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CONTEMPLATING THE PURPOSE AND SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE
Kherta Abubakar
That the Quran and the Sunnah encourage the believers and humankind in
general to seek knowledge is rarely questioned. Who can argue against Islam
setting learning as the primary human mission when the Quran's very first verse
of revelation is "Read in he name of your Lord who created" (96:1).
The question that is rarely asked in this regard, however, is one that
requires honest reflection: What is the nature of the knowledge that
constitutes the main focus of this verse?
Many have taken it, and the subsequent four verses that with it make up the
Quran's opening divine pronouncement, as an encouragement to seek out and excel
in the so-called "natural" sciences. Contemplating the constituents and
mechanisms of our physical and living environment are important aspects, not
only of learning, but of confirming our belief and engaging in worship, and we
are right to esteem them. Yet, in the age of science become religion we must
not lose sight of the fact that our learning must first and foremost revolve
around internalizing the prime message the Quran descended from Heaven to equip
us with on earth. There is no god but the God, Allah, our Lord-Creator.
To possess knowledge of tawheed, that is, the Oneness of Allah as being the
only God and thus the only one to be worshiped is to understand that He is
above everyone and everything else, that He alone is the source of knowledge,
and that we benefit from it solely by His grace. This is exactly what the
angels confess in acknowledging the limitations of their knowledge in the
Quran's account of our father Adam's creation: "Highly exalted be You (O God)!
We have no knowledge other than what You, Yourself have taught us. Indeed, it
is You alone who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise" (2:32).
The challenge for us, then, is to seek out knowledge (spiritual or worldly)
in a fashion that benefits us in our relationship with our Lord, first and
foremost. Thereafter, consideration is given to other benefits-what accrues to
our fellows in humanity, our co-beings in creation, and our host environment,
for that too is part of Allah's message. More precisely, our need and love of
God, our desire to please and be near Him and to evince with every thought and
breath our unrivaled appreciation for Him-all this impels us to discover
ourselves and the laws that Allah built into us and our world, at every level
of obviousness and subtlety, in order to benefit ourselves and all other being,
in accordance with the will of Allah, for that is, in fact, His will for us,
and the breadth of divine benevolence.
Thus the Prophet (PBUH) said: "When Allah wants good for someone, He gives
him understanding of the (knowledge of the) deen-the religion (of Islam)"
(Bukhari and Muslim). Scholars have explained that this "understanding" is
that of the Quran and the Sunnah, the prophetic model, in a way that enables
one to lead a life as God has intended human life to be lived, in accordance
with knowledge that ever increases us in virtue and uprightness.
The purpose of seeking, obtaining, and applying knowledge is, therefore, to
make of us good men and good women, as individuals and peoples, with that same
goodness radiating from us into the natural world. The single most significant
challenge in achieving this becomes knowing and finding the source of this
knowledge and learning how to seek it. These first-order axioms become the
bases for all that follows from them.
As for learning Islam, becoming knowledgeable about religion, there is good
news. In just the last five years, Islamic education in the West has
sky-rocketed, with everything from Quran memorization schools, Arabic language
classes, to Islamic Studies degree programs that can be done on a part-time, or
course-by-course basis. Such knowledge is becoming accessible to us. What
remains is to take advantage of this, to free ourselves from the obstacles,
internal and external, that obstruct us from learning.
Al-Khateeb al-Baghdadi (d.463 AH/1070 CE) left this piece of advice to those
in search of real learning: "O Student of Knowledge! I exhort you to purify
your intention in pursuing knowledge and to strive to make your soul act
according to knowledge's dictates. For the science (of this religion) is a
tree the deeds of which are its fruit. Thus he is not counted learned who does
not put his learning into practice."
The path is clear, and the choice, of course, is yours
.for a time.
"And say: My Lord, increase me in knowledge" (20:114).
(Courtesy: Al Jumuah Magazine)
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O Allah! Guide us, make our intentions sincere, accept our deeds, answer our
prayers, and make us of those who are patient.
