Nafsiya Reflections: The Virtues of Seeking Knowledge

Assalaam u alaykum and welcome to today’s episode- The virtues of seeking knowledge.

Muslim’s usually grow up knowing that knowledge is to be sought and seeking knowledge carries great reward. Those who grew up without Islamic knowledge will never feel it is too late to learn. Those new to Islam often rush to learn Arabic, Fiqh, Quran, Hadith and so on.

For Muslims, seeking knowledge is a life-long quest. The Hadith of RasulAllah SAW- to seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave is well known and acted upon.
The knowledgeable one is always considered better than the one who is not knowledgeable.

Allah swt tells us,

Bismillah ir rahmaan nir raheem

“It is only those who have knowledge amongst His slaves that fear Allah.” [Surah Al-Fatir (35): 28].

Knowledge heightens the sense of accountability in a person, when it is correctly understood and acted upon
Knowledge that produces taqwa IS the knowledge we should strive to gain from whatever sources we have access to..

For a Muslim, knowledge of our obligations and how to worship Allah swt is paramount and the knowledge of other sciences and life is important for the world we live in.

In the past we read of scholars, male and female, excelling in fields of medicine, math’s, astronomy as well as fiqh, Arabic grammar, usul -ud-deen and so on. Many times the same person would be an expert in ALL these fields over the span of their life-time.

Today, we have access to a lot of information. However, there is some knowledge that goes beyond what we really NEED to know.

Today people REALLY want to know what is happening with famous people,

what the latest fashion trend is,

or even just be in the know of what their friends and family are up to

Whilst in some cases this may be allowed, however this phenomenon can take over one’s life.

We should always ask, what use is this information for my life and also, for me in the hereafter?

As well as focusing oneself on obtaining the correct knowledge it is key for us to think of how this knowledge is an Amaanah – a trust or a responsibility for us and we cannot keep it for ourselves. Sharing beneficial knowledge is an important aspect of our role as Muslims in the community as Allah swt obliged us to command the good and forbid the evil.

Islamic scholarship in the past was based on the preservation of the identity of the ummah and the desire to spread islam to others. Muslims were motivated by the many ahadith pushing the desire to learn and using what was learnt for the ummah’s intellectual and cultural prestige.

Just as the Muslims in the past gave us the knowledge we have today, we too have a great responsibility to carry what we know to others.

RasulAllah (saw) said:

“Allah, the angels, the inhabitants of heaven and earth, even the ant in its hole and even the fish in the sea, send blessings upon the one who teaches the people good.” [Narrated in at-Tirmidhi]

A knowledgeable person is not one who just has a wealth of information but the one who acts upon what is learnt; as the more we know, the more accountable we should feel.

Imam Nawawi (may Allah be pleased with him) is one example of a person who truly devoted his life to learning and was said to never waste his time, so much so that when he had a visitor he would use that time to sit and sharpen his pencils! His knowledge led him to realise the significance of time and a heightened level of accountability for it - and it began to show in his actions.

Looking at a simple aspect of any ritual we do, when we know details of this, our consciousness towards it improves and that action becomes much more connected to Allah (swt).

Also, when we seek knowledge we are bound to realise the role towards those around us. We are responsible for our family, our community and the ummah as a whole.

The revival and betterment of the ummah actually rests upon the collective thinking we have and this should ultimately be the focus of our seeking knowledge - and then passing it on.

May Allah make us of those who seek beneficial knowledge, that we act upon and that we pass this onto others. Ameen

JazakAmullah khairan for joining us, until next time. Wasalaam u alaykum wa rahamatullahee wa barakthu hu.