Religion not knowledge

In my life in the USA, I met some people when they convert to Islam they spend longer time and more effort in studying Islam and Arabic language more than practicing the religion itself, as the goal is to be Islamic scholar or Arabic speaker. Also, I met some people who told me: “We used to be Muslims, but not anymore. I still love Islam, but I cannot learn the Arabic language, or I cannot understand the Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh) issues.”That is why I chose to remind you that Islam is a religion not knowledge.

Yes, Islam values the knowledge and those who have knowledge.

يَرْفَعِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ ۚ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ

Allah will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge, by degrees. And Allah is Acquainted with what you do. (58:11)

Actually, all religions encourage their followers to seek knowledge, but Islam is unique; because it considers seeking knowledge as a duty upon its followers.

 طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ

Seeking knowledge is a duty upon every Muslim

However, duties in Islam are 2 different types: individual duty and sufficiency duty. The Individual duty is a task every Muslim is required to perform, such as daily prayer. The sufficiency duty is imposed on the Muslim community as the whole, not on every Muslim. The individual Muslim is not required to perform it as long as a sufficient number of community members fulfill it, such as funeral prayer (janazah).

So, what knowledge is considered as individual duty?

وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا ... وَلْتَكُن مِّنكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ ۚ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ

Hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together… And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that is] good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and those will be the successful. (3:103-104)

There are 2 commands here. The first one is to hold your religion. That is individual duty; because God said “all together”. So, the basic knowledge that can help you hold your religion is individual duty knowledge. The second command is to have Islamic scholars who invite to all that is good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. That is sufficiency duty; because God said “from you”. So, the knowledge that is required for Islamic scholars is sufficiency duty knowledge.

So, what knowledge can help you to your religion? At least you must to know the 5 pillars of Islam, understand the first pillar (testimony), and know how to practice the other pillars (prayer, almsgiving, fasting, and pilgrimage).

But of course you cannot be Islamic scholar if you cannot understand the Quran in its original language, or you did not study the history of the Islamic civilization and the differences between the Islamic sects, Islamic schools of thought, and Islamic schools of jurisprudence…etc.

That is about the knowledge. So, what is religion? God said in His Quran:

إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِندَ اللَّهِ الْإِسْلَامُ

Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam. (3:19)

Islam means to submit yourself to God’s will. There are differences between the religious knowledge and other knowledge:

The first difference is that ignorance of the positive laws does not excuse anyone. So, a person who is unaware of a positive law may not escape liability for violating that law merely because he was unaware of its content, because who apply the positive laws, such as polices and judges, see your deeds, but they cannot see your intentions. On the other hand, ignorance of religious laws excuses those who try to be committed to these laws, because God sees their intentions.

رُّسُلًا مُّبَشِّرِينَ وَمُنذِرِينَ لِئَلَّا يَكُونَ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَى اللَّهِ حُجَّةٌ بَعْدَ الرُّسُلِ

 [We sent] messengers as bringers of good tidings and warners so that mankind will have no argument against Allah after the messengers. (4:165)

Without the excuse of ignorance: there would be no benefit of the Messengers and prophets.

وَمَا كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّىٰ نَبْعَثَ رَسُولًا

And never would We punish until We sent a messenger. (17:15)

The second difference is that the main goal of religious knowledge is to be applied and practiced to make you more righteous, not to be used to get an academic degree, show off (up), find a job, or make you better than others. Remember God judges our deeds based on our intentions. He will not ask you: “Do you know that or not”, but He will ask you: “Did you apply what you knew?” What is the benefit if you know how to pray but you do not pray? That why Prophet Muhammad said:

وعن أبي برزة -براء ثم زاى- نضلة بن عبيد الأسلمى، رضي الله عنه، قال‏:‏ قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم‏:‏ ‏ "‏لا تزول قدما عبد يوم القيامة حتى يسأل عن عمره فيما أفناه ، وعن علمه فيما فعل فيه، وعن ماله من أين اكتسبه، وفيما أنفقه، وعن جسمه فيم أبلاه‏"‏ ‏(‏‏(‏رواه الترمذي وقاال‏:‏ حديث حسن صحيح‏)‏‏)‏‏.‏

“A servant of God will remain standing on the Day of Judgment until he is questioned about:

-       his (time on earth) and how he used it;

-       his knowledge and how he utilized it;

-       his wealth and from where he acquired it, and in what (activities) he spent it;

-       and his body and how he used it." {Reported by Imam At-Tirmithi}

In my life in Egypt, I met some illiterates who are highly committed to the Islamic rules. On the other hand, I met some Islamic scholars who have the highest degree from the Islamic Universities, but they are not committed to the Islamic rules. God describes these type of scholars as a donkey that carries books but does not get benefit from their knowledge.

مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ حُمِّلُوا التَّوْرَاةَ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَحْمِلُوهَا كَمَثَلِ الْحِمَارِ يَحْمِلُ أَسْفَارًا ۚ بِئْسَ مَثَلُ الْقَوْمِ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ ۚ وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ

God said: “The example of those who were entrusted with the Torah and then did not take it on is like that of a donkey that carries volumes [of books]. Wretched is the example of the people who deny the signs of God. And God does not guide the wrongdoing people.” (62:5)

Knowledge is available for all…the righteous and the unrighteous. Knowledge (even the worldly knowledge) raises the knowledgeable (even the unrighteous). But the righteous only open their hearts for the religious knowledge to soft their hearts.

Taqwa is piety, devotion, piousness, abstinence, fear of God, love for God, self restraint, forbearance, righteousness, God cognizance, God consciousness, or to protect yourself from God's punishment, by obeying God and avoiding what He forbids. So, righteousness is different than knowledge. The main goal of the religion is righteousness, not knowledge. God asked us to worship Him to be righteous.

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous. (2:21)

For example, the goal of our fasting is to be righteous.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous. (2:183)

And God considers most noble of us, in His sight, is the most righteous of us, not the most knowledgeable.

إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ

Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. (49:13)

But we cannot be righteous without knowledge. How can we love someone and protect ourselves from his punishment, if we do not have any knowledge about him?

إِنَّمَا يَخْشَى اللَّهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمَاءُ

Only those fear God, from among His servants, who have knowledge. 

Because your knowledge should make you more righteous, God does not equal knowledgeable people with others who do not have knowledge.

أَمَّنْ هُوَ قَانِتٌ آنَاءَ اللَّيْلِ سَاجِدًا وَقَائِمًا يَحْذَرُ الْآخِرَةَ وَيَرْجُو رَحْمَةَ رَبِّهِ ۗ قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ ۗ إِنَّمَا يَتَذَكَّرُ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ

Is one who is devoutly obedient during periods of the night, prostrating and standing [in prayer], fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, [like one who does not]? Say, "Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” Only they will remember [who are] people of understanding. (39:9)

That is why God Held accountable the prophet’s wives to a double account.

يَا نِسَاءَ النَّبِيِّ مَن يَأْتِ مِنكُنَّ بِفَاحِشَةٍ مُّبَيِّنَةٍ يُضَاعَفْ لَهَا الْعَذَابُ ضِعْفَيْنِ ۚ وَكَانَ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرًا  . وَمَن يَقْنُتْ مِنكُنَّ لِلَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَتَعْمَلْ صَالِحًا نُّؤْتِهَا أَجْرَهَا مَرَّتَيْنِ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لَهَا رِزْقًا كَرِيمًا

O wives of the Prophet, whoever of you should commit a clear immorality - for her the punishment would be doubled two fold, and ever is that, for Allah , easy. And whoever of you devoutly obeys Allah and His Messenger and does righteousness - We will give her her reward twice; and We have prepared for her a noble provision.  (33:30-31)

All praise is due to God, the most Gracious, the most Merciful.who said:

لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا مَا آتَاهَا

Allah does not charge a soul except [according to] what He has given it. (65:7)

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