بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Islam is a treasure chest of wisdom totally relevant to our daily life.
It is amazingly beautiful that Allah makes seeking knowledge an
obligation upon every Muslim.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “The seeking of
knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim.” [At-Tirmidhi]
What is meant
by knowledge here is knowledge of shari’ah (Islamic knowledge). It is
the knowledge of how a servant should behave with respect to his Lord.
Al-Thawri said: “It is the knowledge for which no person has any excuse
for not knowing.”
The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: Allah, His
angels and all those in Heavens and on Earth, even ants in their hills
and fish in the water, call down blessings on those who instruct others
in beneficial knowledge. [At-Tirmidhi]
This shows us the great excellence of the seekers of knowledge. For
whoever sets right his intention in seeking knowledge and desires only
Allah's pleasure, is on a road to salvation and happiness.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "Whoever goes
down a path searching for knowledge, Allah will make it easy for him the
road to Paradise." [Muslim]
If seeking knowledge is easy, then so many people would be doing it. The
fact is that those who are on the path of knowledge are blessed but
you need patience to keep going. So many people fell by the wayside
because they don't have patience.
The story of Musa and Al-Khidr (peace be upon them) in Surah Kahf is
teaching us patience in seeking knowledge. Thus, we are being reminded
about this every week for those who follow the Sunnah of reading Surah
Kahf every Friday and reflecting on the verses.
Musa (peace upon him) has a distinct position in the comity of prophets.
This has been mentioned explicitly in the Quran, and Sunnah. The
special distinction of having conversed with Allah is his hallmark.
Allah had blessed Musa (peace be upon him) with an intense desire to
seek knowledge. As soon as he smell the scent of knowledge elsewhere
too, knowledge that he did not have, he was all set to go for it
traveling like an ardent student and it was Allah Himself that he
turned to for the address of that servant of His, al-Khidr.
وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِفَتَاهُ لَا أَبْرَحُ حَتَّىٰ أَبْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ أَوْ أَمْضِيَ حُقُبًا ﴿٦٠
And [mention] when Musa to his servant, "I will not cease [traveling] until I reach the junction of the two seas or continue for a long period." (60)
[Quran, Al-Kahf 18:60]
Had it been the will of Allah that Musa should meet al-Khidr at that
spot, He could have arranged that easily. Or, if Musa himself was
Divinely destined to travel, he could have been given a clear address to
help him reach it without any bother. But, what happened here was
different. The address given to him was far from being precise - 'when
you reach the place where the dead fish stirs and disappears, that will
be the place you will find Our servant.
The address of al-Khidr was left imprecise in a manner that it would not
remain easy to pinpoint it. Obviously, this too was nothing but a
trial and test for Musa. As though this was not enough, when they had
reached the exact spot but then they forgot the fish. This was yet
another test. After having reached the projected destination, the fish
came alive and disappeared into the sea. The reality had unfolded and
the place was pinpointed. But, that was not the end. The seeker of
knowledge had to undergo yet another test -- hunger and fatigue, and
there is no food. When Musa finally saw Al-Khidr and followed him so he
could learn from him, this was when he faced the most difficult test.
We should be constantly be seeking and acquiring knowledge. Knowledge is
that reality whereby the unknown becomes known within us and it is
knowledge and worship for which the reason Allah created the heavens and
the earth. If this is the reason, every single one of us should have a
great portion of it.
First, we should all understand what knowledge is. Second, we strive to
seek it, and third, we should strive even further to make it a reality
within ourselves. Knowledge is something great. If you give it all of
yourself it will give you part of it. If you give part of yourself, it
won’t give you anything. This is the general principle. This is the
Sunnah of Allah relating to knowledge. Seeking knowledge is not easy.
You have to make sacrifices, which means you have to get out of your
norm in order to attain knowledge. We all have gone through this to
some degree. When test time, we stop everything, get sleep deprivation,
we eat whatever it is quickly so we can get back to study. Knowledge
require a lot of exertion and effort to acquire it.
All of that effort we put in to achieve knowledge, any type of knowledge
especially religious knowledge, putting that knowledge into practice in
a religious sense, making that knowledge a reality within ourselves, is
even more difficult. Even though we learn, review and teach, there
isn’t a sense of a special relationship to that knowledge. Knowledge
doesn’t fully become a reality within us and we don’t really have true
possession until we are living by it. So when we spend our time in
learning we should also spend just as much time putting the knowledge we
have into practice,constantly seeking forgiveness from Allah for
falling short in them.
Not only do we need to seek knowledge, implement the knowledge that we
seek, there is also the element of being save from our knowledge. So it
is a struggle to seek knowledge, but a greater struggle is to implement
that knowledge and a much greater struggle is to be save from our
knowledge.
Beneficial knowledge is going to open the door for us to be save us from
our knowledge. In order to do that we have to have a sound heart (qalb
salim), free from all blemishes, free from all diseases whereby we
might either become impress of ourselves, lead to ostentation or
arrogance, or other disease of the heart that might appear as a result
of our knowledge.
A sign of a life community or city is that there are numerous of
gatherings of knowledge and remembrance of Allah. If there is no
gatherings of knowledge and remembrance, it is a sign of that place is
dead.
Beneficial knowledge will remove from you the love of this fleeting
world and will lead you to the love of the next world, which is
permanent. The more that you love the next world, the less that you
love this world. It will lead you to zuhd (to renounce, to turn away,
to abstain from the various things in the world and a desire for the
akhirah) and give you knowledge and insights into your faults. Most
people don't want to confront their faults, their dark aspects of their
ego. If we want to take the path seriously, we have to have courage to
confront our faults. Remember, shaytan is an apparent enemy and he is
trying to lead us astray and making our bad actions and sins look good.
So we have to learn about his tricks and plots.
Knowledge of tauhid, fiqh, spiritual excellence and correct practice, is
the essence of what is considered beneficial knowledge. Beneficial
knowledge is not mental gymnastics. Beneficial knowledge is knowledge
that is accompanied and followed by righteous actions and it is cast
into the heart. By this definition, in the age of information today,
much of what people are learning today, in reality, is not considered to
be knowledge.
May Allah purify our intentions for seeking knowledge, help us be
steadfast and productive seekers of knowledge, and increase us in
beneficial knowledge and keep us away from blameworthy knowledge.
رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً وَهَيِّئْ لَنَا مِنْ أَمْرِنَا رَشَدًا
Our Lord, grant us from Yourself mercy and prepare for us from our affair right guidance.
Aameen.
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