Gifts of Knowledge

Questioner: I want to ask you about [the periods of] slackness [a person goes through], its causes and the cure for it, because a person sometimes feels weakness in his [practice of the] religion?

’Uthaimeen: It is not possible for a person to remain on a single uniform routine, even the Companions said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah! When we are with you we take heed and believe, and when we go to our families, our women and children, we forget,’ so he said, ‘A time for this and a time for that.’

It is not possible for a person to remain on a single uniform routine, but he must try to guard his heart’s uprightness, when the heart becomes good the whole body does so too.

He must leave delving into things that do not concern him.
He must leave disputing about things that have no benefit.
He must leave partisanship which has split the Ummah, and he must turn to Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic.

For this reason you will see that the layman is better in his belief [‘aqeedah] and sincerity than many of the students of knowledge, [students of knowledge] whose only concern is to criticise and refute, [whose only concern is], ‘It was said and he said [qeel wa qaal],’ and, ‘What do you say, O so and so?’ and, ‘What do you say about so and so?’ and, ‘What do you say about that book and about what so and so wrote?’

This is what causes a servant to become lost and takes Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, away from his heart, and leaves him without any concern except for, ‘It was said … he said …’

So my advice to every person is that he turns to Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, and that he leaves the people and their disagreements.

This is the best thing.”