WE have often heard the famous phrase: ‘For also knowledge itself is power’, attributed to the 16th century philosopher Francis Bacon.
The fact that knowledge is a powerful “tool” and “weapon” is universally acknowledged, especially now when we are in an era where “knowledge society” and “knowledge economy” are the in-thing.
Islam highlighted that knowledge is an important aspect in man’s life about a thousand years before Bacon. This can be seen even from the very first revelation to Prophet Muhammad, in that it contains the directive for Muslims to “read”.
This instruction could be interpreted as pertinent, in that reading has been established as the key to knowledge. For Muslims, this should be seen as an important cue to learn as much as possible in all imaginable disciplines.
For Muslims, reading should be more than just a hobby. Reading should be a duty on the path of obtaining the pleasure of God. Unfortunately, we find most people do not view reading in this perspective.
That is why a survey conducted several years ago found Malaysians read very little, particularly when it came to academic and intellectual materials.
We should realise that it is not the quantity of reading that matters, but the quality. There is in the market an abundance of reading material, from the popular to the academic. The genres are also wide-ranging.
But Muslims should be choosy about what to read, and focus on that which will contribute to self-improvement, in line with God’s instruction in the Quran as well as the Prophet’s encouragement for Muslims to seek knowledge continuously.
As a matter of fact, there are numerous verses in the Quran as well as the Hadiths of the Prophet that not only mention the importance of knowledge, but also make the quest for knowledge obligatory for Muslims.
The significance of knowledge is further iterated in the Quran. At the dawn of the creation of the first man, Adam, the Creator reveals that knowledge is all-important when He teaches Adam about things that are not known to the angels.
The uniquesness of man is that God has given man the priceless and precious gift of the mind (‘aql) something that is not given to other creatures created by God.
The mind has the capacity to gather immense quantities of “data” which are later organised into “information” which is then stored as “knowledge” which makes up “wisdom”.
Therefore, it is essential for Muslims to have a love for knowledge. Thus, a love of knowledge among Muslim individuals will kickstart the formation of a Muslim ummah that loves knowledge. This is the key ingredient if Muslims want to revive the glories of Islamic civilisation. There is no point being nostalgic about the past without embarking on practical plans to better the conditions of today’s Muslims. There is nothing wrong in recalling the brilliant past of Islamic civilisation, but simply being sentimental is not enough. In this age, words should be translated into deeds. Muslims should use the success story of the past as motivation to move ahead, creating a kind of Muslim renaissance, if you will. After all, Prophet Muhammad stated that we should ensure that today is better than yesterday and that tomorrow will be better than today. In other words, Muslims must unceasingly strive for improvement and advancement, either at the individual or societal level. This could be regarded as a form of hijrah, that is, to constantly improve ourselves, and not be satisfied with what we have today.
The question is, “how do we create a knowledge-loving Muslim individual and ummah”? Firstly, it is pertinent that the inculcation of the love for knowledge should begin from a very young age. In this instance, parents play a crucial role.
If, for example, children see their parents spending most of their time in front of the idiot box (television), this will influence them in the long run. Similarly, if the parents spend a considerable amount of time reading, the children can be easily influenced to follow in their parents’ footsteps.
No doubt, we cannot expect children to read the same things as grown-ups. Suitable reading materials should be made available to children. They need to be exposed to books so that reading will become second nature to them.
Today, we have so many choices when it comes to children’s reading material. With the advancement of technology, we even have choices whether to buy printed reading materials, or download them from Internet sources, or use multimedia as an alternative, even utilising electronic books (e-books).
Whatever the choice of reading material and medium, what is important is that the reading culture be instilled from a very young age. A child growing up in a reading environment will continue to read as a part of his or her culture.
Secondly, it is necessary that Muslim parents make it clear to their children that reading thus, the seeking of knowledge is a religious obligation. Without this awareness, they may end up taking knowledge for granted.
One of the reasons for the decline of Islamic civilisation was the lack of seriousness among Muslims about obtaining knowledge. In the end, the vast amount of knowledge promoted, developed and advanced in the civilisation was lost to Europe.
We can see the impact to this day, as Muslims are highly dependent on the nonMuslim world. The knowledge and technology needed for development in the Muslim world need to be imported. Hence, to overcome this predicament, there must be a concerted effort to breed home-grown technologies.
But this will not happen without Muslims who possess the necessary knowledge for development. And this will not be realised without Muslims regarding the seeking of knowledge as a religious requirement and obligation.
This brings us to the third step needed to create a “knowledge-philic” Muslim ummah. As mentioned earlier, there are many disciplines and branches of knowledge. But we should not compartmentalise knowledge into religious and non-religious.
This is because, to the writer’s mind, all forms of knowledge are religious. Even if there is a need for compartmentalisation of knowledge, it should be “revealed knowledge” (naqliah) and “acquired knowledge” (aqliah).
Revealed knowledge is from the Quran and Hadith, while acquired knowledge is from research, discussion and academic exercises.
We should never view knowledge as “religious” or “non-religious”, because even those traditionally seen as “non-religious” economics and science, to name just two are mentioned in great detail in the Quran and touched upon at great length by the Prophet in many of his traditions.
In fact, the first revelation itself is scientific as it presents a biological fact long before it was established in the scientific community. Therefore, the religious and non-religious di-chotomy should not exist among Muslims. Instead, Muslims should regard obtaining all forms of knowledge as a religious must.