Education Matters

“Read! In the name of your Lord, who created: created man from a clot [of blood]. Read! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful One who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know.” (96:1-5) This was the first message given to the Prophet by God. It tells us that according to the Quran, learning has the greatest importance in human life. In fact, learning is basic to all our hopes and aspirations: the greater the learning, the greater the progress in life. According to a tradition, one night in the year 610 A.D., the Prophet of Islam was secluded in the cave of Mount Hira. Suddenly the angel Gabriel appeared and said: ‘O Muhammad, read!’ The Prophet Muhammad being unlettered, said, ‘I cannot read.’ The angel again said: ‘O Muhammad, read!’ The Prophet repeated the same answer. For the third time, the angel said: ‘O Muhammad, read!’ But again the Prophet Muhammad said he could not read. According to the tradition, the angel embraced him and then he began reading the revealed words. This story gives a great lesson: a lesson of struggle. It should be interpreted as meaning: Read even if you cannot read, learn even if you cannot learn. This was the first piece of guidance given by the Quran. This revolutionized the minds of the Prophet and his companions, and they did their best to avail of every