His Eminence Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri addressed students of Al-Ma'rifa in Sheffield in a spiritual session titled The Unbroken Chain. The address dwelt on the meaning of ta'allum, the receiving of sacred knowledge, and the inner conditions the seeker must carry into that journey.
Learning, His Eminence explained, is not simply the external act of study or memorisation. It is a turning of the heart towards Allah Almighty, an entry into munajat, addressing Him with humility and sincerity. Every act of learning must carry an intention: to receive ma'rifa, to understand the commandments of Allah and the guidance of His Beloved Messenger ﷺ, and through that to become a humble servant.
A central message was humility. The seeker should never see themselves as having arrived, but always at the beginning of the road. Continue to purify the self, strive sincerely, and aspire only to servanthood. When the path is walked in this spirit, blessings follow naturally.
Shaykh-ul-Islam gave the image of three trees: a tall tree with no leaves, offering no shade; a tree with leaves that gives shelter; and a fruit-bearing tree whose branches bend low. Genuine knowledge makes a person humble, in the way a fruiting branch bows down. Knowledge without inner transformation leaves a person rigid and proud.
The session closed with a call to make sincerity the compass of the whole life of the seeker. The purpose of ta'allum is not achievement but relationship: standing in the court of Allah, ready to learn, ready to serve.