Hadith of the Week

Week 2

Mu’awiyah (ra) reported: The messenger of Allah said, “When Allah wishes good for someone, He bestows upon him the understanding of this deen.” (Reported in Bukhari & Muslim, it can also be found in Riyadu Saliheen in the Book of Knowledge)

Imam An-Nawawi comments on this hadith saying, “Knowledge and understanding of the Deen (religion) here stands for the understanding of the Quran and Hadith, religious injunctions, and knowledge of the lawful and the unlawful.  This hadith highlights the excellence of knowledge and the fact that it is a sign of Allah’s help to the person who possesses it and acts upon it.

Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-As reported:  I heard Allah’s messenger (saws) saying: “Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people, but He takes it away by taking away (the lives of) the religious scholars till none of the scholars are alive.  Then the people will take the ignorant ones as their leaders, who, when asked to deliver religious verdicts, he will issue them without knowledge, as result being that they will go astray and will lead others astray.” (Reported in Bukhari & Muslim, it can also be found in Riyadu Saliheen in the Book of Knowledge)

Imam An-Nawawi comments on this hadith saying, “It is a sign of the nearness of the Day of Judgment that the world will be deprived of genuine religious scholars, and illiterate people will become leaders who will have neither the knowledge of the Quran nor that of the Hadith.  Despite their ignorance of the Quran and Hadith, they will be called mujtahid (jurist entitled to independent reasoning) and Imam (leader) and will mislead people with their legal opinions and self-created problems.  Besides urging us to acquire religious knowledge with a view to producing more scholars in the society, the Hadith also warns us against the ignorant self-styled “Ulama.” It also warns us against entrusting religious leadership to them.