“No matter how many books you read, it will only uncover your ignorance, not your knowledge.”

These were the words of advice of Shaykh Maulana Musharraf Ahmed Al-Thānawi (may Allah have mercy on him) when I was blessed to sit in his service in Lahore in the winter of 2017.

I was with my dear brother Mufti Muhammad, who was a student of the esteemed Shaykh and thus he graciously brought me up to par with the etiquettes of being in his majlis: We will be attentively silent and let the Shaykh speak…he will speak and we will listen…got it!

We entered the majlis of the Shaykh and brother Mufti Muhammad introduced me to him.
After a few moments of silence, Hazrat gave a few pieces of advice, one of which was this statement that struck my heart.

No matter how many books you read, it will only uncover your ignorance, not your knowledge.

Most people become arrogant and conceited after acquiring knowledge from books. However, books only reveal one’s own ignorance. If you were to take a tour of any library or bookstore and look at the books on various subjects and genre, you will realize how much you don’t know. Other subjects and genre may not be of your interest, regardless, it is knowledge that is unknown to you. This realization humbles a person. The books become a source of humility and not vanity.

Every time I buy a new book, I recall this advice. Hence, I thought I’d share it with you today.

✨️ Who Was Shaykh Musharraf Ahmed Al-Thānawi ✨️

▪︎ He was a great man of Allah that exemplified righteousness, piety, and adherence to the Sunnah,
▪︎ He was a grandson of Hakeem-ul-Ummah al-Shaykh al-Faqih Maulana Ashraf Ali Al-Thānawi,
▪︎ Son of Mufti Jameel Ahmed al-Thānawi,
▪︎ Son-in-law of Shaykh al-Hadith Maulana Idrīs Kandehlawi,
▪︎ He was a Khalifah Majāz (successor in the spiritual path of Tasawwuf) of Shaykh Dr. ‘Abdul Hayy al-‘Arifī,
▪︎ Between Shaykh Musharraf Ahmed Al-Thānawi and our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ there were only 17 people on whose authority he taught and narrated the Hadith.
▪︎ He taught Sahih al-Bukhari for atleast 35 years on an annual basis at Dār al-‘Ulūm al-Islāmiyyah Lahore.
▪︎ He dedicated his life to the preservation and teaching of the Prophetic Sunnah.
▪︎ In the end of April 2018, Allah brought him from Lahore to the Enlightenment City of Madinah and took his soul. He was buried in Madinah al-Munawwarah.