Knowledge is the Goal | Miftaah Graduation 2023 | Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Miftaah Graduation 2023 — Knowledge is the Goal

We have two main programs that we, inshallah, want to highlight in the students of those programs. One is the Associate Program, which is perhaps you could say the baby of Miftaah. It's our flagship program — that when we started Miftaah, the goal was we already had our full-time boarding seminary called Michigan Islamic Institute that many of you may have heard of, where these young students come from all across the country and they live on the campus for the entire year.

And they're staying there for four years, five years, six years, seven years, eight years, nine years, ten years — like my brothers and I and so many other mashayikh like Sheikh Farhan went to study abroad. So this school that we have fulfilled that necessity and filled that need. It was our dream to open a school that could fill that void in America.

But as we started it, a few years into it, we realized that the niche that we are fulfilling — and the niche that we are hopefully filling the void of — is necessary. But there are many youngsters, students, professionals that wish to learn knowledge and should learn knowledge. Even if that thirst is not within them, we need to create it.

Knowledge is Not Optional — It is Obligatory

Because learning knowledge isn't an option, it's a necessity of life. And the moment we think it's an optional thing, we'll treat it like a nafl — an optional thing.

But the reality is the Prophet ﷺ says that this pursuit of knowledge is obligatory, is compulsory for every single person — to some degree, to some extent. Not everyone has to become a scholar, but everyone has to be a student of knowledge. Not everyone has to be a physician in the hospital, but everyone in the hospital is helping the patient.

(Sunan Ibn Mājah, Hadith 224)

It could be the MA, it could be the nurse, it could be the NP, it could be the PA, it could be the resident, it could be the physician. There are layers to it, but everyone's supporting the patient. And the reality is when we live in a spiritual pandemic, everyone needs to support each other.

It wasn't like in the Prophet's ﷺ community that the moment you would become Muslim, you would have an internship to go through, a set program and curricula that you would have to complete, and only after completing that you would have the ability to go out and speak to people. The growth of Islam came because of the inclusivity of our beautiful system.

Not inclusive based on ideals — inclusive based on who you are as an individual. We're the most inclusive system when it comes to where a person comes from: our backgrounds, our cultures, our ethnicities, our socio-economic backgrounds. But we are, by no mistake, the most exclusive system when it comes to ideals and values. Inclusivity is not a cop-out for compromise — rather it's a form of empowerment to support one another.

So nonetheless, the community grew because the moment they would enter the community, they would start learning and then they would teach right away. The goal was: how can everyone learn, regardless of what type of commitment they can give?

And that's where the idea of the three-year program called the Associate Program began — based on the components of what Imam al-Muzari (may Allah have mercy on him) has stated: that there are six sciences that everyone should learn to an intermediate level. And those six sciences, once again, are not optional. Everyone needs to learn them.

If you're sitting here right now and you're a father of a student, a mother of a student — you should be proud, but you should think to yourself: how can I also learn? Because there's no such thing — and this is, as cliche as it can get — age is but a number. They lied, it's not. It's real, because you get old, your legs are hurting. But really, for knowledge, age is but a number, because anyone can come and learn. And that's the idea of Miftaah — that it's supposed to be the ultimate equalizer, that regardless of where you come from, which ethnicity you come from, which fraternity of Islam you connect with, which masjid you go to, it doesn't matter.

Knowledge is pure, and something that is so pure will always benefit a person because it is naturally pure. And what we've done many, many times is take something that is so pure and repackage it to make it look nice — but we don't have to. It's naturally very beautiful. All we have to do is engage with it, and that's the beauty of knowledge.

The Creation of Adam and the Gift of Knowledge

Adam (alayhi al-salam) was created, and for 40 days his physical body was kept in a place where the angels of the heavens and Iblis were able to observe and gauge who he was — because his creation was hyped up by Allah: "I am making an ambassador on the earth, a vicegerent."

So everyone was looking forward to: who is this creation? Who is this person? And the moment his physical body was created and he was placed for people to see — where Shaytan came and went through his body like how blood flows through ours — they left in many ways rather unimpressed. This physical being is not overwhelming. He doesn't live the longest. He sure is not the most powerful. And in so many ways he is so flawed. He's hasty, he's weak. Like, how is this creation of insan so unique and impressive? And they were left with more questions than answers.

And after 40 days, this same creation is endowed with what we call a soul. And the moment the soul was placed within this creation, everyone around recognized the worth of that body — because a human being is not impressive or superior based on our external beings. But the moment the soul was placed within this creation, there was no angel that had to second-guess the worth of this human being. Because a soul gives us value. And now, since it gives us value, it needs to be kept, it needs to be nurtured, it must be cultivated. And the cultivation of this soul was given through what we call divine knowledge.

Allah says: We taught Adam the knowledge of the names — all the names were taught to Adam — and when he learned who Allah was.

What Does Iqra' Really Mean?

Today we talk about iqra' meaning education, and it's great to be able to use the ayah for education. But if you really sit back and think about it — did iqra' really mean education? Or did it mean reformation, like how Sheikh Farhan said? Did iqra' just mean to educate and to send our children to colleges and make them become who they wish to become? Is that what it really meant?

And if you take a step back and take an objective view at it — if iqra' meant "educate," how is it possible that 21 years later, at the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, the Prophet ﷺ cannot find his own name and is still unlettered?

My father — may Allah bless him — when he was speaking about education, he said: if iqra' meant education, how is it possible that the Prophet ﷺ 21 years later doesn't know how to read his own name? Because it didn't mean education. Knowledge was only knowledge because it was able to answer the important questions of life. You only know you've studied well because the questions on the exams that are given to you — you're able to answer them. And the bigger the exam, the more important the education.

The most important question that a person will be asked is: man rabbuk? — Who is your Lord? And when a person is able to answer that question, that individual is educated, because they've answered the most important question of life.

That's iqra' bismi rabbika alladhī khalaq. It's not education in the most surface level of it. Not everyone is included in that ayah in that way. We can't sabotage the objective of that verse to fulfill the desire that we have for our children. The reality remains the reality — the knowledge that is pure is the knowledge of deen, and it allows a person to recognize who Allah is.

Surah al-Rahman: The Sequence of Blessings

Allah says al-Rahmān, and in this beautiful surah he highlights the most important blessings of our life. In Surah al-Rahman, Allah uses the word ālā', not ni'mah. And the difference is that a ni'mah can be subjective — for one person, children can be a blessing; for another, it could be a burden. So Allah does not speak about children in Surah al-Rahman. Allah does not speak about wealth in Surah al-Rahman, because that is a ni'mah — He calls it a ni'mah because it is subjectively a blessing.

But every single blessing that Allah speaks about in Surah al-Rahman is clearly a blessing that nobody could deny — the sun, the moon, the stars, the rivers, the oceans, the entirety of our ecosystem — all of that is mentioned in the surah, and it goes in order of importance. The most important blessing is mentioned first, and then it goes down in sequence. And Allah highlights that all these blessings come because I am merciful to you — al-Rahmān. It's not because you earned it, it's because I love you. Zakariyya, you're getting Yahya — not because of your du'a, but because I am merciful to you.

The concept of knowledge — and when a person attains it — one of the first objectives of it that our teachers would mention is to remove a sense of entitlement and to make a person more grateful. And hence a person of knowledge becomes more grateful to Allah, because entitlement is a cancer of gratitude. It's like fire in water. No entitled person can ever be grateful. A child that is entitled can never be grateful to their parents. And a slave like us that is entitled to Allah can never be grateful to Allah.

So He says the first blessing is not khalaqa al-insān. It's actually: al-Rahmān. What's next? 'Allama al-Qur'ān. The greatest blessing is the capacity that we have to learn the Qur'an. Because not knowing the Qur'an and not knowing the deen of Allah doesn't allow this human being to fulfill his objective. Khalaqa al-insān — a human becoming a human — is a by-product of 'allama al-Qur'ān. And when a person understands that, they realize that their existence and their capacity for benefiting people is predicated upon their ability to understand the deen of Allah.

Then khalaq al-insān — a human becomes a human. And it doesn't stop there, because the next step is 'allama al-bayān — We didn't give you what We gave you so you could hoard it within your heart, but We gave you the ability to explain it very clearly so you could go tell the world about it.

Educate, Preserve, Apply

This is why we have — and very few people actually know this — the motto of Miftaah: Educate. Preserve. Apply. These were well thought-through. They just also happened to rhyme, so it worked out.

But the hadith is that Allah illuminates — brings radiance to — a person's life. Not their face specifically; they are radiant because their presence creates joy within people. It creates a sense of acceptance, a sense of happiness. When someone sees this person, they feel good even though they're having a bad day — like the Prophet ﷺ. Who is this person? He learns the deen, he preserves it, and he goes on and teaches it to others. And that is his form of application of it. May Allah make us amongst those that can do this.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 2658; also Sunan Ibn Mājah, Hadith 230)

The Associate Program and Its Journey

This was a three-year program and it started in the year 2017. We only had brothers at first. Sheikh Abdullah went to a Wayne State MSA program, and the sisters came to him and said, "Sheikh, why don't we have it for sisters?" — and this was when we were at our Michigan Islamic Institute campus. So we said, "We don't really have space, but you know what, we'll start." And it started off as something very small, and it's still something very small — but the idea was: how can everyone have access to learning the deen of Allah?

Knowing that there's no excuse for saying no — there is a way to do it. Everyone just has to make time. There's no such thing as "there's not enough time." There is such a thing as "I don't prioritize it," and that lack of prioritization means "I don't have enough time." That's just the way it works.

So nonetheless, when we started the three-year program, we didn't fully realize the benefit we could have — and everyone else could benefit from it. So we just pushed it and continued. This is our third graduating batch, and it is the most important program in Miftaah. Because these students stay with us for three years. They're adults — I feel shy saying that they are students, because they really are older than me. The majority, a lot of them. Those that are younger — you're my student, right — but those that are older, well, I guess it is what it is.

But the beauty of it is that anyone who walks in on Sundays and Tuesdays knows just the chill vibe, the enjoyable feel. And the reason why this is the way it is, is because of the amazing students that come to Miftaah. They drive from Dearborn, from Canton, from Troy, from Rochester, from Toledo, from Flint. This is not normal — people taking out that much time to learn deen. This is not because of us. It's because knowledge is beautiful.

And I promise you it has nothing to do with the vessel — it has to do with the purity of the water. You could change the pipe and the effect will be the same. That's how beautiful the knowledge of deen is. But we're blessed that Allah has allowed us to be a vessel for it, and we hope that Allah does not deprive us of being amongst these beautiful gatherings in the future as well.