بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمدلله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على المبعوث رحمة للعالمين وعلى آله و اصحابه ومن والاه بإحسان إلى يوم الدين أما بعد
Our topic today is indeed a very vast one. I’lm or in English,
knowledge. We are going to talk about knowledge and education from
the Islamic perspective. Though it’s impossible to enlist all the virtues and
discuss all aspects of knowledge in just one article, I wish to highlight few of its important points. It's a bit long, really hope it doesn't bore you out. But if it does, I apologize. Please make Dua for me so that I can write better next time.
Allah Ta'ala said in the Noble Quran:
يَرْفَعِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ
"Allah will exalt those who believe among you, and those who have knowledge, to high ranks".
Meaning, Allah will raise the status, the rank of the
believers and the people of knowledge. In other words, Allah Ta’ala by His infinite
mercy has chosen a group from His entire creation and granted them the
gift of Imaan. And HE then specially chose another group from among the
believers to grant them the gift of
I’lm (knowledge) and
hikmah (wisdom).
As Muslims, our goal in life should be, "I want to go to Jannah, I want
to be among the ‘faaizoon’ (successful ones). Allah says in His noble
Qur’an;
لا يستوي اصحاب النار و اصحاب الجنة اصحاب الجنة هم الفائزون
“Not equal are the
companions of the Fire and the companions of Paradise. The companions of
Paradise are the truly successful ones.”
But…"Is it easy to achieve Jannah?" Ever notice how easy it is for some
to get up in the middle of the night and perform Salat-ul-Tahajjud,
while for some it is hard to even perform the fardz solah? Have you ever
seen how easy it is for our Hafizul-Qur’an brothers and sisters to
memorize the whole Qur’an by heart while others memorize the latest
songs in the market? Have you ever seen how easy it is for some of the
students of knowledge to study Qur’an and Hadeeth for hours and hours,
whilst others cannot even open the Qur’an or Hadeeth at least once a
month or once a year? Subhanallah, do ever wonder what made it so EASY
for them to practice Islam and to be so focused on the right direction
to Jannah? The answer to that is; the Prophet (saws) has left with us a
very small key to Jannah, which we Muslim’s today have become oblivious
of. Just like you need a key to open your car door, or house door, or
office door; similarly you need a key to open Jannah. What is this key?
Prophet Muhammad (saws) said:
من سلك طريقاً يبتغي فيه علماً سهل الله له طريقاً إلى الجنة
"Whoever goes down a path/road searching for Knowledge, Allah will make it easy for him the road to Paradise."
[Saheeh Muslim, Vol.3 Hadith No. 99]
The hadeeth was narrated by Abu Dardaa’ (r.a) when someone came to him
all the way from Madeenah to Damascus with the sole purpose of learning
just ONE hadith. Abu Dardaa’ was very surprised and pleased so he gave
him glad tiding that Allah will ease his way to Jannah.
Knowledge
is the ROAD to Paradise. In this world it will benefit us, and in the
hereafter too. One simple example, Islam does not only teach us to
perform our solah, fast, pay zakat and go for Haj. But! Islam also
teaches us to give forgive, to be humble and to give Sadaqah. What do we
know about the reward for forgiving another person? One hadith is
recorded in Sahih Muslim that; “If one gives charity it does not
diminish his wealth, if one forgives, Allah bestows more honor on him,
and if one humbles himself for Allah’s sake, Allah will exalt him
higher.”
Superiority of an Aa’lim
There isn’t any person who can beat the superiority of an Aa’lim (learned person). The Prophet S.A.W said:
فضل العالم على العابد كفضل القمر ليلة البدر على سائر الكواكب
"The eminence on an Aa’lim over a devout worshipper is that of the full moon over the stars."
Imagine, looking at a full
moon in the sky,the moon shines brighter than all the stars. A person
who seeks knowledge shines just as bright in the eyes of Allah Ta’ala
and the Malaaikah!
Do we know of anyone who is granted the privilege to walk on the
wings of the Malaai’kah, wings of the purest and most obedient creation
of Allah? Once, Hadrat Safwan bin A’ssaal came to him to seek knowledge,
he said to Rasulullah (S.A.W):
اني جئت اطلب العلم
Rasulullah (S.A.W) honored him and said:
"Welcome to the seeker of knowledge!
Indeed the Angels cover the seekers of knowledge by their wings
and they gather one upon another until they fill the space between that student and the sky of the earth
for the love of the knowledge which is being sought." (Tabraani)
Dear mothers and sisters, from now, we get up every morning with a
purpose: to seek Jannah by seeking Knowledge! For the pleasure of
Allah, let us become lovers and seekers of knowledge because Knowledge
is Light. Beneficial knowledge is something that helps us to improve the
quality of our Solah and teaches us to have good character with other
people thereby gaining reward from Allah Ta'ala. For example, learning
Arabic helps us to understand the words of Qur'an-ul-Kareem.
We
should always remember that, Syaitan made a promise to Allah Ta’ala that
he will most definitely mislead human beings using every possible way.
His mission starts from the moment a baby is born, and he won’t stop nor
give up until he dies. Think about this, Syaitan doesn't mislead us to
make wrong calculation in Math or Science experiment. Let's take one
simple practical example to illustrate this point. When we culculate, 2 +
2, the answer every one comes up with is 4, right? Shaytan never
bothers us, he never whispers to us…and says that “No…2 + 2 is 3!"
Where
Syaitan always and will forever deviate us is in our LIFE. Syaitan
confuses our minds and clouds our path towards Allah with every possible
mean. Once, Imam ar-Rabbani (rahmatullahi alaih) after a short period
of entering the toilet, he knocked the toilet’s door to call his
servant. The servant ran by thinking that he probably forgot to prepare
the water and rag for cleaning. Imam ar-Rabbani opened the door a little
bit and handed his clothe to the servant and told him, “Deliver this
clothe to such and such person as a gift.” The servant asked in
confusion, “O’ my master! Wouldn’t it be better if you would order this
thing after you get out of the toilet? Why did you put yourself into
this much of trouble?” The “Imam” replied. “Giving my dress to that poor
person as a gift crossed my mind in the toilet. I was afraid that if
I’d delay until I get out of the toilet, shaytan would probably give me
evil suggestion ‘Waswasa’ so that I would give up doing that good deed.”
Knowledge is the weapon against the deceptions of Syaitan.
Sadly,
our time is referred to as the worst of era. The time of the Prohet
(sallallahu alaihi wassallam) and his companions (radhiallahu anhum) was the best era, then the time of the
Tabi’een followed by the Tabi’ Tabi’een’s. As we all can see, more and
more of our youngsters are drifting away from Islam. We see the fathers
and the grandfathers filling up the rows at the masjid during Ramadhan
performing Taraweeh solah. We see the mothers and the grandmothers
sitting in groups doing Tadarus. Alhamdulillah! But where do we find our
youngsters?
Respected mothers and sisters,
Jannah is not only for the ‘warga
emas’, for fathers and grandfathers, for mothers and grandmothers,
Jannah is also for our YOUNGSTERS to achieve! Rasulullah (S.A.W) said:
سبعة يظلهم الله يوم لا ظل إلا ظله إمام عدل شاب نشأ في عبادة الله
“There are 7 persons whom
Allah will cover with His shade on the day when there will be no shade
but His. 1) A just ruler (2) A youngster who grows up worshiping Allah”
(part of a long hadith)
We know that young age is a time desires are more, mind is rebellious,
and temptation of Shaytan at it's maximum. But if he/she is willing to
suppress those desires and sacrifice the fun which other people are
enjoying, and commit himself to seeking knowledge of Islam, it is as if,
he/she is growing up in the worship of Allah, and Allah Ta’ala promised
a special rank for this youth. Subhanallah! However, it is how one
Malay proverb goes: “Tak kenal maka tak cinta”. Without properly being
taught about Islam, how are they going to truly recognise and love Allah
and Islam?
As Muslims and adults, are we not going to give them
the opportunity to study their own religion? Perhaps they will become
good Muslims in their life!
If someone has to ask me, why do you
need to learn Deen? Is there some special benefit to it? Based on my
insignificant and limited experience, among many reasons, I’d give this
ONE reason and that is knowledge kindles the first spark of love for
Allah Ta’ala. You learn Deen, you will come to love Allah, you will come
to love Rasulullah and you will come to love Islam sincerely from your
heart.
When I first started my journey as a student to knowledge,
I was an ignorant person. I knew that I am a Muslim, I knew that Allah
is my creator and I also knew that Muhammad (S.A.W) is the messenger of
Allah, but I didn’t know what I should do about it, how should I behave
as a Muslim and how should I serve my creator in a way that it pleases
Him. After 5 years, only then I realize that a true Muslim and Mu’min is
a person who love Allah and I too want to love Allah. Allah Ta’ala
described one of the qualities of true believers in the Noble Qur’an;
والذين آمنوا أشد حباً لله
But those of faith are overflowing in their love for Allah. (Suratul Baqarah : 165)
Allow me to highlight yet
another important point. Travelling on the path to knowledge does
require some effort, either by walking or driving along an actual road,
such as going to Conferences, Conventions, going to Islamic lectures at
local Masajids, attending weekend Qur’an classes/Arabic programs, or by
actually dedicating 4-5 + years of your life for studying and memorizing
Qur’an and Hadeeth in a proper Islamic institute because religious
knowledge does not come down onto one’s head like a pear falls down from
a tree. True knowledge is learned from the words, actions, behaviours
of a real enlightener (Murshid/Ustaz). Learning from books will not
always humble you and shock you with the reality that there’s so much
knowledge out there that you’re ignorant of, and it’ll cause us to miss
out on the great opportunity to sit in the company of the pious people.
And all efforts made to acquire knowledge of Islam are rewarded
tremendously by Allah Ta’ala. Rasoolullah said, to Abu Dzarr
(radhiallah anhu) that;
يا
أبا ذر ! لان تغدو فتعلم آيةً من كتاب الله خير لك من أن تصلي مائة ركعة ،
ولان تغدو فتعلم باباً من العلم عمل به أو لم يعمل خير لك من أن تصلي ألف
ركعة
If he goes and learns one
verse of the Qur'an, it will be more rewardable for him than praying one
hundred rak'ahs of nawaafil, and that if he learns a chapter of
knowledge which may or may not be applicable at that time, it is more
rewardable for him than praying one thousand rak'ahs of nawaafil.
Nabi (s.a.w) used to supplicate to Allah for beneficial knowledge,
and he also sought protection from knowledge that does not benefit.
اللهم اني أعوذبك من علمٍ لا ينفع
"O Allah! I seek refuge in you from Knowledge that does not benefit.
Let me end this with one last hadith of the Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wassallam);
أن استطعت أن تكون عالماً فكن عالماً ، وإن لم تكن عالماً فكن متعلماً ، وإن لم تكن
متعلماً فأحبهم ، فإن لم تحبهم فلا تبغضهم
"If you are capable of becoming an Aa’lim (knowledgeable person), then become one. If you can,’t then
become a student of knowledge. If you still can’t do so, then have the love for the people of knowledge. But if you can’t even do that much, then do not hate the people of knowledge".
May Allah Ta’ala accept all of us to seek knowledge of Islam and ease our way towards Jannah InsyaAllah.
