Balancing Seeking Knowledge and Spiritual Litanies – Muwasala

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A Tunisian scholar asked Sayyidi Habib `Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah preserve him and benefit us by him):

How does one balance between seeking knowledge and spending time in the remembrance of Allah (reading awrad or litanies)?

Habib `Umar answered:

“The key to seeking knowledge is the soundness of one’s intention. If one’s intention is sound and pure, then seeking knowledge is one of the best acts of worship and one of the best forms of remembrance.
If you would like to continue reading your awrad but are considering reducing them to focus on seeking knowledge, not out of laziness, then this is a sign of sincerity. In this case you may reduce the amount you read, but you should not leave your awrad completely.
If, however, you find yourself wanting to leave your awrad out of laziness, then it is a sign that you are not sincere, so you should persist in reading them.

Soon after I left Hadramawt, when I was based in al-Bayda, I visited one of my teachers, Imam Abu Bakr al-`Attas bin `Abdullah al-Habashi (may Allah have mercy upon him). He said to me: “Do not read a lot of awrad since you are busy seeking knowledge and calling people to Allah. The Wird al-Latif of Imam al-Haddad is sufficient. If this is too much, then just read the second half of it from ‘hasbiya Allah..’ onwards.” He was indicating that there should be a balance in one’s affairs.
May Allah take us by the hand and rectify our outward and inward state.”

Relevant Resources:

Is it Possible to Do a ‘Wird’ Without Having Access to a Shaykh?

The Effects of Various Dhikr – Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad

Consistency in Dhikr, the Advice of Scholars, and Recommended Books