The Wise Man of Al-Andalus: Focus, Discipline, and Enduring Mind

The Story of Yahya Al-Laythi and Imam Malik

It is narrated in Al-Dhahabi's "Siyar" and Al-Qurtubi's "Al-Muqtabas min Anba' Ahl Al-Andalus" concerning the biography of Imam Yahya Al-Laythi that he was a student of Imam Malik, reading "Al-Muwatta'" to him in the Prophet's Mosque. A caller then announced the news: "O people of Medina, come and see the elephant!" The people of Medina did not know what an elephant was, so they all left Imam Malik. Only Al-Laythi remained with him, continuing to read. Imam Malik asked him, "Why don't you go with them to see the elephant?" He replied, "I came from Al-Andalus to read 'Al-Muwatta’ to you and return it to my people, not for an elephant." Imam Malik then said to him, "You are the wise man of Al-Andalus."

The Legacy of Imam Malik's Students

What we also want to say, as an introduction to what follows in these lines, is that Imam Malik had two students: Yahya ibn Yahya Al-Naysaburi, who was one of Muslim's shaykhs (teachers), and through whom Imam Muslim narrated "Al-Muwatta'", and Imam Yahya ibn Yahya Al-Laythi, whom Allah elevated with his intellect. His narration of "Al-Muwatta'" remained the authoritative and reliable narration for anyone studying "Al-Muwatta'," both in terms of understanding and transmission.

The Power of a Conscious and Steadfast Mind

This immortality is a fruit of the conscious mind that generates a true awareness of the self, and the steadfast mind that leads its owner to the honor of time and the sanctity of life. Without it, the beads of one's necklace scatter, and one becomes like a withered ear of corn in a fierce wind.

James Borg on the Strength of Mind

In his delightful book, "The Power of the Mind," James Borg states: "The power of the mind lies in patience, self-restraint, and accustoming the senses to discipline, the fruit of which is perseverance, and whose early results are production. The power of the mind also lies in the passion for knowledge and in changing limiting beliefs that steal willpower and hinder thinking."

The Mind as a Blessing

The mind is a blessing that shields a person from distractions and makes them disinclined towards distracting, fleeting desires that they cannot escape once captivated by them. If a person's path lengthens and they feel daunted by the journey, their mind diligently calls to them, taking their hand to open windows of goals, knocking on the door of hoped-for aspirations, and exploring the veiled conscience of the unseen.

The Importance of Discipline

Discipline is a true power and an eternal instinct in all creatures, and in humans, it is deeper and stronger. And so it should be.

The Pitfalls of Incompletion

Consider the state of those who start something but don't finish it, who set out on a path but don't complete it, who open a book but don't finish it, and who write down wishes but don't hasten to fulfill them... Such people are like the thirsty person who turns their back on a pure, generous spring and wanders in the desert, finding nothing but a mirage. The further they move from the spring, the thirstier they become.

Passion as a Driving Force

"Passion is an inner feeling and a driving force that leads you to the right path" (The Hats, Edward de Bono).

Inner Balance and Divine Aid

At that point, when a person is honest with themselves and discerning about their path and what they want, the Generous Lord assists and helps them, making the desert seem short for them: “For He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquility upon them” (Al-Fath: 18). The mind also brings balance to what is missed within a person, restoring their equilibrium that they sometimes lose due to missing something desired or encountering something feared. The Quran hinted at such a thing, and its illuminating verses agreed in pointing to it: “If Allah knows any good in your hearts, He will give you better than what was taken from you, and He will forgive you” (Al-Anfal: 71).

The Continuous Journey of Knowledge

The inevitable result of this passion, clarity of goals, soundness of direction, and repeated contemplation and reflection is what the great scholar Muhammad Abu Musa said: "Every time you open a door in knowledge, other doors appear to you, and every time you discover a secret within it, other secrets appear from behind that secret" (Introduction to "Min Balaghat Al-Quran," Dr. Muhammad Al-Banna).

Prioritizing and Escaping Emergency

When the tendency of awareness is confirmed in the mind, and the ability to prioritize the important and more important grows with it, by the grace of God, a person emerges from the state of emergency they have been stuck in for a long time. The demanding pace of life that pressures their mind to implement every new thing slows down.

The Power of Repetition

One of the blessings of the mind is that it stimulates repetition in a person. If you practice repetition with the mind, it responds to become a habit, which in turn can become a belief that renews passion and awareness in a person.

Avoiding Misguidance and Bad Beliefs

The most heinous constraints on the mind are being guided to misguidance and following without awareness, in a sterile practice through which a person strips themselves of their intellect and renders it absent. "Bad beliefs lead to bad results, and the conscious mind is one that replaces an outdated belief with a new one, characterized by the attributes of truth, correctness, and clarity. The masses only go astray through beliefs that does not result in fruitful, correct action" (Beliefs, Gustave Le Bon).

The Quran on Blind Following

When the Quran spoke about the followers who willingly chose to absent their minds, it said: “But they say, 'Indeed, we found our fathers upon a religion, and we are, in their footsteps, being guided.' And similarly, We did not send before you to any city a warner except that its opulent ones said, 'Indeed, we found our fathers upon a religion, and we are, in their footsteps, following.'” (Az-Zukhruf). This is an explicit response to every distraction, indeed, to every new thing that a person follows, not like the rightly guided and discerning, nor like the insightful contemplator.

Modern Distractions and the "Elephant"

The elephant whose news spread during the time of Imam Yahya Al-Laythi is the same distraction in our current era, but it has taken on a different form. Life's allurements and creations, media and social platforms with their deceptive sparkle, the soul's inclinations surrendering to the glamour of modernity and temptations, mood swings that affect a person, and life's preoccupations... and others – each of these represents the elephant that the caller announces for people to see, just like every new distraction. If you understand this, you will realize and grasp the true meaning of Imam Malik's words, may Allah have mercy on him, to his student Al-Laythi: "You are the wise man of Al-Andalus."