Islam – Religion of knowledge and gnosis

Islam – Religion of knowledge and gnosis

 

Islam is a religion which values knowledge over everything else.  This is the religion which eradicated ignorance from the world.  Seeking knowledge has been emphasized greatly in Islam.  Even after reaching the very zenith of knowledge, one should not consider one’s knowledge as enough but should still strive to reach even greater heights.

 

Allah Most High has made the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) the Teacher of the Book and of wisdom.  He is the fount from which all knowledge flows.  Even after all kinds of knowledge was granted to Him, Allah Most High ordered Him to supplicate with the words:

 

…O my Lord, increase me further in knowledge.  Surah Taha (20:114)

 

The Companions had such yearning for knowledge and such eagerness to attend circles where knowledge would be shared that they would never pass up an opportunity to learn something.

 

These are the words of Mufti Syed Ziauddin Naqshbandi, Professor, Islamic Law, Jamia Nizamia, Founder-Director, Abul Hasanaat Islamic Research Center, in the weekly lecture conducted under the aegis of AHIRC in Masjid Abul Hasanaat.

 

The revered Mufti said that the fame of the knowledge of Hadhrat ‘Umar (May Allah be well pleased with him) is legendary.  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) Himself said:  If there would have been a prophet after Me, it would have been ‘Umar.  In spite of this excellence and high stature, Hadhrat ‘Umar (May Allah be well pleased with him) made an agreement with a friend of his that one day he should work in the orchard and he himself would be present in the assembly of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and would relate to him whatever he heard.  The next day, he himself would work in the orchard and the friend should be present in the assembly of the Prophet so that they should not miss anything that the Prophet said.

 

Hadhrat ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas (May Allah be well pleased with them) is an illustrious Companion who has a great stature in the field of the exegesis of the Holy Quran.  At the time of the Prophet’s demise, he was but 10 years old.  He had the eagerness to hear those Hadith from the Companions which they had heard from the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  This desire made him so restless that he went to the house of Companion in the high noon of a hot summer.  The respect that he had for the Companions didn’t allow him to knock at the door.  He kept waiting outside his house.  When the Companion himself came out of his house, then he heard Hadith form him.

 

The revered Mufti said that the Prophet’s Family, the Companions and other elders of the Ummah worked very hard to transmit the teachings of Islam to us.  They bore difficulties and starved for the sake of knowledge.  Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be well pleased with him) forwent everything and sat of the Suffah.  When he would suffer the pangs of hunger, people would think that he was having an epileptic fit.  However, he would not complain of his hunger before any one and would remain busy in seeking knowledge.  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) had made special arrangements in the Masjid Nabawi for the education and instruction of the Companions.

 

Hadhrat Jabir (May Allah be well pleased with him) was a great Companion.  When he heard that there was a Companion in Syria who had heard some Hadith directly from the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam), he bought a camel and traveled a distance of about 1500 kilometers to Syria.  He heard Hadith from the Companion and immediately returned to Madina although the same Hadith was in his collection through one narrator.

 

It is a result of the sacrifices made by them that the corpus of Hadith has reached us.  They safeguarded each and every word/action of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  They recorded not only the verses of the Holy Quran and their meanings, but also the entire background of the revelation of the verses.

 

Imam Bukhari (May Allah shower His Mercy on him), the universally acknowledged master of Hadith was so engrossed in the study of Hadith that he did not have curry for 40 years.  Our predecessors not only had the eagerness to preserve knowledge, but they also made all out efforts to propagate it.  Imam Abu Hanifa (May Allah be well pleased with him) would bear the expenses of his poor students and adorn them with knowledge.  Thus, such savants of knowledge emerged from among his students that the whole world acknowledges their greatness.

 

At the end of the lecture, the revered Mufti prayed for the help of the wronged Muslims, for their martyrs and for their families.  Maulana Hafidh Syed Muhammad Bahauddin Zubair Naqshbandi, Maulvi, Jamia Nizamia, led the proceedings.