The Merit of Knowledge in Islam

 

“Whoever teaches some knowledge will have the reward of the one who acts upon it, without that detracting from his reward in the slightest.”— Sunan Ibn Majah

 

In Islam, knowledge precedes worship. Knowledge is central to righteousness and true spirituality. Islam is a religion that began with a verse about reading.

We need to know the Lord and His Commandments before we can worship Him properly. In fact, seeking to know and understand His Laws is one of the highest forms of worship.

Having studied many great religions of the world, I have found that no other religion in all human history places knowledge on such an apex level as Islam.

For example, in our religion, the sleep of a scholar is better than the worship of an ignorant person.

Now, give me an equivalent of such analogy from any other religion or creed. For further proof, let’s study the words of the Prophet (SAW) to fully understand the essence of this topic.

Narrated Qais bin Kathir: “A man from Al-Madinah came to Abu Ad-Darda when he was in Dimashq. He replied: ‘A Hadith reached me which you have narrated from the Messenger of Allah (SAW).’

He said: ‘You did not come for some need?’ He said: ‘No.’ He said: ‘Did you come for trade?’ He said: ‘No, I did not come except (for) seeking this Hadith.’ So he said:

‘Indeed, I heard the Messenger of Allah (SAW) saying: “Whoever takes a path upon which he seeks knowledge, then Allah makes a path to Paradise easy for him.

And indeed the angels lower their wings in approval to the one seeking knowledge.

Indeed forgiveness is sought for the knowledgeable one by whomever is in the heavens and whomever is in the earth, even the fish in the waters.

And the superiority of the scholar over the worshiper is like the superiority of the moon over the rest of the celestial bodies.

Indeed the scholars are the heirs of the Prophets, and the Prophets do not leave behind Dinar or Dirham.

The only legacy of the scholars is knowledge, so whoever takes from it, then he has indeed taken the most abundant portion.”_Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2682

In general, the reality of today’s Muslims may not reflect this fact. But the truth remains that the greatest gains from this religion will be obtained by the few who learn, understand and apply the pristine message of Quran and Sunnah.

If we truly understand this truth, we will never slack off on learning—an acting upon our knowledge— until the very end.