6. The Importance of Seeking Knowledge

Reference

Importance of Seeking Knowledge.pdf

1. The Importance of Seeking Islamic Knowledge

• Imam Ahmad said “We are in more need of knowledge than food or water in this day and age.”
• The ones who know and don’t know are not equal.

  Transclude of 39-9

• Ali Ibn Abi Thalib said

The virtue of knowledge

كىفبالعلم رشًفاأنيدعيهمنلايحسنه،ويفرحبهإذانسبإليه،وكىفبالجهلذًما أنيتربأمنهمنهوفيه “It is enough of a virtue of knowledge; that it is claimed by the one who has not perfected it and they are pleased when they are attributed to it. It is enough of a degradation of ignorance; that the one who has it frees themselves from it.”

• Then Allah said again the ranks of the one who is knowledgeable is different

  Transclude of 58-11

• Ibn Qayyim mentions 153 virtues of seeking knowledge in his 3 volume series Miftah Daris Sa’adah.
• Abu Darda narrated the famous hadith:

  He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: If anyone travels on a road² in search of knowledge, (1) Allah will cause him to travel on one of the roads of Paradise. (2) The angels will lower their wings in their great pleasure with one who seeks knowledge, (3) the inhabitants of the heavens and the Earth and the fish in the deep waters will ask forgiveness for the learned man. (4) The superiority of the learned man over the devout is like that of the moon, on the night when it is full, over the rest of the stars. (5) The learned are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets leave neither dinar nor dirham, leaving only knowledge, and he who takes it takes an abundant portion.

  Link to original

  • In this hadith, the word يَطْلُبُ here means even if just a little bit, it still counts.
• Ali Ibn Abi Thalib wrote the poetry:

  Beautiful Poem by Ali b. Abi Talib (d. 661) about Knowledge

  الناس من جهة التمثال أكفاء *** أبوهم آدم وأمهم حواء

  نفس كنفس ، وأرواح مشاكلة *** وأعظم خلقت فيها وأعضاء

  وإنما أمهات الناس أوعيـــــــــة *** مستودعات وللأحساب آباء

  فإن يكن لهم من أصلهم شـرف *** يفاخرون به ؛ فالطين ، والماء

  ما الفضل إلا لأهل العلم إنهـــم *** على الهدى لمن استهدى أدلاء

  وقيمة المرء ما قد كان يحسنــه *** والجاهلون لأهل العلم أعداء

  ففز بعلم ولا تطلب به بــــــــــدلا *** فالناس موتى ، وأهل العلم أحياء

  A (very loose!] translation:

  At face value, all people seem to be equal, their father is Adam and their mother is Eve
  Each soul resembling the other, with bones and organs in their bodies
  They take pride in their lineage, even though they are composed merely of water and earth
  True virtue belongs only to the people of knowledge, for they are the ones upon true guidance
  They are the guides for people who seek guidance
  A person's worth is only in that in which he excels Verily the ignorant are the enemies of the people of knowledge
  So seek victory in knowledge and do accept any substitute for it
  And know that the people are largely dead, and only those with knowledge are truly alive

  Link to original

• We are all the same regardless of our skin color, race, and everything that could divide us. Virtue doesn’t come from belonging to a certain group or lineage. Do not think you are better than other people from belonging to a specific group/class/land, because the smart person won’t look for honour there. True honor and virtue only belongs to those who possess knowledge.
• We should always ask ourselves how much is our worth (in terms of knowledge)? What do I know? What can I offer? What can I do? Because we are only worth as much as our efforts.

  Transclude of 2-31

• In this portion of the surah Allah told the Angels to bow down to Adam because he is more knowledgeable than them, further enforcing the difference between those who know and do not know.
• Ibn Shihab Al-Zuhri said “Knowledge is masculine; it is loved by the masculine men and disliked by the feminine men” (Jāmi’ al-Bayān al-‘Ilm 1/251). A man is different from a male. A lot of people want to be seen as a rijal but a lot of them are lazy when it comes to seeking knowledge.
• There are 4 types of people, be either one of the first three, but never become the last one.
  1. An Alim (Scholar)
  2. The one seeking knowledge (The Student)
  3. The one who loves to listen to knowledge (The Listener)
  4. The one who loves knowledge, likes to be around the people of ilm
  5. The one who hates & belittles the student of knowledge