Islam is the Religion of Knowledge and Wisdom

“Say, Are those who know equal to those who do not know?”³⁵
(The Holy Qur’an)

Allah, the Creator of knowledge, who is “Alim” (the Wise) and knows everything, created people with the ability to learn and use knowledge. Islam wants people to use this ability for good, to learn and teach knowledge for the benefit of humans, and to construct the world in the nicest way with what they produce through their knowledge. In this respect, the first command to the Prophet Muhammad as a revelation of the Holy Qur’an was “Read!”

Beyond just being literate, this command of Islam refers to reading, understanding, and exploring the universe with a rather deep meaning, thus, reaching to the truth. At the same time, humans should read their own inner world, question their purpose of creation, and reach to their Creator after knowing their body and soul, which have been created with a magnificent design.

Engaging in knowledge is the most fruitful thing worth to get tired and spend time and effort for. Islam regards searching for and acquiring knowledge as a duty upon every man and woman. The last Prophet Muhammad stated: “Either be the one who teaches or the one who learns, or the one who listens, or the one who loves and supports wisdom. Do not be the fifth one or you will be destroyed!”³⁶

In fact, every prophet was a teacher who invited people to be happy both in this world and in the Hereafter through true knowledge. Because true knowledge has a certain value in the sight of Allah. People adopt good morals with knowledge. Eventually, people gain value by knowing the truth and reflecting this knowledge on their lives.

According to Islam, false and untruthful information directing people to evil cannot be regarded as wisdom. The Prophet Muhammad asks for beneficial knowledge from Allah and takes refuge in Allah from useless knowledge. He insistently recommends people to learn and teach the Holy Qur’an which is the source of unchanging truth and truest knowledge. He heralds great things to those who pass down his words to the next generations in full. Thus, he wants to spread wisdom and reduce ignorance.

The Prophet Muhammad stated many times that those who make effort to get knowledge will go to heaven, those who share wisdom with others will be rewarded even after they die as long as people benefit from that knowledge, those who act selfishly by not sharing their knowledge and who do not act in line with the true knowledge will commit a major sin. Treasuring knowledge and being freed of ignorance are regarded as a worship that enables people to get close to Allah and that is rewarded. Therefore, the Prophet Muhammad stated the following: “The most fruitful sadaqah for a Muslim is to teach what they learn to their Muslim brothers.”³⁷