The Art of Listening
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh ‘Abd al-Fattah ibn Muhammad Abu Ghuddah al-Khaldi ( q.s. ) said that if a person starts telling us, whether in private or public, something that we already knew very well, we should pretend as if we do not know it. We should not rush to reveal our knowledge or to interfere with the speech. Instead, we should show our attention and concentration. The honorable tab’i , Imam ‘Atha ibn Abu Rabah ( r.a. ) said, “A young man would tell me something that I may have heard before he was born. Nevertheless, I would listen to him as if I had never heard it before.” Shaykh Khalid ibn Swafwan at-Tamimi ( r.a. ), who frequented the courts of two Khulafah - Imam ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ( r.a. ) and Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik, said, “If a person tells you something you have heard before, or news that you already learned, do not interrupt him to exhibit your knowledge to those present. This is rude and ill-manner...