Islam Is A Knowledge Religion

Islam is a knowledge religion. Meaning, it consists, firstly, of knowledge and secondly, of putting that knowledge into practice. Allah’s Messenger ( Rasulullah Sallallâhu ‘alaihiwasallam, meaning : May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) encourages us to acquire knowledge of Islam in order to comprehend it. He says in the following authentic Ahadith:

Abu Hurairah (radhiallâhu anhu, meaning: May Allah be pleased with him) narrated that... the Prophet (sallallahu‘alaihiwasallam) said, “Those who were the best in the pre-lslamic period of ignorance will be the best in Islam provided they comprehend the religious knowledge.”

(Bukhâri 4/572 and Muslim)

The reason is simple. In order to know the truth of Islam, to have faith in Allah and to live a life of a true Moslem, we have to have knowledge. Meaning, knowledge is a 'key' to seek the truth of Islam and to practice it Teachings. And for that, Allah (SWT) provided us with two means (ways) to know Him; firstly, the Qur'an, and secondly the nature. For example, the first ayah revealed to the prophet (SAWS) is, “Read! In the name of your Rabb (Only God and Sustainer) Cherisher, Who created — created man, out of a leech-like clot: Read! And your Rabb is Most Bountiful. He Who taught (the use of) the Pen, taught man that which he knew not.” (Qur’ân 96:1-4).

When we follow the divine commandment to read, we learn in the Qur’ân that aside from reading Allâh commands us: to know (e.g., 2:194, 196, 203, 223, 235, 14:52) to learn (e.g., 6: 151, 9:122, 12:2, 22:46 also 54, 40:58 and 68:37), to understand (e.g., 2:44, 6:32, 7:169, 10:16, 11:51, 12:109, 21:10, 40:67, 43:3, 47:24, 57:17), to ponder (4: 82 and 23:68) or contemplate (38:29), and even to ask questions (i.e., 10:94 and 43:45).

In line with the divine injunctions to acquire knowledge of Islam, Allah's Messenger (Muhammad Sallallahu’alaihiwaallam) inspires us to do our best to seek knowledge. We should, therefore, spend time, efforts, money and other resources to seek knowledge of Islam.

Anas ibn Malik Radhiallahu’anhu, narrated that Allah's Messenger Sallallahu’alaihwaallam said: “One who goes out to search for knowledge is (devoted) to the cause of Allah till he returns.” (Tirmidhi : 220).

Islam as a complete religion, does not limit the acquisition of knowledge into the field of religion. It also encourages us to seek other knowledge, which are beneficial to us. However, it stresses that knowledge of the Qur’an and authentic Ahadith and prescriptions rightly deduced from the two constitute the essential knowledge:

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr Radhiallahu’anhu reported that Allah's Messenger Sallallahualaihiwasallam said, “Knowledge consists of three things: the decisive verses (Qur’an), authentic Ahadîth and prescriptions rightly deduced from the two. What is beside them is superfluous.” (Ibn Mâjah 1/54)

This implies that knowledge, attainment of which is obligatory upon all Muslims covers the sciences of theology, philosophy, law, ethics, politics and the wisdom imparted to the Ummah by Allah's Messenger Sallallahualaihiwasallam. Al-Ghazali Radhiallahu’anhu has unjustifiably differentiated between useful and useless types of knowledge. However, Islam actually does not consider any type of knowledge as harmful to human beings as what has been called in the Qur'an as useless or rather harmful knowledge, consists of pseudo sciences or the lore prevalent in the Jahiliyyah.

As we all know, knowledge can be translated literally as 'ilm. However, in Islam ilm is not confined exclusively to the acquisition of knowledge only, but also embraces socio-political and moral aspects. Knowledge is not mere information; it requires the believers to act upon their beliefs and commit themselves to the goals which Islam aims at attaining. In brief, I would like to say that the theory of knowledge in the Islamic perspective is not just a theory of epistemology. It combines knowledge, insight, and social action as its ingredients. I would like to cite here a tradition of the Rasulullah Sallallahu’alaihiwasallam narrated by 'Ali ibn Abi Talib Radhialahu’anhu : “ Once Gabriel came to Adam. He brought with him faith, morality (haya') and 'aql (reason) and asked him to choose one of the three. When he chose 'aql, the others were told by Gabriel to return to heaven, They said that they were ordered by Allah to accompany 'aql wherever it remained.” This indicates how comprehensive are the notions of intellect and knowledge in Islam, and how deeply related they are to faith and the moral faculty.

Knowledge in Islam’s intellectuality tradition consists of two divisions, firstly is the revealed knowledge itself and secondly is the acquired one, which should be harmonized in order to observe the true definition of Islamic practice. And this shows us that Islam is formally came from The Creator himself, in order to suit or to provide the needs or demands of human nature.

The all-round development of various branches of knowledge pertaining to physical and social phenomena, as well as the process of logical argumentation for justification of Islamic doctrine and deduction of Islamic laws (ahkam) with reference to Qur'anic injunctions and the Prophetic tradition, is indebted to Islam's notion of 'ilm. Scientific knowledge, comprising natural and physical sciences, was sought and developed by Muslim scientists and mathematicians vigorously from the beginning of the last decades of the first century of Hijrah. The scientific endeavour found its flowering period with the establishment of the Bayt al-Hikmah in the reign of al-Ma'mun. Undoubtedly the major contributions in philosophy and sciences were made by Iranians, but the myth created by the orientalists that the fundamental sources of Islam, both the Qur'an and Sunnah, did not contain scientific and philosophical ideas is totally false. As said earlier, not only the Qur'an and hadith encouraged Muslims or rather made it obligatory for them to pursue truth freely from all possible sources, but also contained certain guiding principles that could provide a secure foundation for the development of religious and secular sciences. Some Prophetic traditions even give priority to learning over performing supererogatory rites of worship. There are several traditions that indicate that a scholar's sleep is more valuable than an ignorant believer's journey for pilgrimage (hajj) and participation in holy war, and that the drops of a scholar's ink are more sacred than the blood of a martyr. Ali ibn Abi Thalib Radhiallahu’anhu said that the reward for piety in the other world would be bestowed upon a believer in proportion to the degree of his intellectual development and his knowledge.

When we acquire knowledge of Islam we learn not only the divine purpose why Allah has created us but also understand the meaning of this temporary world, and how we should prepare our lives to enjoy the everlasting life in the hereafter. We know that only when we peacefully and completely submit to Allah, believe and fear in Him, follow His commands, do righteous deeds for the sole purpose of pleasing Him alone, and subsequently refrain from committing sins do we attain salvation. When we acquire knowledge we are assured of Allah's everlasting reward. We gain Allah's protection from the terrible punishments in the hell-fire that await those who do not believe because they are devoid of wisdom. For our benefit we should strive to acquire knowledge because Allah makes it very clear that those who know are not equal with those who do not know.

Islam never maintained that only theology was useful and the empirical sciences useless or harmful. This concept was made common by semi-literate clerics or by the time servers among them who wanted to keep common Muslims in the darkness of ignorance and blind faith so that they would not be able to oppose unjust rulers and resist clerics attached to the courts of tyrants. This attitude resulted in the condemnation of not only empirical science but also 'ilm al-kalam and metaphysics, which resulted in the decline of Muslims in politics and economy. Even today large segments of Muslim society, both the common man and many clerics suffer from this malady. This unhealthy and anti-knowledge attitude gave birth to some movements which considered elementary books of theology as sufficient for a Muslim, and discouraged the assimilation or dissemination of empirical knowledge as leading to the weakening of faith.

True Muslims never ignore socio-political economic and other problems pertaining to the physical including social reality and as well as any other rational and empirical disciplines. They contribute richly to human civilization and thought by their bold and free inquiry in various areas of knowledge.

In brief, it may be justifiably claimed that the Islamic theory of knowledge was responsible for blossoming of a culture of free inquiry and rational scientific thinking that also encompassed the spheres of both theory and practice. And this answers to a true definition of Islamic knowledge.