Life and Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
7. The Importance of Education in Islam
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expressed his disapproval of this process. Knowing this, the farmers
immediately stopped it. But later on the Prophet was told that due
to lack of proper pollination the yield had been very low as
compared to the previous years. On hearing this, the Prophet
replied. “You know your worldly matters better.” (Sahih Bukhari) In
other words, experiment and observation should be the final
criteria in such worldly matters.
The invitation of the Quran to inquiry on the one hand and the
encouragement of the Prophet to engage in direct observation and
reflection on the other led the Muslims to study everything
objectively. They started eagerly learning from everyone
irrespective of his or her religious and cultural origins. This trend
of insatiable curiosity and open mindedness motivated the
succeeding generations during the Umayyad and Abbasid times to
enthusiastically learn and translate the cultural legacy of other
nations, particularly the Persian, Greek and Roman. Abu Jafar
Mansur (754-775) established Bayt al Hikmah (the House of
Wisdom) where highly paid multilingual scholars were appointed to
translate into Arabic books on Persian literature, Greek philosophy,
medicine, and other sciences available in those times in different
parts of the world.
This was an actualisation of the Prophet’s inspiring words:
“Wisdom is a believer’s own property, he should try to take it
wherever he finds it. Of the Abbasid Caliphs, Harun Ar-Rashid, Al-
Mamun and Mutadid Billah, are reported to have invited doctors,
philosophers, and learned scholars from various parts of the world to
