Chapter 44: Knowledge & Teaching
The importance and excellence of knowledge does not really require
an explanation. The entire world knows and acknowledges the importance of
knowledge. To acquire it is a mark of distinction. This is what makes the life
of a man become successful and wholesome, and it is that through which ones life
and hereafter is improved. However, the knowledge that we are discussing here
is not referring to the type of knowledge that is attained through studying philosophy,
or that which has been devised by the human mind, and it does refer to the
knowledge through which one may acquire the world, (for) the Holy Qur’an has disapproved
(i.e. cautioned us) against acquiring such knowledge. The knowledge that we are
referring to, is the knowledge that is acquired through the Qur’an and Hadith,
for it is this knowledge, by which one is able to adorn his worldly life and
his hereafter. It is this knowledge, which is the means of salvation, and it is
this (very) knowledge that has been praised in the Qur’an and the Hadith, and
it is towards this knowledge that our attention has been directed.
The Holy Qur’an explains its beauty in many places, either
explicitly or in a suggestive manner. Allah says,
(اِنَّمَا یَخْشَی اللہَ
مِنْ عِبَادِہِ الْعُلَمٰٓؤُا ؕ)
‘Only those from amongst the servants of Allah who
possess knowledge, (truly) fear Him’. [Surah 35 Verse 28]
(یَرْفَعِ اللہُ الَّذِیۡنَ
اٰمَنُوۡا مِنۡکُمْ ۙ وَ الَّذِیۡنَ اُوۡتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجٰتٍ ؕ)
‘Allah will exalt amongst you, those who believe, and
those who have been granted knowledge’. [Surah 58 Verse 11]
(فَلَوْلَا نَفَرَ مِنۡ
کُلِّ فِرْقَۃٍ مِّنْہُمْ طَآئِفَۃٌ لِّیَتَفَقَّہُوۡا فِی الدِّیۡنِ
وَلِیُنۡذِرُوۡا قَوْمَہُمْ اِذَا رَجَعُوۡۤا اِلَیۡہِمْ لَعَلَّہُمْ یَحْذَرُوۡنَ
﴿۱۲۲﴾٪)
‘Then why should a delegation not come forth from every
grouping, so that they may attain the understanding of Religion, thereafter
returning to their people, warning them, in the hope that they may remain
guarded’. [Surah 9 Verse 122]
(قُلْ ہَلْ یَسْتَوِی
الَّذِیۡنَ یَعْلَمُوۡنَ وَ الَّذِیۡنَ لَا یَعْلَمُوۡنَ ؕ اِنَّمَا یَتَذَکَّرُ
اُولُوا الْاَلْبَابِ ٪﴿۹﴾)
‘Say you; are those who know and those who know not
equal? Surely, it is the wise alone who recognize the guidance.’ [Surah 39 Verse 9]
There are many Ahadith with regards to the virtue of knowledge. Only
a few such Ahadith are being presented (below):
Hadith 1: The
Beloved Rasool صلَّی
اللہ تعالٰی علیہ وسلَّم said, ‘If Allah wills to bestow someone with
special virtue, He makes him a Faqih of the Religion, and I am the Distributor
and Allah is the Giver.’ [Bukhari
& Muslim]
Hadith 2: People too
have mines, like those of gold and silver. Those who were good in the days of
ignorance are also good in Islam, if they acquire knowledge. [Muslim]
Hadith 3: When a
person dies, all his deeds are terminated, except for three things (that even
after passing away, they are still recorded in his book of deeds): (1) Sadqa-e-Jaariyah, (2) That knowledge which is
beneficial, (3) and Pious children (that he left behind) who continue to make Dua
for him. [Muslim]
Hadith 4: Allah
ta’aala will make easy the path to Jannat for the person who travels any path,
with the intention of attaining knowledge (of Deen). When any nation gathers
together in the Kaaba for the recitation of the Holy Qur’an, and they recite it
and teach it, then Sakina[1]
descends upon them, and they are enveloped by Mercy and the Angels encircle them.
Allah ta’aala remembers them amongst those who are close to Him, and one whose
deeds have made him lazy (slow), will not become swift based on his lineage
(i.e. Nobility). [Muslim]
Hadith 5: A person
presented himself before Hazrat Abu Dardah رضی اللہ
تعالٰی عنہ in the Mosque of Damascus and said that he had travelled from Madina
to learn a (particular) Hadith of Rasoolullah
صلَّی اللہ تعالٰی علیہ وسلَّم from him. He said, ‘I have heard that you
narrate this (particular) Hadith, so I have travelled here solely for this
reason’. Hazrat Abu Dardah رضی اللہ تعالٰی عنہ said that
he heard Rasoolullah صلَّی
اللہ تعالٰی علیہ وسلَّم saying, ‘That person who travels any path for
the sake of acquiring knowledge, Allah ta’aala guides him to the path of
Paradise and the Angels spread out their wings for the pleasure of the students
(who strive to attain Ilm-e-Deen). Those in the skies and those who populate
the earth and the fish in the sea, (all) make dua for an Aalim, and the superiority
of an Aalim over an Aabid (worshipper), is like that of full moon over all the
stars, and undoubtedly, the Ulama are the heirs of the Ambia. The Ambia did not
appoint heirs to gold coins and wealth. They appointed inheritors to (their)
knowledge. So whomsoever has taken (this) knowledge, he has attained a complete
share’. [Ahmed, Tirmizi, Abu Dawud, Ibn
Majah, Daarimi]
Hadith 6: Rasoolullah
صلَّی اللہ تعالٰی علیہ وسلَّم said, ‘The Excellence of an Aalim over an Aabid
(ordinary worshipper) is like my excellence over the most humble of you (i.e.
the lowest of you)’. After this, Rasoolullah صلَّی اللہ
تعالٰی علیہ وسلَّم said, ‘Allah ta’aala and all the Angels, and
all those in the skies and the earth, even the ants inside their holes and the
fish desire goodness for a person who teaches good things to the people’. [Tirmizi]
Hadith 7: A single
Faqih is more powerful over shaitaan, than a thousand worshippers. [Tirmizi, Ibn Majah]
Hadith 8: The
Prophet صلَّی اللہ تعالٰی علیہ وسلَّم said,
‘To acquire knowledge is Fard upon every Muslim, and the one who entrusts
knowledge to an undeserving person, is like the person who places a necklace of
jewels, pearls and gold around the neck of a swine’. [Ibn Majah]
Hadith 9: The
Prophet صلَّی
اللہ تعالٰی علیہ وسلَّم said, ‘When a person leaves home with the
intention of acquiring knowledge, then for as long as he does not return, he is
in way of Allah’. [Tirmizi, Daarimi]
Hadith 10: The
Prophet صلَّی
اللہ تعالٰی علیہ وسلَّم said, ‘A Mo’min is never fully enriched (satisfied)
with goodness (i.e. knowledge), until such time its last part does not come in
Jannat’. [Tirmizi] (In other words in Jannat
he will gain the ultimate gift of goodness and knowledge and that is the Divine
Vision of Allah will be blessed to every believer)
Hadith 11: The
Prophet صلَّی
اللہ تعالٰی علیہ وسلَّم said, ‘Allah keep that person happy, who
heard any one of my words and memorised it, and preserved it, passing it on to
others. Since, many who are bearers of knowledge are not Faqihs (Jurists), and
many of those who bear this knowledge, (sometimes) share it with those who are
greater Jurists than them’. [Ahmed,
Tirmizi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Daarimi]
Hadith 12: The
Prophet صلَّی
اللہ تعالٰی علیہ وسلَّم said, ‘A believer receives the benefit of these
actions and virtuous deeds, even after passing away. The knowledge, which he
imparted (taught) and that which he propagated; pious children that he left
behind, or the Sacred Scripture[2]
which he left behind in his Estate, or a Musjid which he had constructed, or a
resting place for the Musafirs[3],
which he had erected, or a stream that he had prepared. Or the wealth which he gave
as Sadqa during his good health in his lifetime, (the benefits of which) he
will receive after he has passed away’. [Ibn
Majah]
Hadith 13: Hazrat Ibn
Ab’bas رضی اللہ تعالٰی عنہما
mentioned that to learn or teach for just one
moment at night, is greater than being in worship for the entire night. [Daarimi]
Hadith 14: Rasoolullah
صلَّی
اللہ تعالٰی علیہ وسلَّم entered the Musjid and whilst two gatherings
were in session (in the Musjid). Huzoor
صلَّی اللہ تعالٰی علیہ وسلَّم said, ‘Both gatherings are virtuous, but one
is greater than the other. These people are asking Dua from Allah and they are
inclined towards Him. If He Wills He may either bestow or not bestow upon them
(what they request). As for those in the second gathering, they acquire knowledge
and educate the ignorant by way of it and this is more exalted’. Huzoor صلَّی اللہ تعالٰی علیہ
وسلَّم then said, ‘I have been sent as a Teacher (to the entire
Universe)’. He صلَّی
اللہ تعالٰی علیہ وسلَّم then sat in that particular gathering.
Hadith 15: The
Prophet صلَّی اللہ تعالٰی علیہ وسلَّم
said, ‘Allah will raise that person as a Faqih
who memorises 40 Hadith pertaining to the Deen of my Ummat, and I shall be his
intercessor and a witness (over him)’. [Baihaqi]
Hadith 16: Two types
of insatiable persons are never fully satisfied:
One who is greedy for knowledge, for his knowledge will never fill his stomach
(i.e. satisfy him) and the other is one who has greed for materialistic things
(the world), for he will never be satisfied (with whatever he possesses). [Baihaqi]
Hadith 17: Abdullah
bin Mas’ud رضی اللہ تعالٰی عنہ said that two covetous people are never
satisfied: the one is a Saahib-e-Duniya[4]
and the other being is a Saahib-e-Ilm[5],
but both of them are not alike. A Saahib-e-Ilm continues to acquire the
pleasure of Allah and a Saahib-e-Duniya grows in obstinacy. Thereafter, Hazrat
Abdullah رضی اللہ تعالٰی عنہ recited the following verse of the Qur’an,
(کَلَّاۤ اِنَّ
الْاِنۡسَانَ لَیَطْغٰۤی ۙ﴿۶﴾اَنۡ رَّاٰہُ اسْتَغْنٰی ﴿ؕ۷﴾ )
‘Indeed, man is disobedient, for he regards himself as
being free (independent).’
[Surah 96 Verses 6-7]
And referring to the other, he said:
(اِنَّمَا یَخْشَی اللہَ
مِنْ عِبَادِہِ الْعُلَمٰٓؤُا ؕ)
‘Only the ones who possess knowledge amongst His
servants, truly fear Allah.’
[Surah 35 Verse 28]
HADITH 18: That
knowledge, through which benefit cannot be attained, is like treasure of which
nothing is spent in the way of Allah. [Ahmed]
HADITH 19: The most
disappointed person on the Day of Qiyaamah will be one who had the opportunity
to acquire knowledge in the world, but did not acquire it. Also that person,
who acquired knowledge, but others neither heard it from him nor benefited from
it, or if he himself did not attain any benefit from it. [Ibn Asakir]
HADITH 20: The ink of
the Ulama will be measured with the blood of the martyr, and the ink will
prevail over it. [Khateeb]
HADITH 21: The
examples of the Ulama are like the stars in the sky, by which one finds
direction in a desert and in the darkness of the sea. If the stars were to
vanish, then those travelling would be lost. [Ahmed]
HADITH 22: Knowledge
is (of three types): a Precise Verse, an Established Sunnat, or a just share
(of inheritance), and anything other than this is additional.
HADITH 23: Hazrat
Hassan Basri رضی اللہ تعالٰی عنہ said,
‘There are two types of knowledge. One is that, which the heart possesses, and
this (type of knowledge) is ‘Beneficial Knowledge’ and the second is that,
which is on the tongue. This is Allah’s evidence over Ibn Adam (humans)’. [Daarimi]
HADITH 24: The one,
who sought knowledge and acquired it, attains two folds reward, and if he does
not acquire it, then he receives one fold reward. [Daarimi]
HADITH 25: If death
comes upon a person whilst he was acquiring knowledge for the purpose of refreshing
Islam, then between him and the Ambia, there shall be a difference of one level
in Jannat. [Daarimi]
[1] Sakina refers to peace and tranquillity.
[2] Sacred Scripture here refers to the Holy Qur’an.
[3] A Musafir refers to a wayfarer (i.e. traveller).
[4] A Saahib-e-Duniya refers to a Possessor of materialistic and
worldly effects.
[5] A Saahib-e-Ilm refers to a Possessor of Knowledge.
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