Imām ‘Abdul-Ghanī al-Maqdisi (رحمه الله) , the illustrious scholar, renowned for his famous works such as ‘al-Iqtiṣād fil-I’tiqād’ and ‘Umdatul Ahkām’ was known for never wasting his time. It was mentioned in his biography regarding his daily routine:

He used to pray Fajr and then read the Qur’an or hadīth. Then he would perform wudū and pray a large number of supererogatory prayers until just before Dhuhr. Thereafter, he would nap for a short period of time before going on to pray Dhuhr. Afterwards, he would occupy himself with teaching hadīth and remembering Allāh until the ‘Aşr prayer and would pray it. He would continue teaching and remembering Allah until sunset. If he was fasting, he would eat and then pray the Maghrib prayer. Following that, he would pray supererogatory prayers until ‘Ishā which he would then pray. Then he would sleep until midnight. He would wake up, perform wudū and pray until just before Fajr. After that, he would sleep a little and then wake up for the Fajr prayer. This was his daily routine.[1]

Alongside this time spent in the worship of Allāh, ‘Abdul-Ghanī al-Maqdisī (رحمه الله) was known for refuting the innovators, authoring books in that and warning his students against them, which caused the innovators to have severe enmity towards him as Ibn Qudāmah al-Maqdisī (رحمه الله) mentioned.[2]

The amazing feat of combining between the worship of Allah and refuting falsehood is not something specific to Imām ‘Abdul-Ghanī, rather the devoutness of the scholars in worship is well-known, such as Imām Ahmad upon whom it was narrated that he would pray 300 units of prayer every day [3] , and his unwavering war against the people of innovation is well documented.

This shows that the Salafis, Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah of the past and present, gathered between worship, seeking knowledge and refuting innovation. Thus, using one’s time in refuting innovation and the innovators is not a blameworthy affair, despite the claim of those who say: “Do not waste your time with refutations and focus on worship only”.

Footnotes:

[1] Siyar A’lām al-Nubalā’ (21/452)

[2] ibid

[3] Al-Hilyah (9/181)