Life and Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad
7. The Importance of Education in Islam
~ 99 ~
“It is the men of knowledge who can truly realise
God.” (35:28)
Scholars are considered to be like angels (3:18), in view of
their potential for discovering the oneness and the glory of the
Creator. To inculcate this importance of knowledge in the minds of
the believers, the Prophet once observed that the worship of a
learned man is a thousand times better than that of the ignorant
worshipper (
Mustadrak Al-Hakim
). By way of encouraging
reflection on the universe and nature in order to explore divine
glories, the Prophet is reported to have said: “An hour of reflection
is better than a hundred years of worship without reflection.” (Al-
Bayhaqi).
It was this interrelatedness of knowledge and worship that
made the early Muslims seek and impart knowledge wholeheartedly
and religiously.
But knowledge for the sake of knowledge as such may not be
an acceptable notion according to Islamic ideology. Instead, a
Muslim is supposed to seek knowledge for the pleasure of his Lord
on the one hand and for the rendering of better services to the
welfare of humankind on the other. In other words, the motto of
education in Islam would be knowledge for the sake of serving God
and His creatures. That is why from the very beginning almost
equal attention has been paid to the learning of both the religious
sciences and the worldly or secular sciences.
Imam Ghazzali noticing a lack of interest among the youth of
his times in learning medicine and other useful crafts and skills,
