of those who seek and learn (religious) knowledge. They will face no distress in the grave.”^[1]

Obstacles on the path of knowledge

O devotees of Allah’s Messenger! Think about the many virtues of seeking knowledge. Unfortunately, we are negligent and our nafs causes us to become lazy. We run from hard work and effort. Satanic whispers make us sometimes chase after fame, and sometimes after money.

In our hearts, we experience Satanic whispers like, “If I seek religious knowledge, how will I earn a living? How will I support myself? I have such a large business to manage, so I have no time to spare for seeking knowledge. I cannot leave my shop as my job takes up all my time.” These and many other Satanic whispers cause us to be deprived of seeking knowledge.

The Devil is the Greatest Enemy of the Student of Knowledge

It is mentioned in Malfūzāt-i-Ala Hazrat, published by Maktabat al-Madinah:

After ʿaṣr salah, devils gather upon the ocean. Iblis (Satan) sits on a throne, and his followers tell him about their actions. One says he was the cause of such-and-such amount of alcohol being drunk. Another says he caused such-and-such acts of immorality to be carried out. Satan continues to listen to all of them. Then one of his followers says, “Today, I prevented a student of knowledge from learning.”

Satan leaps from the throne when hearing this, embraces him and says اَنْتَ اَنْتَ – “You did well!” The rest of his followers become angry, as they were not commended for their actions, whilst this