The Importance of Knowledge in Islam Friday 6th February 2009 By Sheikh Mohamed Toulba (The Imam)

Al Hamdu-Lillah, all praise is due to Allah, we praise him and seek his help and forgiveness. He whom Allah guides no one can misguide and he whom He misguides no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no true God except Allah alone without any partners and I bear witness that Mohamed is the messenger of Allah, may peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, his companions and those who follow him on the straight path until the Day of Judgement B&S: Today In Shaa Allah we will talk about The Importance of Knowledge and Education in Islam Education and obtaining Knowledge is very important That is why Islam attaches great importance to knowledge and education. When the Quran began to be revealed, the first word of its first verse was 'Iqra' that is, read. Allah says, (what means):

ِ ‫ﻚ اﻟﱠ ِﺬي َﺧﻠَ َﻖ َﺧﻠَ َﻖ ا‬ ‫ﻚ اﻷَ ْﻛَﺮُم اﻟﱠ ِﺬي‬ ‫ﻹ‬ َ ‫ﻧﺴﺎ َن ِﻣ ْﻦ َﻋﻠَ ٍﻖ اﻗْـَﺮأْ َوَرﺑﱡ‬ َ ‫ﺎﺳ ِﻢ َرﺑﱢ‬ ْ ِ‫اﻗْـَﺮأْ ﺑ‬ َ ِ ‫ﱠ ِ ِ ﱠ‬ ‫ﻧﺴﺎ َن َﻣﺎ َﱂْ ﻳـَ ْﻌﻠَ ْﻢ‬ َ ‫َﻋﻠ َﻢ ﺑﺎﻟْ َﻘﻠَﻢ َﻋﻠ َﻢ اﻹ‬ Read! In the Name of your Lord Who has created (all that exists). He has created man from a clot (a piece of thick blood). Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous. Who has taught (the writing) by the pen. He has taught man that which he knew not Education is the starting point of every human activity. Allah SWT created man and provided him with the tools for acquiring knowledge, namely hearing, sight and wisdom. Allah says (what means): ِ ِ ‫ﺼ َﺎر‬ ْ ‫َواﻟﻠﱠﻪُ أ‬ َ ْ‫َﺧَﺮ َﺟ ُﻜﻢ ﱢﻣﻦ ﺑُﻄُﻮن أُﱠﻣ َﻬﺎﺗ ُﻜ ْﻢ ﻻَ ﺗَـ ْﻌﻠَ ُﻤﻮ َن َﺷْﻴﺌًﺎ َو َﺟ َﻌ َﻞ ﻟَ ُﻜ ُﻢ اﻟ ﱠﺴ ْﻤ َﻊ َواﻷَﺑ‬ ‫َواﻷَﻓْﺌِ َﺪ َة ﻟَ َﻌﻠﱠ ُﻜ ْﻢ ﺗَ ْﺸ ُﻜ ُﺮو َن‬

"And Allah has brought you out from the wombs of your mothers while you know nothing. And He gave you hearing, sight, and hearts that you might give thanks (to Allah Because of the importance of knowledge, Allah commanded His Messenger to seek more of it. Allah says (what means): "and say: `My Lord! Increase me in knowledge" ‫ب ِزْدِﱐ ﻋِ ْﻠ ًﻤﺎ‬ ‫َوﻗُﻞ ﱠر ﱢ‬

The Prophet made seeking knowledge an obligation upon every Muslim, and he explained that the superiority of the one who has knowledge over the one who merely worships is like the superiority of the moon over every other stars He said that the scholars are the inheritors of the Prophets and that the Prophets did not leave behind any money, rather their inheritance was knowledge, so whoever acquires it has gained a great share. Furthermore, the Prophet said that seeking knowledge is a way leading to Paradise. He said: "Whoever follows a path in the search of knowledge, Allah will make a path to Paradise easy for him." For example the Quran frequently asks us to observe the earth and the heavens. This instils in man a desire to learn natural science as well. All the books of Hadith have a chapter on knowledge. In Saheeh Al-Bukhaari there is a chapter entitled "The virtue of one who acquires learning and teaching others." Islam calls us to learn all kinds of beneficial knowledge. Branches of knowledge vary in status, the highest of which is knowledge of

Shari'ah (Islamic Law), then other fields of knowledge, such as medicine, Math, Science etc This is the knowledge (Shari'ah) with which Allah honoured His Messenger ; He taught it to him so that he might teach it to mankind: Indeed, Allah granted a great favour on the believers when He sent among them a Messenger (Muhamed) from among themselves, reciting unto them His Verses, and purifying them (from sins), and teaching them the Book (the Quran) and Al-Hikmah [the wisdom and the Sunnah] while before that they had been in manifest error" How great importance is attached to learning in Islam can be understood from an event in the life of the Prophet . At the battle of Badr in which the Prophet gained victory over his enemy, seventy people of the enemy were taken prisoner. These prisoners of war were educated people. In order to benefit from their education the Prophet declared that if one prisoner teaches ten Muslims how to read and write, this will serve as his ransom and he will be set free. We can freely say that this was the first school in the history of Islam established by the Prophet

himself with all its teachers being nonMuslims. Furthermore, they were all war prisoners. On the one hand Islam places great emphasis on learning, on the other; all those factors which are necessary to make progress in learning have been provided by Allah. Also we should know that there is no goodness in knowledge which is not confirmed by actions or words which are not confirmed by deeds, Allah the Almighty says ِ ِ‫ﱠ‬ ‫ﻨﺪ اﻟﻠﱠ ِﻪ أَن ﺗَـ ُﻘﻮﻟُﻮا َﻣﺎ ﻻ ﺗَـ ْﻔ َﻌﻠُﻮ َن‬ َ ‫ﻳﻦ َآﻣﻨُﻮا ﱂَ ﺗَـ ُﻘﻮﻟُﻮ َن َﻣﺎ ﻻ ﺗَـ ْﻔ َﻌﻠُﻮ َن َﻛﺒُـَﺮ َﻣ ْﻘﺘًﺎ ِﻋ‬ َ ‫ﻳَﺎ أَﻳـﱡ َﻬﺎ اﻟﺬ‬

(that means): "O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do? Most hateful it is with Allah that you say that which you do not do" Knowledge brings a great reward. The Prophet said: "When a man dies, all his deeds come to an end except for three — an ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge or a righteous son who will pray for him." (Muslim) Allah says in the Quran ِ‫ﱠ‬ ِ‫ﱠ‬ ِ ‫ﻳﻦ ﻻ ﻳَـ ْﻌﻠَ ُﻤﻮ َن إِﱠﳕَﺎ ﻳـَﺘَ َﺬ ﱠﻛ ُﺮ أ ُْوﻟُﻮا اﻷَﻟْﺒَﺎب‬ َ ‫ﻳﻦ ﻳَـ ْﻌﻠَ ُﻤﻮ َن َواﻟﺬ‬ َ ‫◌ ﻗُ ْﻞ َﻫ ْﻞ ﻳَ ْﺴﺘَ ِﻮي اﻟﺬ‬

"Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know?" He also says ِ ‫ﻳـﺆِﰐ ا ْﳊِ ْﻜﻤﺔَ ﻣﻦ ﻳ َﺸﺎء وﻣﻦ ﻳـﺆ‬ ِ ‫ُوﰐ َﺧْﻴـﺮا َﻛﺜِﲑا وﻣﺎ ﻳ ﱠﺬ ﱠﻛﺮ إِﻻﱠ أُوﻟُﻮاْ اﻷَﻟْﺒ‬ ‫ﺎب‬ ُْ َ ُْ َ َ َ َ َ َ ْ ُ َ َ َ ً ً َ ِ ‫ت ا ْﳊ ْﻜ َﻤﺔَ ﻓَـ َﻘ ْﺪ أ‬

"Allah grants wisdom to whom He pleases and to whom wisdom is granted indeed he receives an overflowing benefit." And He also said ٍ ‫ﻳـﺮﻓَ ِﻊ اﻟﻠﱠﻪ اﻟﱠ ِﺬﻳﻦ آﻣﻨُﻮا ِﻣﻨ ُﻜﻢ واﻟﱠ ِﺬﻳﻦ أُوﺗُﻮا اﻟْﻌِْﻠﻢ درﺟ‬ ‫ﺎت َواﻟﻠﱠﻪُ ِﲟَﺎ ﺗَـ ْﻌ َﻤﻠُﻮ َن َﺧﺒِ ٌﲑ‬ َ ََ َ َ َ ُ َْ َ َْ

Allah will rise up, (in degrees), those of you who believe and who have been granted Knowledge The prophet says "He who acquires knowledge acquires a vast Portion and if anyone going on his way in search of knowledge, Allah will, thereby make easy for him the way to Paradise The Prophet (S.A.W.) also says: “Acquire knowledge even if it be in China”. He used to call upon Allah to grant them the correct knowledge and understanding of this Dean: Ibn 'Abbas (R) narrated, "Once the Prophet S embraced me and said, 'O Allah! Bestow on him the knowledge of the Book

(Qur'an)." Imam Ali, (R), says: “Do not feel shy of learning what you do not know”. On other side, a person without knowledge is like someone walking along a track in complete darkness. Most likely his steps will wander aside and Satan can easily deceive him. This shows that our greatest danger lies in our ignorance of Islamic teachings in the first place and in our unawareness of what the Quran teaches and what guidance has been given by the Prophet . The main purpose of acquiring knowledge is to bring us closer to our Creator. And One of the purposes of acquiring knowledge is to gain the good of this world, not to destroy it through wastage, arrogance So B&S; to seek knowledge is a sacred duty, it is obligatory on every Muslim, male and female. A person without knowledge is like someone walking along a track in complete darkness. Every one of us, young or old, man or woman, should at least acquire sufficient knowledge to enable ourselves to understand the essence of the teachings of the Quran and the purpose for which it has been sent down. We should also be able to

understand clearly the mission, which our beloved Prophet (S) came into this world to fulfil. Knowledge is identified in Islam as worship. The acquiring of knowledge is worship, reading the Quran and pondering upon it is worship, travelling to gain knowledge is worship. Not only should we seek knowledge, but when we learn it, it becomes obligatory on us to practice it. May Allah (SWT) give us strength to behave and act just as He likes us to do and be pleased with us, and that should be the purpose of our lives. Rabbi zidnee ilma (O Lord, increase us in knowledge). Aameen.