Kitāb al-ʿIlm / Chapter I
Abū al-Dardāʾ says: “Learning even a small matter of knowledge is more important to me than spending an entire night in worship.” Again, Abū al-Dardāʾ says: “The teacher and the student are partners in goodness. Those outside of them have no goodness, not even the weight of a gnat’s wing. Either be a scholar, a student, or a listener. Do not belong to a fourth category outside these; otherwise, you will perish.” ʿAṭāʾ said: “Attending a single gathering of knowledge is an expiation for attending seventy gatherings of frivolity.” Imām al-Shāfiʿī also said: “Seeking knowledge is more virtuous than all supererogatory acts of worship.” The jurist Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAbd al-Ḥakam relates: One day, while I was studying in the presence of Imām Mālik, the adhān for ẓuhr was called.
I closed my book to perform my supererogatory prayers. My teacher (Imām Mālik) looked at me and exclaimed: “O young man! The lesson you are studying here is far more virtuous than the supererogatory prayers you are about to perform.” Abū al-Dardāʾ also said: “Whoever does not sincerely accept and believe that going out in the morning to seek knowledge is a form of jihād, has neither intellect nor understanding.” The Virtue of Teaching Knowledge Verses ^^ ^J ^ ı^J w ^y b^J> “Should not a group from every division of them go forth to become learned in religion and to warn their people when they return to them, so that they may beware?” (al-Tawba 9:122) From the concept of ‘warning’ (inḏār) in this verse, it is understood that teaching knowledge and offering guidance is obligatory.
^1& S', ^ÛJ î^ Û133I lyj> û*^1 ^ ^ ^' ^
Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn
Allah took a covenant from those who were given the Book, that they would make it clear (bayān) to the people and not conceal it in any way.
(Āl ʿImrān 3:187)
In this verse, it is explained that teaching knowledge is obligatory.
4^ ^j jJl û^ ^
Yet a group of them conceal the truth, knowingly.
(al-Baqara 2:146)
This verse also declares that it is forbidden (ḥarām) to conceal the true knowledge and not teach it. Indeed, in another verse, just as knowledge should not be concealed, it is also stated that one should not withhold testimony:
“Do not conceal testimony. Whoever conceals it, his heart is surely sinful.”
(al-Baqara 2:283)
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also said:
^ûj JyJ Sı ^jı Lîi ı; ^iıjı 5, Zu kîj ûL Ou iüi ji u
Allah the Exalted does not grant knowledge to any scholar without taking the same covenant He took from the prophets: that they will make knowledge clear to the people and not conceal it.45
^UJtU (J^’j ^ ^1 US j2r*“f ^y ûr**-' û>J^
45) Abū Nuʿaym, (from Ibn Masʿūd)
Kitāb al-ʿIlm / Chapter I
Who is better in speech than one who calls to Allah, does righteous deeds, and says, “I am of the Muslims”?
(Fussilat 41:33)
^ÂîUJl âUpJJlj *^**)^ >-^j Js** Jl ^J^
Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best.
(al-Naḥl 16:125)
He teaches them the Book and Wisdom.
(Āl ʿImrān 3:48)
Hadiths
When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Muʿādh to Yemen, he said to him:
•^e* ^j ÇJ-Ui ^ ÎU ^Jjjklj ’jlJ.) îl ÂİlI (J4İî j^
By Allah, if Allah guides a single person through you, it is better for you than all that is on the earth.
46
.iijy> fj^** <?’y ı^&\ j*^ |» 1 «J |J-ıJ^ (j> VV er*
Whoever learns something of knowledge and teaches it to the people, will be given the reward of seventy ṣiddīq.
47
.OİjUJl ^j^ ç/ O»’ es^- ^ r^ J^^ ^ ^
46) Imām Aḥmad, Musnad
47) al-Nasāʾī, Kitāb al-ʿIlm
Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn Whoever learns, acts upon, and teaches what he has learned, will be remembered with goodness in the celestial realms. :tl*İjJl J3*^ toJ' I^1>jI :jjJAİj>Jlj ^JjLüJ <ib>v-> 4JI J^i y^' fji ^^ '^ On the Day of Resurrection, when Allah the Exalted says to His devout worshippers and warriors, “Enter Paradise,” the scholars will say: “O Lord of the worlds! The worshippers and warriors only worshipped and strove because of the knowledge we taught them.” Thereupon, Allah the Exalted will say to the scholars: “You are like some of My angels in My presence. Intercede for whomever you wish, your intercession will be accepted.” After this Divine glad tiding, the scholars will intercede for whomever they wish and then enter Paradise.
This virtue is reserved only for scholars who teach knowledge to others. A scholar who does not transmit his knowledge to others cannot attain this virtue. ı^lijj i_>İj j^Jj »Ll ^'jj jî Jju p<Ul ^ WjxJ |>LJl ^y^i ^^j ^ <BI jl Surely, Allah the Exalted does not take away knowledge by removing it from the breasts of people. Rather, knowledge departs with the passing (death) of scholars. For every scholar who departs, he takes with him the knowledge he possessed. This leads to a situation 48) Daylamī, Musnad al-Firdaws, (from Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥākim) 49) Muʿribī, (from Ibn ʿAbbās)
Kitāb al-ʿIlm / Chapter I
where only ignorant people remain prominent among the people. When one of them is asked about a matter of knowledge, they issue fatwās without knowledge. Not only do they go astray themselves, but they also lead others astray with their fatwās (answers). ,jU ^ ^UkL <*lUJl fj^ ^ 4*J>Jl 4»İ$\> Uf (Ut ^ Whoever learns a branch of knowledge but withholds it (deprives others of it), Allah the Exalted will bridle him with a bridle of fire on the Day of Resurrection. The best of gifts is to listen to knowledge, understand it, and teach it to your Muslim brother as it is. This is equal to a year’s worth of supererogatory worship. .uiu jî UU y t^ij ^j ULU—» Ul'j^i ^ l$U U ûj-il* U_)-»!<• Uİi The world is accursed (worthless), and all that is in it is accursed.
Except for the remembrance (dhikr) of Allah, and those who teach and learn it. 50) The authors of the Sunan except Abū Dāwūd, (from ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmr) 51) This hadith is narrated from Abū Hurayra, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmr, Abū Saʿīd, Anas b. Mālik, Ibn Masʿūd, Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn ʿUmar, and Jābir.) Ibn ʿAdī, (from Ibn ʿAbbās) 53) al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah, (from ʿAṭāʾ b. Murra)
Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn Allah the Exalted, the angels, the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth, even the ants in their nests and the fish in the sea, all pray for mercy for the one who shows people the ways of goodness. J-J»l 5Jdli #lj“l (XJı suî t. A Muslim cannot offer a greater help to another Muslim than to transmit a hadith he has heard exactly as it is. ?^ üt ^ j^ ^ J**.; Wm uîP ^**—î jî^^ c^ *-»i^ It is better for a believer to teach a good word he has heard to another and for that person to act upon it, than a year’s worth of (supererogatory) worship. *ıj*hJl û^Jaj ^^i^ Ulj |t-0** «lx Jlj ^Üıti (Iİ i)Ji ^Jliî ÜJl Ojlî>«j j\jA ı>ı One day, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
went out from his house and came to the mosque. Upon entering the mosque, he saw two groups gathered. One group was engaged in supplication (dua) and remembrance (dhikr). The other was discussing knowledge and trying to teach each other. The Prophet, pointing to those engaged in dhikr, said: “These ask from Allah. If Allah wills, He gives to them; if He does not will, He does not give.” (Then, pointing to those discussing knowledge, he said:) “These are educating the people and teaching knowledge. I have been sent to you as a teacher.” Then the Prophet joined the gathering of those teaching knowledge and sat among them. (al-Tirmidhī, from Abū al-Dardāʾ) 55) Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, (mursal from Muḥammad b.
al-Munkadir) 56) Daylamī, Musnad al-Firdaws, (from Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. Ās) 57) Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī, Qūt al-Qulūb
Kitāb al-ʿIlm / Chapter I yy <_aâ* i^> ûJt$N> u>J i^C^İ jjî^ı û.;»H Jûs” r^^J ı5^ çj? ^ *^ 1^*^ ^ J** •i iîıı jîî ;dı J^Jİ L£ ı^ cjırj ^‘1 jtiiij f^jı jjü ;ö ^JJ S'j ct» iL*»^ oi*j m!IÎ> 4> cjis'j ı^jJı 'A'j ^*! ^/~* j-^ ^ J^ı The example of the knowledge and guidance (hudā) that Allah the Exalted has sent through me is like abundant rain that falls upon a land. Some of the land absorbs the water and produces much grass. Another part of the land holds the water. Allah the Exalted benefits the people through the stored water.
The people drink from it, water their animals and fields, and plant crops. A third part of the same land (because it is rocky and slippery) neither retains the water nor produces crops. The Prophet likened the first group to those who benefit from knowledge, the second to those who benefit others, and the third to those deprived of both virtues. ^j.ı… <> ^ ^ :^ ^ *^ ^ c^’ cs’ y ^i3' When the son of Adam dies, all his deeds are cut off except for three: beneficial knowledge, a continuous charity (ṣadaqa jāriya), and a righteous child.
Such a child, after his father’s death, does much good and prays for him. .^tâ f£Â Jp Jlİİ Whoever guides to good will have a reward like the one who does it. 58) al-Bukhārī and Muslim, (from Burayda b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Abū Burda) 59) Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Tirmidhī; the hadith is ḥasan.) al-Tirmidhī, (from Anas)
Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn j^ J / & ÎÛİ ^J :^l ^ ^ İ^S .>iı ^ J& ^' Iy§ ^ı; & iûi There is no envy (ḥasad) except in two cases: a) The case of a person to whom Allah the Exalted has given knowledge and wisdom, and who judges and teaches others with it; b) The case of a person to whom Allah has given wealth, and He enables him to spend it in good. May Allah’s mercy be upon my successors! “Who are your successors, O Messenger of Allah?” he was asked. The Prophet replied: “Those who revive my sunnah and teach it to Allah’s servants.” The Words of the Companions (ṣaḥāba) and Scholars ʿUmar said: “Whoever narrates a hadith and helps people act upon it, will be rewarded for living by that hadith and will also receive the reward of others who act upon it.” Ibn ʿAbbās said: “For the one who teaches goodness to people, everything seeks forgiveness, even the fish in the sea…” A scholar said: “The scholar stands between the people and Allah the Exalted. Therefore, the duty of the scholar is to consider how to fulfill this task.”
It is narrated that Sufyān al-Thawrī came to the city of Askalar. Although he stayed there for three days, no one came to ask him a question about knowledge. The Imām was greatly saddened and said: “Give me a mount for a fee so that I may leave this town at once. For knowledge has died in this town.” With this action, Sufyān al-Thawrī wanted to express how great the importance of teaching knowledge is, and that the continuation of knowledge depends on fulfilling this duty. He also demonstrated how devoted he was to this duty. ʿAṭāʾ b. Abī Rabāḥ relates: When I went to the house of Saʿīd b. al-Musayyab, I found him weeping. When I asked him why he was crying, he replied: “The reason for my weeping is this: No one comes to ask me a question about knowledge.” One of the righteous predecessors said: “Scholars are the lights of their times.
Each scholar illuminates his own era, and the people of that era take their light from him.” Ḥasan al-Baṣrī said: “If it were not for the scholars, people would descend to the level of animals! (It is the scholars who raise people from the level of animals to the station of true humanity.) When ʿIkrima was told, ‘This knowledge has value,’ he was asked what that value was. He replied: ‘Its value is to teach it to those who can preserve it and never waste it.’ When Yaḥyā b. Muʿādh said: ‘Scholars are more merciful to the umma than their own mothers and fathers,’ he was asked how this could be. He replied: ‘Because mothers and fathers only protect their children from the fire of this world.
But scholars protect the umma from the severe fire of the Hereafter.’ It is said: ‘The beginning of knowledge is silence, the next is listening, then memorizing, then acting upon it, and finally teaching it to others.’ It is also said: ‘Teach your knowledge to those who do not know; learn what you do not know from those who do. If you do so, you will learn what you do not know and perfect what you do know.’ Muʿādh b. Jabal said about the virtue of learning and teaching knowledge: ‘Learn knowledge, for learning it for Allah’s sake instills fear of Allah. Seeking knowledge is worship. Discussing knowledge is glorification. Researching knowledge is the greatest jihād.
Teaching knowledge to one who does not know is the most accepted charity. To find its people and give knowledge to them is the act that brings one closest to Allah. When alone, knowledge is the closest companion to the scholar; on lonely roads, it is the safest guide. It is proof in religion. It teaches patience in both ease and hardship. Among friends, it is a helpful minister. Among strangers, it is your greatest support. It is the signpost to the path of Paradise. Allah the Exalted raises some communities through knowledge and makes them leaders in goodness and guides to be followed. They become examples for all in goodness. Everyone clings to their works and the paths they show, and their actions are followed by all. The angels yearn to befriend them and caress them with their wings.
All living and non-living things in the world seek forgiveness from Allah the Exalted for them. The fish in the seas, the wild and domesticated animals on land, the heavens and the stars all ask Allah the Exalted for forgiveness for them. For knowledge is a blessing that saves people’s hearts from blindness. It is a light that brings eyes from darkness to light. It is a source of strength that strengthens the human constitution. Only through knowledge does a servant reach the rank of those on Allah’s path and attain lofty degrees. Knowledge and reflection are equal to fasting. The discussion of knowledge is equal to all acts of worship. Only through knowledge can Allah be obeyed, and only through knowledge can worship be performed. The oneness of Allah (tawhid) is only known through knowledge. Only scholars can truly glorify Allah.
Only through knowledge can a person become of the people of God-consciousness (taqwa). Through knowledge, one can maintain ties of kinship. Only through knowledge are the lawful and unlawful known. Knowledge is iman (faith). Action is a servant commanded to follow the lead of knowledge. Allah the Exalted bestows knowledge upon His blessed servants, and only deprives the wretched of it.’ We ask Allah for His gracious success. Rational Proofs In this section, where we have spoken of learning and teaching knowledge, it should be known that our aim is to explain the virtue of knowledge! Unless the answer to the question ‘What is the reality of virtue?’ is given, and unless the meaning of virtue is known, it cannot be known whether it is an attribute of knowledge or other things. For example, if someone does not understand the meaning of ‘wisdom’ and is unaware of its reality, if he tries to investigate whether a person is among the people of wisdom, he will undoubtedly err in his judgment. 63) Abū Nuʿaym, Ḥilya; Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī, Qūt al-Qulūb
Kitāb al-ʿIlm / Chapter I
Therefore, we will begin by discussing the meaning of ‘virtue’. The word ‘faḍīla’ comes from the root ‘faḍl’ and means abundance, increase. When two things share a quality, and one has a slightly greater share, it is said, ‘This one is more virtuous than the other.’ This superiority is judged not by quantity, but by whether it contributes to the perfection of something else. For example, to say, ‘A horse is more virtuous than a donkey’ means: Both horse and donkey are animals that carry loads. But the horse is superior to the donkey because it carries more, runs faster, and reaches the destination sooner.
All these make it superior to the donkey. Sometimes a donkey may be more valuable, but it is never said that the donkey is superior to the horse. Because its superiority is only in size. However, the horse always possesses qualities superior to the donkey. This is not perfection in every respect. It is sought after for its abilities and characteristics, not merely for its size! If you have truly understood this example, you now know the meaning of the word ‘virtue’. Just as the horse is virtuous compared to other animals, the quality of knowledge is, without doubt, more virtuous than all other qualities. There is no doubt that the ability to run fast in a horse is a virtue, but this is not an absolute virtue.
But knowledge is not like that. Knowledge possesses a virtue so great that it cannot be compared to anything else. We cannot compare knowledge to anything; for knowledge is an attribute of perfection of Allah the Exalted. All the honor of the prophets and angels comes from knowledge. Even among horses, the intelligent one is superior to the sluggish one. For this reason, knowledge is, in itself, virtue without being attributed to any other quality. It should be known that desirable things (goodness) are divided into: a) those desired for their own sake, b) those desired for another reason, c) those desired both for their own sake and for another reason. What a person desires for its own sake