Khutbah: Jumaat Prayer,

Knowledge

All Praise is due to Allah, We praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds.

My Dear Brothers in Islam,

I do not expect that all of us need reminding, but maybe the rest of us do, that:

"Seeking knowledge is a duty of all Muslims, male and female.""Knowledge" may be thought to refer to religious knowledge only but scholars extend this to include all useful worldly knowledge.

This view is supported by many Áyát in the Holy Qur’án and the traditions of Nabi Muhammad sws.

Let us go back to the very beginning to appreciate the special status of knowledge in Islam. In Sura Al Baqara we read:

"And He taught Adam all the names…"

According to the eminent scholars, there is unanimity that this includes the names of all the creations of Allah, including the stars, the earth, the planets, and the angels themselves. No one can deny that this is religious not knowledge also, although to know about them can concentrate the mind on the greatness of Allah swt.If we can move quickly to more recent times, we read that the first divine command to Prophet Muhammad, [may Allah grant him Peace and Blessings] :

"Read! In the name of your Lord, Who creates!"

followed by a second command:

"Read! And your Lord is most bountiful, He who taught the use of the pen, taught man that which he knew not!"

The source of all knowledge is Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, and no creation has any knowledge except that which Allah has taught him. The evidence for this statement is ample, and needs no further elaboration. Let us also remember the practice of Rasulullahi Salall lahu 'alayhi wasallam in this regard. The ransom of a prisoner of war, was to teach a number of Muslims to read and write. Literate Muslims form a sound foundation for the Muslim State. And knowledge in general precedes action.In Sura Muhammad the reference is to knowledge of Alláh, Jalláh Jalálahu:

"Know, therefore, that there is no god but Allah, and ask forgiveness for your faults and for the men and women who believe…"

The áyát and hadíth about knowledge are too many to list, but the following verse from Sura Ali-Imran puts the matter in its proper perspective:

"There is no God but He: That is the witness of Allah, his angles and those who endued with knowledge, standing firm on justice. There is no God but he the exalted in power and the wise.

Finally, let us strengthen ourselves to be a good muslim by striving in seeking knowledge and spread our knowledge to others.