Spirit of Tolerance in Islam, The (Occasional Papers) by Reza Shah-Kazemi

Author:Reza Shah-Kazemi [Shah-Kazemi, Reza]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780857735270
Publisher: I.B.Tauris
Published: 2012-01-27T05:00:00+00:00

In the Qurʾān the Prophet himself is told to supplicate as follows: ‘My Lord, increase me in knowledge’ (20:114). If this is incumbent upon the Prophet, it is even more so upon his followers. Indeed, to the Qurʾānic exhortation to engage in intellectual endeavour must be added the immense number of sayings of the Prophet Muḥammad in which the quest for knowledge is stressed. These sayings are given pride of place in both the Sunni and Shiʿi compilations of ḥadīth.15 In the immensely influential ‘Book of Knowledge’ in his monumental Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn (‘Revival of religious sciences’), al-Ghazāli cites, among others, the following important sayings of the Prophet as regards the primacy of the quest for knowledge:

Seeking knowledge is incumbent on every Muslim.

Seek knowledge, even as far as China.

The knowers are the heirs of the prophets.

The knower is the trustee of God on earth.

The pre-eminence of the knower in relation to the worshipper is like my pre-eminence in relation to the lowest of my companions.

God is not worshipped with anything more excellent than a profound understanding [of the principles] of religion (fiqh fī al-dīn).16

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