106 - The status of religious knowledge

1. When God wishes to give someone a great favour in both this present life and in the life to come, He will facilitate for him a good understanding of Islam and its principles, commandments, prohibitions and purposes. This is further increased by learning the texts that are relevant to different questions, studying Qur’anic verses, hadiths and reports and acquiring knowledge of the disciplines that help to acquire such understanding and exerting efforts to have the right and correct knowledge. 

The import of the hadith is that a person who does not seek Islamic knowledge deprives himself of goodness.[1]  Islamic learning is mentioned in particular because it is the best area of learning. It is the discipline that leads to knowing God and worshipping Him doing His bidding and refraining from what He has prohibited. As such, it is the discipline that serves people’s interests in this life and in the life to come, and saves them from what ruins them in both. All other disciplines are secondary to religious knowledge. They remain deficient unless complemented by religious learning. [2]

2. The Prophet (peace be upon him) then explains that he is in a position of trust, undertaking the task of distributing what God gives him, whether money and property or knowledge. 

That he is a distributor of knowledge means that he delivers whatever he is commanded to convey to people, withholding nothing from anyone. As for understanding and insight, these are gifts granted by God, Mighty and Exalted, as determined by His wisdom. 

3. The Prophet (peace be upon him) then gives his community the good news that it will continue to uphold its faith for the rest of time. It will never be wiped out by its enemies. Its status with God remains intact, no matter how fierce the intellectual and military wars its enemies launch against it. 

This will be fulfilled if only a section of the Muslim community remains adhering to Islam in its pure form. Other sections may neglect to adhere to some of what God requires. 

4. The Muslim community shall survive until the end of time. Perhaps what is meant here is the same as stated in the hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah,

It will gather every single one who has the weight of a seed of faith in his heart’. This confirms that the Last Hour will arrive when the world is populated by wicked people.

1. If you wish to have a share of goodness, seek it at its sources, as indicated to us by God’s Messenger (peace be upon him). God is the One who knows where goodness lies and who facilitates its acquisition for whomever He wills, namely through developing an insight into the divine faith.

2. A Muslim should always seek ways to acquire knowledge of the religion. Such is the pursuit of goodness in both the present life and the next. 

3. It is important to seek the perfect insight through the Prophet’s companions. Ibn ꜤAbbās, who was lower in rank than the rightly-guided caliphs, was one of his companions whom the Prophet prayed for saying:

He said this prayer when Ibn ꜤAbbās served him with his water for ablution.

4. People’s status is evaluated on the basis of the goodness they demonstrate. The practical effects of one’s insight into the Islamic faith are some of the most important criteria for evaluating people. ꜤĀmir ibn Wāthilah narrated that ‘NāfiꜤ ibn ꜤAbd al-Ḥārith met ꜤUmar at ꜤUsfān. ꜤUmar had appointed him Governor of Makkah. [ꜤUmar] asked him: “Whom did you appoint over the people of this valley?” [NāfiꜤ] said: “Ibn Abzā”. [ꜤUmar] asked: “And who is Ibn Abzā?” He said: “One of our mawlas ”[4]. [ꜤUmar] said: “You appointed a mawla as their ruler?” [NāfiꜤ] said: “He has learnt God’s Book, the Mighty and Exalted, by heart and he is well versed in the discipline of division of inheritance”. [ꜤUmar] said: “Your Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘God elevates some people by means of this Book and brings down others’”.

5. The pursuit of knowledge is a continuous act, and the more one seeks the better one gets. God did not order the Prophet to seek an increase except an increase in knowledge.

Therefore, we should never stop seeking further knowledge, at any point or any age.

6. The Prophet (peace be upon him) looked after people’s interests with regard to knowledge, wealth, etc. Whoever is in a position of responsibility in respect of knowledge or wealth should know that he is merely a distributor of what God has entrusted to him. He should neither feel too proud nor neglect his responsibility. He should distribute what he is entrusted with as God wants him to do. 

7. Do not worry about the future of the divine faith, and do not grieve for what may afflict the Muslim community in matters of its faith or worldly concerns. There will always be a group of the Muslim community undertaking the task of preserving and upholding Islam. They will not care what forces are ranked against them and how these forces use their might and knowledge to suppress them. Every Muslim should seek to be a member of this group, which has special status with God, its Lord.