Topic: ISLAMIC KNOWLEDGE The Gateway to Success

[amazing moon]

We start with the Name of Allah. We praise Allah and thank Him for the blessings of Islam. We humbly ask Allah to raise the rank of our Prophet Muhammad, and his kind Al and Companions and to protect his nation from that which he fears for it. We ask Allah to grant us the proper intention, the Comprehension, and the reward in the Hereafter. Thereafter:

Knowledge is the gateway to success, as known by many However, some people understand this statement differently. The Islamic definition and concept of knowledge, and how it is a gateway to success in this world and in the Hereafter, is an ambiguous matter to many people. God willing we hope to clarify this ambiguity hereinafter.

Know, may Allah have mercy on you, that the high status of knowledge has been clearly established in Islam through explicit texts in the Qur’an and the Hadith, as well as in the writings of the scholars of Islam. Allah said in Surat al-Mujadalah, Ayah 11:

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which means: {Allah raises the ranks of those among you believe and those who were granted the knowledge}. Also, Allah said in Surat az-Zummar, Ayah 9:

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which means: {Those who knows are not the same as those who do not know}. In Surat Fatir, Ayah 28, Allah said:

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which means: {The true religious scholars fear Allah the most}. The Prophet, who is the best of the creation, in this hadith related by at-Tirmidhiyy, said:

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which means: “The rank of the scholar compared to that of the worshipper is like my rank to the lowest of you”. The difference in merit between the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam and the lowest Muslim is extremely great. Likewise is the difference between the true scholar and the true worshipper, i.e., the scholar who satisfied the conditions of being a scholar, and the worshipper who satisfied the conditions and integrals of worshipping.

Imam ^Aliyy Ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph, said: “Knowledge is better than money, because knowledge protects you whereas you protect money”. Knowledge rules over things, whereas money is ruled over. Money diminishes as you spend it, whereas spending the knowledge by teaching it to others increases your reward.

[HafiZun]

mâ shâ'a-llâh ukhti, great stuff. may Allâh keep increasing our knowledge so we may use it to benefit us in the hereafter for His sake. 'âmîn.

[princess123]

ameen

masha'Allah, baraka-llaahu fiki sis 

Imam ^Aliyy Ibn Abi Talib, the fourth caliph, said: ?Knowledge is better than money, because knowledge protects you whereas you protect money?. Knowledge rules over things, whereas money is ruled over. Money diminishes as you spend it, whereas spending the knowledge by teaching it to others increases your reward.

soubHan Allah how true, first time i received this i was so touched. may Allah bless and protect us all and our shaykhs ameen ameen

[amazing moon]

mâ shâ'a-llâh ukhti, great stuff. may Allâh keep increasing our knowledge so we may use it to benefit us in the hereafter for His sake. 'âmîn.

Allahuma ameen ya Rabbal ^alameen

ameen

masha'Allah, baraka-llaahu fiki sis 

soubHan Allah how true, first time i received this i was so touched. may Allah bless and protect us all and our shaykhs ameen ameen

ameen wa feeki sweety
ameen ameen ya Allah

[princess123]

ameen ameen  :-) :-) :-)

[amazing moon]

In Islam, the issue of knowledge is held in high regard. This knowledge is not any knowledge per se, but rather, the knowledge of the Religion of Islam. In Surat Muhammad, Ayah 19, Allah said:

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which means: {O Muhammad, be firm in knowing that no one is God except Allah}. In the hadith related by al-Bayhaqiyy, the Messenger of Allah sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam said:

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which means: “Seeking the knowledge of the Religion is obligatory on every Muslim (whether male or female)”.

The wording of this hadith the term “every” (kull) from which the scholars clearly understood “the Personal Obligatory Knowledge of the Religion”, and not all kinds of knowledge. Had every kind of knowledge been obligatory on every male and female, it would have been a hardship beyond one’s ability, and Allah does not order anyone with what one cannot bear.

Imam Abul-Hasan al-Ash^ariyy said: “The first obligatory on the slave is to learn about Allah, His Messenger, and His Religion”. The Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, in the hadith related by al-Bukhariyy, said:

“?? ? ?? ? ?? ?? ??”

which means: “Whomever Allah willed goodness for makes him knowledgeable in the Religion”. It is also understood from this hadith that whomever Allah did not will for him to be knowledgeable enough in the Religion, then Allah did not will a good status for him.

Hence it is clear from what has been stated so far, that the knowledge we are referring to is the Religious knowledge of Islam. Moreover, this knowledge of the religion entails many facets and many subjects among which are the knowledge of Tawhid and the knowledge of the rules of the Religion. The knowledge of Tawhid entails knowing about Allah and His Messenger, and it is the best of all the knowledge in Islam. The scholars repeatedly emphasized the clear evidence from the Qur’an, Hadith, and scholarly consensus proving that the knowledge of Tawhid is ranked the highest among all knowledge. This is so because it has to do with knowing about Allah and about His Messenger. This entails knowing what befits Allah and what is impossible to be among His attributes, and what befits the messengers and what is impossible to be among the attributes of the messengers. Abu Hanifah said: “Tawhid is the Great knowledge (al-Fiqhul Akbar)”. Imam ash-Shafi^iyy said: “I mastered the knowledge of Tawhid before mastering the knowledge of the rules of the Religion”.

[amazing moon]

This knowledge of Tawhid is of two categories. The first category is that which is obligatory on every accountable person (1). The accountable person is obliged to know this knowledge. Hence, this category is classified among the Personal Obligatory Knowledge. Examples of this knowledge include the belief in Allah and the belief in His angels, His books, His Messengers, the Day of Judgment, destiny, and the like. The second category of this knowledge of Tawhid is that which is obligatory for some Muslims to master, but not all Muslims. This obligatory is classified as a communal obligatory, since if some of the Muslim have that knowledge it is no longer an obligation on the rest of the community. Examples of this category is for one to learn the proofs of the tenets of belief from the Qur’an, Hadith, and intellect to enable one to refute the claims of the enemies of Islam, like the communists and the innovators of misguidance. Also among the communal obligation is that some Muslims must acquire the sciences Muslims need-such as, medicine, engineering, agriculture, and the like. Hence, if enough Muslims learn these sciences such that they satisfy the need of the community, it is no longer obligatory on the others.

The first category of the knowledge of Tawhid, the personal obligatory, has two subdivisions. The first subdivision is the knowledge correct about Allah and His Messenger and believing in it beyond doubt. If one does not know and believe this, one will not be a Muslim, and one who dies as such will not escape the everlasting tortures of Hellfire. However, having satisfied this and having uttered the Testification of Faith at least once in one’s lifetime, but not obtaining other essentials of belief and not fulfil other obligations such as fasting and praying and the like, one becomes a sinful Muslim, provided one does not deny the obligation of fasting, praying, and the like (2).

The second subdivision entails learning the thirteen attributes of the Self of Allah which are obligatory on every accountable person to know, and learning the attributes of the prophets and believing in what they taught regarding the angels of Allah, the Books of Allah, the Messenger of Allah, the Day of Judgment, destiny -whether good or evil- Paradise, and the like.

As to the rules of the religion, part of this knowledge is a personal obligation. The Muslim who is accountable is obligated to learn the matters of Purification (Taharah), the rules of prayers, the rules of fasting, and the rules of other obligations that apply to him, including Zakah, Pilgrimage, dealings, sins of the body, and the like.




(1) The accountable person is the one who is pubescent, sane, and has heard the Testification of Faith in a language one understands.
(2) Note: Denying these commonly known obligations renders the person non-Muslim.

[amazing moon]

Learning the Obligatory Knowledge of the Religion makes one able to discriminate between what is lawful (halal) and what is unlawful (haram), what is valid and what is invalid, what is acceptable and what is rejected, in addition to what is classified under the Religion as good or bad. The scholars of Islam have spoken explicity about these criteria. In the chapter entitled “Knowledge Before Saying or Committing Action”, Imam al-Bukhariyy stated: “If one acquires the Obligatory knowledge of the Religion, one acquires the ability to differentiate between what is lawful and what is unlawful, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable, and what is good and what is evil”.

Allah said in the Qur’an in Surat at-Tahrim, Ayah 6:

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which means: {O believers, protect yourselves and your families from hellfire which is fuelled by people and stones}. Imam ^Ata’ Ibn Abi Rabah who was among the followers of the Companions, interpreted this verse of the Qur’an. He said: “One protect himself and his family from the tortures of Hellfire by learning how to pray, fast, sell, buy, marry and divorce”.

Allah said in Surat adh-Dhariyat, Ayah 56:

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which means: {I created the jinn and the humans to order them with worship}. We have been created to be ordered to worship Allah. Worshipping Allah requires knowledge. For one to have a valid worship, first one must have the correct belief in Allah. Imam Ghazaliyy said: “Worshipping is only valid after knowing correctly about Allah”. Hence, if one learns that knowledge of the Religion, one will know how to perform the worship; one will know what is lawful and what is unlawful and what is acceptable and what is not. By implementing this knowledge accordingly, one earns the reward on the day of Judgment. This is not limited to particular groups of people. All people are in need of this knowledge to carry out their tasks in compliance with the rules of Allah. This includes parents, teachers, carpenters, doctors, engineers and others.

[amazing moon]

Acquiring this knowledge is very important and entails certain essential criteria. Among the criteria for acquiring the knowledge is to be sincere to Allah in one’s endeavour. To acquire the knowledge for the sake of Allah of showing off or to be recognized by people as knowledgeable or for other worldly interests renders one sinful and a loser. The one who truly wants to acquire the knowledge needs to do that in sincerely to Allah as it is evident in the following hadith of the Prophet that was related by al-Hakim:

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? ? ? ? ?: ?? ?? (??). ?? : ?? ? ?? ? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? “?? ?? ?

which means: “Once a man came to the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam and asked him about the one who does a deed hoping for reward from Allah and hoping to be recognized by the people. The Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam replied, “One does not have any reward for the doing”. The question was posed three times, and three times the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam gave him the same answer. Then the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam said: “Allah does not accept the deeds unless they are done in sincerity for Him”. When one is doing the good one must seek the reward only from Allah.

Another criterion for acquiring the knowledge is for one to receive it from knowledgeable people, and not by merely reading books. The scholars of Islam, like al-Khatib al-Baghdadiyy, explicitly stated: “The knowledge is taken from the mouths of the scholars and not from the pages of books”. The reasons are clear: one cannot ask a book about an ambiguity and receive a clarification. Even a scholar might have a slip of the pen and write in his book an incorrect statement that he did not intend to write; some of scholars’ writings did not escape the perversions of innovators of misguidance who planted errors in them. However, if one studied with a qualified teacher, the teacher would draw one’s attention to such matters. As related by at-Tirmidhiyy, the Prophet sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam said:

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which means: “Allah facilitates a route to Paradise for the one who follows a route seeking the knowledge of the Religion”.

Another criterion for acquiring the knowledge is to be neither shy nor arrogant in acquiring that knowledge. Imam Mujahid, who was a follower of the Companions (Tabi^un), said: The one who is shy or arrogant does not acquire the knowledge”. Hence, the one who wants to acquire the knowledge and arrive at the truth of a matter should neither be shy in acquiring the knowledge nor arrogant. One must acquire the knowledge in order to gain the benefit regardless of one’s age or social status.

In praising the women of the Ansar (3), Lady ^A’ishah said:

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which means: “Praised are the women of the Ansar, their shyness did not stop them from acquiring the knowledge of the Religion”.




(3) The Ansar are the people of al-Madinah who supported the Prophet; those who received the Prophet in al-Madinah when he immigrated there.

[Maria H]

Masha'Allah very nice
Waiting for the rest
May Allah Bless you my dear