20160729 - Second Khutba

The Importance of Knowledge in Islam

Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. As-salatu was-salamu ala rasoolihi al kareem. Fa a'udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajeem.

Allah, in the creation of you and I, in the creation of mankind, Allah has placed many bounties, many favors that He has implemented within our creation. And that's why Allah, when He comes in the Qur'an, He reminds us that لَا تُحْصُوهَا — that you'll never be able to take account of the blessings of Allah. That no matter how much you try to sit back, and recall, and reflect, and take accountability of the blessings of Allah upon you and I, and the favors of Allah upon you and I, you will not be able to count them. You will not be able to make an end to that.

That's why the scholars mention that just the simple action — the action of breathing — within that there are two bounties and blessings of Allah, the favors of Allah upon you and I. One, to be able to inhale. If you can't inhale, how difficult does that become? To be able to take oxygen and air within our bodies, and then they said a second favor of Allah is to be able to exhale. You inhale, and then to be able to let it out — that's a huge favor of Allah.

If Allah restricted or eliminated one of those abilities within ourselves that we do so subconsciously, it would become very difficult on you and I. We wouldn't be able to last moments. It would be the end of us. So Allah has given us many favors.

That's why Allah says: look around you and I. Just like this community — brother Shamsul Rahman just made announcements of people that passed, that are ill. We experienced that in the blessed month of Ramadan. So many young members of our communities, including ours, left this world. And we're incapable to be able to attain the full ni'mahs that you and I enjoy on a regular basis, and we take for granted.

Mankind: The Best of Creation

So Allah created us with these favors, and amongst those many numerous favors of Allah, one of the favors Allah created us with is the characteristic of being the best of creation. The ability of being the best of Allah's creation.

And one may ask, how is that so? If you look at the senses — the sense of smelling — there are creatures of Allah that surpass and they have limits beyond ours. They have abilities beyond ours when it comes to the sense of smell. When it comes to the sense of touch, many creatures of Allah have that sense of touch beyond our capacity. They are much more sensitive, they are much more excelled beyond you and I. When it comes to the sense of smell, touch, even seeing, there are creations of Allah that roam this earth that are much more powerful than you and I. When it comes to taste — all these abilities — Allah has made creations or creatures that surpass you and I in those abilities. But the thing that Allah gave us above all — in strength, there are creatures of Allah that you cannot compare to in terms of strength, that would crush us in a moment's time. But yet Allah gives us superiority over them.

And the reason for that superiority over them is that Allah has given us an intellect far beyond theirs. The capacity of our intellect is far beyond the intellect of other creations of Allah, no matter what they are. If they were all to be put together and mankind, human beings, were to be put on one side, our intellect — the capacity of our intellect — would far outweigh theirs. So Allah gave us this ability and therefore, with other facilities and other means, we become much stronger than them, much more powerful than them, and we are able to reign over those creations of Allah.

The Intellect, Free Will, and the Angels

Even the malaika — when mankind was first being created, what did they say to Allah? They complained: Ya Allah, why are You creating such a being that is going to create havoc, that's going to create destruction and menace in this world? Why are You creating such a being? Allah said: along with their intellect, what did Allah give us? The choice, free will — the choice between doing what is right and doing what is wrong. Allah said to the malaika: they will be the cause of such havoc and menace in this world, but they have this intellect that I have given them, and this choice beyond that, and they will be those that choose the right way, that choose what I want from them, and then they will be elevated beyond the darajat — the level — of you, O malaika.

So the malaika again they questioned: Ya Allah, what is this intellect of theirs? What's so powerful about the intellect that You haven't given us? We are creatures that are so powerful, we're so obedient and we have so much ability and capability. Why is it that they have an intellect beyond us? Allah then mentions in the narrations that He asked them about certain creations of Allah, to name them, and they were not able to do so. And He said: that ability to be able to learn and gain and implement and exercise their intellect is something that is superior to you, O malaika.

So Allah, amongst His numerous bounties upon you and I, has given us the strength of intellect, the strength of thought — to be able to exercise that ability and to exert it. And as mankind has developed, we can see how much we've exerted and excelled in it. How much Allah has given you and I, that we've accomplished so much from the knowledge and the teachings of Allah.

But we have to understand: when Allah gives such abilities, such capabilities, there are expectations that come with it. Allah gives you and I that freedom of choice, but then there come expectations from Allah. That's why the malaika — the fact that they don't have the ability beyond just obeying Allah — the expectations are limited for them. They obey Allah and that's it. They make dhikr of Allah and that's it. They serve Allah and those are their limitations. But the fact that you and I have such a high level of intellect and we have such a high level of ability to think and choose right from wrong, Allah asks us for a sense of accountability when it comes to that. Allah holds us accountable for our choices.

The First Revelation: Iqra'

Therefore, one of the first revelations is such a powerful thing to be given to us — intellect, reason, being able to grow that intellect and exercise and to think and ponder. That's why Allah, when He revealed the ayaat to Allah's Messenger ﷺ, the first thing Allah spoke to Rasulullah ﷺ, even though our beloved Messenger ﷺ was a man of illiteracy — he couldn't read, he couldn't write — Allah tells us:

That O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, اقْرَأْ — read. اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ — read in the name of your Lord who has created you. Allah's Messenger ﷺ said: I can't. The ulama mention that there are two types of reading. One is from seeing — you observe something and you read it out. And then they said the second type of reading is that which you read from memory — that you've already gained in your memory and then you recite it. So Rasulullah ﷺ was referring to the first type: I can't read — what do you want me to read? I have nothing in my memory. What do you want me to read from memory?

So Jibreel alayhi salam does what? He embraces Allah's Messenger ﷺ three times, to where Allah's Messenger ﷺ thereafter repeats after Jibreel alayhi salam, and he became the man of such significance. A man of great intellect. A man of great wisdom and hikmah that we know to this day. That Rasulullah ﷺ became the Messenger of Allah ﷺ he was.

Two Types of Knowledge

Allah, in the first revelation, teaches us certain ayat. He tells us:

Read with the name of Allah who has created you. Allah has created you from an alaq — from a drop, a clot. And your Allah is a favorable, a noble God. He has created you with favors and nobility. Here Allah says: We've taught you literacy through the qalam, through the pen. We've taught mankind what he did not know.

So the scholars mentioned a very beautiful discussion here. They said there are two types of learning. اقْرَأْ — that Allah has mentioned twice. The message: read, and then He says read again for what I've taught you from the pen. I've taught you through knowledge that's been passed on — from the book, from experience.

So there are two types of ilm and knowledge. One, Allah sent directly to you and I through the malaika — in the blessed Messenger ﷺ — which is categorized as sacred knowledge. The revelation that came through Allah's Messenger ﷺ on to us through Jibreel alayhi salam, Allah directly revealed to you and I — untouched, unadulterated, unchanged. It came to you and I and this is from Allah, and that is the most elevated level of ilm and sciences and knowledge. That's the best type of knowledge.

For how else can Rasulullah ﷺ be a man of such great stature — the greatest nabi, the greatest man to walk on this earth — but he could not read or write, because he was a scholar of what Allah considered to be the greatest knowledge of all?

And then Allah repeats اقْرَأْ — learn a different knowledge. عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ — that knowledge that I've taught you through intellect, intelligence, experience, learning, what's been passed down to you, what's been taught to you in terms of secular knowledge. The worldly knowledge that Allah passed down to us or taught us sometimes without any effort — it came, it developed. For if Allah didn't give us that intellect, that capacity, imagine how we would speak. Allah could have made it such that we would communicate in the manner that the animals did — through shrieks and grunts and screams and moans. But Allah gave us the intellect of not only creating a language but languages, upon languages, upon languages — where countries share many languages within one locality, different dialects, different ways of speaking the same language. Allah gave us that ability, and that's from Allah.

Balancing Sacred and Secular Knowledge

So Allah gave us these two knowledges, these two types of ilm, and this powerful intellect. But we have to understand the very important principle that Allah and His Messenger ﷺ teaches: that one cannot be sacrificed at the expense of the other, and should not be. When it comes to worldly knowledge, one should not sacrifice the secular knowledge at the expense of that, nor should it be the other way around.

That's why Rasulullah ﷺ, when the Jewish kings and leaders used to write to him, Allah's Messenger ﷺ used to write to them in the Arabic language and they would reply in the Hebrew language. So Rasulullah ﷺ naturally would ask one of the Jewish men to translate for him: tell me what you have written. Eventually Rasulullah ﷺ felt as though there was something lost in that translation — there was no accuracy in that. So he goes to one of the companions by the name of Zayd ibn Thabit and he says: O Zayd, go learn this language.

On many instances, when it came to agriculture, he tells the sahaba: go learn that. And when they used to consult Rasulullah ﷺ about such matters, he would say: you know about this matter more than I do. When it comes to agriculture, you know this more than I do — go learn it and implement it. When it came to Khalid ibn Walid, how they carried out the tactics of warfare, Rasulullah ﷺ asked him to learn those things. Skill sets, secular uloom, sciences — Allah's Messenger ﷺ promoted that.

Zayd ibn Thabit was told: Zayd, go learn the Hebrew language. Go excel. Go learn how to read it, write it, so that you can interpret and read for me. Zayd ibn Thabit says: these are people of zeal. They were people of vigor. They were people that were thirsty to learn and attain knowledge. He says that within 18 days, I mastered the language of Hebrew. Within 18 days I exerted myself day in and day out, and I learned that language, and I used to read and interpret for Allah's Messenger ﷺ.

So what we have to understand is that these uloom, these sciences and knowledges that Allah has given you and I — we cannot sacrifice the one for the other. We should not. That's why Rasulullah ﷺ, when he mentioned in the hadith:

(Attributed to the Prophet ﷺ; cited widely in classical Islamic literature)

Attain knowledge from the cradle to the grave — meaning: balance it and attain any positive, beneficial knowledge from the moment you are born to the moment you pass. Continue to be learning; be a student for life. Rasulullah ﷺ doesn't limit it to a certain type of knowledge. He says: learn, excel in that.

However, as I mentioned, one cannot be sacrificed at the expense of the other. Now, what happens in our day and age — in our context, in our societies, our cultures — what do they teach us? That you take one as a primary learning, as something you focus primarily on, and the other, if it comes, it comes. Over time, society, culture, all these things have taught us to devalue one and give more preference to the other, and to get that priority mixed up. It's very common. We all see it around us. We devalue the knowledge of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and of Allah — the sacred knowledge — over the secular knowledge. We do devalue that. It's a natural instinct that we've been created with. You become something successful in life and thereafter, if you have time left over, you pursue the other.

When it comes to our children — as much as we respect our mashayikh and imams as a member of this community — we will never encourage our children to become people that pursue their pathways. Why? Because we've become deluded in terms of knowledge. We've given one or the other preference over the other. And Allah's Messenger ﷺ says: don't sacrifice one or the other. Do both. Pursue both. Rasulullah ﷺ didn't like the fact that you left out one and sacrificed the other. So value them.

Abu Darda and the Virtue of Seeking Knowledge

There are people that value them and have exerted themselves. Abu Darda radiallahu anhu, he used to live in Damascus. And he narrates a hadith from the Prophet ﷺ — in fact two hadiths, I'll narrate both of them. He says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 71; Sahih Muslim, Book 12, Hadith 1037)

Whomsoever Allah favors — whom Allah really likes, He cares about — you know you favor somebody in your life: you favor your spouse over other beings, you favor your children, your wife, your family, your parents over other people around. What do you do? You favor them. You do something more for them than for other people. So Allah says: whomsoever Allah favors, is more beloved to Him — Allah gives him knowledge, understanding of his religion. He gives them that sacred knowledge, the ability to learn, the zeal to learn, to actually want to go out and learn to whatever their capacity is.

We have to understand a very important thing — a disclaimer — that not all are expected to be imams and mashayikh. That's not what Allah and the Messenger ﷺ want. Everybody has to fill a certain capacity within this ummah. If we die out in other sciences, uloom of the world, then there will be no success within this ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ. But we have to give both their importance. Learn both knowledges simultaneously. And when we've gained the worldly knowledges, exert yourself in the religious knowledges. Put time and energy into that. It doesn't come easy.

For people of the past had to make much greater sacrifices. A man came to Abu Darda radiallahu anhu in Damascus. And Abu Darda radiallahu anhu said: what brings you here? Why have you come? Have you come to buy and sell something? He said, no — for business, no. Met family, no. He said: what's the reason? You look so tired. You look so distraught. You look so disheveled. Why have you come so far, and you came straight to me first?

He said: I heard a specific narration from the Messenger ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ said something, and I heard it was communicated and narrated through you, O Abu Darda. And I heard it, but I wanted to verify in person with you just that one narration from Allah's Messenger ﷺ. And I came from Madinah Munawwarah for that.

Abu Darda radiallahu anhu looked at this man awestruck. Like — you've traveled from Madinah Munawwarah just to... The man said: just to learn that from you. No other objective. No other reason. Are you sure? The man said: no other reason. This is the only reason — just for that one narration I've come to you.

Imam Bukhari — we know all of his stories, how he used to travel. All the fuqaha, the muhaddithin, how they used to exert themselves. It is narrated about one of the muhaddithin that just for one small booklet that contained some information — not even a narration, some information about a narration — he traveled. I'm not talking about our context, but you can imagine traveling in our context over 800 miles to get that small booklet, so he could get that small piece of information out of there. He said: I've traveled 800 miles just to get that bit of information. I exerted myself for the knowledge.

We all know that to become something you have to exert yourself. We all are professionals in some capacity, mashaAllah. We've achieved some level of education, some capacity, mashaAllah. We all know how much we have to exert ourselves. Our teachers used to say that when it comes to the knowledge of the deen of Allah, you exercise and exert yourself completely, and a little bit of it will be gained by you. And you exert yourself a little bit, and a little bit will be gained at each attempt. So it is something that doesn't come easy.

So anyways, Abu Darda radiallahu anhu — what does he do? He narrates a hadith to this man. He says: that a person who travels to gain knowledge and seek knowledge of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ's deen — Allah, as much as he exerts himself, facilitates ease for him to the pathway of Jannah. It's a natural reaction, right? A person that learns the deen of Allah, to whatever capacity, becomes that much more interested in his deen. He becomes that much better in the implementation of the ahkam — the commandments — of Allah. He naturally becomes that. So Allah's Messenger ﷺ says: as much as he paves that pathway of attaining that knowledge, Allah facilitates ease for him to the pathway of Jannah. Allah makes that easy for him. He'll cruise, he'll coast through that pathway of Jannah, insha'Allah, the more he exerts himself in the learning of the deen of Allah.

And then he says that Allah's malaika — angels, as busy and as preoccupied as they are — when they see a person that seeks out the knowledge of Allah, they abandon that activity and they come and they lower their wings for that person, out of respect and honor and awe of that person. And that person walks on them and they protect him, they put him in their protection. And then the narration goes on and on about how Allah prefers a person of knowledge — a person of learning — over a person of not learning. Allah prefers that person.

And Abu Darda radiallahu anhu goes on and gives this individual a piece of narration that Rasulullah ﷺ gave, and this person then returned to Madinah — made a long journey back, in that context.

Our Context Today: Means and Opportunities

Now let's put ourselves in our context, in our day and age, where we have so many means. We have so many facilities. Allah has facilitated our situations and our circumstances so easily. You know one thing we always do — is we constantly complain about our situations. To see the negative circumstances we find ourselves in is very easy compared to seeing the positive circumstances. Whatever that is — in terms of political, religious, whatever difficulties we face in this society, in this context — we complain about them very often, very easily.

And we have to understand that when it came to our Prophet ﷺ and all the anbiya alayhi salam, what kind of societies did they come into? Societies of religious, ethical, societal turmoil. They were there. There was religious turmoil when Rasulullah ﷺ came to Madinah Munawwarah. When Isa alayhi salam came to his people. When Ibrahim alayhi salam came to his people. When Nuh alayhi salam came to his people. There was religious turmoil, there was societal turmoil. When Rasulullah ﷺ came, the society was at the lowest of the low. That's why people used to say — the Persians and Romans used to look down upon the Arabs. Why? Because they considered them so illiterate. The only honor they had was because of the Baytullah, the house of Allah.

So Rasulullah ﷺ and the anbiya alayhi salam came to societies and situations of religious, societal, and ethical turmoil. But what eliminated that darkness? What removed the darkness of those backward and barbaric ethical, societal, and religious circumstances? Rasulullah ﷺ brought the light of knowledge. He implemented the deen of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ and removed that darkness. So with light comes ease.

Those difficulties that we are experiencing as a society now — that will be eased. The ease that we seek and that we seek from Allah will only be eased by learning from Allah and the Messenger ﷺ. Then will everything become conceptualized. Everything will make sense, and we will know what to do as an ummah, as a nation.

That's why Rasulullah ﷺ — why else does he mention in the hadith that one of the signs of the end of times, when all havoc will be let loose, when so many signs — the dabbah, the dajjal, and the Ya'juj wa Ma'juj, we hear all these things — Rasulullah ﷺ says: what brings those about? He says: the loss of knowledge. It will be removed from this world. The ulama, the mashayikh, will be taken away, removed from our societies and our communities, and therefore the knowledge will be taken away and people will be lost, ignorant, unlearned. And these are the people that will be tried and tested by those times — tested by what Allah will send to us.

Take Advantage of What You Have

So we live in a context, we live in a society — mashaAllah, this community, as many communities within our locality — that offers so many beautiful programs. We have the Suhba Academy, which you're having an opening and registration ceremony for today insha'Allah, and the Taqwa Academy. These are people that are very rare breeds — people that teach the word of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. We study to our capacities, alhamdulillah — some have, some have not, are still on that journey. But to a certain degree, we don't have to do it all the way to becoming an imam or a shaykh or an alim, but we can do it to a certain degree. Exert ourselves, learn what Allah and His Messenger ﷺ has taught us, and I promise you, things will come into perspective for you and I, and things will become easy from Allah.

Imagine that individual that comes to Rasulullah ﷺ on the Day of Judgment, and Allah's Messenger ﷺ says: you are a person that exerted yourself like that man that came to Abu Darda. You had a difficult context — that was a challenge of your time. He had distance — that was a challenge of his time. Your context was very different, but you exerted yourself. You are a rare person that went and learned from those mashayikh, those imams that Allah gave you as a mercy. Allah gave you those people within your communities and we don't benefit from them in the way and manner that we're supposed to.

So keep that in mind, insha'Allah. May Allah allow all of us to make that sacrifice, exert ourselves a little bit — a wee bit — so that we may gain something so much more precious, so much more valuable.

That's why Rasulullah ﷺ mentions in the hadith and advised the companions — he would say: when you have a gathering of learning, always participate, always gain knowledge, always gain uloom, always gain information that is good and beneficial for you. He said: for a man — or a woman — to put into memory even one verse of the Qur'an is better than performing 100 rak'ah. We just observed the blessed month of Ramadan — 20 rak'ah is very exerting. Imagine five times that much. Allah's Messenger ﷺ said it is more beneficial to memorize that verse than to perform 100 rak'ah. And then he says: to be able to read one chapter of the knowledge of Allah is better than a thousand rak'ah of nawafil.

So may Allah put us in a situation that we acknowledge, understand, and value the uloom and the sciences around us and the capacity of knowledge within us. And may Allah allow it to be utilized in a manner that Allah is pleased with us. Get that nature — that characteristic within ourselves — of further learning the deen of Allah, and things will make so much more sense. Things will be more profound for you and I, and we'll see the massive, vast ocean that the knowledge of Allah and His blessed Messenger ﷺ truly are, insha'Allah.

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

Second Part of the Khutbah

Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah — nastaghfiruhu wa nasta'inuhu wa nastaghfiruhu wa na'udhu billahi min shururi anfusina. Man yahdihi Allahu fala mudhilla lah, wa man yudhlil fala hadiya lah. Wa ash'hadu an la ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lah, wa ash'hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh, arsalahu bil haqqi basheeran wa nadheeran bayna yaday al-sa'ah. Man yuti'illaha wa rasulahu faqad rashada, wa man ya'asihima fa innahu la yudhurru illa nafsah, wa la yudhurru Allaha shay'ah.

Allah, Allah fi as-habi — la tattakhidhuhum gharadan min ba'di. Fa man ahabbahum fa bi hubbi ahabbahum, wa man abghadhahum fa bi bughdi abghadhahum. Wa khayru ummati qarni, thumma alladhina yaloonahum, thumma alladhina yaloonahum. Wa sultanu dhillu Allahi fil ardh — man ahana sultana Allahi fil ardh, ahana hu Allah.