Learning and seeking knowledge are among the greatest values encouraged by Islam. It has made them a pathway to empower the individual Muslim, a foundation for the renaissance of the Islamic society, and a means to draw closer to Allah Almighty and achieve the cultivation of the earth. Islam harmoniously combines beneficial knowledge for religion with useful knowledge for worldly life. While Islamic religious knowledge guides one to knowing Allah and performing acts of worship correctly, worldly sciences contribute to building civilization and serving the believing individual in their daily affairs.
Islam’s Care for Intellectual Education and Reflection
Islam has always cared for intellectual education that nurtures the mind and develops its capacity for observation, contemplation, reflection, and deep thought. This is what qualifies a person to bear the responsibilities of calling others to Allah. This Quranic requirement was guided by our Lord, the Exalted, in His decisive revelation, making it a command for every human being. Allah Almighty says:
“Say, ‘Observe what is in the heavens and earth.’ But of no avail will be signs or warners to a people who do not believe.” [Yunus: 101]
And He says:
“Similar situations [as yours] have passed on before you, so proceed throughout the earth and observe how was the end of those who denied.” [Al Imran: 137]
And He the Exalted says:
“Say, ‘Travel through the land and observe how He began creation. Then Allah will produce the final creation. Indeed Allah, over all things, is competent.'” [Al-‘Ankabut: 20]
And He Almighty says:
“[This is] a blessed Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that they might reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding would be reminded.” [Sad: 29]
The intellect is one of the most important human faculties. Therefore, Islamic education has given it great attention, and Allah Almighty made it the basis for religious accountability (Takleef) for human beings. Whoever is deprived of their intellect due to insanity or other reasons is not held accountable, or the accountability is lifted from them. Allah Almighty says:
“And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart – about all those [one] will be questioned.” [Al-Isra: 36]
Seeking Knowledge: An Obligation and a Blessing
The intellect is a blessing from Allah upon humanity, through which one is able to accept and comprehend knowledge. Learning and seeking knowledge is the most important and sacred function of this intellect. Whoever does not seek knowledge and does not strive to acquire more of it to emerge from the darkness of ignorance has neglected the right of this great blessing that Allah has bestowed upon him—a blessing that distinguishes humans from all other creatures.
Hence, seeking knowledge is a religious obligation upon every Muslim, as stated in the Prophetic Hadith narrated by Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim, and indeed, everything asks forgiveness for the seeker of knowledge, even the fish in the sea.” (Narrated by Ibn Majah: 224).
Islam has clearly outlined the conditions and rules that define the methodology of learning and seeking knowledge, ensuring that this knowledge becomes beneficial to its possessor, their society, and their nation.
The Islamic Methodology for Purifying the Mind to Seek the Truth
To acquire beneficial knowledge, the mind must first be purified from satanic whispers, personal desires, deviant thinking, and misleading impurities. This is necessary to form a sound mind that aligns with the pure human nature (Fitrah) upon which Allah created people. For the thinking of this mind to be disciplined by the principles and objectives of revelation and religion, a sound mind is a prerequisite for benefiting from knowledge in religious and worldly affairs. It is what qualifies a person to worship Allah correctly and to fulfill the role of vicegerency (Istikhlaf) on earth, which is the mission Allah entrusted to humanity.
To cleanse the mind from anything that might hinder it from thinking soundly, objectively, and truthfully in the pursuit of truth, Islam established a methodology for educating the intellect, which consists of several key points:
1- Stripping the mind of assumptions based on conjecture and guesswork, or blind following and imitation. The Holy Quran warned against this in several verses, including His saying:
“And they have thereof no knowledge. They follow not except assumption, and indeed, assumption avails not against the truth at all.” [An-Najm: 28]
And His saying:
“They say, ‘Rather, we will follow that which we found our fathers doing.’ Even though their fathers understood nothing, nor were they guided?” [Al-Baqarah: 170]
2- Compelling the mind to investigate and verify. Allah says:
“O you who have believed, if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful.” [Al-Hujurat: 6]
3- Inviting the mind to ponder and reflect upon the laws of the universe. Allah says:
“And We have not created the heavens and earth and that between them except in truth.” [Al-Hijr: 85]
4- Inviting the mind to reflect on the wisdom of what Allah has legislated for His servants in terms of worship, transactions, morals, etiquette, and a complete way of life in peace and war, in residence and travel. Beyond maturing and developing the mind by recognizing these wisdoms, it gives it the best opportunities to apply the divine law in life without seeking any alternative, due to the tranquility, peace, and human happiness it contains. Allah Almighty legislated what He legislated precisely for this reason. He says:
“Allah wants to make clear to you [the lawful from the unlawful] and guide you to the [good] practices of those before you and to accept your repentance. And Allah is Knowing and Wise. * Allah wants to accept your repentance, but those who follow [their] passions want you to digress [into] a great deviation. * And Allah wants to lighten for you [your difficulties]; and mankind was created weak.” [An-Nisa: 26-28]
And He says:
“While He has explained in detail to you what He has forbidden you, excepting that to which you are compelled. And indeed do many lead [others] astray through their [own] inclinations without knowledge. Indeed, your Lord – He is most knowing of the transgressors.” [Al-An’am: 119]
The scholars and jurists of the Muslim nation throughout the ages, since the dawn of Islam up to our present time, have deeply explored the wisdom behind legislation and left the world a massive and profound legacy in the chapters of Islamic jurisprudence. Transactions among people were a source of happiness in this world and the Hereafter for those who adhered to the divine methodology (Mahmoud, 1990, 1/475).
5- Inviting the mind to look into the ways of Allah among people across human history, so that the observer may learn lessons from the history of forefathers and ancestors, and reflect on the laws of Allah governing nations, peoples, and states. Allah says:
“Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them which We had established upon the earth as We have not established you? And We sent [rain from] the sky upon them in showers and made rivers flow beneath them; then We destroyed them for their sins and brought forth after them a generation of others.” [Al-An’am: 6]
And He says:
“And We had already destroyed generations before you when they wronged, and their messengers had come to them with clear proofs, but they were not to believe. Thus do We recompense the criminal people. * Then We made you successors in the land after them so that We may observe how you will do.” [Yunus: 13, 14]
And He the Exalted says:
“Have they not traveled through the earth and observed how was the end of those before them? They were greater than them in power, and they plowed the earth and built it up more than they have built it up, and their messengers came to them with clear evidences. And Allah would not ever have wronged them, but they were wronging themselves.” [Ar-Rum: 9]
The Practical Effects of the Divine Methodology in Guiding the Intellect
This is the divine approach for the mind so that it does not wander in the bewilderment that many philosophers who sanctified the mind and gave it more than it deserves fell into. The practical effects of this divine guidance on the mind manifest in several important matters:
1- Purifying the mind from illusion and myth, charlatanism, and assumptions based on suspicions and fantasies, and training it to be patient and to verify, so that it does not rush, commit injustice, and then regret when regret is of no use.
2- Accustoming the mind to realize the reality of this universe in which it lives, and compelling it to recognize the truth with closeness and certainty.
3- Urging the mind to reflect and look into the wisdom of Allah Almighty in the system and methodology He legislated for people, which brings them happiness in both worlds. It also enables the mind to reflect on human history, which is the largest book with the widest doors and chapters, to emerge with immense benefit. Through this, one can accurately and decisively compare between disbelief and faith, and between the deeds of the believers and the misguidance of the disbelievers (Mahmoud, 1990, 1/487).
Beneficial Knowledge as a Condition for Victory and Empowerment
Within these conditions and guidelines, the mind can be immunized against methodological deviation in thinking and judging the events and phenomena surrounding the individual. The person’s perspective of their surroundings thus becomes divine rather than purely materialistic and worldly. Consequently, they become able to acquire the required beneficial knowledge in its true form.
Beneficial knowledge, in general, is what benefits the Muslim in their religion and worldly life. It is the knowledge through which one understands their creed, principles of jurisprudence, acts of worship, transactions, rulings, and ethics in Islam. It is also the knowledge through which they learn what assists them in their worldly affairs, keeps them in pace with the scientific and cognitive level of their era, and grants them an active role in human scientific progress across various natural and applied sciences.
This beneficial knowledge, in both its religious and worldly branches, is the condition for victory, renaissance, and empowerment for the Islamic nation. Therefore, its acquisition is an obligation upon the individuals and groups of this nation (Al-Sallabi, 2006).
By: Dr. Ali Muhammad Al-Sallabi
