my faith
...
ISLAM
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to gain knowledge is worship. The practice of knowl-
edge is connected with ethics and morality - with pro-
moting virtue and combatting vice, enjoining right and
forbidding wrong.
Knowledge is pursued and practiced with modesty and
humility and leads to beauty and dignity, freedom and
justice.
The main purpose of acquiring knowledge is to bring us
closer to Allah. It is not simply for the gratification of the
mind or the senses. It is not knowledge for its own sake
or science for its own sake. Knowledge accordingly
must be linked with values and goals.
One of the purpose of acquiring knowledge is to gain
the good of this world, not to destroy it through
wastage, arrogance and shamelessness in the reck-
less pursuit of higher standards of material comfort.
Another purpose of knowledge is to spread freedom
and dignity, truth and justice. It is not to gain power and
dominance for its own sake.
The
Qur'an
is our most important link with reality. It is
essential therefore to acquire a knowledge of the
Qur'an
and its essential guidance. We need to have a
knowledge of the
Sunnah
of the Prophet Muhammad
[s] too. This is because his
Sunnah
is the practical
method or path for implementing Islam. The
Sunnah
includes what the noble Prophet [s] said, what he did
and what he agreed to. We also need to have a knowl-
edge of the
Shari'ah
or the Islamic Moral and Legal
System which regulates man's actions. We need to
know its purposes and how it categorises life's transac-
tions, that is, what is lawful and what is unlawful and the
principles and values that govern each.
Knowledge or
'ilm
refers primarily to the Islamic fields of
knowledge, such as Tafsir (Qur’anic Exegesis), Fiqh
(Islamic Jurisprudence), and Kalam (Islamic Scholastic
Theology). One effect of the claim now made by many
people that modern disciplines such as engineering
and business studies also count as
‘ilm
is that the tra-
ditional disciplines are being neglected, with the result
that the Muslim world is losing its spiritual and intellec-
tual leadership. Muslims therefore have to remind
themselves that to seek true knowledge is not simply
recommended, it is an obligation, for the Prophet [s]
taught that “
The quest for knowledge is a duty upon
every Muslim man and woman
.”
