Seeking Knowledge

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I’d like to begin my today’s khutba with a very strange question.
What do you give to your son on his wedding night as a gift? A Mitsubishi Lancer, a Honda Accord, or do you give him the ever useful toaster?

When Ibn Al-Qayyim’s son was getting married, he found himself in this gift dilemma. He thought and thought and decided upon a gift that would not only benefit his son, but all the Muslims. He lit a candle, dipped his pen in the ink, and began writing. The gift, you ask? A book dedicated to his son and daughter-in-law about marriage and the rights of children. He named the book, Tuhfatul Wadood, bi Ahkaam al-Mowlood. The value of the gift? Priceless.

Many times we hear about the respect due to parents – because it is often the parents who are speaking. Yet, how often do we hear about the rights of children? Indeed, they have many rights that go farther back than 9 months before their creation. For example, they have the God given right that their future mother or father choose a spouse that will teach them about Allah and be an excellent example for them. In his book, in Chapter 25, Ibn Al-Qayyim discusses the obligation of teaching the children, disciplining them, and being just with them. Additionally, one of the rights of children is the right to an Islamic education.

Allah ta’aala commands us: “O you who believe, protect yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is people and stones …“(At-Tahreem 66/6)

In the hadith Rasulullah sav says
All of you are shepherds and all of you shall be questioned regarding your flock.

Never think that the work you do for the betterment of our children’s Islamic education goes in vain. There is an English word called sacrifice. Some Muslims when translating the idea of sadaqah may incorrectly use this concept of sacrifice. A more correct translation is ‘to deposit’. We are not spending these pennies hoping for nothing in return. No, we are investing it for an enormous return; we are depositing it in the Hereafter.

“What’s in it for me?” we always ask.

Firstly,
Allah ta’aala will protect your children because of your piety. The example given to us in the Qur’an is that of Khidr. When he built the wall without any financial reward, he told Musa why:

“And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure for them, and their father had been righteous. So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord…” (Al-Kahf 18/82)

Secondly,
By educating and protecting the Muslim children, you would be fulfilling the amaanah (trust) that Allah has placed upon you. And in the fulfillment of one’s trust lies success and a 401k plan in Paradise.

Allah ta’aala says: “Certainly successful are the believers …they who to their trusts and their promises are attentive / And they who carefully maintain their payers – those are the inheritors / Who will inherit al-Firdaus wherein they will abide eternally.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our Basic Problem: There is a need, a thirst, for knowledge but when the announcement is given that the water is here, we don’t find our community driving to that water source. Insha’Allah, today I want to speak a little about the importance of seeking knowledge and why it is a must for us.

“Say: Believe in it or do not believe. Indeed, those who were given knowledge before it – when it is recited to them, they fall upon their faces in prostration. / And they say, ‘Exalted is our Lord! Indeed, the promise of our Lord has been fulfilled.’ / And they fall upon their faces weeping, and it (the Qur’an) increases them in humble submission.” (Al-Isrā’, 17:107-109)

Al-Hasan Al-Basree said about the one who learns and acts upon his knowledge: “He is beloved by Allah, a friend of Allah, the cream of Allah’s creation. Out of the inhabitants of the earth, he is the most precious to Allah. He answered Allah’s call and invited others day and night to answer Allah’s call and then did good. And he announces to the world, ‘I am a Muslim’. This is the Khaleefah of Allah on earth.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

What is the hukm of studying Islam? Is it Fard, is it Makrooh, is it Haram? Let the Prophet – sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam – give us all the answer:

“Seeking knowledge is Fard (Compulsory, not an option) upon every single Muslim.”

Many aspects of knowledge are Fard on every single Muslim. While others are Fard kifaa’ee: if a portion of the community fulfills the need then the sin is absolved off the community, otherwise the entire community is sinful.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

What excuse will we have when the reason we did not learn the deen and pass it on to our next generation is that we were too busy watching tv? Or that we were engrossed in games? Is that why we were created?
Satan makes a person think that he’ll study sometime in the future. In the summer, after University, after I get married, after I have a million dollars, a wife that loves me, and 10 beautiful kids … After I’m dead.

To sum up, Islamic education is the knowledge that will make us all straight. It is the one who knows Allah that fears Him.

You say: Ok, I’m going to sign up for Islamic classes, but what’s in it for me?

• Know that there is ample reward from Allah ta’ala for those who seek knowledge sincerely for His sake and pass it on to others.
• Know that the knowledge you pass on, you will receive a reward from it even after you are dead; the reward lives on.
• Know that this knowledge is the inheritance from the Prophets. Go and take your share.
• Know that you will bask in happiness when the cloud of ignorance is raised from our heads.

May Allah gives us a capability to learn Islamic knowledge and gives us an opportunity to join Islamic classes as soon as possible, before death insha’Allah.