KNOWLEDGE.....

To seek knowledge is a sacred duty, it is obligatory on every Muslim, male and female. The first word revealed of the Quran was "Iqra" READ! Seek knowledge! Educate yourselves! Be educated.

Surah Al-Zumr, ayah 9 reveals: "Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know?" Surah Al-Baqarah, ayah 269 reveals: "Allah grants wisdom to whom He pleases and to whom wisdom is granted indeed he receives an overflowing benefit."

Muslims today are the most humiliated community in the world. And should they persist in following the same educational program as given by their colonial masters, they will not be able to recover themselves from moral and spiritual decadence.

Ibn Mas’ud (ra) reported that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: The position of only two persons is enviable; the person whom Allah swt bestowed wealth empowering him to spend it in the way of righteousness, and the person whom Allah swt gave wisdom with which he adjudges and which he teaches to others.

According to Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, Ibn Abbas (ra) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: A single scholar of religion is more formidable against shaytaan than a thousand devout persons.

Islam is our greatest gift. We have to be thankful for this gift. We have to render to Allah swt His due. Allah swt has given us so much by making us a part of the Ummah of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) so we must totally commit ourselves as followers of the Prophet (saw). We must become true Muslims.

The first and most crucial obligation on us is to acquire knowledge and secondly to practice and preach this knowledge. No man becomes truly a Muslim without knowing the meaning of Islam, because he becomes a Muslim not through birth but through knowledge. Unless we come to know the basic and necessary teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) how can we believe in him, have faith in him, act according to what he taught? It is impossible for us to be a Muslim, and at the same time live in a state of ignorance.

It is essential to understand that the greatest gift of Allah swt – for which we are so over whelmed with gratitude – depends primarily on knowledge. Without knowledge one can’t truly receive Allah’s gift of Islam. If our knowledge is little, then we will constantly run the risk of losing that magnificent gift, which we have received unless we remain vigilant in our fight against ignorance.

Knowledge is identified in Islam as worship. The acquiring of knowledge is worship, reading the Qur’an and pondering upon it is worship, travelling to gain knowledge is worship. The practice of knowledge is connected with ethics and morality – with promoting virtue and combating vice, enjoining right and forbidding wrong. This is called in the Quran: amr bil-l ma’ruuf wa nah-y ‘ani-l munkar.

Not only should we seek knowledge, but when we learn it, it becomes obligatory on us to practice it. Though we must remember that correct knowledge should come before correct action. Knowledge without action is useless because a learned person without action will be the worst of creatures on the Day of Resurrection. Also, action should not be based on blind imitation for this is not the quality of a thinking, sensible human being.

Knowledge is pursued and practiced with modesty and humility and leads to beauty and dignity, freedom and justice. The main purpose of acquiring knowledge is to bring us closer to God. It is not simply for the gratification of the mind or the senses. It is not knowledge for the sake of knowledge or science for the value of sake. Knowledge accordingly must be linked with values and goals.

One of the purposes of acquiring knowledge is to gain the good of this world, not to destroy it through wastage, arrogance and in the reckless pursuit of higher standards of material comfort. Another purpose of knowledge is to spread freedom and dignity, truth and justice. It is not to gain power and dominance for its own sake.

Obviously, what we may call the reservoir of knowledge is deep and profound. It is a vast and open field that is not limited. It is impossible for anyone to gain anything more than a fraction of what there is to know in the short span of one’s life. We must therefore decide what is most important for us to know and how to go about acquiring this knowledge.

The following ahadith shows how important and how rewarding knowledge is.

"He who acquires knowledge acquires a vast portion." AND "If anyone going on his way in search of knowledge, God will, thereby make easy for him the way to Paradise."