Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim
1. Introduction
Friends beloved by Allah, have you ever intended to read a religious book or watch a lecture video? Just five minutes in, a notification pops up on your phone. You open it, and before you know it, you’ve been scrolling short videos for two hours. This internal barrier of poor concentration and easy distraction is one of the biggest mental illnesses of our modern age. Our body is present in the study circle, but our heart and focus are scattered everywhere. Psychologically and neuroscientifically, a brain constantly fed rapid-fire information changes—like social media—loses its ability for deep focus, or “deep work.” Spiritually, knowledge is a wild quarry, and the rope that binds it is focus and note-taking.
Allah SWT has reminded us firmly that He did not create man with a heart capable of dual focus at one time: مَّا جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لِرَجُلٍ مِّن قَلْبَيْنِ فِي جَوْفِهِ“Allah has not made for a man two hearts within his breast.” (QS. Al-Aḥzāb: 4)
This verse both comforts and warns us: we cannot gather the light of knowledge into our hearts if, at the same time, our hearts are busy with trivial worldly calculations.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ also taught us to be wholehearted and focused when dealing with good, through his words:
احْرِصْ عَلَى مَا يَنْفَعُكَ، وَاسْتَعِنْ بِاللَّهِ وَلَا تَعْجِزْ
“Be eager for what benefits you, seek help from Allah, and do not be weak.” (HR. Muslim)
2. Lessons and Message
Focus is our spiritual currency. Wherever we direct our focus, that’s where our life energy flows. Seeking knowledge demands respect. Respecting knowledge means giving it our best time and full concentration, not the leftovers when our brain is already exhausted.
Let us reflect on the sad story of a seeker of knowledge today. He attended a gathering of a great scholar who had traveled all the way from the Middle East. Yet throughout the lecture, his fingers were busy typing messages, his eyes busy taking photos for content, and his mind drifting to think about netizens’ comments. The lecture ended, the scholar went home, and the young man went home too. When his mother asked at home, “Son, what did the scholar advise for our lives?” the young man froze, his tongue tied. He couldn’t remember a single verse because his focus had been stolen by the screen in his hand. He lost a pearl of wisdom that might have changed the course of his life, all for a flash of fleeting, illusory pleasure. What a sad waste of time. Our easily distracted mind while studying is like trying to boil water on a stove. For the water to get hot and boil, the stove must stay on under the pot continuously, right? Now, an unfocused person is like turning the stove on under the pot for two minutes, then moving it under a frying pan for a minute because they see some oil, then moving it again under a kettle because they want coffee. The stove keeps getting moved every two minutes because the eyes are hungry for everything. What’s the result? Even if you wait until you grow a beard and dinosaurs come back to life, that water in the pot will never boil! That’s exactly what happens when you study while checking your phone every few minutes or daydreaming. Your brain doesn’t heat up, but the knowledge evaporates!
3. Conclusion and Closing
Brothers and sisters, concentration is not an inborn talent; it’s a spiritual muscle that must be trained. When you intend to seek knowledge, put aside anything that can pull your gaze away. Turn off notifications, lock the room door, and tell the world: “Wait a moment, I’m collecting the inheritance of the Prophets.” Always remember the wise words of the scholars: “Knowledge will not give you any part of itself until you give it all of yourself.” May Allah grant us humble hearts and sharp minds to absorb every word of goodness
والله أعلم بالصواب
الحمد لله رب العالمين
Wassalamu’alaikum Warahmaullahi Wabarakatuh.
ِAbu Sultan Al-Qadrie
