Q: You completed your Islamic Studies abroad, what were some of the highlights? Mufti Abu Layth

if I if I say then they say why does he say [Laughter] things if I don't say I'm just going to become a heart patient the the madrasa is an you know it's I suppose many things through no Nostalgia do appear awesome but I have to say that the madrasa truly was an awesome part of my life uh I wouldn't change that for anything I seriously wouldn't I know

people say that to many things uh but I genuinely mean it there were struggles naturally there will be struggles traveling abroad um you know different whether it's just uh atmospheres climate uh illnesses things like that culture you know all kinds of difficulties that you will face being estranged really from your family from your friends all these things will bring uh financial difficulties all these things will bring difficulties but there were some amazing um uh times Subhan the kind of

fraternity that emerges the the the kind of you know between students the Brotherhood so to speak you have some amazing I mean I I can only speak for myself we had some amazing times I studied in different parts of the world uh but let's say focusing on on a let's say the madrasa in Pakistan in Karachi when I was there it will there's certain things that you know I I I suppose I uh maybe it's just too much to really go into but what I I would highlight is in terms of the lifestyle just living the by lifestyle I

mean just the living the day-to-day living the being withness of of you know the others the students with you that that that atmosphere that climate in itself is invaluable let alone the learning that's one aspect to it the learning is is awesome because you're on this kind of conveyor belt where it's you're just being fed an incredible amount of Il um but then another highlight really is and is are those who bring life to this system which are the teachers and I have to say I'm sure

everybody's teachers are you know are amazing and awesome but especially some that I or we encountered there were definitely amazing figures that Subhan Allah even till now when I think back about just being in class with them it was as though it's just last week or the week before this is how Salient it is in my in my in my memory and uh I bring to mind for example this this uh let's say two teachers come to my mind straight away there was a a particular teacher rman

nowman was aith Andi in in that part of the world is somebody who not only specializes in Hadith but he also teaches sari so he was an amazing um just an amazing scholar this this this she he I mean he he would teach us he he taught bukari as well but he would teach us a Teri he went through Teri he he knew Teri like the back of his hand he had been teaching it for um maybe a a decade over

a decade at the time he was somebody that knew the just so naturally um and and just carried this immense awe to him really he was somebody that you know when he came into the class he brought life to the class and and the students really had an immense respect for him and he was one of the I mean all teachers were respected but he came to my mind that he was somebody that all students would hasten to kind of to to do something you know just to open hold the door for him or to kind of

straighten up where he's going to to sit or and they would do this just out of just love and gratitude really it wasn't something you know sometimes with some teachers there was a sense of intimidation nothing like it was just pure awe drowned in knowledge and he was somebody who alhamdulillah I I was had um you know very kind of a personal relationship with as well and uh I was very fortunate to visit him in his home where he would uh teach me privately the M of IM Malik and and I think those are some you know invaluable and

memorable uh moments really and lessons that have stayed with me Subhan Allah I mean and one thing that they definitely carried was an immense respect for this sacred knowledge and especially the knowledge of Hadith which which he taught a a deep really and and uh and a very deeply rooted love for the Sunnah uh of the messenger of Allah sallu alaihi wasallam so that's something which really comes to mind all the time and you know may Allah bless and preserve these people

but I mean sometimes there was also there were funny you know there were other lighter moments as well you have uh you have a teacher that always comes to mind that I've it's as though he's still with me really this this teacher um who we would refer to as this Sheikh is his his name was Abdullah we they would refer to him as Abdullah Al and Al in Arabic for those who know is logic and the reason he had this title is because for his kind of obsession with the books of logic he was obsessed and he had these idal syncrasy

about him he he was this strange just these Oddities that that only he could carry off and he was uh he was somebody if I was to and he had these certain Expressions that were just his very personal very uh if I was to picture him he reminds me a bit a bit of the a bit like the the a bit like the scientist from Back to the Future a bit like him but with an orange beard and a gner cap the same kind of large glasses and and he he would just come into the class

absolutely animated he middle-aged and Abdullah and he was he was one of these people and and you know about the Mantic they said once uh this the madrasa was reviewing some of its curriculum and it said that we will remove the books of of montic some of these books are unnecessary these logic books and and Abdullah went into protest he said never that this he said I I warn you now if you remove the books

of there was there was an area obviously in Karachi known as Banaras and he said B I will sit at the bridge of Banaras and I will teach these books right I will keep them alive I mean he was he he was such a a character I mean I he had these certain things about him by the way you know he would and obviously he would OB he speak to us in U generally he had these these kind of uh when he would come into the class and he would sit there he was he would just sit up and then he would just look around like when and he had this this kind of almost OCD obsession with whoever had to read

his text had to read and he would teach a sah Muslim and at that time he had been teaching sah Muslim for when he was teaching us for 13 years and he knew it almost you you would say it was second nature to him and he was just he had these OCD patterns right so he would begin his class by just he would look around like this like if he if he caught anybody off like they're supposed to be focusing on their book so he would just go you stop stop the class stop the class

everything would just stop say you do this start this where where were you looking and you just make this whole scene it just embarrassed the hell out of that guy but the point is he had these um the strange things to him but and when he would teach you the lesson so he would he would teach actually maybe 50% in Arabic and 50% in U and he had this thing that um he was incredibly like I said obsessive about whoever read his his book they had to be perfect in

their grammar so Subhan Allah I naively walked into that spot so I I had opted because nobody was prepared to um to read his book and I didn't know I didn't know about the Sheik and his his reputation so I just naively accepted the um so I used to read the text and and generally a class would have um our class had about 88 89 students in it so I would read sah Muslim and he would when he would begin to explain he would say so for example now you've read the Hadith and he would say well okay uh we're going to

do we're going to explain and he's going through this now he would want you to not only recall what he said he would want you to recall it verbatim so he would be like okay so tomorrow I'm going to review this lesson

and you you can't just say yes IM Abu hanifah said this IM Malik said this you had to say it exactly in with the same words if he used you have to use if he said you know you can't you have to say you had to be and if you didn't he would be like hey baba he had this thing hey baba that was like one of his uh he' go he had this thing where he would say he would say it would stop the lesson and it would say

that know if I if I say then they say why does he say things and and You' say he' say if I don't say I'm just going to become a heart patient so so then he would just say you get up get up and proper just go in at them seriously he was um an amazing an amazing you know somebody so um animated but at the same time very well grounded in his stuff you know I have to

say he he infused passion he uh I remember once going through a d with him in sahim Muslim and whilst teaching he began and read the text and then to the class he was doing saying you know you know and then he'll say something like I don't know he said uh you know and in this you

know and he mentioned all these and he brought all these people in and he said well you know and then he just stopped and he just while I was teaching everybody just thought what's he doing and he just closes the book and he goes hey baba he goes you know when I was in college he goes we we had certain friends he goes everybody parted ways

everybody went their own way some he goes K engineer buuk somebody's in Saudi Arabia somebody runs a business somebody's become this and I and he's talking about him having pursued sacred the sacred sciences and he said and people ask you know what about business what about this this guy's in Saudi Arabia today this guy reached Canada today this guy's got a business today and he says but

this and he said this this this sacred knowledge this science that we have said Baba he said this this is the uncrowned kingship which we carry he had a an immense passion for what he did you know and somebody I remember despite you know he probably had the most craziest sense of humor that any teacher ever ever had in the madrasa something that we all you know I remember he would say some of the the students would say

uh you know like M Sab orb how about we come visit you on Friday he's go eh he say I get I get too much of you already as it you know you guys do my heading whilst I'm in madasa my only day off and you want to come there and do my he said heyab nobody come visit me I won't open the door to you guys he had a crazy sense of humor but um but at the same I'm very sarcastic very very sarcastic and it's one of those really pick on people

you know you should really really pick on people and he hated hated long hair I don't know why but he just had this weird odity about him really pick on people sometimes but at the same time the kind of respect he inspired in the hearts of the students I remember once he was teaching a Hadith in sah Muslim where the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam says to that and he just read the he just came and sat down and he said and he begins the Hadith and because sometimes what would

happen is sometimes he may recite the first Hadith and then he would tell in in this case who it was me that would read the text or whoever the person is so for example the teacher may come in they may read a text and then say okay can you read the rest of them in this chapter now so he began the first Hadith and it was mu and the prophet Sall wasam says to Mu oh mu do you know what the rights of Allah are upon his slave and the rights of the slave upon Allah and he didn't even finish the Hadith he just stopped there and he just

paused and then he just closed the Hadith the the the book and he just started crying and it was a shock to everybody there because cuz you don't understand Abdullah was a man of Steal he wasn't like your kind of bag of emotions he was a man's man you know you know what I'm saying so he just started he just started crying and I have to say there was our class had just under 90 people 90 kind of students probably about 88 889 there

wasn't a person in the class whose eyes didn't become at least teary at the sight of that and and then he just he said he just got up and just walked off the Hadith was just so powerful and you know so he just said I can't do this today and these were the people that we were you know that we were fortunate enough to sit and learn with amazing people I mean I even his love for logic he

said you know in art went through they have two final years which are dedicated to Hadith studies so in the final year you cover the major books of Hadith whether it's bukari Muslim Abu the m whatever you cover these books generally cover to cover with W with actual kind of explanation now at least the main books with explanation and the year before that this a preparatory year so they're preparing you for that so you cover the mishkat and other things now he said and they call that and they call the final year he said that he loved logic so much

that he studied Logic for four years and when he came to study Hadith he said it occurred to him in in the that oh my God that Hadith is two years so out of love for the messenger of Allah he repeated each year twice he said that I didn't want to show any disrespect to Hadith so my dedication to Logic the books of logic can be equally balanced by my dedication and commitment to the years of Hadith studies an amazing a giant of a man I

just wish I could capture him on camera for the world but I mean amazing but so these are some of the memories that really continue to live with us and and I they really you know kind of are for me not only a positive kind of remembrance to carry forward but also hope and uh I suppose uh motivation really and enthusiasm one for me to carry on and two to remind others or at least

encourage others to maybe pursue an incredible path of seeking knowledge