Prophet Muhammad Sciences of Qur'an and Hadith Seeking Knowledge

Heirs of the Prophets

The Prophet ﷺ (peace be upon him) said, “Knowledge is to be carried in every generation by the upright and just. They repel from it the distortions of the over-zealous, the forgeries of the fabricators, and the misinterpretations of the ignorant.”

There are many relevant points to be taken from this hadith (record of the words of the Prophet ﷺ) but let’s first start with its grading.

Grading of the Hadith

There has been much discussion about the authenticity of this hadith. It was related by al-Bayhaqi and others. Scholars such as al-Albānī, Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Ibn al-Wazīr, and others considered it an acceptable hadith, while others disagreed. Nonetheless, considering the disagreement and the sound meaning of the hadith it is worthy to reflect upon it and draw lessons from it.

Knowledge is Carried by the Upright

The word that is used in Arabic here is the plural of ʿadl. The term essentially indicates that the person should be upright, just, trustworthy, etc. Two lessons can be learned from this: 1) that the people of knowledge should struggle as much as possible to be upright and respectable people; 2) that students and regular Muslims should seek out those whom they trust because of their character when approaching the people of knowledge. Yes, there are people of knowledge who are corrupt, who do not respect the rights of others, and who abuse what they know. They are not the true heirs of the Prophets and excuses should not be made simply because they “know a lot.”

In Every Generation

The second thing to learn from this hadith is that knowledge will be passed down between the generations. A certain level of learning can happen through websites and books but true knowledge is obtained through spending time with the people of knowledge themselves. It is through this action of companionship and studying that knowledge as well as wisdom and etiquette is passed down through the generations. On the other side of this is that knowledge does not disappear through the loss of books but through the death of the righteous scholars. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Knowledge will not be snapped up from the people but rather the scholars will pass away and knowledge will go with them until all that remains amongst the people is ignorant leadership who will answer questions without knowledge. They are misguided and will misguide others.” ((Muslim #4829))

Three Types of People to Watch Out For

The next thing that is mentioned in the hadith is a miracle to be pondered over. In it the Prophet ﷺ refers to three types of people and their dangers that are repelled by the works and knowledge of the righteous scholars.

The first of these dangers is the distortions of the over-zealous. There are always people who are over-zealous and who in their love for Islam end up making it much harder than it needs to be. If their interpretations were to be accepted in all matters the religion would be taken from its fundamentally easy nature into something too difficult for people to practice. This was also mentioned in another hadith where the Prophet ﷺ said, “Be careful of over-zealousy in the religion. Verily, being over-zealous destroyed the people who came before you.” ((Reported by Ahmad, al-Nasāʾi, Ibn Mājah and others. Authentic.))

The second danger that he warned of is the forgeries of the fabricators. Just as there are always those who take things too far, there are also those who try to add things to the religion. Sometimes this is done with good intentions and sometimes with bad, but it is always unacceptable. God revealed Islam to us through the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and what he has brought to us is enough. Many of the enemies of Islam realized from a long time ago that they could not be successful in this attempt with the Qur’an because of its place in the hearts and minds of the Muslims. This did not stop them from fabricating hadith though, and throughout the centuries there have been amazing scholars of hadith who have defended the Sunnah (tradition of the Prophet ﷺ) from forgeries and innovations. These scholars were so knowledgeable and gifted that they were able to come up with an entire methodology and various branches of sciences to support it for checking the validity of hadiths. Some scholars even compiled books only containing forged hadiths so that people could read these books and stay away from hadiths that were attributed to the Prophet ﷺ even though he has nothing to do with them.

The third danger is the misinterpretations of the ignorant. In our times these have become very prominent. With the nationalization of the traditional institutes of learning in the Muslim world and the advent of the printing press and mass communication, the central role of the scholars in interpreting Islam has diminished. It is possible for all kinds of people “learned” or not to speak about Islam and come up with new ideas and opinions that have never been discussed before. Granted, at times this can be a good thing, but unfortunately often times it is done by people who are completely unqualified. The result is that often times these arguments look convincing at first glance but for the person who truly studied Islam, their error is obvious.

It is truly amazing that the Prophet ﷺ mentioned these three categories of dangers that the scholars are to protect the religion from. When one looks at them and ponders over the current state of affairs and Islamic history there are themes that repeat themselves over and over again.

We ask God to guide us, grant us knowledge and wisdom, and protect us from falling into these dangers.

About the author

Jamaal Diwan

Jamaal Diwan was born and raised in Southern California and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Third World Studies and a minor in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego . He accepted Islam in 2003 and has been married to his wife, Muslema Purmul, since 2004. He has served with the Muslim Student Association (MSA), MSA West, and Muslim American Society (MAS) at varying capacities. He remains an active MAS member and is a scholarship student with the Islamic American University. Jamaal is a graduate of the Faculty of Shariah at al-Azhar University in Cairo and has done some graduate work in Islamic Studies from the Western academic perspective. He recently finished serving as the Resident Scholar at the Islamic Center of Irvine (ICOI).

3 Comments

  • As’Salaamwalaikum. The message contained in this article is powerful…so powerful that its application and validity is still relavent TODAY…just as it was relavent around 1,400 years ago when the Hadith was revealed.

    • I agree with the use of examples to current day issues. That’s kind of what my first comment to the article alluded to; as a reader I applied current day circumstamces to the subject of the article.

      For others who may not be able to interpret the article directly to what is going on in the world today…yes examples would help.

      So let me help. The three types of people to watch out for as noted in the article’s last section titled “Three Types of People to Watch Out For”…

      1.) Current day application would be terrorists, groups, governments, individuals who SADLY justify their actions by saying Islam gives allowances for their actions. Anyone can call themselves a Muslim or say they follow Islam…doesn’t mean they follow the TRUE tenets of the faith. But this doesn’t just apply to Muslims…many non-Muslim governments/leaders/individuals as well are justifying wars and legislation for example under either existing laws (by stretching the law); or outright turning about face to truth on purpose.

      2.) Current day application ties into point “1.)” where Hadith/Sunnah/Quranic interpretations are twisted/stretched/even created…and brought forth out of context to fill the person’s own whims to fulfill a self-fulfilling prophecy in their own heads and logic for what they wanted to do from the get go.

      3.) Current day applications tie into point “1.)” as well…all three of these points really mesh with one another. But a good example of this is how some politicians/media talking points in America are creating, festering, harboring fear mongering against Islam and Muslims based on sheer lack of knowledge/education on the truth. Within Muslims, this point can be ascribed to some Imams/’scholars’/leaders who may issue fatwas and the like without critically analyzing and researching the validity of what they are saying…rather they are acting on ignorance.

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