Knowledge of Islam: Our peculiar attitude to it and its implications M Yawar Baig Education This is the second most important step in the strategy after Aqeeda and a key requirement for A mal. Knowledge is the basis of all progress. A nation that is without knowledge can never progress. A nation that is led by people of ignorance is a nation doomed to slavery. People who don t learn from their history are condemned to repeat it. Let us see what the history of Islam and the Muslims teaches us about the importance of knowledge. First let us see what Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) says about knowledge and people who are intelligent (Ulul Albaab: People of understanding): 3:190,191 Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day there are indeed Signs for men of understanding. Men who celebrate the praises of Allah standing sitting and lying down on their sides and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth (with the thought): "Our Lord! Not for naught hast thou created (all) this! Glory to thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the fire. Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) describes in the above ayah the signs of the people of knowledge, intelligence and understanding. These are three: 1. Remembrance of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala), at all times (standing, sitting and lying on their sides); 2. Reflection and research in the creation in all its aspects (which due to the fact that it is done from the basic platform of faith and Imaan in Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) results in the further strengthening of that faith); and the 3. Remembrance of the Day of Judgment. All knowledge that we acquire or think of acquiring and as being necessary must stand this test based on the criteria that Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) has set for it and for people of knowledge. So-called knowledge that takes us away from Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) and that leads to a weakening of faith or of the denial of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala), His Message and Messenger (Salallahu alaihi wa sallam) and the Day of Judgment, is in reality ignorance, misguidance and jihalat and not knowledge at all. Even though it may sometimes masquerade in the form of knowledge, it will surely lead to the Fire from which in the above ayah, people of real knowledge and understanding ask Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) for deliverance. This ayah also points out that this kind of misguidance is an actual possibility of many kinds of scientific knowledge while scientific knowledge that is acquired from the platform of a strong knowledge of the Deen and of the reality of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'ala) can only lead to a further strengthening of faith. Islam therefore has always been in favor of scientific knowledge and in this Deen there has never been the kind of division between science and theology that we see in Christianity, Judaism and other religions. On the contrary, the Qur'an itself quotes many things of a scientific origin that led to many scientific discoveries in later centuries and serve to underline the divine source of the Qur'an. I will not go into those details here as that is beyond the scope of this discussion. The point here is to understand that Islam teaches us the correct order for the acquisition of knowledge: first the knowledge of Deen, then knowledge of the world.
If we do this then we will recognize the signs of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala in the things we learn from scientific education and this will benefit our Imaan. If not we will turn away from Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and prepare the path for our own destruction. It is about these scientists with Imaan that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says: 3: 190-191 Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day there are indeed Signs for men of understanding. Men who celebrate the praises of Allah standing sitting and lying down on their sides and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth (with the thought): "Our Lord! not for naught hast thou created (all) this! Glory to thee! give us salvation from the penalty of the fire. We need to become aware that one of the most virulent and successful attacks against Islam and the Muslims mounted by the enemies of Islam is the devaluation of the importance of the knowledge of Islam (Ilm-e-Deen) and the importance of the Ulema in the eyes of the Muslims. So successful have the enemies of Islam been in this strategy that today it is the Muslims themselves who speak in a derogatory tone about the knowledge of Islam and its scholars. And speaking generally, the more steeped in Western education the Muslim, the less he/she respects Islam and its scholars. Most so-called educated Muslims today are very free with expressing their personal opinions in matters of the Deen, without reference to the Qur'an or the Sunnah and even to deny the importance of both in terms of modern life and its demands. Many talk about the need to break the hold of the Ulema on the Ummah. Many believe that religious knowledge of the Qur'an, Sunnah and Shari ah makes the student backward. Many therefore speak of the Ulema as being backward and antiprogress. Let us examine these claims and see if they are in fact true and what are the standards of judgment we apply to the Ulema of Islam. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala Himself emphasizes the importance of the Ilm-e-Deen (Knowledge of Islam) and the level of the people who have that knowledge, the Ulema. 35: 27-28 Seest thou not that Allah sends down rain from the sky? With it We then bring out produce of various colors. And in the mountains are tracts white and red of various shades of color and black intense in hue. And so amongst men and crawling creatures and cattle are they of various colors. Those (who) truly fear Allah among His Servants are the Ulema: for Allah is Exalted in Might Oft-Forgiving 39:9 Is one who worships devoutly during the hours of the night prostrating himself or standing (in adoration) who takes heed of the Hereafter and who places his hope in the Mercy of his Lord (like one who does not)? Say: "Are those equal those who know and those who do not know? It is those who are endued with understanding that receive admonition. 39:22 Is one whose heart Allah has opened to Islam so that he has received enlightenment from Allah (no better than one hard-hearted)? Woe to those whose hearts are hardened against celebrating the praises of Allah! They are manifestly wandering (in error)! It is well to remember that the power of Islam that the Prophet (Salallahu alaihi wa sallam) brought with him was the power of the knowledge of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and His Book. It was this knowledge that set his companions, the Sahaba, 2
apart from the rest of their people. It was this knowledge that gave them peace in times of fear and victory over their enemies. It was this knowledge that gave them the confidence to challenge the world and to take the message of Islam into the courts of Rome and Persia, the superpowers of that time. It is knowledge on the basis of which Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala gave precedence to Sayyidina Adam Alaihi salaam over the angels and ordered them to prostrate before him. 2: 30-33 Behold thy Lord said to the angels: "I will create a vicegerent on earth." They said "Wilt thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood? Whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?" He said: "I know what ye know not." And He taught Adam the nature of all things; then He placed them before the angels and said: "Tell Me the nature of these if ye are right." They said: "Glory to Thee of knowledge we have none save that Thou hast taught us: in truth it is Thou who art perfect in knowledge and wisdom." He said: "O Adam! tell them their natures." When he had told them Allah said: "Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of heaven and earth and I know what ye reveal and what ye conceal?" And behold We said to the angels: "Bow down to Adam"; and they bowed down not so Iblis he refused and was haughty he was of those who reject Faith. It is knowledge that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed to the Prophet (Salallahu alaihi wa sallam) in the first revelation: 96: 1-5 Proclaim! (or Read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher Who created. Created man out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful. He Who taught (the use of) the Pen. Taught man that which he knew not. And as we can see from the ayah above, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, (We) taught the humans that which they did not know. I want to draw your attention to three criteria that we use when dealing with any knowledge and those that have it: 1. That it is the knowledge that adds value to the individual and not vice versa: We respect Dr. X for being an expert in cardiology. We don t respect cardiology as a branch of medicine because Dr. X is an expert in it. So it is cardiology that adds value to Dr. X and his image. 2. That the more advanced the knowledge, the more advanced the expert in it: So we respect Prof. Vikram Sarabhai as he was an expert in atomic physics, and consider him a very advanced man as the science in which he was an expert is a very advanced science. 3. We call someone an expert when that person has in-depth knowledge of a particular subject and therefore by inference, does not have knowledge of other subjects. To take the example of Prof. Vikram Sarabhai, he was an expert in atomic physics and we respect his expertise. However he was not an expert in architecture, medicine, management, sewing or basket making and we don t hold that against him. In fact if he had some knowledge of all these things then he would be called a jack-of-all-trades-and-master-ofnone. So the criterion we apply is that as long as someone has in-depth knowledge of a particular subject and is an expert in it, his lack of knowledge in other subjects is not a bad thing and does not detract from his stature in the slightest and even adds to it. 3
Now let us see what standards we apply to the knowledge of the Qur'an and those that have it, the Ulema, the Scholars of Islam. 1. All Muslims, consider the Qur'an to be the most valuable knowledge in the world as it is the Word of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and the only thing that will last beyond this life and which will be useful to its knower in the Hereafter. Yet when children are sent to memorize it, we consider it a waste of their time. Though we say that we value the Qur'an and we apply the first principle to all knowledge, i.e. knowledge adds value to the one who knows it; we don t respect the Ulema. What does this say about our real value for the Qur'an and the Sunnah? 2. All Muslims consider the Qur'an to be the most advanced knowledge ever. And indeed it is. From the first day of its revelation, the Qur'an has taught us what we did not know. Al Alaq: And We taught mankind that which it did not know. And this will continue until the Day of Judgment, the Qur'an will continue to demonstrate its own advanced state of knowledge. For indeed the knowledge of the Creator is always superior to the knowledge of the creatures, no matter how advanced the creatures may consider themselves to be in their combination of ignorance and arrogance. However, though all Muslims are ready to accept the advanced level of the Qur'an, we consider the experts in it to be backward. Does that make sense? If Vikram Sarabhai is advanced because he has knowledge of atomic physics, since that knowledge is an advanced knowledge, then the Alim who has knowledge of the Qur'an is more advanced than Vikram Sarabhai by far, since he has knowledge of the Creator of the atom. That would be the correct logic. However do we apply it? And if not, then what does it say about our real opinion of the Word of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala? 3. Finally, the final criterion, that an expert is one who has in-depth knowledge of a particular subject and so does not know much about other things, as he has invested so much time and energy in learning that one subject. And this is a sign of his expertise and we don t hold it against him. However when it comes to the Ulema of Deen, very often those who call themselves educated (meaning western education) look down on Ulema because they don t have knowledge of things other than the Qur'an and Deen. We don t apply the same criterion of expertise in their case. This is yet another one of the effects of western education and the enemies of Islam and their insidious attacks, that they have succeeded in removing the true value and respect (not lip service) of the Qur'an and the Knowledge of Islam and the honor and respect of those who have it, from the hearts of the Muslim. How many individuals do we not know who have gone to western universities and given up their Imaan in exchange for the worldly knowledge they got there. Knowledge that will be of no use to them at all in the Aakhira. Knowledge that in many cases will actually be the cause of their humiliation and disgrace and the anger of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us from His anger and give us the sense to rethink our attitudes to His Word, His Deen and His Prophet (Salallahu alaihi wa sallam) before it is too late. For on the Day of Judgment, it is not the tongue, which will be able to glibly give answers as it does today but that which is in the hearts will come out and the hands will speak and the legs will bear witness about what the person did. 4
As Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says in His Book: 36: 65 That Day shall We set a seal on their mouths. But their hands will speak to Us and their feet bear witness to all that they did. When the army of Muslims went to Persia, the king asked the Muslims to send someone to explain to him what they wanted. The Amir of the Muslims sent Rabi Ibn Aamir (Radhiallahu anhu). The Persians prepared the court with great care to demonstrate their wealth and power, with a display of weapons and their army. Rabi Ibn Aamir (Radhiallahu anhu) rode up on his horse, dismounted and tied it to a pillar of the hall and strode up to the throne with his spear in his hand. When he reached there, he found that there was no seat except for the king. So he said, I am an ambassador of the Muslims and have come here on your invitation. Either give me a seat or you also stand up. The Persians were horrified at this insolence to their king and some of them asked the king for permission to kill the Sahabi. The king however replied, Leave him. I want to know what is in his heart that enables him to be totally unimpressed by our wealth and power. Then he asked Rabi Ibn Aamir (Radhiallahu anhu), Why have you come and what do you want from us? Rabi Ibn Aamir (Radhiallahu anhu) replied, We have come to remove men from the worship of men and take them into the worship of the Creator of men. We have come to remove them from the constriction of other religions into the freedom (us ath) of Islam. When we read these and other stories of the Sahaba, sometimes it seems strange to us that such people existed. We question why it is that this level of confidence does not seem to exist any more. Why is it that today we are impressed by everyone except Islam and our own history? The answer is very simple. This is because we have forgotten our own Deen and do not choose to acquire its knowledge. So we become the victims of the enemies of Islam who indoctrinate us into thinking that what we have is really not worthy of having and is a sign of backwardness and that it is something that we need to hide and be apologetic about. If we studied the Qur'an and Sunnah and brought Islam fully into our lives, then we would be able to invoke the power of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala into our lives. That is the only thing that would give us the confidence to say to the world that in Islam lies the solution to all that ails the world today. However when we are ourselves totally ignorant of this knowledge and don t practice it in our lives, we are unable to offer it to anyone else. This is perhaps the most successful and most virulent of the attacks on Islam, spearheaded by the writings of the Orientalists, which sought to undermine the knowledge of the Revelation and equated it with other kinds of knowledge and philosophy. For example the saying: The Qur'an is the holy book of the Muslims, just as the Gita is of the Hindus and the Bible is of the Christians. The cardinal difference, which is not mentioned, is about the authors of each and other such works. Of all of them except the Qur'an, the authors (or in the case of the Bible and Torah: the alterers) are humans. Whereas the author of the Qur'an is Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala himself. Unfortunately for the Muslims, this strategy successfully alienated us from the greatest of our assets, the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (Salallahu alaihi wa sallam). Not only did we allow ourselves to get alienated but we also lost the awe and respect that the Sahaba felt for the Word of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and His Prophet (Salallahu alaihi wa sallam). 5
We lost respect for the knowledge of the Revelation as being distinct from and infinitely superior to anything that is invented by mankind, just as Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is infinitely superior to His creation. Where Sahaba like Sayyidina Abu Bakar Al Siddiq (Radhiallahu anhu) used to go white with fear when asked to give an interpretation of the Qur'an, ordinary so-called educated Muslims with no formal education of Islam freely give fatawa and pontificate about the meaning of the ayahs of the Qur'an. They have no hesitation in making explanations (tafsir) without themselves having had any formal training in the Usool-al-tafsir (Rules of Tafsir). This is because we have lost the sense of the majesty of the Revelation (Wahi). We don t remember that the one who makes tafsir of the Qur'an or gives a fatwa, is standing in the place of the Prophet (Salallahu alaihi wa sallam). And as Abu Bakar (Radhiallahu anhu) said; Which sky will protect me and which earth will hide me if I say something about the Word of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala that He has not said? Consequently for the most part we don t respect Ulema, the people who are the custodians of the knowledge of the Deen. We have a lot of respect for a doctor who spends 7-8 years studying medicine, an IT engineer who spends 4-5 years studying Information Technology but no respect for an Alim who spends a lifetime studying the Qur'an and related sciences. That is because unless we understand and appreciate in our hearts the majesty of the Word of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala we can t have respect for those who protect, study and understand it. Unless we see our lives in this world and the next linked inextricably with the Qur'an and Sunnah and our success being in following the orders of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala we can never have respect for those who spend time and sacrifice their lives in understanding and teaching that knowledge. We will not consider it important to ask them (the Ulema) what is the right thing to do when we are faced with any situation. We will not consider the Ilm-e-Deen (Knowledge of Islam) worthy of studying and teaching. We will not support those who do study it and gradually that knowledge will disappear from the world. This is one of the signs of the last days as described by the Prophet (Salallahu alaihi wa sallam). As Western education and learning gradually replaced the original contributions of Islamic scholars; the writings and thoughts of Western scientists and scholars took the place of the Word of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and His Prophet (Salallahu alaihi wa sallam) in the minds of Muslims. Many educated Muslims started believing these writings with the same unquestioning faith that the Sahaba accorded to the Word of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. People who questioned Western theories (Darwin s theory of evolution for example) were laughed at and considered backward, especially if they sought to present as evidence, the words of the Qur'an. It is perhaps with a premonition of this that Aisha (Radhiallahu anha) said that the first bida a of this Ummah was that the name of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala started to be taken without the awe and majesty of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala in the heart. To give the Western scientists their due, the original clash between theology and science started as a rebellion against the errors in the Bible and the concept of creation according to the Church. Since the original book of Isa (Alaihis salaam) was altered and its message lost, naturally there are many errors in the versions that are existent today. However, principally due to the apathy of the Muslims and the lack of interest in the message of the Qur'an, no effective defense was mounted when Islam and the knowledge of the Qur'an were also sought to be lumped with the Bible in the name of separating religion and science. 6
Many Muslims don t realize, even today, that in Islam and the Qur'an there is no conflict between knowledge of the Revelation and science. And indeed why should there be, when the creator Himself talks about what He created? However when we ourselves don t know what the Message of Islam is, then how can we be confident about it in the face of false allegations and claims? The principle technique of the West and of the so-called scientific method was to selectively refuse to accept anything that could not be touched, poked or pinched and therefore to deny its existence. I will not go into the details of this obviously flawed thinking but to anyone who can think rationally it is self-evident. And all this gave rise eventually to atheism and a denial of the existence of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala Himself and a belief in the totally illogical concept of creation by accident. Nobody thought to ask, which accident creates anything? Accidents break and destroy things, not create them. However when we choose to subordinate our minds to other than the Word of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and His Prophet (Salallahu alaihi wa sallam), we loose our rationality and reason. Another very potent deception was to answer every Why with a How. For example when someone asked, why do earthquakes happen, they were given a description of how they happen (movements of tectonic plates and so on). When someone asked why rain falls, they were given a description of the evaporation precipitation cycle, which describes how rain falls, not why it falls. When someone asked why a person was sick or became well, he was told how the sickness happened and how it got cured, not why ; which was the original question. And we Muslims got so lost in these answers that we even forgot the original question, which was why did something happen. We forgot to ask why, if we know how a sickness happens and how to cure it, we can t cure everyone with that sickness. Some people get cured and others don t. We forgot that no matter how eloquently you explain how something works; it does not explain why it works. And because we forgot that, we lost the benefit of the strengthening of our faith when we looked around us. We lost the benefit of seeing the work of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala in all His creation both within ourselves and outside. And we lost the power and barakah of the ayah of the Qur'an: 3:190,191 Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day there are indeed Signs for men of understanding. Men who celebrate the praises of Allah standing sitting and lying down on their sides and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth (with the thought): "Our Lord! Not for naught hast thou created (all) this! Glory to thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the fire. The Qur'an challenges these theories and false knowledge when Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says: Fussilat: 53 51: 20-21 On the earth are Signs for those of assured Faith. As also in your own selves: will ye not then see? May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala give us the tawfeeq (guidance) to recognize the value of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (Salallahu alaihi wa sallam) and practice it so that we are rewarded with the barakah of both in our lives. 7