Knowledge that helps

Knowledge that helps

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1993 7-8 July-August 29 Knowledge that helps (238)

The Prophet Muhammad said: “The learned are the heirs of the prophets.” On another occasion, the Prophet prayed “Lord, have mercy on my successors.” The Prophet was asked who his successors were, and he answered: “Those who preserve my teachings and pass them on to mankind.” As Abu al-Aswad said: “Knowledge is the greatest of powers. Kings rule over people, but the learned rule over kings.” Abu ibn Abd Allah said to ‘Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, the 8th Umayyad Caliph: “People say: ‘Become learned if you can; if you cannot, at least seek learning; and if you cannot even seek learning, love those who do; and if you cannot love them, at least do not hate them.” “Glory be to God,” said ‘Umar. “For him too God has made a means of salvation.”

Jurists have divided the areas covered by the commandments of Islam into several categories: obligatory, supererogatory, unlawful, reprehensible, and so on. AIIama Shatibi writes that, as far as self-purification and becoming close to God are concerned, these categories have no importance; and the real aim of religion is self-purification. Whatever helps one achieve that end is desirable whether it is counted as obligatory or supererogatory, and whatever pulls one in the direction of evil is undesirable, whether it is called reprehensible or unlawful.

As Hasan Basri, a noted 8th century religious scholar, put it: “The greatest knowledge is that which comes from abstinence and meditation.”