.

Many of you know the story of ibn Ajroom, the famed writer of the Ajrummiyah. He wrote sitting in front of the Ka’bah and on it’s completion threw it into the water saying, “If I wrote this for the sake of God let it be preserved,” and it was. It was due to this type of sincerity that they were gifted the openings and knowledge that they were given. It had nothing to do with the age they started studying, as some of the most famed scholars began studying sometimes upwards of age 40+.

Nor did it have anything to do with their family, as some of them did not come from well-known families of knowledge. What they had was a passion and sincerity to understand their religion.

They stood up at night praying begging for God’s forgiveness and blessings, would marry into family’s known for their practice of religion (preferably Ahlul Bayt), would drink Zam Zam at every opportunity, and would perform a host of other actions to attain God’s pleasure.

They understood that the result was not in their hands, but in God’s.

This is why despite their beginnings, they became great in the eyes of the Divine. This is why their work is preserved until this day, this is why we repeat their names and ask God to increase their rank before every reading of their texts.

In an age where many strive to garner information in an effort to prove to others what they know, or to attain great wealth, one must remember that knowledge is sought with sincerity. That sincerity will be tested. There will be struggle, and in that struggle your heart will be refined.

Jumada Al Thani 8th, 1440
February 14th, 2019

Your servant,
Arthur K. Richards

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