Topic “Knowledge”
Read in the Name of Allah
“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” [Quran, 96:1-5].
Here we receive a direct commandment to recite, or read in the name of Allah – and to cherish the gift of knowledge and the use of writing and reading as a blessing from Allah to make ourselves better servants of God. We must understand that obtaining knowledge is a form of worship – a way to truly show our gratitude towards Allah.
Knowledge is a Blessing
“…And when ye are told to rise up, rise up. Allah will raise up, to (suitable) ranks (and degrees), those of you who believe and who have been granted (mystic) Knowledge. And Allah is well-acquainted with all ye do” [Quran, 58:11].
While all of us have a duty to obtain knowledge, with every strive towards being better comes the blessings of Allah – meaning that to be blessed with knowledge from Allah should be one of our highest attainments. If we continuously try to learn and be better Muslims, let us pray that we all will be blessed with the Love and Mercy of Allah.
Hadiths from Prophet Muhammad (s) on Knowledge
- The Prophet (S) said, ‘Knowledge is the root of all good whereas ignorance is the root of all evil.’ (Bihar al-Anwar, v.77, p. 175, no.9)
- The Prophet (S) said, ‘The worthiest of people are those who have the most knowledge, and the least of them in worth are those with the least knowledge.’ (Amali al-Saduq, p. 27, no.4)