Acquire religious knowledge obligatory.
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
First
of all i would like to thank you for your great noble work. Barakallah I often
print your answers and gave to my friends. Yesterday when i gave this to my
friend he said, "i have stop studying these things because i have studied
a lot and whenever i study answer of same question from different scholars. i
become upset, which is right and which is wrong? so, to avoid this confusion i
stop reading. I just know the basics and i dont want to go in detail".
Please guide us what should one do in this scenario? my friend also quote this
Hadith "Prophet (SAW) said that I (SAW) fear from the time when everybody
would try to understand Quran" Please verify its authenticity, if it is
Sahih Hadith then what should we do?
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
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Answer:
Acquire religious
knowledge obligatory
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His
help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide,
and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear
witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
Your
Question: ….my friend also quote this Hadith "Prophet (SAW) said that I
(SAW) fear from the time when everybody would try to understand Quran"
Please verify its authenticity, if it is Sahih Hadith then what should we
do?
To the best of our knowledge brother, we have not yet come
across any such narration in the authentic and established Sunnah whereby the
Messenger of Allah (saws) is quoted to have declared: “I (SAW) fear from the time when everybody
would try to understand Quran"
Beloved and respected brother, we remind you as we remind
ourselves, that one must be extremely careful when ascribing something to the
Noble Messenger of Allah (saws); for those who invent something from themselves
and attribute it to the Noble Prophet (saws) will have a grievous penalty
indeed!
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 4.667 Narrated by Abdullah bin Amr
The Prophet (saws) said ‘Whoever tells a lie
on me intentionally, will surely take his place in the (Hell) Fire."
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 1.109 Narrated by Salama
I heard the Prophet (saws) saying,
"Whoever (intentionally) ascribes to me what I have not said then (surely)
let him occupy his seat in Hell-fire."
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 8.217 Narrated by Abu Huraira
The Prophet (saws) said, "Whoever
intentionally ascribes something to me falsely, he will surely take his place
in the (Hell) Fire.”
In absolute contrast to the statement of your friend that
one should fear the time when ‘everyone would try to understand the Quran’…….
this is what is related in the Quran and the authentic and established Sunnah
regarding the obligation of every believer to study the Glorious Quran and
acquire religious knowledge:
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verse 185:
Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was sent
down: this Book is a Perfect Guidance for all mankind and
consists of clear Teachings which show the
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Al-Baqarah verse 174:
Indeed those who conceal the Commands
that Allah has sent down in His Book and barter them away for paltry worldly
gains, fill their bellies with fire. Allah will not speak to them on the Day of
Resurrection, nor will He regard them as
pure and there is a painful torment for them!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verse 159:
Those who conceal the Clear (Revelations)
and Guidance We have sent down, after We
have made it clear for the people in the Book,
on them shall be Allah’s ‘laanah’ and the ‘laanah’ of those who are
entitled to curse!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 44 Surah
Dukhan verse 58:
We have made this Book easy in your own tongue so
that they may ponder and take good counsel.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 43 Surah
Zukhruf verses 1-3:
Haa Meem.
By this lucid (clear or open) Book.
We have made it an Arabic Quran, so
that you may understand it.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 12 Surah
Yusuf verse 1-2:
These are the verses of the Book that makes its
object perfectly clear. We have sent it
down as a Quran in Arabic, so that
you may understand it well.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 16 Surah
Nahl verse 89:
We have sent down to you this Book, which
makes everything plain, and is a
guidance, blessing and good news to
those who have surrendered themselves entirely.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 41 Surah Ha
Mim As Sajdaah verse 2-4:
This is a Revelation from the
All-Compassionate, the All-Merciful
Allah. A Book whose verses are
well-expounded, an Arabic Quran
for the people who want to understand, and a giver of good news and a
warner.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 18 Surah
Kahf verse 1-3:
All praise is for Allah Alone, Who has sent down this Book to His Servant
(Mohamed (saws), and assigned
nothing crooked to it. This Book says
everything directly, so that he
may warn the people of the severe chastisement of Allah and give good news to
the believers, who do righteous
deeds, that they will have an excellent
reward.
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 43 Surah
Zukhruf verses 43-44:
So, hold
fast to the Book that has been revealed to you,
you are surely on the Siraat al Mustaqeem. The fact is that this book is a great honor
for you and your people, and soon
you shall be CALLED TO ACCOUNT for it.
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 218 Narrated by Anas ibn Malik
Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘The
seeking of (religious) knowledge is obligatory for every Muslim.’
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 249 Narrated by Al-Hasan al-Basri
Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘He whom death
overtakes while he is engaged in acquiring (religious) knowledge with a
view to reviving Islam with the help of it, there will be one degree
between him and the Prophets in Paradise.’
Sahih Muslim HadithHadith 6518 Narrated byAbuHurayrah
Allah's Messenger (saws) as saying: ‘He who
alleviates the suffering of a brother from the affections of the world, Allah
will alleviate his affections from the sufferings of the Day of Resurrection.
He who finds relief for one who is hard pressed, Allah will make things easy
for him in the Hereafter, and he who conceals (the faults) of a Muslim, Allah
would conceal his faults in the world and in the Hereafter. Allah is at the
back of a servant so long as the servant is at the back of his brother. He who treads the path in search of knowledge,
Allah will make that path easy, leading to Paradise for him and those
persons who assemble in one of the houses of Allah (mosques), recite the Book
of Allah and learn and teach the Qur'an (among themselves). There will descend
upon them tranquillity, mercy will cover them, the Angels will surround them
and Allah will mention them in the presence of those near Him. He who is
slow-paced in doing good deeds, his (long) descent does not make him go ahead.’
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 256 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Abbas
The Messenger of Allah (saws) said:
‘Acquiring (religious) knowledge in company for an hour in the night is better
than spending the whole night in prayer.’
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 220 Narrated by Anas ibn Malik
Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘One who goes
out to search for (religious) knowledge is (devoted) to the Cause of Allah till
he returns.’
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 257 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr
Allah's Messenger (saws) happened to pass by
two groups (of muslims) in the mosque and he (saws) said: ‘Both of them are
good, but one is superior to the other. One group is supplicating Allah and
praying to Him. If He so wills, He will confer upon them and if He so wills He
will withhold. So far as those who are
acquiring the understanding of religion and its knowledge and are busy in
teaching the ignorant, they are superior. Verily I have been sent as a
teacher.’ He (saws) then sat down
amongst them.
The scholars and jurists in Islam are absolutely unanimous
in their opinion that the seeking of basic Islamic knowledge is what is known
as ‘fard-ayn’ or absolutely obligatory upon each and every sane, adult,
muslim.
Your
Statement: ….."i have stop studying these things because i have studied a
lot and whenever i study answer of same question from different scholars. i
become upset, which is right and which is wrong? so, to avoid this confusion i
stop reading.
Respected brother, it is only natural that when one
studies, accepts and follows a ‘way of life’ which provides guidance on every
single aspect of one’s life….be it individual, communal, financial, marital,
moral, manners, behavior, relations, law, etc….and this approved ‘way of life’
called ‘Al-Islam’ is followed by billions and billions of people, generation
after generation….it is only natural and obvious that there would be some
differences of opinion in some small matters of jurisprudence…and that should
only be expected.
To unilaterally declare that one has stopped the further
acquisition of religious knowledge only because one finds that some scholars
and jurists have a difference of opinion on some small matters of the ‘deen’ is
not only unwise, but detrimental to one’s growth as a muslim individual and as
a nation.
It is only people who wish to shy away from acquiring
knowledge who invent and quote such self-invented and self-satisfying ‘hadiths’
to justify their actions!
The Messenger of Allah (saws) declared in truth that the
striving to acquire religious knowledge is absolutely obligatory upon each and
every muslim, male and female….thus my respected and beloved brother, let no
one convince you otherwise!
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
Wister