The Importance and Value of Knowledge in Islam
The Importance of knowledge
The
first reality that arose when the angel Gabriel came to the Messenger
of Allah (peace be upon him) is the first time that this new religion
(Islam) is a religion that is based on science and rejects delusions and
illusions and short detail. This fact was established when
the first revelation consisted of approximately five verses that speak
about one issue, the question of knowledge. Said Allah, the Exalted: [Read in the name of thy Lord who created. Who created man from a grip. Read, and your Lord is Most Generous, Who taught to write with quill. Taught man what he knew not] (Al Alaq: 1-5).
This
first revelation in this manner is considered amazing in many ways: it
is amazing because Allah is exalted, chose a defined subject among
thousands of other matters contained in the Holy Quran. Initiated
with the subject being the messenger (peace be upon him) to whom the
Qur'an is revealed is illiterate, unable to read or write. Thus,
it became evident that this first issue is the key to understanding
that religion is the key to understanding this life, and even more, to
understand the eternal life to which all people will go.
Then, this revelation is amazing because it speaks about a matter to
which the Arabs did not give much importance at that time. Myths
and falsehoods is that controlled their lives from the beginning until
its end, then, the knowledge needed in all areas, except in the area of
eloquence and poetry, which was the field in which the Arabs have
excelled. Therefore, the Qur'an was revealed - and this is
the most amazing - the challenging subject matter that were excellent,
publishing them he calls for knowledge and excellence in all areas,
including this one that they dominate.
Islam and science
The
emergence of Islam as a scientific revolution was real in an
environment that is not familiar and not accustomed to the spirit of
science, the point of the stage that precedes the revelation of the
first verses of the Qur'an to be known as "al jahiliah" (time of
ignorance). The characteristic of ignorance is related to
what is before Islam, then Islam came to start the knowledge and to
enlighten the world with the light of divine guidance. Said Allah, the Exalted: [They seek, then judging the times of jahiliah (ignorance)? And who is better than Allah for judgment to a people who are convinced of the truth?] (Al Maidah: 50). Therefore, in this religion there is no room for ignorance, conjecture, doubt or uncertainty.
The Quran and science
And
it was not just the beginning of this miraculous book (the Qur'an) who
spoke about knowledge, about its value and importance. But
this was a fixed this statute forever to the point of almost all surahs
talk about knowledge, either directly or indirectly. I was
very surprised when I researched how many times it was mentioned the
word "Ilm" (knowledge, science) and its derivatives in the Holy Quran. Found - no exaggeration - it is repeated 779 times, or an average of approximately seven times in each sura!
This is about the word "Ilm" with its triple root ( م ل ع ),
and there are several other words that indicate knowledge but were not
cited with their pronunciation, eg: al iaqin (conviction), al huda (
orientation), al Aql (reasoning), al Fikr (thought), annadhar (vision),
Al Hikmah (wisdom), al fiqh (understanding) al burhan (proof), addalil
(proof) , al Hujjah (the argument), al aiah (the signal), al bayinah
(evidence), among other meanings that are included in the meaning of
knowledge and encourage. As to the sunnah of the Prophet
(peace be upon him), it is virtually impossible to enumerate how many
times this word was mentioned.
Also realize that the importance of the Qur'an with the issue of
knowledge not only born in the first moments of revelation. This
occurred since the beginning of the creation of the human being, as
quoted by the verses of the Holy Quran: Allah created Adam and became
successor on earth, commanded the angels to prostrate to him, ennobled
and raised then cited to us and angels for the reason that this
elevation and nobility, and defined as the reason: "the knowledge". Said Allah, the Most High: [And when thy Lord said to the angels: "For sure, I will on earth a caliph." They
said: "Thou shalt, her, who sow corruption therein and shed blood,
while we glorify Thee with praise, and Te sagramos?" He said: "For sure,
I know what ye know not." And He taught Adam all the
names, then expose them to the angels and said, "Inform Me of the names
of these if ye are truthful." They said: "Glory be to You! We have nothing but the science that taught us. Surely, You, You are the Knower, the Wise. " He said: "O Adam! Inform them of their names. " And
when he informed them of their names, He said: "Do not say that, of
course, know the Unseen of the heavens and earth, and know what you show
and what concealable?". And when We said to the angels:
"Prostrate yourselves before Adam", so they prostrated themselves except
Iblis (Satan), he refused and was haughty and the infidels] (Al Baqarah: 30-34).
From here, it was not overkill the messenger (peace be upon him) have
mentioned that the whole worldly life has no value - but it is cursed -
except if it is adorned with the knowledge and remembrance of Allah. The
Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "The worldly life
(addunia) is cursed, cursed is what is in it, except: the remembrance of
Allah and what is related to it, or a sage, or an apprentice "(1).
This all had a long-term influence on later Islamic State, which has
created a broad scientific activity in various fields of science and
knowledge, a similar activity which never happened in history, a fact
that made the Islamic state achieve great progress in the hands of
civilian scientists Muslims and human assets to provide a wonderful
scientific ammunition to which the whole world will owe.
Sh Ahmad Mazloum
